Parking ticket

[Francis Asis]

I went into town and couldn't find anywhere to park so I parked in Halfords car park. When I got back I had received a ticket from them as their car park is for customers only.
My qestion is - do I have to pay. Legally is this enforcable?
Thanks

[chas2008]

from different things i have read on here apparently not..

[sir.prize]

What is the name of the Parking Company - Excel, or maybe Paid Parking Company?

[lcg]

no....i would ignore it. they don't know where you live....and i wouldn't tell them!

[furrypusscat]

I suppose it depends on whether any notices were displayed and whether there was a time limit as to how long you could park. Sometimes you have only 1/2 an hour free.

[hc4361]

lcg - they do know where he lives!

[MoonRocker]

Their parking mod will hound you for a bit but they have no teeth, you can ignore it and it usually goes away. Although I do sympathise with Halfords and others who it seems must put up with parking space theives.

[lcg]

not necessarily....francis said he got the ticket on return to his car. how is the parking co going to find his address to enforce the ticket?

[EDDIE51]

Don't want to do it all again but look at this question everything on here applies to you,
http://www.theanswerb.../Question1144477.html
Also look at the last posts ONLY the driver can be sued so just tell them you do not know who was driving and there is sweet Fa they can do !

[barryjbutler]

Seems this is a situation where you can do nothing and wait and see what happens. It is Halfords who would have to prove you to be liable in law if they want to enforce this.

[EDDIE51]

lcg the DVLA sell them the information about the keeper of the car . BUT as I said ONLY the driver can be sued NOT the owner or keeper . So just say you do not know who was driving , then they can do NOTHING !

[sunny-dave]

My sympathy is with Halfords - why should they have their spaces filled with freeloaders.

Having said that, their ability to enforce the ticket may be a bit on the low side.

Although I would then be very cautious about parking anywhere 'policed' by the same parking company - I have heard of them clamping cars whose owners have ignored previous tickets ...

[EDDIE51]

barryjbutler Sorry you are wrong! the car park owners lease out the enforcement to the parking company . The parking company only make cash by collecting the fees for overstaying. The parking company buy / lease the right to charge fees off the owners. The entire thing is a shambles and semi illegal .

[Francis Asis]

Thank you for all your replies. Sorry, I should have said we had a letter through the post from them today so they do know where we live.
BTW, I'm a girl.

[sir.prize]

These private parking companies get details of the registered keeper from DVLA for a fee.

Francis Asis - it is all here. You do not have to resond to these letters - it is NOT a criminal offence to ignore them. These companies are issuing unenforceable invoices. They are not FINES. They are not PENALTY Charge Notices.

http://www.moneysavin...ivate-parking-tickets

Also, see this BBC Watchdog website about Parking Tickets

http://www.bbc.co.uk/.../parking_tickets.html

And a BBC Watchdog video clip tells you everything



Sit tight and do nothing.

[twix123]

How do they know that you weren't a customer of Halfords? You could have gone in the shop and bought the cheapest item they stocked, e.g an air freshener and subsequently threw the receipt away!

[Smowball]

I would imagine their cctv will show that you didnt enter the store. You could always go back and buy something and say you WERE a customer - just not on that day lol

[ojread2]

I'm not sure why, when there are bog signs up all over the place, you would think you could park in a car park when you were not going to sue the store?
You would have taken a space that a customer could use. That's just plain selfish
Personally, I think these parking tickets should be enforceable because it would stop the utterly selfish using them as their own personal parking spaces

[tonywiltshire]

As has been said these are not fines, parking companies are unable to issue fines they are penalty charges for not complying to their parking restrictions. There should have been easy to see notices on private land stating parking is limited to customers only, the maximum stay and that wheel clamping may be used (if this is the case) the law on wheel clamping on private land is being changed at the end of 2012.

If the penalty charge is not paid the registered keeper’s details may be purchased from the DVLA and a penalty notice sent to the registered keeper, if payment is still not made the parking company may huff and puff a lot over what they can legally do, but in reality all they can do is take you to the county court, which they sometimes, but rarely, do, they have in the past claimed breech of contract

If you pay or not is up to you but I strongly recommend you do not make any untrue statements.

[Francis Asis]

Thank you all for your replies.
I would have been happy to pay to park there but there is no facility for this. Also, I wasn't stealing anyones space as the car park was more than half empty. But thanks for your comments anyway ojread2

[ojread2]

You're more than welcome, but I still don't get why you think you shouldn't have received a parking fine? You knew you shouldn't have parked there, so why do it anyway?