Oddessy car park fine

[Sgt_Major]

For the solicitor involved in telling the earlier poster to pay up, he has made a decision, based upon his own knowledge / experience.

It's not BAD advise, it's just misguided. Something I expect no one is exempt from.

When taking legal advice, I rarely take it from only one source. I talk to at least 3-4 different solicitors, as they will all have varying levels of personal experience in what I am asking about.

 

[avo5021]

What would happen if the car next to him had parked across two bays causing him to do the same but the original offender had left prior to the ticket stickers arriving ? Would that be a lawful excuse to park across two bays ?

 

[BigP]

What would happen if the car next to him had parked across two bays causing him to do the same but the original offender had left prior to the ticket stickers arriving ? Would that be a lawful excuse to park across two bays ?

Exactly

There are so many factors to take into account.....aside from the FACT that there isn't a dam thing they can do.....a complete load of money making balderdash.....would be great to rent one of the big billboards facing it and put the fact....the carpark would be bust in a week.......

Another point I might add.....signs displayed in a public place aimed at moving traffic must have a text size of 2.5 inches........it also must be readable to an individual passing it at the displayed speed limit

Scare tactics.

 

[gbdm]

were does it say I paid for one space, I paid to park within the bays as the signs say lol

Thats just common sense dude get real.

 

[chr1s]

Thats just common sense dude get real.

Common sense my arse, their signs say to park in the bays and that's exactly what I did, if I had of parked in one bay then I'd be going against what their signs are instructing you to do

 

[pablo]

That's the kind of logic my 4 year old would come out with lol

 

[BigP]

Common sense my arse, their signs say to park in the bays and that's exactly what I did, if I had of parked in one bay then I'd be going against what their signs are instructing you to do

I am assuming thats just a joke?

 

[gbdm]

wow, some people never cease to amaze me.

It would be amazing if you went to court for it and tried to say that to the judge.

 

[chr1s]

I am assuming thats just a joke?

Hense the smiley face

 

[forde]

if you want to keep the car clean park at the back of the car park where noone else does and walk for another 20 seconds you lazy hallion

next time i see someone parked over two bays im gonna park as close to their car as i can

 

[forde]

- Good luck with that. Barrister spends an average of 6yrs qualifying... you can do all that in a couple hours in the library?

lol, hardly. he just needs to check this one thing, not become a barrister. in fact there's this awesome thing called the internet that we're on right now where he can do this thing called "googling" and find out everything about anything. you talk some ****e.

and if you love solicitors so much why do you think he shouldnt pay it when solicitors say he should?

i wouldnt pay it btw they probly wont do anything. just wait and if it comes to it eventually you might have to pay it which if you do is no worse than paying it now, and if they dont come after you then great. burn it and pretend it was never on your car.

 

[tweetybelfast]

if it ever went to court surely you could argue that £100 for the parking space that you took up was too much. and that it was more reasonable for them to charge you for the time that you actually used it. Dont pay it

 

[funnydata]

And at the time of the incident the car park wasnt even half full, and I park over 2 spaces because its my car, paid for by my hard earned money and not for someone careless t**t to damage it with a door ding, so no comments stating i deserve a fine

No offence to you but lets be honest here I hate getting my car banged also and would normally park as far away from any other cars as possible but I still park within the space as I'm sure a few others may agree that it's really annoying being unable to park at some car parks due to no spaces due to double parking so have no sympathy at all.

However a solicitor would probably win your case albeit the solicitors fees would be will in excess of the original £100 fine.

 

[Rocko]

Did you read the rest of the thread?

 

[funnydata]

Solicitors aren't God and are wrong all the time don't be so naive, solicitors are the ones who didn't get good enough grades to be a barrister

I suggest you go to the library and get a few law books out, all will be revealed....

Then also get a calculator out, to go to court they need a barrister which will cost them a minimum of 2-300 for 1 hour of their time. The likelihood is that if it eventually went to court(which it won't) they might get lucky and get awarded the judgement, so you have to pay them the £100 BUT the judge probably won't give a judgement with costs meaning that they spend about £400 to get £100.

As said before, it's a cash cow and it works because people like you are intimidated by a fancy letter with long words.

That's why Solicitors spend 5 years studying law at university rather than a few hours reading books, the scary thing is that you really believe what you wrote, if it goes to court and he loses he will end up paying all the court case in full including the company's solicitor, it wouldn't be a barrister as it would be dealt with in a magistrates court not a high court.

 

[sacodetoro]

The solicitor v barrister thing was tongue in cheek and was not meant to be serious hence the they both do a lot more work than I and do a degree with no garauntee of a job in their field

I know all the work involved hence why I became an accountant instead lol.

I have however had my own solicitor give me bad advice/made mistakes etc, my point was that you the client direct them as to what you want to do and they give you advice on how likely you are to succeed.

The person above said his solicitor advised him to pay the fine, yet you confirm the car park have no legal right to enforce the fine, that is bad advice then is it not?

Who ever it is they go to court with, it still costs money and it isn't cheap. I know solictors can represent on some cases and in the next year the type of cases they can represent on is likely to increase to help reduce costs.

The few hours in the library is how I learned they have no legal right to enforce the fine , not gain more cumulative legal knowledge than a qualified professional who has studied hundreds of topics rather than the one specific topic discussed here.

That's why Solicitors spend 5 years studying law at university rather than a few hours reading books, the scary thing is that you really believe what you wrote, if it goes to court and he loses he will end up paying all the court case in full including the company's solicitor, it wouldn't be a barrister as it would be dealt with in a magistrates court not a high court.

1. I have already admitted defeat in my knowledge of who represents who and predicting cost awards is a bad idea. I have been corrected, I have admitted I was wrong and have no difficulty in doing so when someone who clearly knows more about it steers me in the right direction.

2. Read my responce above with regards to your first comment. I've done a few law modules and know it is more than a few hours reading ^^

3. It won't go to court.

4. He wouldn't loose if he went to court.



I always liked the story of erin brokevich(spelling), or BBC NEWS | UK | England | Essex | 'Barrister' beautician wins case

that was the concept of my comment, if you spend enough time researching a specific issue there is no reason you cannot be as competent on that specific issue

 

[funnydata]

I like where you were coming from Sacodetoro, and admittedly I had posted my message before reading all post. Unfortunatelty however that's how the rich get richer. I personally would bite the bullet and pay the fine and never use it again, (I remember I would have used Lisburn instead of Belfast even though there's far less shops as parking was cheaper, untill they placed a fine on my wife's car for being 20 mins over her time, now I wouldn't use it if you paid me lol) although think to be fair it's going to be something Chris will need to decide for himself.

 

[BigP]

Burn It.......Burn It........Burn It

Then post a pic of it on fire.......that will finish the thread

 

[Stebo]

Bin it.

If the car park was willing to offer to pay for any damage to my car while parked there I'd park in one space, since they don't I take my own precautions and park over a while line. For it to be enforced by law they would have to have all sorts of signed paperwork such as confirming that you understand that you would get fined, confirming that you understand what a bay is, etc, etc. Sticking up a big sign means nothing. The contract is to put your car in their car-park for a set rate. Anything more than that is idol threats.

 

[chr1s]

Well a few months on and i've recieved a letter from W'Anchor Car Park Services saying i have 14 days to pay my £100 fine or it'll be put up to £150. The letter is headed ' Formal Demand Do Not Ignore This Notice'. Anyways still refusing to pay this fine, the only thing I worry about is my address getting black listed but they can lock me up and throw away the key lol

 

[Überdub]

Too late now but if your car looks standard, buy a spare set of number plates immediately (preferably not identical to your originals eg. pressed), fit to the car, keep receipt. Remove unique markings from your car such as that dealer sticker in the rear window. Tell them it wasn't your car because it was sitting at home due to the plates having been stolen and you waiting for new ones to arrive.

 

[Überdub]

Personally I can't stand people who park over two spaces. But fining you seems a bit much.

I know it appears selfish when people do this but how else can you try to prevent other vehicles getting so close to you that a careless owner won't open their door against you? Standard parking bays are not wide enough** so that both doors of an average vehicle can be opened sufficiently to allow room for a non-contortionist to exit and re-enter. If I can't find a place I'm content to park in I drive out again and head on. It isn't worth getting bashed just to get a bit of shopping done.

** And this isn't our fault. It's clearly about squeezing the maximum number of punters into the minimum space. (£££)

 

[davecoupe]

** And this isn't our fault. It's clearly about squeezing the maximum number of punters into the minimum space. (£££)

Space sizes all have to comply with the Planning Authority guidelines in private carparks and local council guidelines in public carparks. 5.0 x 2.5 in for NI planning authority iirc

 

[Überdub]

Space sizes all have to comply with the Planning Authority guidelines in private carparks and local council guidelines in public carparks. 5.0 x 2.5 in for NI planning authority iirc

That's interesting, thanks.

I wonder if the world would stop turning if someone were to make up spaces that were about a foot wider and therefore, more usable? Furthermore, I wonder if those dimensions were decided upon when there weren't really many vehicles with the footprint of an X5, Q7 or Grand Voyager on the road?

 

[marcusplowman]

Have they provided you with photographic evidence?