PPC Fine - Have I shot myself in the foot?

[Jaiyan]

Hi All,

 

Firstly I want to say thankyou as this site has some great, centralised information (albeit slightly overwhelming, but the law can be that way!) and that I've tried to read as much of it as I can to beat the con artists.

 

I was wondering if someone could offer additional advice however. My initial situation is simple. I rent a flat with an allocated parking space. This space is allocated to a particular permit which is allocated to the address that I am the legal tenant for (my mother is the landlord). I hold the permit.

 

One day my permit slipped from view and I was given a £100 parking fine by a PPC called OPC. I appealled, advising them that the vehicle in question is registered to me, I hold the permit, and that no-one else was impaired by the vehicle being there other than the permit holder (me); and that subsequently that they had no grounds to uphold the ticket; however they have rejected my appeal stating again that no permit was on view and that my vehicle was causing an obstruction.

In addition they supplied photographic evidence of my vehicle without a permit, but ironically that additionally proves that my vehicle was in the space that I hold the permit for, and didn't encroach the lines of the space to impair others.

 

The problem though, is that in my appeal I said that I understood why the ticket had been issued. I effectively admitted that the permit could not be seen, just that they should overturn the ticket with the subsequent information I provided which would prove that I was permitted to park the vehicle there.

 

After reading the information here I can see that my honesty was likely not a smart move, even though I am in the right. Do I still have a leg to stand on if I get taken to court? Being the permit holder of the space and the driver of the vehicle, and using their own evidence to prove that I was in no-one else's space, I fully believe that they cannot prove that I have incurred £100 of costs to anyone else; however I'm worried that my admission of understanding for the initial issuing of the fine will render my arguement defunct in court.

 

But surely, after being advised that I (the driver of the vehicle) am the permit holder and the only one allowed in the space in question, their persistence amounts to harrassment?

 

Can anyone advise?

 

Many thanks,

 

J

[My Real Name]

If the parking space on private land, you may as well ignore the ticket. Fines are unenforceable.

 

Follow the template letters in the stickies - they are fairly comprehensive in their coverage.

[Jaiyan]

Thanks for your response; however I've looked through the templates and information and they focus almost exclusively on the PPC being unable to prove who the driver was, barring a brief bit that says "if you're the driver, be careful lying".

 

I have already admitted I was the driver which is ultimately where my problem lies and where the great information on this site is limited.

 

I'm pretty sure I'm just going to ignore it and fight it, but ultimately the question is whether my position to fight this extortion is affected by my admittance that I'm the driver, even though I'm in my space.

 

Thanks

[pin1onu]

Thanks for your response; however I've looked through the templates and information and they focus almost exclusively on the PPC being unable to prove who the driver was, barring a brief bit that says "if you're the driver, be careful lying".

 

I have already admitted I was the driver which is ultimately where my problem lies and where the great information on this site is limited.

 

I'm pretty sure I'm just going to ignore it and fight it, but ultimately the question is whether my position to fight this extortion is affected by my admittance that I'm the driver, even though I'm in my space.

 

Thanks

There is another set of templates entitled what to do if you wrote first.

 

The ability to name the driver is only the first section of the defense. They have to prove the contract is fair and valid. Any charges that they make have to be agreed beforehand and must not be punitive (i.e. penalty charges).

 

Have a read of the Private Parking Charges guide which sets out some of the other things to check.

[Al27]

1. There is no appeals process. No private company will voluntarily do themselves out of profit. Hence your standard template rejection letter.

 

my mother is the landlord

 

2. The parking company can only act on behalf of a landowner. You'd have to look at who exactly owns the land (I assume it's some third party maintance agreement). If your mother owned the land, you wouldn't even need a permit at any time and the parking company wouldn't be allowed to set foot on the tarmac.

 

Either way, it's all academic. Chances of court action are less than 1%.

Just ignore them and their junk mail and don't contact them again.

[Jaiyan]

Cheers guys. The sheer fact that these conmen want to charge me for parking in my space is infuriating. Screw their terms, it's my space that my mother has paid for, not theirs.

Anyway, I'm used to pseudo-baliiffs from my last flat when the previous tenants failed to pay...well...anything at all. Another set of extortion letters won't faze me.

 

Cheers for the advice.