Phil Creighton spoke to Scott Dixon, who has authored a book called How to Complain: The Consumer Guide to Cancelling Parking Tickets and Winning Pothole Claims, about some of the different ways locals can contest these parking tickets and why you should not be intimidated into paying up as soon as you receive a ticket.
The first thing to remember is that a private parking operator cannot fine you. They can only issue an invoice (disguised as a fine) for an alleged breach of contract for parking on private land.
These invoices are called Parking Charge Notices, which differ from those issued by local authorities which are called Penalty Charge Notices.
Penalty Charge Notices are legally enforceable fines for infringements on public highways.
That is not to say that you can ignore a Parking Charge Notice, as these can be pursued through the Small Claims Court as outstanding debts and ultimately you risk being issued with a County Court Judgement for failing to pay the invoice.
The first thing to check is the date of issue and date of the parking incident. If the date of issue is more than 14 days after the date of the parking incident, this breaches Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 meaning that there is no keeper liability.
Keeper liability is defined as who the keeper (owner) of the vehicle is.
Crucially, there is no liability to identify the driver of the vehicle either – you are merely invited to disclose who the driver is so the private parking operator can transfer liability.
The private parking operator cannot assume that the keeper was the driver, nor can they rely on CCTV images to do so under GDPR legislation.
In this scenario, you simply appeal as the keeper (do not use ‘I / We’ as you risk identifying who is liable). Thank them for their correspondence and cite that the keeper has received an invoice for an alleged breach of contract, will not identify the driver (nor can they assume that the keeper is the driver) and their only options are to cancel it or provide a POPLA code so it can be escalated and cancelled at their expense.
If the invoice is issued ‘in time’, go to the landowner in the first instance. This would be customer services at Tesco and speak to the staff or Duty Manager with a receipt to prove your visit and loyalty and get confirmation in writing.
They may say that they cannot do anything about it, but rest assured, if they got a ticket, it would be cancelled straightaway and they wouldn’t have to pay it.
Don’t be fobbed off. If nobody at the store will help you, escalate it by ringing Customer Service on 0800 50 5555 or email the CEO: [email protected]. The CEO is unlikely to read it, although he will have an escalated customer complaints resolution team who will.
Keep it succinct, polite and factual with a bullet point timeline if necessary citing your loyalty and how disappointed and upset you are to be penalised for shopping at Tesco.
If that doesn’t work, there are other tools in your locker at your disposal.
Are you just a few minutes out of time? If so, you are allowed five minutes’ grace period under the British Parking Association Code of Practice to read and check the Terms and Conditions of the car park signage.
Can you cast reasonable doubt? Is the signage clear? Signs need to be clearly visible day and night. Take photos – gather your evidence. Look on Google Street View.
Are there any spelling errors?
Your first appeal with the private parking operator will nearly always be unsuccessful. That is their business model – they don’t play fair like you and me. If they did, they wouldn’t make any money from what is legalised extortion by intimidating you to pay early to avoid threats of legal action.
Stick to your guns. Always appeal as the keeper and request a POPLA code if necessary so you can escalate your appeal.
You have roughly a 50% chance of succeeding at this stage, so it’s worth doing if you believe you have been unfairly issued with a parking invoice.
I can understand why people feel intimidated by the threat of being taken to Court, but you need to put it into perspective. It is simply an invoice for an alleged breach of contract – not a fine. You have to stick to your guns and fight back if you feel you have been unfairly treated.
Scott Dixon hosts the website http://thecomplaintsresolver.co.uk and is a consumer rights expert specialising in motoring disputes.
