Private parking Ticket £176.25

[djzian]

I have just received the following letter from a private parking company:

Dear

The enclosed PCN is issued to you for the following reasons:

1. There are warning signs all around the site, the signs state the rules and regulations and confirm the consequences if they are breached. The signs also state we will obtain your details from the DVLA and issue the PCN in the post at a later date.
2. AS Securi-T does have a sign contract from the landowners and their agent appointing the company to monitor the site. The data protection act does not allow me to release this information, however, I will produce this information in court if required.

Payment instructions:
Please refer to the back of the PCN for payment instructions and note the time limits for payment and appeals can be read and taken as commencing from the issue date of this letter.
Should you choose to ignore this letter we will presume it is not your intention to honour your obligation and we will then place the recovery of this debt into the hands of our solicitors to instigate formal proceedings, without any further warning.
Should a judgement in court be made against you in this matter, you will as a result incur court fees, legal costs and interest charges in addition to the debt. We will instruct court bailiffs to remove goods for the satisfaction of the debt, costs and interest.
This will lead to detrimental information being registered against your name and address with UK credit reference services.
Yours sincerely
PCN processing team

A bit intimidating to say the least

Although the signs were visible, I remained with the car just in case I was causing an obstruction and needed to move etc. I assumed that had I been causing a problem, then I would have been approached by the organisation enforcing the rules - how wrong was I!!!
Unfortunately it would appear that the organisation involved are taking photos and then getting your details from DVLA.

Quite frankly I am amazed that the DVLA disclose my details (surely there must be some data protection issues here) to organisations such as these - Their Customer Services Manager Ian Broom will be hearing about this, although I don't hold out a lot of hope.
The sickening part is, they want to charge £176.25 for the privilege of waiting in the vehicle. Absolutely outrageous, daylight robbery.

Has anyone been successful in challenging these charges

[Filthy Monkey]

I wouldn't worry about it. They are relying on contract law and would have to prove that -

a) You agreed to a contract

and

b) You were the person driving the car as it is the driver and not the registered keeper who is responsible.

You will, no doubt, receive a lot of threatening letters from them, but they will not pursue this any further than empty threats.

One way to deal with it is to write them a letter asking them to prove that the driver agreed to any contract and also asking them to advise you who the driver was so that you can pass this on to them. You will get a standard letter back saying the RK is responsible and that you agreed to a contract by parking there, but it is all just rubbish. Have a look through the forum for more information...

[patdavies]

Please confirm that they (and the signs) say that they will get the details and issue by post later.

This is in direct contravention of the DVLA's Code of Practice for releasing this sort of information.

[djzian]

Thanks for the fast reply.

The company in question do advise that they are prepared to send a photo, but it will cost of £5.00.

The other thing is, that because the driver stayed in the car whilst waiting to collect somebody, the photo may very well identify the driver.

My other concern is that if they charge this initially, it won't take long for the charges to get out of hand and escalating charges may make the case worth them pursuing in court.

Knowing how difficult it is to gain a good credit record and remove defaults etc, it is a bit worrying to say the least.

[djzian]

I am going to return to the site just to check out the signs, although this time I will park elsewhere and walk.

I must admit that I am astounded that information about the registered keeper can be gained so easliy from the DVLA.

I will post the information from the signs as soon as I receive this

[Howard0181]

When you write to this company stating on what basis there is a contract it is also good idea to ask them to explain what a PCN is.

If they say Penalty they would have shot themselves in the foot.

I doubt this company will sue you and if they do you have a very good case in Court.

Do not pay!!

[Supermiembro]

DJ, Do not pay them and write to them stating that you will see them in court. If you do have to go to court(which is unlikely), then you have a perfect chance to ask the judge why you have to pay them so much for a breach of contract. Do not worry and do not lose any sleep over this. They get your details from the DVLA by paying £2.50 for them.

[Zamzara]

Originally Posted by Supermiembro

DJ, Do not pay them and write to them stating that you will see them in court..

Agreed, but be sure to deny that you owe them any money and insist that they drop this nonsense, rather than ask to go to court. Otherwise it sends the wrong message.

For starters, do they have a video as well as photo? A photo of the car+driver cannot demonstrate that the car was parked at all!