Please help need some advice on parking on private land.

[Bucky1989]

Ok so heres the story.....

I parked on the side of a road with half of my tyre on a grass verge- the rest of the car on the public highway, close to a pay and display car park run by a company called MBC Parking Solutions.

I came back to my car to find a fixed penalty notice on my windscreen with a box ticked saying I had parked in a no parking zone. The wonderful people at MBC said they gave me a ticket as they own the grass verge and i was parked on their land. However, there is definitely no NO PARKING sign to tell anyone they cannot park there so i wanted to know where i stand as far as having to pay the ticket because how was i to know you cannot park there?

Surely there needs to be some sort of warning to say that you cannot park there?

[perky88]

There certainly does need to be signage that clearly states it is private land and the conditions for parking.

The signage has to be clear / concise and visible from your parking area and ideally on the entrance/exits.

I would suggest you take pictures then ask the company to send pictures of your vehicle with the signage in clear view.

If they do take it to court, the photogrpahs are the key - you have a right to see them so ask for them

[Barnsley Boy]

Lots on this forum about Private Private Tickets. They are not "official" but merely invoices, and decidedly dodgy ones at that.

Do not pay. Do not get involved in their sham "appeals" process. This gives them more respect than they deserve. DO NOT ADMIT WHO WAS DRIVING.

They will probably contact you by tracing the number through DVLA. Yes, it is appalling that DVLA release this information to Private Companies, but anything for 30 pieces of silver [actually £2.50 per transaction].

Read the "Sticky" at the top of the forum - Private Parking Companies - All you need to know".

["Sticky" refers to the subjects at the top of the forum page - under their own heading]

[Bucky1989]

I have read the sticky and done some searches but nothing has cleared it up for me because all the posts seem to be about actually being parked in a private car park.

In my case i was not parked in a car park but parked on the side of the public road with part of my vehicle on an apparently privately owned grass verge with no signs to say its a no parking zone or anything.

So do the same rules apply to private parking companys even when you were not parked in a car park?

So in my case when i parked with part of my tyre on the grass verge did I enter into a contract with the parking company even though it is not a private car park and there is no signs to say no parking?!

[demon_x_slash]

^^See how silly it sounds? I don't see how they can possibly expect to proceed with this with no signage and no terms!

[Conniff]

~For a £3 you can go to to the land registry site and check who owns land. Whether this extends to verges or not I don't know. There are specialist firms that will do this for you but their charges are around £35.

[Bucky1989]

dragging this thread up again after I thought I'd heard the end of it!

I contacted Citizens Advice about this situation and they said as everyone on here said that what they did was wrong. They wrote me a template letter to send to the parking company telling them that I am not paying and the reasons why and the letter stated I wanted a reply from them in 7 days to tell me they have dropped the penalty notice.

Guess what? I never got any letter back!

So now 10 weeks on after I recieved the ticket (on 29/11/2007) I have got a payment reminder through the post from them with a 50% increase of the fee saying the payment should reach them in 14 days.

It goes on to say if payment is not recieved in 14 days "we will have no other option than to pass your details on to Infinitus Securities Ltd and you may incur further recovery costs and charges applicable"

So now I'm wondering can they really do that and send someone round to demand money i should not owe? surely it has to go to someone to decide if the ticket was fair and legal?

In which case who decides that? because all MBC will say is we gave this person a ticket and they have not paid which would make me sound like I'm the one in the wrong so obviously I want to tell them my side of the story which I think would end this matter as there was nothing to tell me I was parking on anything other than the public highway in the first place!

please someone give me advice because its really bothering me!

[Conniff]

Stop worrying Bucky. If there was any legal standing in their piece of confetti, the letter you have just received would be a summons and not another idle threat.

[pin1onu]

Originally Posted by Bucky1989

dragging this thread up again after I thought I'd heard the end of it!

I contacted Citizens Advice about this situation and they said as everyone on here said that what they did was wrong. They wrote me a template letter to send to the parking company telling them that I am not paying and the reasons why and the letter stated I wanted a reply from them in 7 days to tell me they have dropped the penalty notice.

Guess what? I never got any letter back!

So now 10 weeks on after I recieved the ticket (on 29/11/2007) I have got a payment reminder through the post from them with a 50% increase of the fee saying the payment should reach them in 14 days.

It goes on to say if payment is not recieved in 14 days "we will have no other option than to pass your details on to Infinitus Securities Ltd and you may incur further recovery costs and charges applicable"

So now I'm wondering can they really do that and send someone round to demand money i should not owe? surely it has to go to someone to decide if the ticket was fair and legal?

In which case who decides that? because all MBC will say is we gave this person a ticket and they have not paid which would make me sound like I'm the one in the wrong so obviously I want to tell them my side of the story which I think would end this matter as there was nothing to tell me I was parking on anything other than the public highway in the first place!

please someone give me advice because its really bothering me!

Don't let it get to you. This is standard practice. They like to threaten and intimidate. They want you to pay and will use pretty much any method to get you to.

Remember this is a civil case. You don't have to lie. By the same token you don't have to admit anything. In a civil case the plaintiff (in this case the PPC) have to prove their case. You do not any legal obligation to provide information or explain or justify your actions. You do have the right to remain silent.

Remember this ticket is really an invoice. You are not in the wrong. They cannot determine the rights and wrongs of a civil matter that is what the courts are for.

As regards referring the matter to a debt collection agency they cannot do this if the matter is in dispute. OFT guidelines require the DCA to refer the matter back to the client when they are made aware of a dispute.

I would write to the PPC, using Bernie the Bolt's template's (see the stickies section) including the paragraph about "if they threaten debt collection agencies", deny the debt and issue cease and desist letter. They should not send anyone round to collect on a disputed debt. This constitutes harrassment under the Administration of Justice Act, Section 40. If they do you should call the police.

They may or may not listen. Just collect their letters after this unless you get a notice of court action (from the county court). Post back here if you do. You can build a case for harassment under the act mentioned above with the letters

Stand firm and post here if you have questions or need support.