Thread: Penalty notice in private car park

Our work car park has recently signed up with a private parking firm to issue penalties to cars not displaying permits. I usually have a permit in my car but yesterday I had a hire car while my own car was at the garage. In the time it took for me to get a visitor permit put in I had been issued with a penalty notice.

I have read the information posted here about how private companies cannot enforce payment unless they can prove who was driving the car.

If they contact the hire company they won't be legally obliged to pass on the details of the driver unless it was a local authority or police issued ticket - is that correct?

So my best bet is to ask the hire company to send back a letter saying:

"I write with attention to the above parking notice. As the registered keepers of this vehicle we cannot be held liable as any alleged contract can only be formed with the driver. As the registered keepers, we have no obligation to inform you of the identity of the driver at the time".

Does anyone think they will do this?

thanks


Similar Threads:

• Private Parking Fine- Ldl car park
• Should you ever buy a ticket for a private car park?
• Private parking notice in college grounds
• Private Car Park Fine
• ncp notice from a private car park with wrong time

It won't be a problem to fight this. You could try the approach of writing to the company and pointing out that at the time they issued a ticket you were getting a visitors permit, but I suspect they will reject this. It might also be worth mentioning what happened to your management to see if they can put pressure on the parking contractors. This may work, bearing in mind your company are the clients and they can dictate their terms.

I think it would be far better to notify the company who provided you with the hire car that they may receive something from this parking company and to advise them that under no circumstances should they pay the ticket. Also point out to the car hire company that they are under no obligation to provide the driver details and also state firmly that you don't want them passing on your details to the parking company.

Originally Posted by Rob S

Also point out to the car hire company that they are under no obligation to provide the driver details and also state firmly that you don't want them passing on your details to the parking company.

I'm not sure I agree with this approach. The first step should be to head off the problem of the hire company paying the ticket (believing it to be official) and then charging it to the credit card.

I would inform the hire copmpany that I had received a notice which purported to be a parking ticket, but which upon closer inspection turned out to be fraudulent, and therefore they are warned not to pay it. I think it would also be better to let them inform the parking company who was the hirer; that way, the pressure is off the hire company and the hirer is free to fight it.

The parking company still doesn't know who was actually driving, and in any case, there are always stronger defences than that anyway (the 'I'm only the RK' approach will not work if it goes to court and you are in fact the driver, but since these things never go to court it doesn't really matter if they do know who you are.)

Since the owner of the land is also the OP's employer, I think this is somewhat of a special case of private parking tickets. It might mean that employment law comes into it somewhere, since the OP is effectively being charged by his employer's agent for attending work. I definitely agree that pressure should be brought on the employer to monitor what the parking company is up to, as presumably they didn't intend for this kind of thing to occur when they hired them.

Originally Posted by Zamzara

(the 'I'm only the RK' approach will not work if it goes to court and you are in fact the driver, but since these things never go to court it doesn't really matter if they do know who you are.)

I would disagree with you on that one. If it went to court it is up to the parking company to prove who was driving the vehicle and that they had a contract. Without proof of who was driving the claim will fail.

Originally Posted by Rob S

I would disagree with you on that one. If it went to court it is up to the parking company to prove who was driving the vehicle and that they had a contract. Without proof of who was driving the claim will fail.

And, I would in turn disagree with you Rob.

Any court action will be in the civil court, where the standard of proof is "on the balance of probabilities". For a private owner, the court would likely accept that without proof to the contrary, on the balance of probability, RK = driver

So what you are in effect saying Pat is that if a parking company went to a court and said that they didn't know who the driver was, and they were unable to furnish any evidence of who the driver was, on the balance of probablities the court would find for the parking company that the RK was liable?

Originally Posted by Rob S

So what you are in effect saying Pat is that if a parking company went to a court and said that they didn't know who the driver was, and they were unable to furnish any evidence of who the driver was, on the balance of probablities the court would find for the parking company that the RK was liable?

I suspect that for a private RK, the answer would be yes.

Originally Posted by Rob S

So what you are in effect saying Pat is that if a parking company went to a court and said that they didn't know who the driver was, and they were unable to furnish any evidence of who the driver was, on the balance of probablities the court would find for the parking company that the RK was liable?

The judge might also just ask the RK if they were the driver. I gather small claims court isn't very formal.

On the other hand, telling the parking company to go find the driver is an excellent way to get them to go away. It's just that it's good to have something more in reserve if by chance it does ever get to court.