ParkingEye Private Parking Fine

[sloworm]

Anyone had a parking fine from these people before? I spent 4 hours in a 3 hour zone.
I am being told that as they are a private company (they want £100!!) people legally do not have to pay?

I got it at the Tandem Centre in Colliers Wood. Any help appreciated

[little al]

Ignore the letter completely. And its not a fine, its an invoice.

[GreatGonzo]

Originally Posted by sloworm

Anyone had a parking fine from these people before? I spent 4 hours in a 3 hour zone.
I am being told that as they are a private company (they want £100!!) people legally do not have to pay?

I got it at the Tandem Centre in Colliers Wood. Any help appreciated

So basically you parked on someone private land, outside the parameters they have set and now object to the fact they have fined you for this?

ParkingEye and a few other companies have set up prior to the new law which came in at the beginning of the month making it illegal to clamp or immobolise a car.

They will have had plenty of signage around giving you information on whether you were allowed to park and for how long which you either didn;t look for or ignored.

The Tandem Centre will have an account manager at ParkingEye and there is an appeals process so if you feel the ticket is unfair or incorrect it can be challenged. Is that the case?

ParkingEye are not a rogue company tand are employed by some of the biggest organisations in the UK to help control private parking areas, i know they have NHS contract and the hold the contract for B&Q and Pizza Hut i think use them.

Should you pay? Yes you were in the wrong
What will hapepn if you don't? I suspect they will take you to court, and it will be interesting given the recent change in law to what the courts response to these parking tickets are. If teh courts don't enforce them then it will basically be a free-for-all on all private land and i don't think they can risk that.

If it goes to court and you lose the chances are the original fine will be a fraction of what you end up having to pay.

[Les Butler]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/watchdog/...g_tickets.html

Watchdog viewers' responses:

I got charged £160 & naively paid it for an overnight 'parking ticket' on private land.

Glen from Leeds.

I had one of those tickets from Parking eye for overstaying at a services but they only decided to charge for once despite two occasions. I looked them up online & general advice was to ignore them. I did & they sent me a 2nd increased payment & then one from a so called debt collectors. 18 Months later i've not heard another thing from them.

[tramman]

At my last company we used to get tickets from these people all the time.

I just sent a letter of appeal and never heard from them again.
I am talking dozens of tickets not once had to pay the fine

[eaglejez]

Originally Posted by sloworm

Anyone had a parking fine from these people before? I spent 4 hours in a 3 hour zone.
I am being told that as they are a private company (they want £100!!) people legally do not have to pay?

I got it at the Tandem Centre in Colliers Wood. Any help appreciated

You should never admit being in the wrong on the BBS

[Cake and Eat It]

Putting aside the morality of it, which Great Gonzo has already raised.

Ignore it - as someone else stated - its merely an invoice - and for an invoice to be valid there needs to be a person to accept the contract (a car cannot form a contract)

You do not have to admit you were the driver of the vehicle - and they cannot force you to tell them who was. Therefore, it is impossible for them to prove a contract has been made.

In addition, there is probably just cause to question whether the "fine" (which is actually a charge) is fair given that it should accurately reflect the cost to them of your overstay.

[Lion]

Ignore Gonzo, what a pile of rubbish.

Clearly the obvious answer is that you should not pay it - either appeal (asking for proof) or just throw any further correspondence in the bin.

Scumbags Parking Firms don't deserve your hard earnt cash.

[GreatGonzo]

Originally Posted by Cake and Eat It

In addition, there is probably just cause to question whether the "fine" (which is actually a charge) is fair given that it should accurately reflect the cost to them of your overstay.

As i have said i expect the government under pressure from big business and the Parking industry to strengthen the legislation around these companies which is in everyone interests expect people who like to park against the wishes of the land owner.

The quoted bit i agree with though, and £100 does seem a large amount to pay for overstaying an allowed time. It is in excess of what you would recieve for illegally parking on the street. There shoudl be slightly more regulation and control over charges.

The inconvenience of mistakes is the only reason we do not already have a company like this monitoring our car park.

[GreatGonzo]

Originally Posted by Lion

Ignore Gonzo, what a pile of rubbish.

Clearly the obvious answer is that you should not pay it - either appeal (asking for proof) or just throw any further correspondence in the bin.

Scumbags Parking Firms don't deserve your hard earnt cash.

Really?

I can only assume you don't manage any private land, don't have responsibility for managing limited parking and see the real problems cause by selfish irresponsible people parking where they shouldn't.

[Stonewall]

I got a charge £50 from them for overstaying in B&Q in Sutton around June. Wrote back to tell them it's not legally enforce sable and I had no intention of paying, after a few more theating letters etc. they haven't botherd again.
So don't under any surcumstances pay them anything!

[Santos-er]

I got one of these recently while staying at a hotel in Plymouth with a car park operated by Parking Eye, despite the fact I provided my details to the hotel as required. I ignored it, but I'd done nothing wrong anyway and had the evidence to back it up.

On reflection, I realised that on that particular night, the cost of staying at the hotel was less than half it was for the other two. I was there for three nights yet only got an invoice for that one day. Coincidence? Probably, but I love a good conspiracy theory. Whatever, I won't be staying there again.

[GreatGonzo]

Originally Posted by Santos-er

On reflection, I realised that on that particular night, the cost of staying at the hotel was less than half it was for the other two. I was there for three nights yet only got an invoice for that one day. Coincidence? Probably, but I love a good conspiracy theory. Whatever, I won't be staying there again.

Doubt it was connected as the land owner doesn't get any money from the 'fine'.

[KennyB]

Originally Posted by Cake and Eat It

there is probably just cause to question whether the "fine" (which is actually a charge) is fair given that it should accurately reflect the cost to them of your overstay.

And that's the key.

If you have genuinely overstayed, then send them a cheque for a pro-rata amount to cover the additional time. Then it is not a case of oh no I didn't vs oh yes you did (park there).
And say that this is in full and fair payment of what you owe, and the actual cost to them of your overstay (i.e. someone else could have used that space and made a payment to them - you need to make up that 'loss', but that's all)

Look at the honest john website. Lots of very good advice there.

I don't advise you to ignore it, because if they did put the bailiffs onto it then their charges might/could swamp the original 'fine', regardless of whether you then pay up. They only back off if there is no case to answer, and there clearly is a case to answer, because you parked there.

[eaglejez]

the correct answer is to ignore it. Everyone wants to drive and park and these scum need to be put out of business

[Maidstoned Eagle]

Be a man, you ****ed up, you've admitted it...pay the ******* thing.

[GreatGonzo]

Originally Posted by eaglejez

the correct answer is to ignore it. Everyone wants to drive and park and these scum need to be put out of business

No these decent companies and those that contract with them need to be properly regulated and people who park in teh worng place and for the wrong length of time should have to pay legitimate fines.

[Ardent Eagle Forever]

I think this thread needs a vote Pay the fine yes or no

[Blind_Eagle]

Originally Posted by Lion

Scumbags Parking Firms don't deserve your hard earnt cash.

Owners of private land don't deserve scumbag drivers parking there without permission.

[Blind_Eagle]

Originally Posted by eaglejez

Everyone wants to drive and park and these scum need to be put out of business

Everyone who wants to drive and intentionally park where they do not have permission deserves to find a brick through their windscreen on their return.