Parking fine/retail shopping car park

[jules9906]

My brother in law was parked appropriately in a disabled bay

displaying his disabled badge wallet albeit closed,

but as he had parked in a retail car park, this was just a gesture as he didn't think that this would apply.

 

He returned to his car to find a car parking fine of £50.

 

Being a law abiding person he made the payment via visa immediately.

 

He is now received a letter demanding the money and saying that the fine has not been paid.

 

He rang their office number as he was very upset by this and did a stupid thing,

left a message quoting his card number.

 

I believe these charges should ignored but how can I be sure that he will not get into further trouble.

 

He is 68 and has difficulty walking hence the disabled badge.

 

What should I advise him please?

 

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

I have tweeted on twitter to try to bring awareness to these charges which are causing distress to many.

 

How can we , the people , stop these charges?

[sailor sam]

It isnt a fine. It should of been ignored. Persoanlly I would contact the card provider and cancel/un-authorise any payment to them.

[jules9906]

They use bully boy tactics, he has now received a letter asking for the money and they have threatened debt collectors, ballif and even court all of this for a law abiding person is very intimidating, He is very worried. How can awareness be brought to these practices.

[sailor sam]

Its unlikely they wil go anywhere near court as its to easy too defend. Without a court judgement, they cannot do anything... neither can bailiffs.

[dx100uk]

My brother in law was parked appropriately in a disabled bay

displaying his disabled badge wallet albeit closed,

but as he had parked in a retail car park, this was just a gesture as he didn't think that this would apply.

 

He returned to his car to find a car parking fine of £50.

 

Being a law abiding person he made the payment via visa immediately.

 

He is now received a letter demanding the money and saying that the fine has not been paid.

 

He rang their office number as he was very upset by this and did a stupid thing,

left a message quoting his card number.

 

I believe these charges should ignored but how can I be sure that he will not get into further trouble.

 

He is 68 and has difficulty walking hence the disabled badge.

 

What should I advise him please?

 

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

I have tweeted on twitter to try to bring awareness to these charges which are causing distress to many.

 

How can we , the people , stop these charges?

 

 

 

do a chargeback now!!

http://whatconsumer.co.uk/visa-debit-chargeback/

 

and get him to cancel his card

tell the provider the secdurity code has been compromised or something.

 

just for ref

as you have been told above

 

these ar not fines

they are a speculative invoice withNO legal backing.

 

just also remember that Blue Badges mean nothing on private land

 

neither do aNY road marking or bay markings

they are purely graffitti

with no statute under law whatsoever.

 

dx

[jules9906]

Thank you for replies and advice. I think this should be made aware to everyone. I think I will drop my local MP a letter an see response.

[sailor sam]

Take alook at this.

 

[jules9906]

Thanks for this excellent link, I have tagged on Twitter to help others. Keep up the good work.

[newmoses]

I have always sent letters to these parasites playing dumb.I wait for a reply then start sending them more ruthless letters quoting laws.I have won ove rthe likes of A S securi-T,Capital parking,town and County Parking just to name a few.

[Jamberson]

Good for you, but you would also have "won" if you'd done nothing.

[jules9906]

At the moment we are not replying to the. Have written to local councillor, for what use they are awaiting reply. I will update thread when I know more. Thanks for your help, most appreciated.

[jules9906]

Thanks everyone for your replies and help on this problem, my latest update, took all advice, cancelled charge on card and have written to local Councillors and MP and AM (Welsh Assembly Member), good response from all, local Councillor has referred to Council's legal department for research, MP and AM both looking into, I will update again on any progress so that anyone in a similar position can may be follow my route to solve this injustice.

[dx100uk]

so the chargeback has happened?

 

dx

[jules9906]

No, what happened, my brother in law paid immediately in Dec but it wasn't until he received the threatening letter that the checked with his bank and as luck would have it, the charge hadn't gone through, so then he did the stupid thing of ringing their number and left his card number. I told him to go to bank and cancel card payment which has done, therefore no charge has been made. I will post again why I see what the Council etc come up with, I am thankful to this site for its advice and support.

[dx100uk]

woe that was lucky!

 

dx

[jules9906]

anyaYes he was lucky, my sister hasn't stopped nagging him since ,,,,,:violin:n upward and upward, I will post any progress, thx.

[Tony P]

Council? I hope you mean Councillor. The Council will not be interested, even in firms trying to mimic them fraudulently.

 

A friend sent off a cheque to one of these begging firms just before mentioning his 'ticket' to me.

He had already 'appealed' which, Surprise, Surprise, was rejected. So he sent a cheque.

Just in time, after our chat, he stopped the cheque.

Payment of the cheque was refused by his Bank when presented the next day.

 

That was over 3 years ago.

He has never heard another word despite them knowing his name and address, and he admitting to being the driver there.

 

Presumably, by having the cheque stopped, they realised he realised and turned their attention to other, weaker victims.

[jules9906]

yes local Councillor and MP, Councillor has referred the copy of the penalty charge notice and the subsequent letter to the legal Dept, let's see what they come with, should be interesting.

[dx100uk]

but its NOT a penalty charge notice is it!

 

dx

[jules9906]

No Civil Parking Notice issued by car parking partnership, Northampton

[dx100uk]

then why use those words

 

that s a speculative invoice as you know!

 

dx

[jules9906]

Update to my earlier thread. My local Councillor referred the matter to Newport City Council's Legal Department they said.....

 

"This is a privately operated car park in Spytty, not a Council pay-and-display car park.

 

With official Council car parks, the parking tickets are subject to enforcement through criminal fines in the magistrates court because they are statutory offences. However, private car parks on retail parks such as Spytty do not have criminalised enforcement powers. In effect, these are civil penalties imposed on a contractual basis - there should be prominent signs displayed which set out the parking "terms and conditions" and the financial penalties for non-compliance. If you park your car there, then you are effectively "accepting" these terms and agreeing to pay any financial penalties if you break their rules

 

If you don't pay the "fine" then all they can do is issue a claim in the small claims court to recover this financial penalty as a "debt". Anyone who feels that they have a valid defence on the basis that the terms and conditions were not clearly displayed or that they complied with any conditions would be entitled to refuse to pay and force them to take the case through the courts. In the case of a disabled driver with a valid disc, I can't see that the Parking Enforcement company would want to incur the time and trouble of court proceedings, but they would have to take their own advice on this. As for the Council's policy on "fluttering tickets" for our pay-and-display car parks, you would have to check with the Car Parks Manager. However, if someone could produce a valid ticket, then we certainly wouldn't prosecute just for its non-display in the window. Of course, if the ticket was blown away and there was no evidence of its purchase, then it would depend on whether we accepted the person's word on it (or if the court believed their evidence if it went to the magistrates court)."

 

.. AM Assembly Member for Wales, Welsh Assembly wrote to Car Parking Partnership and received this reply which I have uploaded, also my local MP is writing to Car Parking Partnership. I am going to reply to AM and MP giving them both permission to discuss this matter on my behalf. Car Parking Partnership re not backing down. I am going to say that I am confused by what Car Parking Partnership says in their reply regarding 'terms and conditions'.

 

Car Parking Partnership’s letter refers to the terms of the contract which is displayed in the car park. They say that if vehicles are parked in breach of the terms and conditions, then additional parking charges will apply.

I find this confusing as there is no charge to park in the car park. If I had parked in the space next to where I was parked no ticket would have been issued. As stated previously, I was parked appropriately in a disabled bay, displaying my disabled badge wallet, albeit closed, but as I had parked in a retail car park, this was just a gesture on my part as I did not think that this would apply. I was not blocking any other vehicle(s) or blocking access to any shops or parked on the walkway, I was parked responsibly.

 

I decided to park in the disabled bay as I am disabled and have walking difficulties which necessitate me to be as close to shops as possible. After all the only reason I was parked in the retail car park was that I was shopping. This was three days before Christmas.

 

Any further advice would be most helpful.

[ManxRed]

The council's legal bod has everything correct apart from one major issue. you cannot charge penalties for breach of a contract - this is enshrined in contract law. So the statement about 'paying any financial penalties if you break their rules' is contrary to what contract law actually states. Have a read of clause 3.4 of this: http://www.goldsmithibs.com/resources/free/Breach-of-Contract/notes/Breach-of-Contract-Remedies.pdf

[jules9906]

Thanks for reply, I will read the clause. I will keep thread going and post outcome which could hopefully help others. Cheers