stevieturbo
RMS Regular
Now send them a bill for wasting your time.
Smart Parking charge
- Thread starter Dervhead
- Start date
Now send them a bill for wasting your time.
Rigger
RMS Regular
- Messages
- 3,659
- Drives
- XJR 575, A4
Found this on another forum I frequent.
One of the replies certainly gives more info on why you should ignore these scammers than I've seen before.
Post #4
One of the replies certainly gives more info on why you should ignore these scammers than I've seen before.
Post #4
Coog
Admin
- Messages
- 47,682
- Drives
- GTI
Needs an account.
Rigger
RMS Regular
- Messages
- 3,659
- Drives
- XJR 575, A4
I'll just quote the OP and the relevant reply....
O.P.
"I took my Jag in to Halfords Autocentre for a wheel balance a few months back. I dropped my vehicle off in the morning before work and picked it up after work. A few weeks later I received a PCN from Parking Eye. Turns out Halfords and Home Bargains share the same entrance to access both locations and there’s no way for me to get to Halfords without going through this single entrance.
I appealed using the Parking Eye appeals process and they rejected my claim, even after providing them booking references, emails, dates and times for my booking with Halfords. I sent this to POPLA ombudsman who took a month to assess the case and unfortunately sided with Parking Eye and apparently I now have to pay £100 for using a Halfords garage.
POPLA said that Halfords should have added me to the exemption list but surely this although mitigating circumstances shows that I did not enter the car park and use their facilities that they charge you for.
I am livid and waiting for a response back from Halfords for them to pickup the charge.
What is the best course of action next? Wait it out and see if they go to court or pay it and let Halfords pay me back?
A few weeks ago my friend also received a PCN for using the same garage and lost the appeal!
If you’re interested in the location it’s CV21 2DQ.
Thanks,"
Reply.
"I had to rush my last reply, so ive returned to this.
The parking company can only issue what everyone calls a parking fine for anyone who overstays the time limit and therefore in breach of the signage prior to entering the car park - This signage is deemed to be a contract between the person using the car park and the company. The overstay results in a breach of that contract and hence the issue of a penalty notice.
There is a 54 page code of practice all parking operators have to follow - and like most firms they rarely fully understand their own codes of practice. If they fail to follow their own codes of practice they would loose any subsequent court case anyway as they have to present to a court with "Clean Hands" The law does not help those who do something wrong.
Usually they fail at the first contact. They are obliged to offer you the opportunity to pay a reduced rate if settled within 14 or 28 days of their notice to you - however, they never send their contact letter by recorded delivery - so cant prove you received that first offer unless you respond to it. A certificate of posting is insufficient in law to determine you received it.
They will of course send you lots of threatening letters if you don't pay which indicate you will get a CCJ, your credit will be affected, and they always cite a previous case whereby the law upholds their actions - so you cant possibly evade paying them ---- and its completely untrue. However, in order to encourage you to pay they will threaten court action, make offers of reduced payment - after a few months of increasing the "fine" value and some of them even indicate escalation by referral to a debt collecting agency or a firm of solicitors - but if you look at the business address of these new firms they are based at the same address as the company operating the car park. and the letters have increasing amounts of red ink to create anxiety.
Euro Car Parks for instance, If you don't pay they refer you to DRP (Debt recovery plus) big red boxes with the letters DRP in white - oh scary, now your really in trouble - but if you don't pay them either they up their game and send it all to "Zenith Collections" - all based at the same postal address. Then they do diddly squat - had a pasting so many times in the courts they never take action but they will give you the opportunity to pay them over the next couple of years until they fade away.
Courts - The company has to prove there was an agreement - a contract was formed between them and you - so the signage has to be clear, and that you breached that contract and caused a financial loss to the company that engaged them to operate the car park - This is you occupying a parking space and depriving another customer from parking and buying something from the store.
If the court decides there has been a breach of that contract (and only a court can determine that) the court then decides what the level of fine to impose - and that's often a lot less than the parking company was seeking from you in the first place. Once determined you have 28 days to pay that fine and settling that within the time period means there is no CCJ listed against you and no impact on your credit score.
The company cant engage the services of a lawyer to present their case either as its viewed as a David V Goliath scenario, and they cant claim expenses they incurred to take you to court - so its a big risk and little financial reward to them to even contemplate legal proceedings.
You have all the evidence you need to prove you didn't form or accept a contract with the parking company, you had no choice but to pass through their car park to access another business, the other business failed to do what they should have done and registered your vehicle as being with them and therefore exempt from any contract with the other company - and that's a TORT in law under negligence - so you could instigate action against them for that.
So, Ignore every letter from them, do not respond, let them decide if they wish to pursue action in court - the time to answer a letter is the pre action protocol letter - its clearly marked its a letter to inform you of a court date being set up - and then accept the date set. They will have played every card they have to get to this, and in the very unlikely possibility they do go to court your evidence will get the case thrown out - but the very worst possibility is the court uphold their action and you get a fine about the same cost as the company's original fine without the early payment discount - pay within 28 days and its all done and dusted - no future repercussions from it. You have absolutely nothing to loose."
Snoopcousins
RMS Regular
Is it not different in England to over here anyway?!
Yeah slightly, here they have to prove who the driver was as the registered keeper cannot be held liable. They can only prove that when you communicate with them.
Graham2
RMS Regular
- Messages
- 21,808
- Drives
- RS4
Fixed that for you.