It's not actually a "parking fine" that's issued by these ANPR cowboys.
It's a "Parking Charge Notice" (or PCN for short).
Fines have to be paid.
PCN's are not backed up by law. Instead, they are invoices for a breach of contract. If the car park operator wants to force you to pay, they will need to take you to the civil court, which is costly and time-consuming.
There is loads of helpful info on forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=163
Especially in this post - forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4816822
If you appeal, the key thing is not to identify the driver. Parking Eye, Smart Parking, or whoever can only obtain vehicle keeper details from the DVLA. So in turn, any correspondence you have with them, you only say things like vehicle keeper, and occupants. NEVER mention actual names. You have the Data Protection Act on your side.
Like I said, there is loads of helpful info in the above links.
These parking companies were recently debated in Parliament (2nd Feb).
parliamentlive.tv/event/index/2f0384f2-eba5-4fff-ab07-cf24b6a22918?in=12:49:41
Peter Wishart, a Scottish MP said the following about Smart Parking.
"That car park is operated by the John Wayne of all the cowboys, the appalling and loathed Smart Parking, a company that blights communities throughout Scotland"
These are some of the comments made by other MPs concerning the unregulated parking industry.
"Cowboy companies, signage deliberately confusing to ensure a PCN is issued, rogue parking companies, bloodsuckers, absolute disgrace, rogue operators, unfair charges and notices, wilfully misleading, signage is a deliberate act to deceive or mislead, unreasonable, designed to trap innocent drivers, a curse, harassing, operating in a disgusting way, appeals service is no guarantee of a fair hearing, loathed, outrageous scam, dodgy practice, outrageous abuse, unscrupulous practices, the BPA is as much use as a multi-storey car park in the Gobi desert."
Last edited by: VxFan on Thu 1 Mar 18 at 02:36
|
