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Hi
I was in a rush for work this morning and parked on a small triangle of what appeared to be wasteland in a semi derelict industrial area. I made sure I wasn't blocking any pavements nor on any yellow lines etc
I also ensured that there were no signs about parking restrictions.
This afternoon I return to my car to find a ticket from UKCPS politely demanding £100 and stating the reason as my lack of permit or valid authority. I understand that this is technically an invoice and that I can only be invoiced for trespass or damages. Given that there were no signs about parking I'm not sure how I entered into a contract and hence can't be invoiced? The internet is full of stories about these people but I'd appreciate the STW masses opinion!
Ta
Is it on behalf of the local council? It will have the councils details on it if it is.
If it's a private firm ignore it. I got one in the private car park under my missus flat from a private company and have never heard anything from them since. This was 6 months ago.
*I'm not a lawyer*
Stop being so nervous. Burn it and keep your children warm tonight.
Well I must admit I'm a bit confused as to what they can and can't do. It's not like I was even in a supermarket carpark for example. How do I know if the landowner has even sanctioned/approved these people?!
Somebody parks on your drive, wouldnt you like to charge them for the parking, its a basic need to pay for some services, so pay up.
Nothing to pay landowner can sue you for trespass but what has he lost?
Hilarious STW nonsense! 🙂 many LOLS
project - Member
Somebody parks on your drive, wouldnt you like to charge them for the parking, its a basic need to pay for some services, so pay up.POSTED 4 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST
Crikey £100 "fine" for parking on semi derelict industrial area. 😯
If there is no such law or not the law then sort it.
If there was a sign saying "don't park on this small triangle of dirt with a few bushes on it" then I would expect to pay a fine!
£100 for no signage at all?! The car park next to me got got too :-/
Unless it's from (or on behalf of) the council, or TfL, throw it in the bin.
Glasgow dan, glad you saw the joke,since wheel clamping and imobilisation of vehicles was deemed illegal, various companies have set up to target drivers parking on others land, basiclly they have no legal right to charge unless prominent signs are displayed.
Dont respond to letters as they will then know who was driving the vehicle,as opposed to who owns the vehicle according to DVLA records, and will try and scare you into paying.
Some people are scared and pay up some dont, the ones who pay up fund the company.
Law has changed, they don't need to know who is driving as if you don't admit to it the penalty defaults to the keeper. They can then sue through county court for their costs, etc.
You can't ignore any longer because if they do pursue to court you will get a judgement by default. Write back contesting the fee for the multiple reasons above (no signs, fee is way above their costs, etc.) But ignore at your peril.
basiclly they have no legal right to charge unless prominent signs are displayed
There was something on Pistonheads a while back that goes further than this. Unless they have a) a contract explicitly stating they have the authority from the landowner to provide a parking control service [b][i][u]and[/u][/i][/b] send invoices for infringements, b) the exact boundary of the land they're patrolling is marked somewhere in the contract, c) there are adequate signs displaying the "rules", and d) they aren't trying to claim things like uniforms, training, etc. in the calculated losses for which you are being invoiced (plus a few other things I don't remember), then they are shit out of luck when it comes to any legal claim to your money.
Appeal to UKCPS and when rejected appeal to POPLA (which costs UKCPS some money. That's as far as it will go.
Get photographs of the area, showing the lack of signage. Then ignore the letters and wait for anything else to happen, then produce the evidence.
Used to work for a security company that also did clamping, and as I was on-call for the security side, I got lumbered with taking calls for the clampers. Horrible industry and from what I can gather it's not much better with the clamping side removed from it
On one of the industrial estates near me someone appears to have put invoice notices on a fence by a public highway!
I believe the relevant permit for parking on the public highway would be a ved disc.
On one of the industrial estates near me someone appears to have put invoice notices on a fence by a public highway!
Strictly speeking you cant just park anywhere, regardless of whether theres an absence of a sign or a yellow line parking can still be illegal.
And the industrial estate may well be privately owned and the roads unadopted.
Dont respond to letters as they will then know who was driving the vehicle,
Write to them telling them that,as they have not provided any evidence of a contract being entered into or broken, and that if there is such evidence then their dispute is with the driver of the car at the time and that that driver may or may not have been you. As a result, you have decided to decline their kind offer to allow you give them some money they are not entitled to. However, being a reasonable sort of chap, you are prepared to allow an appeal at a cost of £250 regardless of the outcome. Any further communication from them, other than an indication of no further action or communication from them, shall be treated as an appeal and subject to the appeal charge. Any appeal not accompanied by the relevant payment shall be rejected out of hand, but shall still be subject to the appeal charge. No discussion will be entered into regarding the decision of the appeal process. Should the parking operators seek to engage in further communication, such communication shall be returned to them, at their cost, incurring an administrative cost of £25 per returned communication.
That should shut them up, it works for me.
Is this ^^ a better idea than sending them the photos I took of my car in situ? Obviously if I send them photos it confirms me as the driver!
Don't send them anything but demands for money and threats. Anything else makes them think you're taking them seriously.
UPDATE:
I wrote to them and appealed the issue of the ticket on the grounds that there was no signage (and it's a legal requirement etc.) I found a great template letter online and asked them to send me about 30 odd documents in order for me to prepare my appeal to Popla or whatever they're called. I also enclosed 8 photos of my car parked on the bit of waste land with no signs near it.
I've received a (snotty) letter saying they'll cancel it but only as a gesture of good will.. Yay!
success! 😀
Invoice them for the time you spent reading their letter.
^^ I like this idea 🙂
You know what's really frustrating is that every day I see cars parked on the same bit of land getting ticketed (presumably as like me they saw no signs).
****ers >:-(