stuarty Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 I received a letter from a company called Highview. Apparently I overstayed my time in a car park in Livingstone a few weeks ago. They sent me a "fine" which if paid straight away would be one amount but if i waited it would go up. I ignored it and received a reminder today demanding the full amount. Any advice welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RafsZed Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Yes pay it ASAP or your gonna get a lot of hastle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbitstew Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Im sure our resident "parking fine expert" will be on here shortly to advice you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyboy Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 If its a private parking charge notice contest it . If its council pay it now. Google it private ones never go to court as they have to show the charge " Fine " is fair and in proportion to their loss of rental of that parking space for the time you overstaid . Its a civil matter so the police will never get involved. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 You're in Scotland, so I have no ideas of the rules there now. AFAIK north of the border you're still good to just bin it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmorg4 Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Look for signage at the site where you parked. Unless it's very clear and prominent, and there's no reasonable way you could enter and park without seeing it, they have no chance of enforcing. These things are basically done under contract law, so they have to show that you've "agreed" to the contract by parking. I got one years ago in the hart hill services car park. Binned the ticket, got a letter through the post. Binned that too and heard nothing again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hammerz Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 I got the same a couple of weeks ago. One of the key things, the contract is with the driver, they've written to you as the registered keeper, probably no idea if you're the driver at that time. Moneysavingexpert has guides and templates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuarty Posted April 3, 2014 Author Share Posted April 3, 2014 Thanks for the replys. I was 13 minutes over there time and they want £90. It was a wednesday morning and there was about 10 other cars in a massive carpark.we were buying furniture which has a 6 week delivery time, so ive contacted the shop and threatened to cancel my 2k order! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ioneabee Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Thanks for the replys. I was 13 minutes over there time and they want £90. It was a wednesday morning and there was about 10 other cars in a massive carpark.we were buying furniture which has a 6 week delivery time, so ive contacted the shop and threatened to cancel my 2k order! that should do it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aidan Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 (edited) Dont pay it. I take it the carpark was currys / pets at home one? Got the same from them before. Ignore it. Dont reply. Dont even acknowlegde them If you read it the letter says notice of payment - not a fine. They will keep sending you letters upping the amount and it'll get to something like 180 quid. Still ignore it and they threaten county court stuff. Again ignore it and then they offer to reduce the 180 quid to 150 quid if you pay it now. Yet again, ignore them. They will then go away. Fortunately in Scotland the only people who can give you parking "fines" are plod and the council. Hope this helps. :teeth: Edited April 3, 2014 by aidan 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mudman Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Deffo Ignore. Legally seem to recall its come down to contract law and you have not enetred into a contract so is unenforceable. Expect : Lots of letters Fine increase every time (Admin Charge) Threat of court action Threat of Bailifs All above are threats Write a letter to the parking company disputing the charge - heres what I did Dear Sirs, Reference: A. Your Invoice CP00464735 dated 28/04/2008 I acknowledge receipt of Reference A. It seems that you have got my details from the DVLA and I confirm I am the keeper of the vehicle in question. You need to take this matter up with the driver concerned. I understand the onus is on yourselves to prove the identity of the driver and that I am not legally obliged to provide such information as no criminal offence has occurred. If you have evidence of this to substantiate your claim I would gladly review it. Would you please also advise on what basis you feel that I as the keeper of the vehicle have entered into any contract with either your company or the land owner. I note your comments about debt collectors. Given that this debt is in dispute I shall simply advise them that the debt is in dispute and they will have to refer back to you. In the meantime I absolutely deny your claim that the amount claimed, or any amount at all, is due to you from me. Yours faithfully Then Dear Sirs, Reference: A. Your letter CP00464735 dated 28/04/2008 B. Your letter CP00464735 dated 16/05/2008 C. Your letter CP00464735 dated 6/06/2008 You appear to still claim that I, as keeper, am legally responsible for this alleged debt. I deny this. You also appear to be threatening me that I will become responsible for the debt if I do not produce the drivers details. Please substantiate this claim with appropriate citations of case and/or statute law. If your allegation is that I was the driver then please produce evidence of this to substantiate your claim. If you cannot provide evidence, in line with your tactic I will assume you have no such evidence and are simply trying to bully me into paying this alleged debt with a stream of pre formatted letters each at a cost of £10. I note that you have increased the amount of the alleged debt. Given that you have failed to substantiate and support your claim that I am indebted to you; this is unreasonable, inappropriate and, quite probably, unlawful. In addition to my previous denials I absolutely deny any liability to you for this additional sum. I also feel that the policy of adding £10 for every letter is shameless racketeering and I will certainly be asking my local tradings standards to look into this. I will also be highlighting the matter to the local press as I feel others should be warned against this outrageous practice especially when individuals in financial hardship could be attending the hospital either to support relatives or attending life saving medical appointments. In the current economic climate you should be ashamed of yourselves. I again note your comments about debt collectors. Given that this debt is in dispute I shall simply advise them that the debt is in dispute and they will have to refer back to you. I will welcome the opportunity to defend your allegation in court and am confident of success and will encourage media attendance. Of course you will be required to produce the evidence that I have requested and you have so far failed to provide. You will also have to answer to the court why you failed to do so. I have asked you to provide evidence to substantiate your claim against me and you have not done so. I feel that I have done all that I can to assist you. Unless you provide evidence to substantiate your claim against me I shall be unable to assist you further in this matter. This alleged debt therefore remains disputed by me. Save for supplying the evidence referred to above I must ask you to cease and desist correspondence with me other than as described above, any further correspondence from you or any other party in relation to this matter may result in a complaint to the authorities under the Protection From Harassment Act 1997. I do not feel that you are acting reasonably in this matter. At this juncture there is nothing further that I can add to my previous letter sent by registered post (copy enclosed). I request you provide the necessary evidence or cancel the outstanding debt. Yours faithfully Good Luck 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mudman Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 BTW that stopped the letters! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 I've had 15 parking tickets from a private firm since August Not paid a penny 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Husky Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 (edited) I have been through this a few times and even went all legal when I got one in a work car. Just do not under any circumstances reply. AND don't call it a fine!! A fine or a penalty is something given to you by the police or the council as a punishment for not being in compliance with the road traffic act. What they have given you is not a fine it is a charge, or invoice. AS a charge or invoice it not a matter for police or the council, it would end up in court and they would have to prove that 1) you parked there, 2) you were the driver, 3) they suffered a provable financial loss as a result of you staying there. 1) ok so they may have CCTV or a picture 2) ok so maybe they have a shot of your face in the car 3) ok so say that in an extremely rare case you end up in court with them. And god forbid through some utter miracle they convince the judge that the invoice is genuine. You would then be forced to pay the loss of income to them on... a free car park... These things simply don't go to court, the letters are made to scare you and the increasing nature of the invoice meant to rush you into paying before taking sound advice. These are vultures picking on the uninformed by basically scamming you into thinking you have broken the law. There was a change in law due at some point, so it might be worth having a route around some proper forums such as http://forums.pepipo...hp?showforum=60 to make sure this advice is up to date. You must not rely on the information on this post as an alternative to legal advice from your attorney or other professional legal services provider. If you have any specific questions about any legal matter you should consult your attorney or other professional legal services provider. You should never delay seeking legal advice, disregard legal advice, or commence or discontinue any legal action because of information on this website. Edited April 3, 2014 by Husky 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ioneabee Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 I can't read your small print Husky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 It says that because Stuarty is in Scotland, none of the regular stuff applies. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Husky Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 I can't read your small print Husky I take that as an admission you know it's there and should be read It says that because Stuarty is in Scotland, none of the regular stuff applies. Spanking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuarty Posted April 3, 2014 Author Share Posted April 3, 2014 Dont pay it. I take it the carpark was currys / pets at home one? Got the same from them before. Ignore it. Dont reply. Dont even acknowlegde them If you read it the letter says notice of payment - not a fine. They will keep sending you letters upping the amount and it'll get to something like 180 quid. Still ignore it and they threaten county court stuff. Again ignore it and then they offer to reduce the 180 quid to 150 quid if you pay it now. Yet again, ignore them. They will then go away. Fortunately in Scotland the only people who can give you parking "fines" are plod and the council. Hope this helps. :teeth: that's exactly where it was Aidan, thanks for the advice! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ioneabee Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 I can't read your small print Husky I take that as an admission you know it's there and should be read It says that because Stuarty is in Scotland, none of the regular stuff applies. Spanking well, doesn't everybody click on the button that says they've read, understood and accepted the small print..................or is that just me 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flex Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Is it because you were chasing police horses (sorry). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuarty Posted April 3, 2014 Author Share Posted April 3, 2014 It says that because Stuarty is in Scotland, none of the regular stuff applies. Happy days! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuarty Posted April 3, 2014 Author Share Posted April 3, 2014 I wonder how many folk just pay these bloody things for an easy life. The shop owner said to contact the company and provide proof of my purchases, but no way I'm contacting them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Husky Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 (edited) Absolutely do not contact them. They work on a system where they place you in a tier representing your likelihood to pay and they chase people in different ways based on the tier they are in. By contacting them you get upgraded to tier 2 Expect phone calls from that level. Quite a lot of people do pay them sadly! But worst of all are companies. I hit this problem with my work, the companies supplying cars such as hire companies simply pay them and then pass the cost onto the customer! The catch here is that it is in the hire agreement that you pay the charge that has been passed to you, a legal document that you signed and you can't get out of that. From memory, Enterprise used to be the only company that rejected these types of charges on their customers behalf. So these scam artists target hire cars, it's why I would definitely advise removing the hire car sticker when you pick up the car, they'll just put a new one on when they get it back and it saves you being targeted as an easy score while you have the car. Edited April 3, 2014 by Husky 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuarty Posted April 3, 2014 Author Share Posted April 3, 2014 Absolutely do not contact them. They work on a system where they place you in a tier representing your likelihood to pay and they chase people in different ways based on the tier they are in. By contacting them you get upgraded to tier 2 Expect phone calls from that level. Quite a lot of people do pay them sadly! But worst of all are companies. I hit this problem with my work, the companies supplying cars such as hire companies simply pay them and then pass the cost onto the customer! The catch here is that it is in the hire agreement that you pay the charge that has been passed to you, a legal document that you signed and you can't get out of that. From memory, Enterprise used to be the only company that rejected these types of charges on their customers behalf. So these scam artists target hire cars, it's why I would definitely advise removing the hire car sticker when you pick up the car, they'll just put a new one on when they get it back and it saves you being targeted as an easy score while you have the car. Great advice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vik54 Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Stuarty - ignore IGNORE ignore! Do not contact or acknowledge them. John's advice above is sound - plenty on pepipoo as well I have a lovely wee collection of letters as a result of parking in Gallagher retail park in Dundee in October 2013 (which is free for the first two hours but you must display a ticket - Gary didn't realise this) The letters begin with the usual 'reduced payment offer' and progress their way through several different companies (all one in the same) who threaten court action, CCJ's (they don't even bother to change the wording for Scotland), and eventually tail off. The only fines you must respond to are from Police and Council. http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/scotland/drivers-urged-not-to-pay-private-parking-fines-1.251312 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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