Parking a Commercial vehicle in my own bay

[Guest]

Hi all,

Very new to this but really need some advice. I live in an apartment block and drive and drive a small leased company van that i use for work. My company have been recieving PCN's and say they have to pay due to the lease stating no commercial vehicles to be parked. I park in my own bay that i also pay ground rent for. Does my company have to pay or myself or have they no right?

[ostell]

Your company can name you as the keeper of the van and demand the parking company redirect their PCNs to you.

You have your own space, defined in your lease?, and therefore you have no need for an additional contract to park with the parking company.

Do the parking company signs mention commercial vehicles? If not then how have you broken any alleged contract with them? Not that you had any contract.

Let's see the signs and the lease for the space. If your lease for the space says no commercials then only the landholder can take action and not some third party.

Quite often permission can be obtained for a variation if it is not obtrusive.

[Swiftgan]

Hi Ostell,

Thankyou for your feedback. The lease does state no commercial vehicles but the signs do not mention it. They have said i am allowed to park on a carpark overflow that is still on the reisdential estate, but yet i can't park in my own allotted space! My company will not give out my details without my permission yet i they have received around 6 PCN's now. Should i contact the landholder for permission? I am at a loss to what to do

[ostell]

So what does the sign say? Post it up and the redacted PCN

The prohibition on commercial vehicles can only be actioned by the lessor and not a third party stranger to the lease.

If the commercial vehicle prohibition us not on the sign then you can't breach that non existent condition

Who has said you can only park in the other car park?

The keeper of the vehicle can, without reference to you, under POFA identify you as the keeper to remove liability. The PCN might even not conform to POFA and therefore the registered keeper cannot be held liable. Let's see the PCNs

Here's POFA http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/...dule/4/enacted check paragraph 9 to see what should be on the PCN

The lessor may be more than happy to have a small vehicle in the car park.

Could you get magnetic stickons to cover any signage to save this in future?

[Swiftgan]

Hi, sorry i am not understanding a lot of these terms. The company i work for have been sent the PCN's so i would have to ask for a copy and post it. What do you mean by lessor and the magnetic stickons. Apologies i'm just new to all this. The car parking management said i can park on a car park overflow that is still on the estate with a parking sign visible.

[ostell]

The lessor is the person that sold you the lease to your flat. If your lease says no commercials then they are they ones to take action on it, no one else.

Have a read of POFA and take a copy into your employer. The keeper is assumed to be the registered keeper unless it can be shown otherwise. The PCN itself will have a section about asking the driver to be identified. To make life easier they can name you as the keeper.

Many vehicles, rather than having artwork painted on them, have a magnetic panel with artwork on it than can be stuck onto the vehicle as required. How about a blank magnetic panel to cover up your sign writing? You will often see the panels on the likes of taxis where it reverts to a private car for some of the day.

To be able to hold the keeper liable then they have to jump through the hoops of POFA. Frequently they don't manage it and the keeper cannot be held liable for the actions of the unknown driver.

Those photos would help

Most of these no commercials are aimed at things like large transits and the ilk.

[Swiftgan]

My van has no writing on, just a small plain van?

[ostell]

So how do they class it as a commercial?

What vehicle is it? I know several people that have a van as a private vehicle. Mine is a variation if a van body

[Swiftgan]

Its a Peugot Partner small van, its part of a fleet of vans i use for work, i don't carry passengers or goods

[ostell]

Mine is the version of that with the windows and seats. How do they know it's commercial use?

Post a picture of the signs in the first instance and when you get it a redacted copy of the PCN.

Your defence is absolutely no liability as you are the landholder and have no need for a contract to park with a third party stranger to your lease as you already have that right.

Even if they had the right to create a contract then if there is no mention of commercial vehicles then there can be no breach of that alleged contract. No breach then there can be no charge.

[wales01man]

I have a snall van its insured as commercial* maybe this is why the ticket was issued
*

[ostell]

But they dont have access to insurance details, that I am aware of

[Swiftgan]

I will post the PCN and signs when i receive a copy of the PCN

[Swiftgan]

Hi, i have attached the sign and a copy of the PCN. I didn't notice at first but the sign does say no commercial vehicles permitted.

[ostell]

So it looks like they do say no commercial vehicles but then don't define commercial vehicles. So you prefer a van to a car. That doesn't make it commercial.

Doesn't really matter as they have no authority.