Parking ticket scammers

[STRAMASHER]

Friend of mine just got a letter from one of these Private Car Parking mobs saying to pay £60 fine from back in October at a well known large busy shopping mall in Glasgow.

My friend was on his motorcycle and had parked at the metal loops for 5-10mins as he had done on many occassions before, where employees parked their bikes /bicycles and scooters before he had noted.

Returns to bike to find two of these guys finishing writing a ticket and telling my mate "Its changed" and he should of parked in a car space!!! (endearing himself further to the car driving majority then!) or in specific bike parking. (A former disabled bay ((tough **** eh?) hidden behind a hedge and no signs visible from the road). Further, "Bike exhausts are hot, so its a Health&Safety issue." he was told. There was a small sign miles up on the wall covering the 50m of ground anchor thingies.



So an injustice he thought, so argued his various points reasonably and respectfully in a pleasent manner and eventually refused the ticket.


February letter , he has told me, informs him , as he is the registered keeper of the vehicle reported, (DVLA sell this info nowadays) to pay up in 2weeks or it goes (sold) to a debt collecting agency.

He now has a dilema of paying up to these crooks or completely ignoring all of it in its entirity as they need to prove it was him "driving" to "get" him for "breach of contract" with the parking company.

Can they "blacklist you/CCJ" before they take you to court?


Anybody had any experiences with these Private scammers? In Scotland (variances in law?!)

Loads of stories on the net he said, but little with actual outcomes.

Trying to help out a mate.

Cheers

[timwilky]

I would advise your friend to take it to court, most enforcement orders come out of a default by not defending it before the court.

You cannot be fined by a private company, they only have the ability to issue a penalty by virtue that by parking on private land you entered into a contract to park and broke the terms of the contract.

Penalties cannot be punitive, they must represent the financial loss brought about by breach of contract. Nobody can say a store lost £60 because you parked in the wrong place.

fight it. but do not ignore it or they win by default and costs get huge every time they fail to collect.

[Stu]

Originally Posted by STRAMASHER

Can they "blacklist you/CCJ" before they take you to court?

Yes / No
Yes they could record a default against you on your credit file.
No, how could they possibly give you a County Court Judgement without taking you to court?

Originally Posted by Stu

Yes / No
Yes they could record a default against you on your credit file.
No, how could they possibly give you a County Court Judgement without taking you to court?

I think you're thinking of a Consumer Credit Act Notice of Default. Answer - no, it's not CCA-regulated.

I'd go to Court.

Originally Posted by Ed

I'd go to Court.

Does he have to wait for them to take him to court, by which time the £60 charge will no doubt have turned into £60,000,000 with fees from the debt collection agency.

Or can he pre-emp all of that and take it to court himself straight away, before the stakes get too big?

I'd fight a £60 fine, but if not paying and waiting for them to take court action results in the charge going up and up then it will cause him a whole loads of stress and he might end up having to pay much more.

Should such letters not be sent to you recorder delivery? What if you never actually get the letter?

Originally Posted by New Leaf

...I'd fight a £60 fine, but if not paying and waiting for them to take court action results in the charge going up and up then it will cause him a whole loads of stress and he might end up having to pay much more.

But how can they even justify £60?

[Gazza77]

Originally Posted by Ed

I think you're thinking of a Consumer Credit Act Notice of Default. Answer - no, it's not CCA-regulated.

I'd go to Court.

+1.

New Leaf - yes the collection agency will add their whack. Just refuse to deal with them and either (a) they'll give up or b) they'll issue proceedings. If (a) all well and good. If (b), the charges are every bit as unenforceable as the 'fine'.

[Stu]

Originally Posted by Ed

I think you're thinking of a Consumer Credit Act Notice of Default. Answer - no, it's not CCA-regulated.

I'd go to Court.

I don't understand bold bit.

and how can you go to court if they don't send you a summons? should you issue a summons saying they are unfairly hassling you?