I'm currently living in a privately owned residential road / estate.

A management company was formed last year which then purchased the common parts of the estate, ie roads and footways etc.

The company has indicated it's intention to issue fixed penalty tickets to anyone parking there without a permit.

This of course raises several questions, such as whether these charges would be enforceable.

There are also various practical issues which I can envisage arising, for example, if a legitimate visitor was to arrive unexpectedly, or outside of normal hours, with no means to request or obtain a permit.

Signs have already been put up on various parts of the estate,

and amongst other things, they say that by entering onto the estate you are agreeing to be bound by a contract.

I remain unconvinced as to the legality of this,

on the basis that the situation is substantially different from the case of Beavis v ParkingEye,

in that the Beavis case revolved around someone who had already entered into a contract for the parking of a vehicle,

and paid money to do so,

whereas in this situation, a man delivering an ebay parcel to me in his van does not intend to enter into a legally binding contract with the estate management company, nor does the window cleaner, and neither do any of my friends or relatives who may occasionally decide to visit.

I'm aware of the basic elements of a legal UK contract (offer, acceptance, consideration, intention of the parties to enter into a legally binding agreement), and it appears to me that many if not all of them are likely to be absent in the situation I've attempted to outline above.

Wording of sign in case photo isn't clear....

Warning. This land is private property. Parking conditions apply 24 hours, 7 days a week.

 

Failure to comply with the parking conditions below will result in a £100.00 parking notice being reduced to if paid within 14 days.

 

Vehicles parked in this area must clearly display a valid P.T.L authorised permit in the windscreen.

 

This is a contracuial notice and by parking here you agree to the terms and conditions.

Parking charge notices not paid within the given period may result in Parking Ticketing Ltd contacting the DVLA to request the keepers details.

 

Outstanding parking charge notices will be passed on to our debt recover agent where an additional £50 will be added.

 

www.Parking Ticketing.co.uk

What does anyone else think ?

where does it say penalty charge please?

dx

where does it say penalty charge please?

 

 

dx

It doesn't. It says Parking charge. There's no edit button I can see, but if you're able, feel free to edit the wording.

Very unlikely to be enforceable to be honest. Its too open ended and doesnt meet regulation/requirements etc.

they wont have signed an agreement with the LAND OWNERS but the management company

no dice batman.

Ha ha, that is brilliant, PPC's with zero idea, think they can stick up signs and con the public.

they wont have signed an agreement with the LAND OWNERS but the management company

no dice batman.

Post #1

The Management Company ARE the landowners

Post #1

 

The Management Company ARE the landowners

Bet they don't have planning permission for their silly signs.

tell us about the management company,

is it one formed by the residents or just a co that bought the curtillage and now wants to chisel the residnets to get a retun on their money?

Also we would need to understand the terms of the leases or any covenants on the freeholds rergarding parking and use of the roads etc.

It is unlikely the parking co will have the powers to enforce anything but that wont stop them or the managment co trying it on.

Money overrules reason in all of these cases.

The original residents association formed a limited company, which then bought the land.

It may be very well intentioned, and the stated aim of the parking scheme is to deter non residents from parking on the estate,

however, as with many things like this, there's a danger that people who park there legitimately will end up being ticketed.

I personally wouldn't be worried, as I'm quite happy to fight my corner in court,

and have done on several occasions,

but there will be lots of people who will simply pay,

because it says so on a bit of paper.

It's certain that all Residents will fall foul if some purported clause, and end up being ticketed, for non display of the "Permit" as will Yodel, DHL, DPD and Amazon drivers, in fact any vehicle stopping there will be considered fair game to the PPC.

There are enough issues with Council run Residents Parking Schemes, without Private cowboys entering the mix.

So what about the supposed contract side of things ?

For a contract to come into existence and be legally valid, there would have to be an offer, acceptance, consideration, and an intention on the part of the parties to enter into a legally binding agreement. It would be my argument that I do not have any business with the landowner, do not intend to enter into a legally binding agreement and I do not accept any of the terms of their suggested contract. Therefore, no contract exists. So come on, who agrees, or disagrees with this ?

That has been tested and decided that a unilateral contract such as a sign is a binding contract, whether you agree to it or not, parking means that you effectively agree to it.

The alternative is to not park so your basic argument wont hold up.

The wording of the contract will decide its legitimacy and other factors such as the right for the parking co to offer a contract doesn't change the contract itself, just their ability to perform their side of the bargain and some judges will side with a criminal enterprise and expect you to countersue them.

You do have business with the landowner, you are on his land.

However only he can sue for trespass, not a parking co

so as contracts can be decided on who writes the last term before it is accepted as being made a sticker on your vehicle saying you don't accept the terms offered and invite the LL to sue is just as valid as their sign if they are using wandering patrols

- the bod issuing the paperwork is the person accepting your contract if he has read the sticker.