Ticket issued in a private carpark

[Jessa]

Hi,

This is my first post and I am after a little advice. I think I know the answer but my b/f, whos ticket it is, is terrified.

Recently the private carpark of my b/f's flat was taken over by a company. They sent out parking permits and he wrote his reg on it and popped in on the dash. 2 weeks later he got a ticket. He was parked in his bay as he always was and the reason was not displaying a valid permit.

The problems with this ticket are:

1. His permit was on the dash, as always. (It's now taped to the windscreen.)
2. They wrote down the wrong reg.
3. The '75' from his bay is so worn that you can't tell what it says.
4. The tenancy agreement he has clearly states that a bay comes with his flat.
5. It's been cancelled (see below).

So, based on this, he wrote to them to advise that it was issued incorrectly. They wrote back and said that as the reg was wrong and that they would cancel it but as they had a photo of his car, they would reissue it and send it out to him in the post.

He hasn't received a new ticket but they are still chasing him for £100. He is worried that he will lose if he goes to court.

Any thoughts?

[tom3131]

Originally Posted by Jessa

Hi,

This is my first post and I am after a little advice. I think I know the answer but my b/f, whos ticket it is, is terrified.

Recently the private carpark of my b/f's flat was taken over by a company. They sent out parking permits and he wrote his reg on it and popped in on the dash. 2 weeks later he got a ticket. He was parked in his bay as he always was and the reason was not displaying a valid permit.

The problems with this ticket are:

1. His permit was on the dash, as always. (It's now taped to the windscreen.)
2. They wrote down the wrong reg.
3. The '75' from his bay is so worn that you can't tell what it says.
4. The tenancy agreement he has clearly states that a bay comes with his flat.
5. It's been cancelled (see below).

So, based on this, he wrote to them to advise that it was issued incorrectly. They wrote back and said that as the reg was wrong and that they would cancel it but as they had a photo of his car, they would reissue it and send it out to him in the post.

He hasn't received a new ticket but they are still chasing him for £100. He is worried that he will lose if he goes to court.

Any thoughts?

If its a private firm dont worry. Write to them and tell them you want be paying it unless by order of a court, also mention that your distressed by the situation and dont want any further contact from them at all and tell them that if they do contact you (by any means) then you'll be taking legal action for Harassment.

If they do go to court the court can only award the "DAMAGES" they suffered from you parking without a permit and thats probaly around £3 plus costs so the private company wont bother with court if you sound like you know what you talk about

Good luck

[pcr1]

They suffered no damages... it's his bay!!! :o

[tom3131]

Originally Posted by pcr1

They suffered no damages... it's his bay!!! :o

Exactly so they wont get a penny if it goes to court .
Just ignore all further letters untill you get a court letter, by that i dont mean a letter threatening court action.
If your really worried, then tell them you look forward to appearing in court and getting private car park ticketing classed as illegal,
Just sent out the message you know what your talking about and that you would relish the chance to appear in court (even though you might not lol)

[Rob S]

Was the car park taken over by this company or have they taken over the management of it? If it is the latter, I think I am right in thinking that the management company of the flats should have informed the tenants of such a change, especially as his tenancy agreement states that the bay comes with his flat. It might be worthwhile contacting the management agent of the flats and inform them of what is happening with regards to "enforcement" of residents parking.

[Jessa]

He has been living there for 3 years and the managing agents have instructed this company to look after it as people were parking there in the day and catching the train into work (it's right in the town centre). So, the owner of my b/f's flat still owns the land he parked on (if that makes sense).

He phoned the agents about it and they said to take up with the parking company. The parking people have contacted the managing agents as they were aware of the conversations my b/f has had with them.

[Donz]

I've never used a forum before so bear with me. I need some help.

On 2.11.07, my husband parked in a disabled bay in a private car park for a matter of minutes at approx 7pm (moral issues here already dealt with).

He received a "Parking Charge" of £60 with a statement saying that this amount would increase by £3 per day if not paid within 10 days.

Apparently, there is a hut in the car park which is permanently manned and the people in it watch for people to contravene the rules and then pounce on them without notice.

We considered this fine to be unreasonable and the daily increase to be so extortionate that it couldn't possibly be enforceable, could it?

We decided not to respond to the notice. 04.12.07, another letter (this time addressed to me - they had secured my details as the registered keeper from the DVLA) saying that the fee was now £126 and would continue to rise at the same rate if not paid within 10 days. Also, the company (UK PAO Ltd) have threatened to keep an eye out for my car and any other vehicle registered to me and confiscate it if they happen to come across it again! Not to mention, take me to court etc etc.

Can anyone advise me as to the course of action I should take here? Any help greatly appreciated.

[Rob S]

Donz,

I would suggest you start your own thread on this issue, rather than post in another thread that is not related to your issue.

[Jessa]

After a very lengthy process, my b/f managed to get out of his ticket. He started quoting legal stuff at them that we looked up on the internet. He told them that he would see them in court and charge them for his time to turn up (bearing in mind here that, at the time, his company charged him out at £350 a day (I'm in the wrong job)). It seemed to scare them enough and they didn't chase him although he never got it in writing, despite asking.

As for the disabled space parking ticket, there are lots of things you can check for, to see if it's been issued correctly. I can't remember them all off the top of my head but there are things about signatures and wording etc. Most people pay these things because they are too scared to fight them.

I would start that query off as a new thread, as this one is very old now and it might not come up with any answers for you.