Parking Fine from Private Company (not council)

ScarySquirrel · 31 May 2009 at 12:16

Hi all,

Last weekend I visited some friends in Leeds and parked in the car park for the complex of flats they live in. They told me it would be fine.

I woke up the next day to see I was given a parking fine at 00:54!!!!! FOR £80. Rising to £120 if I don't pay by today.

I later found out that I needed a guest permit but they didn't have a spare one.

I did some Google searching to make sure it wasn't a scam company or something, and I have found a few people suggesting (albeit back in 2006) to just not pay it at all.

Their website is www.wheel-clamping.co.uk

If it was the standard £30 parking fine I would just pay it, but £80 is a little more significant. What shall I do?

Hxc · 31 May 2009 at 12:18

You are under no legal obligation to pay parking fines that are not issued by the council.

ScarySquirrel · 31 May 2009 at 12:21

Hxc said:
You are under no legal obligation to pay parking fines that are not issued by the council.

I have a feeling the council tender out parking enforcement to the likes of these guys though.

I have an application in for the Police at the moment so I would hate to have that screwed up by me not paying a parking fine.

Hmmm...think I just answered my own question.

Illusion · 31 May 2009 at 12:36

I'm pretty sure there isn't much they can do there have been a couple of threads like this before. Even if they did take it further I'd guess they would have to go through the small claims court and you could just pay it off if it got that far...

Werewolf · 31 May 2009 at 12:52

If it's in private parking (IE the flats own parking), and it's a private company it's a parking invoice, not fine (private companies cannot issue fines like this, it's all done under contract law effectively).

They contact the registered keeper of the vehicle, the RK may not have been the driver (so no contract formed), the RK has no legal obligation to respond to such invoices from private companies, or tell them who the driver was, and the private companies can only potentially take action against the driver who would have formed the contract by parking there (unlike if it's issued by the police or council where I beleive the RK is still held responsible for the car, or has to tell who the driver was).

It all depends on if it was a private company working under instruction of the local council (IE outsourced parking enforcement etc on public land), or a private company on private land, i'm guessing the latter.

iaind · 31 May 2009 at 12:59

Were there signs up in clear view of where you parked, explaining the limitations and implications?

Berger · 31 May 2009 at 12:59

However, if the parking company then used the data protection act, paid £10 (or whatever the fee is) and obtained the CCTV footage from the flats to prove it was the OP (or used the visitor records for the flats that are sometimes required) who was driving, then presented this as evidence in court (if it went that far) he would be screwed?

Morgoth · 31 May 2009 at 13:18

I doubt they would go to the trouble of taking it to court.

Domi · 31 May 2009 at 13:56

why would you think they will not take it to court ?

This is what they do for a living ! How much do you think it costs them to take you to the small claims court ? assuming they have evidence of your parking where you should not of and I am sure they do (they will have taken pictures etc) then they will win in a small claims court and you will simply get there costs as well. Take them a while to get there money but in the end it costs them nothing.

The chances are before taking it to a small claims court they will pass it on to a debt collectors first and these people are likely to come knocking on your door , these little clamping companies are little better than thieves but sadly they do have the law on there side.

-Ad- · 31 May 2009 at 14:00

Domi said:
why would you think they will not take it to court ?

This is what they do for a living ! How much do you think it costs them to take you to the small claims court ? assuming they have evidence of your parking where you should not of and I am sure they do (they will have taken pictures etc) then they will win in a small claims court and you will simply get there costs as well. Take them a while to get there money but in the end it costs them nothing.

The chances are before taking it to a small claims court they will pass it on to a debt collectors first and these people are likely to come knocking on your door , these little clamping companies are little better than thieves but sadly they do have the law on there side.

Re-read Werewolfs post.

These companies (if not outsourced by the council) will not be taking people to court. They rely on bullying and intimidating people to pay up, when they have no obligation to do so. Check out consumer action group forums and moneysaving expert. It isn't going to be a parking ticket, it is merely an invoice that you won't have to pay.

Saw last week that in sainsburys in Barnet that you could stay for 1/2 hours then have to pay £1 to stay there any longer, even when shopping in that store. Euro car parks are just another company that can't make you pay up.

There are laods of templates out there on consumer action group, just whateveer you do don't write to them or pay for it without popping over there first.

Dogbreath · 31 May 2009 at 14:01

Domi said:
why would you think they will not take it to court ?

This is what they do for a living !

No they don't. They ticket hundreds of cars, safe in the knowledge that a large number of them are naive enough to pay up without question. Why bother wasting time and money chasing up a (relatively) small fine when they can just ticket a few more cars?

Captain_Slick · 31 May 2009 at 14:03

Domi, you're full of rubbish.

Ignore it, OP. If they were working on behalf of the council, they're required by law to display contact details of the local council on the 'fine' IIRC, so if there's no mention of any local authority, they're relying on you being scared into paying. That's how they make their money.

I don't think I've ever heard of these sort of companies ever taking anyone to court though. The legal costs and high chance of losing don't make it worth the hassle when gullible people will pay upfront 50% of the time.

singist · 31 May 2009 at 14:18

They can take you to court but the claim would be for damages and as the parking is 'free' they have not incurred any damages. If the parking was £5 a day or whatever, that + costs is all that they can claim.

Basically, forget it, it is a civil case and NOT criminal so should have no effect on your career.

Spleen Sauce · 31 May 2009 at 14:21

I was in a similar situation with a block of flats in the centre of Cardiff, visited a friend and used their parking bay and got 'fined' £75 for it. I refused to pay without proof that I was legally required to do so. After 3 weeks of phone calls demanding I pay up I threatened with legal action against them for harassment so they dropped it.

Domi · 31 May 2009 at 14:35

It does look like I am completely wrong I can find no evidence of your company ever actually taking anybody to court.

It also looks like the worst that can happen is you end up in court lose and have to pay the fine and maybe a token extra charge, (note this is not a CCJ or anything similar unless you fail to pay at that point).

NickXX · 31 May 2009 at 15:04

Domi said:
why would you think they will not take it to court ?

This is what they do for a living ! How much do you think it costs them to take you to the small claims court ? assuming they have evidence of your parking where you should not of and I am sure they do (they will have taken pictures etc) then they will win in a small claims court and you will simply get there costs as well. Take them a while to get there money but in the end it costs them nothing.

The chances are before taking it to a small claims court they will pass it on to a debt collectors first and these people are likely to come knocking on your door , these little clamping companies are little better than thieves but sadly they do have the law on there side.

This is a load of rubbish. Their contract would not stand up in court if they actually had the cheek to take you to court - which is why they don't do it.

They rely on scaring people into coughing up, which I guess works the majority of the time.

NickXX · 31 May 2009 at 15:07

Last heard from them over a year ago. I've not been taken to court, and I haven't paid - they have just given up.

Tute · 1 Jun 2009 at 00:12

I posted this before but it's still relevant.

About a year ago I got fined by a private company called W J Parking. I was at a friend's house and although I had a permit, I forgot to display it.

Having done a search, and finding that I didn't have to bother paying it, I was just going to leave W J Parking to stew when my "better half" went behind my back and paid it. All £75 of it.

And there's an example of the naive people that just pay up without question. I was absolutely furious, as she hadn't bothered to come to me first.

monkey_boy · 1 Jun 2009 at 08:45

Berger said:
However, if the parking company then used the data information act...

I love internet lawyers.

Berger · 1 Jun 2009 at 09:01

monkey_boy said:
I love internet lawyers.

Sorry, im only recalling what I thought was correct.

I believed that for the majority of places you could request the CCTV footage and you would have to pay a nominal fee.

When people have their car scraped, its the first thing to be suggested.

So sod off or come up with the correct answer rather than just slating me :rolleyes: