I would like to reply to the article “Car Fines ‘a Cheat’“, Star, February 28. I have fallen foul of car park ‘fines’ before, which I successfully contested so far as I deemed them unfair and unlawful. I have learnt a lot since then and feel the need to inform readers who may be ignorant regarding their rights. It is therefore very unfortunate that Mr. Kempster paid the amount as I very much doubt debt collectors would have paid him a visit. Whilst I do not deny that there are many instances improper parking, the ‘fines’ issued are simply wrong.
First of all, any charge a vehicle owner receives from a private parking company (PPC) whom a store, retail park, supermarket, hospital or other business employ for car park management will not be a fine. It is merely an invoice which can be termed in a different of ways: Parking Charge Notice, Charge Notice, Notice to Owner, etc. It is completely different to a Penalty Charge Notice, which can only be issued by councils in their car parks or by the police and traffic wardens on the publicly maintained highway under the Road Traffic Act 1991. As it can be seen, the various terms used by PPCs are deliberately in a attempt to mislead and scare customers.
Legal and General, the car park owners, cannot themselves issue any fines. Only a court of criminal law can issue fines and this is a civil matter on privately owned land. Whilst UKPC will issue invoices on their behalf that appear quite threatening, most of the reasons for charges have no basis whatsoever in law.
The whole process is based on contract law, which basically relies on the driver reading signs in the vehicle park. By reading these signs, the driver agrees to enter a contract to pay a sum of money to park in a car park. Therefore, if signs are incorrect, broken or hidden, acceptance to the contract terms cannot be guaranteed.
If for some reason, the PPC deems the driver not adhering to the rules on the sign, it may issue an invoice on the vehicle. Alternatively, the PPC may simply take its registration, either via CCTV or its staff (wardens) and pay the DVLA £2.50 to get the registered keeper’s details. The PPC will then send an invoice to the latter.
The problem is that the driver of the vehicle at the time may not be the registered keeper and it is the driver who entered the contract in the first place, not the registered keeper. The registered keeper has no obligation to tell the PPC who was driving the vehicle at the time of the alleged infringement, and under civil law, there are no powers to force them to give up that information. Therefore the onus is on the PPC to prove who the driver of the vehicle was and send them the invoice. The PPC may claim that the registered keeper is responsible for the vehicle, regardless of who was driving but, under civil law, this is a lie. The registered keeper is therefore free to ignore any invoice if they do not want to contact the PPC.
If the matter does reach court, possible only once the PPC can prove the driver’s identity, the PPC would only be able to claim for any losses and reasonable expenses occurred from a breach of contract under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulation 1999 and related Statutory Instrument 1999 No. 2083., and in most car parks, that would only be a few pounds. In a free car park, this could be zero!
Usually, if the invoice is not paid, the PPC will continue to send threatening letters to the registered keeper mentioning debt collectors and how his/her credit rating will be affected. It may also put up the money due each time. This is all utter nonsense. Debt collectors (different from bailiffs) legally can do nothing more except ask for money. They have no powers such as bailiffs have. Even the latter can only act once the case has been lost in a county court and the charge remains unpaid thereafter. Therefore, if anyone is threatened by the use of bailiffs or debt collectors without having been to court, there is nothing to worry about.
Should debt collectors contact you, simply tell them that the invoice is in dispute and not to contact you anymore. They can do no more than take it back to the PPC. If they persist, you are fully entitled to report them under the Protection From Harassment Act 1997 and Section 40 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970.
I strongly urge readers not to feel intimidated regarding the matter. There is a wealth of information on the internet for readers to get acquainted with the facts above for themselves. The Consumer Action Group forums are very useful and in fact, provided a basis for me to write in.
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- My offence was taking up more than one bay (free car park), its hardly surprising that a 54 odd ft long vehicle will take up a bit more than one space I suppose.....
