Town and City Parking (TCP) Fine

[BensGrandad]

All supermarkets and large stores like B & Q use these type of companies and from the company point of view if they issue 55 tickets at £40 and 10% refuse to pay they still make £2000 and pay an old boy about £6 or £7 per hour. Provided he issues and people pay at least 3 or 4 a day they are well in pocket.

 

[Philzo-93]

Now that is how you give legal advice without any of the corporate jargon bullshit

 

[Benson]

I know one of the directors.

He deserves a Christmas too so pay up please.

Thanks.

Ok, no problem.
Any chance of a quick link so we can be assured all monies reach the correct recipient?

 

[mune ni kamome]

Well they're not actually scammers and chancers as has been quoted on here. They have been employed by ASDA plc to run their car park and ensure people use the car park for shopping and not as a cheap way to spend the day in Brighton. From my own experience if you write to ASDA and explained what you did then the ticket would be happily cancelled without all these letters or bad feeling

 

[Bozza]

Ok, no problem.
Any chance of a quick link so we can be assured all monies reach the correct recipient?

Paypal it to me, and I'll give it to him when I see him next.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Well they're not actually scammers and chancers as has been quoted on here. They have been employed by ASDA plc to run their car park and ensure people use the car park for shopping and not as a cheap way to spend the day in Brighton. From my own experience if you write to ASDA and explained what you did then the ticket would be happily cancelled without all these letters or bad feeling

So let me get this right, you don't believe they are scammers despite the FACT that a court case against VCS this year proved that a private parking company has no LEGAL right to offer a contract to park without owning or at least having a lease on, the car park ? That's completely ignoring the penalty issue of their charges and the FACT that under contract law the LANDOWNER ( not a private parking company ) can ONLY sue for provable loses ? Loses in a free car park can only be ZERO !!!!!

 

[c0lz]

lol wife got one for parking to long in lidos Brighton when she also went to mac's cafe afterwards, we were sent around 3 letters then they gave up.

 

[cornishseagull]

Shamefully I used to work for this company (I am a student and needed to money over the summer before you all start)

Ignore anything and everything they send you (they live in hope that odd mug will continue to pay the fines so they can continue to operate)

After a few weeks/months you will start to receive letters from a company called 'Whyte & co' (the guy on the next desk at head office) explaining how you have so many days to pay before recovery will be instigated. Utter bollocks they cannot do a thing.

 

[Rastamouse84]

Shamefully I used to work for this company (I am a student and needed to money over the summer before you all start)

Ignore anything and everything they send you (they live in hope that odd mug will continue to pay the fines so they can continue to operate)

After a few weeks/months you will start to receive letters from a company called 'Whyte & co' (the guy on the next desk at head office) explaining how you have so many days to pay before recovery will be instigated. Utter bollocks they cannot do a thing.

Thanks Cornishseagull, very helpful. I'll ignore them until they (hopefully) get fed up

 

[The Fifth Column]

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.

 

[Tory Boy]

You do one of two things.

1. Ignore it.

2. Appeal it to the new appeals system which will cost them £27 which they can't recover from you, and if you lose you can go back to option 1.

The good people on pepipoo are the experts on what to do.

TB

 

[Papa Lazarou]

I take it you didn't buy any frozen or perishable goods at Asda, otherwise leaving them in the car whilst you go to the Harvester was probably unwise?

 

[mune ni kamome]

So let me get this right, you don't believe they are scammers despite the FACT that a court case against VCS this year proved that a private parking company has no LEGAL right to offer a contract to park without owning or at least having a lease on, the car park ? That's completely ignoring the penalty issue of their charges and the FACT that under contract law the LANDOWNER ( not a private parking company ) can ONLY sue for provable loses ? Loses in a free car park can only be ZERO !!!!!

All I'm saying is that at Dunelm Mill Shoreham, Tesco Hove and Asda Marina I & my family have had tickets cancelled with no questions asked after I pointed out that I had shopped there and then gone for a coffee. No big deal and no big man bravado ignoring the letters. Simple.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

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.

The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 allows PPCs to ask the Registered Keeper who was driving - if the RK doesn't provide this information then the PPC will pass the "charge" onto the RK . Firstly the POFA doesn't over rule years of contract law and secondly the charge is still as legally unenforceable against the RK as it is the driver.

You quote the BPA - who are the BPA ? Oh yes, that cosy club funded by the Private Parking companies.

You use the word penalty - any PPC belonging to the BPA who uses the word penalty should be reported to DVLA who will revoke their access to the RK database.

The advice is always to ignore unless you fancy teaching the PPC a lesson by appealing and taking it to POPLA and costing them £32.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

All I'm saying is that at Dunelm Mill Shoreham, Tesco Hove and Asda Marina I & my family have had tickets cancelled with no questions asked after I pointed out that I had shopped there and then gone for a coffee. No big deal and no big man bravado ignoring the letters. Simple.

I'll save my stamp money thank you as opening the letters and throwing them in the bin costs nothing.

 

[Garage_Doors]

Hello All

I popped to Asda at the Marina a couple of weeks ago, spent about £200 on shopping, then popped to the Harvester with the Mrs for a bite to eat.

Got a letter yesterday from a company called Town and City Parking (TCP) trying to get £70 out of me (reduced to £40 if paid within 10 days) for being parked at Asda for 3 hours 20 minutes.

I've looked them up online and found an awful lot of posts saying to ignore them. Apparently they cant take you to court or make you pay the fine.

Has anyone had a simlar experience with a simlar company? What did you do?

Cheers

£200 would last a week with my lot.
Just man up and accept you were in the wrong for over staying the time and pay up.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

£200 would last a week with my lot.
Just man up and accept you were in the wrong for over staying the time and pay up.

[MENTION=24159]Rastamouse84[/MENTION] - see what I mean ??

Programme Seller would pay Nigerian phishing scammers !

 

[Garage_Doors]

[MENTION=24159]Rastamouse84[/MENTION] - see what I mean ??

Bit strong.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Bit strong.

Well you're the one suggesting he pays an illegal invoice.

YOU seriously suggest that people pay invoices that a court of law in the Upper Tribune ( i.e. a precedent setting court ) have said are illegal ?

 

[Rastamouse84]

[MENTION=24159]Rastamouse84[/MENTION] - see what I mean ??

Programme Seller would pay Nigerian phishing scammers !

Haha well done sir, as predicted