Private Parking Companies and fines

[honda12]

Hi

 

When your car is driven by someone else and they receive a ticket in a private car park the demand for payment comes to the registered owner.Does that owner have to disclose the drivers name and address at any point in the process? What if they do not remember the person in charge at the time?

 

Is there any recognised campaign to stop the sharp practise used by these companies?

 

Thanks

[pin1onu]

Hi

 

When your car is driven by someone else and they receive a ticket in a private car park the demand for payment comes to the registered owner.Does that owner have to disclose the drivers name and address at any point in the process? What if they do not remember the person in charge at the time?

 

Is there any recognised campaign to stop the sharp practise used by these companies?

 

Thanks

Welcome to the forums.

 

The short answer is you don't have to provide them with anything. This is a civil matter and the onus of proof is on the claimant. Any alleged contract is with the driver and you as the registered keeper are under no obligation to tell them anything.

 

Let me clear up your terminology. There is no such person as the registered owner. The DVLA keep a record of the registered keeper. The registered keeper is essentially the person who receives all correspondance relating to the vehicle (e.g. tax). The RK may or may not be the owner of the vehicle.

 

The process the PPC will have followed is that at some point the alleged breach of parking contract occurred and your vehicles registration mux will have been recorded by the PPC. They are supposed to issue a "ticket" or more correctly, invoice at the time.

 

After the time to pay has expired they will apply to the DVLA and ask for the registered keeper details.

 

They will then harrass the RK to pay up, even if they weren't the driver. They will also quote all sorts of legislation to try to intimidate the RK into either naming the driver or paying up themselves.

 

Fortunately the legislation quoted (usually the Road Traffic Act) is not relevant to these cases but they rely on people's ignorance to try to obtain the drivers details/payment.

 

Your best bet is to ignore these shysters as this is little more than a mail based fraud. Have a look at some of the other threads for more details.

 

As for a recognised campaign to the get the process stopped - I'm not aware of any. However feel free to complain to your MP, Trading Standards, Office of Fair Trading, the DVLA, Information Comissioners and so on as these companies tend to breach case law, the fraud act, consumer regulations and data protection in the way they operate.

[Al27]

It's a mail [problem]. They don't care who gets their threatening junkmail, as long as somebody pays it.

 

Never contact the company and if they were stupid enough to take the keeper to court, they fall at the first hurdle and be suing the wrong person.

 

You're under no obligation to tell them anything.

[honda12]

Thank-you both for your responses. I appreciate your guidance. I received a letter this week saying that as a goodwill gesture they have cancelled the ticket. Then 2 days later received a letter from the debt collectors saying my appeall was rejected and that I had to pay up. I will not be contacting them - let them waste their time and money!!!

Thanks again