Town and City Parking (TCP) Fine

[bha100]

A word of caution for the future, since wheel clamping is now illegal on private land the only recourse for private car park owners will be to employ various methods of ticketing cars using their car-parks. You can expect to see a dramatic rise in tickets being issued and they will all look official and have various references to being a 'penalty charge notice' or similar wording. It is easy enough to simply say ignore these tickets as they amount to a civil debt/contract and one you did not agree to however the same law that has seen the abolition of wheel clamping has also strengthened the law on ticketing and means that unpaid charges may be legally claimed from the owner/driver. The government has agreed to an independent appeals tribunal funded by the British Parking Association (BPA) and this will allow motorists to appeal against a parking charge issued on private land by a company that is a member of the BPA's approved operator scheme.

** Taken from BBC website** BPA chief executive Patrick Troy said: "The Protection of Freedoms Act ushers in perhaps the most significant shake-up of the private parking industry ever seen in this country and there is much that we and the government can be proud of.

"However, the regulations do not yet go far enough. An independent appeals service which is not binding on all operators is likely to be a recipe for confusion among motorists and a ban on clamping is no substitute for proper regulation of the industry.

"That being said, the new appeals service, such as it is, will provide a long-overdue layer of protection for motorists who want to know that they no longer have to look to the courts for recourse when they feel that a parking enforcement notice has been unfairly issued."

It would seem to me then that the vast majority of 'parking' tickets issued are likely to be from companies that used to do wheel clamping but since that is now illegal will now be chancing their arms at ticketing cars instead. It also seems to suggest that at least some tickets may well be enforceable if the operator is part of the BPA's approved operator scheme. I can't seem to find any clarification on this issue but would suggest excercising a little more caution than in the past when you could simply ignore any ticket issued on private land. I imagine this topic will feature prominently on sites such as moneysavingexpert.com and other such sites so might be worth checking those for updates and advice.

You are correct regarding the new laws regarding recovery of unpaid parking charges, i for one would still not pay no matter how many letters the threat monkeys send, the collection of £100 debts would cost them too much money to pursue through the county court, £35 or £25 if done online with no guarantee they will recover any money, im personally not bothered by a ccj but if you are then you could always ignore the threatening letters and if you get one from Northampton County Court deal with it then. This is what you were referring to

http://assets.dft.gov.uk/publications/guidance-unpaid-parking-charges/guidance-unpaid-parking-charges.pdf

 

[PsychoPaul]

I was under the impression they were non-enforcable, however the law changed apparently, check out this thread I posted on the other week up my end, another Palace came on with an update. No doubt they are still ways around it & it's how far the landowner is willing to push it thou

sainsburys carpark - Crystal Palace FC Supporters' Website - The Holmesdale Online

 

[LadySeagull]

I was under the impression they were non-enforcable, however the law changed apparently, check out this thread I posted on the other week up my end, another Palace came on with an update. No doubt they are still ways around it & it's how far the landowner is willing to push it thou

sainsburys carpark - Crystal Palace FC Supporters' Website - The Holmesdale Online

Whilst you have posted with good intentions and said 'no doubt there are ways around it' this post about the 'new law' simply isn't needed, this is alarmist and already covered elsewhere. It's never about how far a landowner wants to push it because it's almost never about the landowner - these third party firms are out for their own profits. But they are in a worse position now than they were!

There are already replies telling people that these fake PCNs are unenforceable (the new law doesn't change that) and telling people to go to MSE or pepipoo of unsure. This pepipoo summary thread is updated with the new law stuff (Protection of Freedoms Act, the same law that made private clamping/towing illegal from 1st October):

Dealing with from Private Parking Companies (PPCs) - FightBack Forums

Basically people can no longer just say 'well I wasn't driving' but then that was never a main reason why these fake PCNs are unenforceable, there are lots of reasons in law.

The good thing is that the PPCs now have to fund an independent appeal called POPLA (Parking on Private Land Appeals), which they have to offer if rejecting an appeal to them over one of their fake PCNs. It costs the PPC £27 plus VAT and the decision is only binding on them! So the motorist can appeal, go to POPLA, lose at POPLA and carry on ignoring the last letters from the scammer PPC, happy in the knowledge they have cost them money!

No wonder on MSE and pepipoo we regulars (some of us from this forum) are finding it so hard to get a PPC to take the bait and fund a POPLA appeal. They keep folding and cancelling the fake tickets which is no fun at all.

To the OP of this thread, if you go to MSE or pepipoo fightback forums (links below) they can help you to word an appeal that will probably get this rubbish cancelled. Just state the appeal (shopping, long queues, etc.) mention you know about POPLA and wish to use that option, basically...

Parking Tickets, Fines Parking - MoneySavingExpert.com Forums

FightBack Forums -> Private Parking Tickets Clamping

HTH

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

If ASDA tried to charge me £5 for overstaying and it was my fault (swanning it around the Marina, for example) I actually would pay it if it was a 'pay at barrier' system or something straightforward like that - but I would never go there again because there are free car parks around. But if the delay was due to extensive Christmas browsing/shopping, long queues at the till, etc. then of course not!

But this isn't Asda, it's a third party claiming a massive amount; a parasite firm who provide no service, no car park management, no maintenance of the car park and who have zero understanding of who can use a disabled bay. The only reason these firms are there is because they have presented some smarmy spiel at Asda Head Office, depicting their protection racketeering as a 'service' and convincing Asda that it's a good idea to let them handle the car park issues (of which there were pretty much none before the advent of private parking companies - 'PPCs' for short on the MSE and pepipoo forums).

Anyone who pays even a penny to such scumbags is stark raving mad. It's not about 'morals' it's about being taken in by a scam and you still haven't grasped that.

Glad to see everyone else on the forum gets it though.

Does everyone know that Excel are currently (quite rightly) one of several PPCs who are BANNED by the DVLA from getting registered keepers' data? So if you are visiting friends near Curry's in Hove you can leave the car there and you won't hear a peep from Excel. Think they are banned until January. Not that their tickets are enforceable anyway of course.

Lol