Don't Stand for these NONSENSE

Parking companies must adhere to ethical practices, refraining from bullying or harassing individuals over parking charges. Respect for individuals' rights and fair treatment should prevail in all interactions regarding parking violations. Any attempts at coercion or intimidation by parking companies are unacceptable and should be addressed through proper channels.
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[@rosiegary]

Please name and shame this car parking company.It's about time that the DVLA stopped acting as enablers for these companies

[@anthony0johnson]

It's UKParking I've got a court case with them myself. I was in a carpark when you pay on the way out put when I went to pay, the machine was broken. So I filmed the machine and my vehicle just incase. They refused the evidence so I told them to take me to court. I don't think they thought that I'd follow through with it

[@andyjohnson4767]

Good luck, I hope you stuff the robbing twats@@anthony0johnson

[@stephenporter6005]

Sue them girl they get away with too much you have had this harassment for two years

[@stevenhodgson834]

That would require a change in the law.

[@fly9wheel]

This con seems to be a popular rip off.@@anthony0johnson

[@Direkin]

Sounds a bit like an extortion racket.

[@stephenjames59]

That is exactly what these companies are

[@MrGraemeb2022]

You think?

[@carlhunt-gg5sm]

Hard to believe this highly damaging extortion is still being enabled by government. It amounts to state-level corruption. The firms will be donors to political parties (probably one party in particular) and have very deep pockets (our money..) for lobbying.

[@dobythedog]

This is simply extortion. You are correct. They stopped the clamping companies, they need to stop these parasitical firms from extorting from decent people.

[@brianlopez8855]

It doesnt "sound like", it it.

[@michaelreid5307]

The woman deservers to win a very hefty amount of compensation from that company.

[@mikeselectricstuff]

DVLA needs to be sued as a co-defendent for harassment.

[@Phoenix2312]

DVLA though are not involved - Period! These are Private Firms... DVLA are obliged to give ownership details of vehicles on request - That's the whole point of having teh DVLA, so that we can track and monitor who is legally licensed to drive a vehicle and who owns said vehicle... To quote @pbsm4127 "DVLA.. should not be allowed to pass your information to anyone.. 😡😡😡" - If that were the case, and your Car / Vehicle was Stolen... How woudl you recover it? The proof you are teh owner is in the DVLA Database... The Police will need to acess that database to verify you are the vehicles owner... To race it, To find it, to return it. Logically, Your Vehicle could be used in a Serious Crime... And because it is your vehicle, You could be on the hook for committing said crime simply by DENYING anyone the right to access the DVLA Database! DVLA are not the issue... It is these unregulated Private Companies who are the issue... They were alongside Debt Collectors supposed to be being bought under the SIA this year - I have since discovered via my SIA Tutor that this has been "Suspended" and now wont be happening until 2028... A Complaint from Labour Back Benchers means the "white Paper" needs to be reviewed (Not every bad thing is down to Tories - Arseholes though they are... Labour put the kibosh on this one!)

[@brianlopez8855]

And conspiracy

[@Dudleymiddleton]

Yes. It is a serious issue if a Government based outfit releases sensitive information to seemingly any Tom, Dick or Harry that requests it!

[@michaeldunham3385]

By all means explain why

[@Phoenix2312]

@@Dudleymiddleton They dont though... These Private Parking Firms have to be registered themselves and locations are known to the DVLA, so they have a right to request information. That being said, They are only allowed the Details held on file the owner of a vehicle... Provided they have a Registration. If someone else happens to be driving a vehicle you own.. They cannot ask for that persons identity... Only the Owner of the Registered Vehicle.

[@necropink9200]

This parking company should have to pay her a significant amount of compensation for the two years of stress, harassment and bullying.

[@KiwiCatherineJemma]

Yeah the compo these bastards need to pay her, I reckon about the cost of a free house, where she lives. Whatever that is, 250 k UK pounds, 500 k UK pounds, whatever. That would sort the bastards out. Assuming they've done this 100 times to other folks, that would probably put the parking company and their liability insurance company, into bankruptcy. Lovely.

[@Doshbuzz]

And free parking for life 👍🏽

[@bluebottle1617]

I totally agree with you. So should the landowner for allowing their contractors to behave in such an unacceptable manner.

[@necropink9200]

@@Doshbuzz I like your thinking.

[@necropink9200]

@@bluebottle1617 Good point about the landowners.

[@ianross04]

identical incident occurred to my wife in 2020! It was exhausting corresponding with the Parking Enforement and in the end, had to resort to hiring a solicitor which in the end the case was dropped. A couple of hundred £ of of pocket in Solicitor fees while the Parking Sacmming Company just stroll off seemingly without any recourse. Makes me sick but thats our nation today

[@gurumac8992]

Sue them for harassment, alarm and distress they've caused your wife and claim your expenses back too. 6 years is the statute of limitations, so you have time to get justice and hold them to account for their actions...👍🏼

[@petermainwaringsx]

My response to the bully is usually "bring it on". So far they haven't, but never ignore them and keep records of emails ETC. Never discuss the matter on the phone, just ask them politely to write to you.

[@alexanderevanska4274]

Same here. Confront them and they soon poop their panties.

[@Norfolkbiker50]

The problem is that the only way to contact them is in writing through the post, even sending a letter recorded delivery they deny ever receiving it. So, regardless of what anyone says on here, barrister or not, DO IGNORE THEM because the moment you make any contact they've got you, I got one such letter from CIVIL ENFORCEMENT ( lol) when I was working in hunstanton last month. Sure enough they have a very grainy photo of "my car" entering the car park at 8.35am and another showing "my car" leaving at 10.49am. However, what they haven't provided me with is the second photo showing "my car"exiting the car park at about 8.37am when I realised that the machine is cash only and I left to drive to Tesco to use the ATM to get some cash to then go into Tesco and buy something so I had change for the ticket machine (A cheese sandwich I think) before returning at about 9.00am, again no photo showing "my car" reentering the car park? To then buy a ticket for 2 hours and then finally leaving said carpark at 10.49am (apparently) the reason why I've put "my car" in exclamation marks is because the photos are such piss poor quality the only thing they do show clearly is my registration number (funny that?) But when I first entered at 8.35am I had a passenger but the photo is so bad you can't see whether there's anyone at all in the car. The last one of these I had was in 2016 in Norwich, they sent me increasingly threatening letters, even fraudulently claiming that some of them were from Northampton county court using a fake logo that to the untrained eye looks like a county court stamp a quick phone call confirmed that Northampton county court had no knowledge of any such case! After a couple of years the letters stopped and at no time did I acknowledge receipt of any correspondence from these crooks. That time I had dropped my wife and daughter off at riverside near the football ground early Saturday morning then picked them up about 4 hours later. Riverside has a 2 hour limit and these fraudsters tried to claim that I had been parked there for 4 hours, I ignored them that time and I'll do the same this time, if necessary I can produce a bank statement proving that I was using the cash point at Tesco when they claim I was in the carpark!

[@user-zu6qn9ux9n]

Had she ignored it immediately they would have given up in a few weeks. Saw it before and will see it again. Our local hospital car park has had similar issues. People, namely hospital staff, just ignore the letters and they give up.

[@IMBlakeley]

Did that with a mobile phone contract, said sure see you in court and by the way I am self employed on a day rate so I'll asking for 2 days money plus hotels etc to attend.

[@joeedwards627]

No, completely ignore them from the outset

[@andrewstevens7453]

VCS took me to Court for overstay even when I proved that one of their two signs showing different max stay times I didn't overstay. It took the Magistrate 5 minutes to dismiss the case. They are all bullies, I should have sued them in return. Stand up to these bastards 😡

[@RobertBryan-r5o]

The fact that they harassed here and attempted to bully the payment out of her demonstrates that they never intended to file a court case, else they'd just file, wait for the verdict and save themselves a lot of administration/overhead costs. This harassment process is simply a part of their "business model" and is essentially extortion. Does the UK law not protect consumers from this sort of practice?

[@mcdon2401]

I'd like to know the legalities of opening a counterclaim for harassment against companies like this. Abuse like this shouldn't go unchallenged.

[@brianlopez8855]

Generally a call or email a day is NOT regarded by Courts as harassment.

[@isthatujeebus]

@@brianlopez8855 for TWO YEARS...?

[@MrApolloTom]

@@brianlopez8855 In Ferguson v British Gas it was stated that initial demands for payment are reasonable until it's clear the debt is disputed, after that's it's unlawful to press for payment repeatedly except through the courts.

[@williamkennedy5492]

I took my family to a KFC yesterday and by chance looked at the counter, the sign said scan your car reg or you will be fined ?????? I scanned my reg into the system. We should all be aware of these parking companies and the tactics they use.

[@eddiebruv]

How could she pay for parking at the wrong terminal? If it’s a ParkingEye system then she has to input her licence plate number when paying, and the system must have accepted it, otherwise it would say that there’s no match to a car and not be able to even calculate what the payment value would be.

[@peterdaly6173]

Where did it say that its a parking Eye system? I missed where that was stated. I went to a car park where the terms stated that you had to enter your Vehicle Registraion in and pay for the time you PLANNED on being there.. if you entered the rego incorrectly, then you would be fined, as they would have no payment for your car, and it is your responsibility to ensure it is entered correctly.

[@eddiebruv]

@@peterdaly6173 “If”

[@GundamGir1]

​@peterdaly6173 this happened to me mum but the other way round, the reg has a 1 the camera read it as an I and she got a parking ticket, but funny enough the letter still turned up to the right address, it even had the wrong reg written on the letter. They said they weren't at fault and she needed to pay the ticket, even though she paid n put the right reg into the machine. Before the carpark was pay n display, n before that a man in a hut, now it's went to camera and reg, and people's been ticketed left right n centre, the carpark made the newspaper cause on one day something like 100 people got parking ticket due to error in the machine/camera, then it happened a few months later too.

[@davidjacksonjackson3212]

If she had proof that she had paid, she should have said, take me to court, claimed damages and the judge would have given the company a rocket for wasting the courts time, these parking company's are out of control and are just scam artists

[@captainsweatpants5229]

This is the same bullying tactic that TV Licensing uses, repeated threats. Is Capita now operating car parks, too? The company should be named & the "law" should STOP protecting these monsters and support victims for once.

[@lililijo]

They make their money by scaring people, or hoping people will pay just to shut them up. It must work enough to justify continuing with that business model.

[@jamesmurphy7828]

In a case like this is there really no way to prove attempted fraud by the company issuing the fines and threats? It's very obvious she paid and owed absolutely no amount of money to them and they dogedly persued her even in the face of pretty good evidence in her favour. They were literally clutching straws when she were talking about proving where her car was parked.

[@yesihavereadit]

Vexatious litigant? Ban the company directors?

[@jamescoburn6789]

I also note that the only evidence they would accept is the actual ticket. 8 months later, that is beyond reasonable and in fact ridiculous.

[@mrsiborg]

Is there no governing body that can reign in these disgusting companies?

[@brianlopez8855]

If its anything like the Solicitors Regulation Authority, they won't do a thing.

[@simonrichards150]

There needs to be a mechanism in law where someone accused can force the accuser to either go to court or leave them alone. These companies deliberately stall for years while sending debt collection letters and even if you tell them to take it to court, they don't! They just continue to send harassing letters.

[@barrymurton8988]

Her mistake initially was ignoring them but having later provided proof of purchase of her parking ticket not being believed I think she should have said take me to court!

[@joeedwards627]

Always ignore them from the outset

[@coolbreez773]

This is why I simply do not pay for ANY private parking. I have received dozens of letters threatening me with court action, fee's, costs, bailiffs etc etc....but so far NOTHING has ever happened.

[@manchegocheese997]

In my experience, people/businesses who casually threaten legal action rarely take such action. They assume those words alone will scare people into paying.

[@ParaBellum2024]

It looks like they only dropped their case once the BBC got involved with other cases.

[@InBodWeTrust]

How did they get her phone number to be able to call her in the first place? Why didn't she simply block their number? I'm not downplaying what she went through - the parking co. and their legal are simply shysters - but there were things she could have done to mitigate the harassment. The *very best* advice regarding private parking charges and court claims can be found in the Parking board at MSE Forums 👍

[@MrApolloTom]

I don't think the DVLA give it out, so either she gave it to them in correspondence, or they blagged it through a data breach.

[@pollyester6639]

I had a similar incident with constant hounding. I moved into a new build house and given a phone number from BT that had previously being used by a chap who had taken a loan and not paid it back. They phoned three times a week whilst I was pregnant and resting, when I was breast feeding, when I was weaning the said child. Until one day fed up of explaining they’ve got the wrong number I told them to come to the house and meet my solicitor because this was harassment. I explained how long they had hounded me and we now verging on harassment. I told them if they want this money I actually know the man they are wanting and I will take them to the house. It was awful and it happened during the day.

[@cassandrade-wolfe6926]

Poor lady. They have worn her down. I once got a threatening letter from a parking company saying i owed money from a car park i have never been on . I rang and asked what was going on and they insisted I had been there and then asked for my name, which i wouldn't give!!! The woman over the phone was abusive . They named my car as a "Compressor"....which i dont drive. I had to contact the DVLA to prove that wasnt my car and they issued a letter to that effect as the car park company claimed the DVLA gave them my address. Turns out it was an elderly man further up the street and the carpark woman snarled at me over the phone....the neighbours writing was so bad, that i got his mail and HE should have clearer handwriting. Unbelievable 🤦🤷

[@flossydonnellon4893]

I’d be happy to pay a yearly subscription to the DVLA , to stop them divulging my personal data , I have in the past written ( special delivery ) and stated that other the Police I don’t wish for DVLA to share my details Obviously no answer , but if I do get a parking invoice from these money grabbing fraudsters I do not pay , if they want any £££ from me proceed to the county court and that is the only way I would pay once a county court upholds their fraudulent claim

[@cassandrade-wolfe6926]

@@flossydonnellon4893 The DVLA shouldn't be so free with our info.

[@HonchHeado]

Also they didn't even show up I took them to court I expected a team of Mr Burns lawyers they didn't even show. They just rely on people paying this nonsense to make more profits. And many people do pay it.

[@grahvis]

They will often take it to the wire, but will not cross it. The last thing they want it for it to go to court, and for them to lose, it will encourage others to take a stand.

[@lawrawwill]

Once you’ve proved that you paid the car park company, is it fair to tell them that they have to prove you’ve paid for the wrong car park?

[@stevenhodgson834]

Yes - or broken one of the other T&Cs of parking.

[@48ml07]

They are demanding money with menaces by saying they will increase a penalty. Especially when you have shown proof of purchase ie parking fee. They need to be arrested and questioned by the police. I had similar a few times and it’s absurd they are permitted to do this. Dartcharge tried it on twice for a return journey. But NEVER an apology.

[@MikeParker680]

Why did it take them 8 months to issue a fine for none payment

[@DrRusty5]

I thought there was a cut-off within perhaps 30 days. 8 months is absurd.

[@Adventures_with_Sog]

These bullying clowns should be held accountable for this and be made to pay compensation. They also need to be investigated for such dubious behaviour.

[@TheJase8566]

There needs to be punitive damages awarded to stop these type of cases

[@artg9418]

I was harassed for months and possibly more by Parking Eye around 10 yrs ago after I "parked" in a car park at Southampton Docks while I waited for my folks to get off their cruise ship. I was asked to move my car from the rows outside the terminal, and go into the car park by a dockyard employee... asked him if I had to pay as only brought money for the toll bridge (50p each way I believe), he said "nah, you'll be fine". So I went into the car park, didn't pay any attention to signs, because 1) I would have to turn my head to the side to read them, and 2) I was told I would be fine.... so pretty much didn't even know it was a car park monitored by such companies - just thought it was dockyard. I stayed in the car with the engine running,, not even in a parking bay, because it was pretty full, and left around 10 minutes after I went in, as my folks had called and they were now by the pick up rows. A couple of weeks later the first letter arrived, so I went through their appear process and lost. Then I just kept receiving a new letter every week.. it could well have been up to 2 years, but I stood my ground as I personally felt I had a strong enough case. Called them a couple of times and told them to stop harassing me, I would not be paying. Last call I made to them I told them to "F8ck off and take me to court or I would take them to court"... the letters stopped and I heard no more from them. It is now well past the 6yr limit in which I think they can take action, so all is good. That's not to say it hadn't affected my mental health, or my overall health. I had a TIA in 2014 which I am not attributing directly to this, but I am sure it contributed in some way. I was working but couldn't really afford to pursue legal action aga9inst them, but looking back I sure wish i had done. I think the government needs to ban these companies, who are just out to make money off misery in my opinion. Surely the dockyard, Supermarkets, railway stations, councils etc could all mange their own car parks without letting these scammy bastards rake it in from something they don't even own... deplorable! I think I posted this on a similar video you did about this several years ago btw.

[@kenhampshire9917]

I had a parking company, one which was mentioned in this video, hound me for non payment, even though I had and had the evidence. Luckily for me, I already had prior knowledge of their antics and immediately sued them for harassment upon receipt of the first demand. They went very quiet when they heard from my lawyer.

[@paulvanderver4745]

Same thing happened to me, 3 years of continuous demands, unsuccessful appeals, then finally a county court case initiated. But suddenly dropped, because I felt the process leading to a court date was the tactic these companies use to encourage payments. If this BBC documentary mentioned exists and if it has led to a change of behaviour by these car parking companies then data would exist to show this behaviour change. This could lead to evidence or the very least a suggestion of knowingly wrong doing by these companies. Then perhaps a national effort to rid our society of these practices.

[@johnbower7452]

These companies are scum. One that clamped me (while I was in the back of the van no less and on a road, not in their car park) had in the past clamped a plumber while he was collecting the permit, and an ambulance attending a heart attack. They need to be shut down and the owners bankrupted.

[@JD-cf3mv]

A similar thing happened to a friend. She visited a retail park twice in a day. Once in the morning and then again in the afternoon. She then received a parking fine some 4 weeks later saying she’d over stayed the 2 hours of free parking ie they claimed she’d been there all day. When she explained that she’d been there on 2 separate occasions and for no more than 25mins at a time. They said there was no proof of her car leaving and returning. So they then asked for proof of receipts from the shops which she visited, of course 4 weeks after the event she didn’t have them. So they threatened to take her to court unless she paid the £110 fine. Which she eventually did pay.

[@leimad13]

Very glad for her to not have to worry about it anymore, it is soul destroying. I parked in London some years ago (I live 4 hours away), had to ring and pass my reg and details to to parking company, all seemed good until I returned and saw a ticket on my car. Turned out they misheard my reg and my car was parked without a payment. There was one letter difference but the parking company didn't budge even after replaying my phone call. In the end I was out of pocket £100 as I really couldn't handle them anymore. So kudos the the lady for not giving up!

[@jackwaycombe]

When was the UK taken over by so many thieves and vagabonds? I'm 80, live in a small town, and honestly have never seen such organised criminality all around me. From parking (including NHS parking) to council fees for stuff that used to be free - it all seems to be shrugged off by jobsworths these days - including, frankly, police and judiciary jobsworths.

[@jimboobism]

Started in the 80s when things were sold off the private sector. All these fees, fines and increased costs to tax payers are because so many things are subcontracted out to private companies who are there to make profits and not provide public services at efficient cost.

[@darrenwoodlow3242]

This doesn’t shock me. I fought a parking company for 5 years until they dropped it. I was parked in my own parking space which I had under the lease of my property. I argued primacy of contract and even the freeholder told them to drop it. They refused to drop it even at that point. They even refused mediation after applying to the court and got a formal court date. I think I was a week prior to court date when it was dropped and that was when they sent me a copy of the contract they had with the freeholder which had the statement that they must drop any charge on request of the freeholder. Which I then put into my evidence pack back with the emails from the freeholder saying they should drop it, along with a very long set of reasonable costs. This industry needs a real governing body that stops this.

[@Stanlee202]

I'm going through this as I type this, just waiting for a county court date. I have the pay and display ticket and its been going on for 5 years. It's a number game for them, I wonder how many people cave in and pay up.

[@eddiebruv]

Five years? This is when you know it’s a scam. What was the original ticket worth, three quid maybe? Scandalous.

[@Stanlee202]

@@eddiebruvit was one pound.

[@misstrekfreak]

Same happened to me, I rang once to point out that I had evidence of payment through bank statement but declined to send evidence as I would be using it as evidence in court and to bring it on. Then followed up with letter saying same. They backed off! (Visiting Heath Hospital Cardiff by the way) 🙏🏻

[@SteveLawrance]

Ouch, she was really upset, that is unacceptable. I see this so often where companies or service providers subcontract to questionable operatives who have no interest in customer service, and have such thin margins that they don’t care in the slightest how they affect their targets, as long as they get money. You are right to call them out !

[@paulw1113]

It’s a shame nobody has named and shamed this company, they really shouldn’t remain anonymous and should be called out for this behaviour.

[@AdieAdie17]

If you are absolutely 100% certain that you have proof you paid, when you receive the first correspondence from them, send your proof. If you then receive more correspondence from them denying your evidence, reply with the words "SEE YOU IN COURT" and add a subtext that from now on, any and all further correspondence from them that you reply to, you will add an invoice for your time, to the sum of £100, to be paid within 28 days or reduced to £50 if paid within 14 days. Keep a very tight log of absolutely everything. Also, when you park and pay, either by app or ticket machine, take a photo of the ticket in situ in your car or a screenshot of the receipt in the app and any email receipts too. I do this EVERY time I park these days.

[@stevenhodgson834]

Sometimes there are other T&Cs to parking, such as entering your registration number into the machine. I wonder if that's the real reason for her PCN?

[@malfunction8165]

I would say I'm shocked, but this is the state of Airstrip One, so I'm not, it's just business as usual.

[@danh945]

There should be a statue of limitations of 1 year for these minor parking contracts. Either they take you to court in under 12 months or the ability to claim the money is lost. That stops them barraging you with lies ("we will take you to court" when they have nonintention to) to make you pay to get it to go away.

[@b0dyb4gz1]

i had one in about 2015 they sent me multiple photos of my car, all of which worked out to 8 seconds, saying i had parked for 10+ minutes, 1 i was in the carpark less than 2 minutes, and 2, i was never parked and was turning around, the fine was 80quid, i told them a 8 second time difference was never enough to prove i was parked and i would see them in court if that was there preferred option, needless to say i heard nothing back for 5 weeks, and then was sent a letter saying the parking ticket was sent as an error and no further action was needed lol.

[@Monsoon-sd6vr]

What a disgrace well done that young lady and well done Black Belt Barrister for reporting the story

[@eleveneleven572]

I had a similar experience. I was pursued for two years. I'd moved abroad but they harassed the family who had bought my house. In the end they settled for a very small sum just to resolve it, I paid to spare the people living in my old house the constant threatening letters who feared their credit would be affected via their address.

[@gmo4250]

Straightforward bullying, they had no intention of taking her to court. They hoped she would acquiesce. Disgraceful.

[@craigbanks9532]

I will give you an example of how bad these people are. I own a company. I was fed up with my employees parking next to a container where we needed a forklift to get access. So I told one of my guys to paint some diagonal yellow lines. Later I parked there for 5 minutes and the wee guy gave me a ticket. Remember, this is my property. I told him to "shove it: He had no rights to do that. Are you seriously telling me to not ignore that?

[@kenleesuser1943]

Very same is happening to me it’s been going on for 3 years I have had Two appeals rejected and now they are threatening court action ,bring it on

[@tonytasker489]

My partner had one of those doorstep loans off Provident. When they went bust, she was told, "All debts were written off & she owes nothing." She is now being hounded from a debt company for the money owed on the loan. How can she owe the money when the debt was written off?

[@rafflesnh]

My take on this is that it appears the parking company were trying to claim that she may feasibly have parked in 2 (or more) different car parks that day and had failed to pay for one of them? That said, surely they would have a record of the time of her visit to the carpark at issue and her bank statement payment timestamp would tally with that (or not, as the case may be).

[@darrenelkins5923]

Currently being chased for parking when we patronised a pub that shares a trading area car park, The landlord is fed up with trying to sort out customers problems with parking and loss of return trade. Patrons have 4 hours parking without fee. We were not there for 4 hours.

[@JasonUmbrellabird]

Even if you win a case for harassment you probably won't get any money, but the harasser will have to pay the court a fine and costs which won't be all that much. My sister was harassed by her next door neighbour for a couple of years. He wrote on local forums under a pseudonym that she was a drug dealer giving her name and address, he also sent emails to local institutions, the mayor, social services, the police, her work stating the same. She was subjected to countless letters from social services and several house searches from the police, they obv found nothing. She gathered enough evidence to take him to court and he was found guilty of harassment. He got a minimal fine of £1,200 and she got nothing.

[@ScottArmour-y7u]

I got a parking ticket because i left the site.There were signs stating this. But having dyslexia means i cant read very well and the size of the signs wasn’t big for me to see it or had i noticed it. They are argued it complies the parking regulators standards. The writing fonts are not easy for me to read. I argued this and the parking compant took me to court. I argued it indirectly discriminated against me based on the equality court ruled in my favour. Dont let these parking firms bully you. Of course if you knew you done wrong. Then pay up. To this day, the parking company didnt really learn their lesson. But i comply with the rules as i now know them.

[@robinmoore3649]

Isn't bullying and harassment, those with power and money bullying those that don't, the entire premise of the UK legal system?

[@SalikRafiq]

That is horrible. My word. I have had a couple of times to deal with debt collectors. I alwayswrite to them, never engage on the phone because then they have your number and will harass you. I also them then should anyone come round it will be trespassing. That calms things down for me anyway.

[@jeansmith3367]

Poor girl, that's scandalous. My husband received a car park fine - sent a picture of a Mercedes (I wish!) but a description of our Peugeot, this was in London, we live in Liverpool and it was during lock down! There was no number to ring and they said for every day we didn't pay, the fine would go up. Stressful isn't in it, but to actually have our car details is quite worrying. Got it sorted somehow but low and behold it happened again about a year later - same Merc but our car details on the fine letter! I must admit because it's difficult to speak to anyone and they are adamant it is your vehicle I was going to pay it too. This one is absolutely disgraceful, I hope some sort of justice has been served for her distress

[@garystupz]

Thank you so much for commenting on this case, as it happens far too many times. Just to say I have actually made the mistake when using a parking app by putting my wife cars reg instead of my own. As soon as I got the ticket I emailed the local council explaining my mistake and they rescinded the fine. My takeaway is that using the app and keeping the receipt really does help. Thanks again for all your helpful tips very much appreciated! Not sure when you get time to do some barristering 😀 Gary

[@sgsuper1150]

We need laws to protect against harassing money demands. All they should do is send the charge notice and if any mistake is made cancel it. They should not argue the mistake as they have not lost anything.

[@localbod]

She needs to sue them.

[@lindsayheyes925]

My understanding of her account was that the parking charge notice had not been sent within the expiry limit, and so wasn't actionable anyway - or maybe she had ignored an earlier notice. Either way, it seems to me that it's important never to ignore the notice and to always respond in the way detailed on it so that there is no confusion and everything is a matter of record. Some people can get their knickers in a twist and drag the process out unnecessarily - and some are easily persuaded to by bad advice that they find online when they are at a vulnerable moment.

[@vickis2170]

I hope she takes them to court for the harassment. I wonder how many other people have been bullied into paying more money from this company. I often reiterate that to others when I hear this type of story from others. I am a cranky stubborn person and will not take that kind of thing lightly. I have had a few companies try and bully me and when I stood my ground and let them have it double barrel most backed down a few attempted to continue to bully but I stood strong and fought back. If you are in the right and have the proof. These companies need to be shown it is not ok. :)

[@user-yv8kd2jo2x]

There needs to be some very public court cases for harassment again these bully companies. To set an example that it's not acceptable and won't be tolerated

[@scottsun19]

Had same thing , was taken to court, many letters and a visit to my home address, ended up costing over 500 pounds and I gained a ccj , I understand your position, and urge you to pursue it further, good luck 🤞

[@leemason5953]

This happens all the time from companies and local councils,they rely on you giving in to them,they will take you to court over smallish amounts,even if you try and arrange payment plans and it seems the less money you have the more aggresive they come at you.

[@stoney2424]

Nobody deserves this for parking!

[@haytonism]

There's also the thing that either these parking firms are either relying on the world's worst most broken camera systems or they are very deliberately sending charges under false pretense.

[@adelejones5059]

This happened to my daughter, exactly the same but without the court case. We paid contactless, and they sent photos of her entering and exiting the carpark and when challenged and bank statements proving it, they said NO you got to pay a fine. They took her money obviously for the car park . They said she must have put in the wrong reg but she didn’t. After months she paid a £60 fine as she couldn’t be bothered 😕 but personally I wouldn’t have and would have had my day in court.. I said she should have asked for a refund for the money they took just to prove the point that they happily took it knowing she’d proven 1st payment…. They are bastards!!!

[@raimesey]

Late last year I received a parking charge notice from a Coop car park down the road from me. They said that I had parked there for 3hrs. I knew I hadn’t as I have never used that car park for more than 20 minutes in the 10yrs I’ve lived here. They sent me PCN’s, then bailiffs were involved, so I was forced to fight it. I kept asking them to provide me time stamped photos of my vehicle using the carp park for that length of time and they couldn’t produce them, so I had to lodge complaints and appeals through other organisations. The case was finally dropped but it was a pretty horrible experience. These parking companies are fucking scum bags!

[@curmudgeon]

My daughter was scammed this way about 5 years ago in Manchester. The parking meters were mounted in between the different parking areas, which made the chances of paying for the wrong area very high. This is almost certainly deliberate. Surely, the council must decide the positioning of the payment areas, or are they in on it? Anyway, she decided to pay up for an easier life like most people.

[@HonchHeado]

I had this happen I took out a no contact order via a magistrate it worked they didn't contact me again. I proved in court with my receipt I bloody well did pay for it.

[@justjacqueline2004]

Typical intimidation from lawyers enabled by the DVLA and the mental health impact is dreadful alone.

[@daleford8411]

I am in Australia and have had a dispute with a debt collector. Under our law if you indicate to the collector you are willing to contest the matter in court they then have to cease contacting you asking for money. A police complaint can be made if they continue. I personally refused to attempt to prove anything to a company with a clear conflict of interest. It did end up in small claims court but that is low stress as I had a letter stating I owed no debt in this case. The only negative about court was tales of people's lives I sat through waiting for my case. I obviously don't know UK law, but surely if you deny it and encourage them to take it to court ( in my case they said they would in a letter in 48hours if I did not pay, then didn't) they would have to.

[@mwill101]

New one that is becoming more common and not reported on is going in to a private car park to use their pay as you go charging station such as in supermarket car parks, but having to wait as there is a queue(30 mins per car to charge, 3 cars waiting so 90 mins gone, and there not being another one nearby that you could reach without “breaking down” so having to wait and then getting a ticket for overstaying even though used the charger! New rules need to be made for this with all the electric cars around and lack of infrastructure. Would also be nice to know your thoughts on suing the company for the distress they caused in this case as may be the only way they learn this isn’t acceptable

[@Bernie_the_Bolt]

Why didn't she just block the calls and bin the letters and wait to see what happened?

[@BrainboxccGames]

why did it take them EIGHT MONTHS to write to her? it almost seems like they intentionally delay these letters hoping you'll have lost all evidence of the "offence", but they forget people have online banking and can recall statements for years ago.

[@phredflypogger4425]

Sounds like a debt collection agency.

[@tonyh7390]

I got a PCN even though I had paid and displayed. They said I hadn't paid the right amount. I argued I had paid but they wouldn't have it. Then I got advised by a person working for a debt collection agency to not pay it as they won't touch these cases. So I just ignored their letters. It took 8 months, but they eventually stopped sending them.

[@mugban6836]

I got over 20 parking tickets parked outside my house while there was a disagreement over the permit. You can imagine the debt collection letters and fees after a few months of missed payments. I contacted the local newspaper, two days later I was on the local radio. The next day the charges were dropped. Funny that

[@stevejacobs9320]

All this proves is some law firms should be held accountable for their actions and should be heavily fined and forced to pay damages.

[@dadsoddjobs4355]

Shocking. Is the sort of harassment the lady received a matter that could be reported to the police. It’s tantamount to extortion? Would appreciate @blackbeltbarrister comment on that as it would be a way of nipping it in the bud. Thanks for the content by the way. Really appreciated.

[@clivewiddall3430]

I got hassled by a parking company asked for photo evidence after multiple equestrian finally got it and lo and behold the photos had been manipulated and contained not meta data! After pointing this out all charges/costs were dropped.

[@colinoverton790]

My brother and I tried for over 20mins to pay for a car park near the Grand hotel Scarborough. We then left and parked in another car park. The owner of the first parking tried to fine us. Luckily we had the receipt from the second parking and decided we were prepared to go to court. Eventually the fine went away. We would never go in a car park were payment was difficult.

[@kevinlemon6537]

Had one those parking clamps put on my car years ago ... cut it off with a hand grinder and left it by the rubbish . Never heard a word .

[@abeonthehill166]

She should have asked them to “ prove” they have not been paid ! She needs to take Legal action for the stress they have caused her . She should have told them she will pass the matter to her Solicitor if the calls and letters continued . They do try this on…….

[@sybaseguru]

The DVLA need to refuse to supply details to any parking company, for a year, following a parking notice where the Code of Conduct has been shown to have been breached, or the Code of Conduct has been watered down to be meaningless. I used the entrance sign font size and sign position to get ParkingEye to drop my case a day before being due in court,

[@nodders6830]

Name and shame and take them to court for all the harrassment , surely there can be some sort of recompense for their vile behaviour .

[@ICB72]

I would have said " Right see you in court"

[@Echo30Mike]

I have plenty of run-ins with parking nazi's. mainly with my local council I live in an are where you need a residential parking permit from 8am to 6pm Monday to Saturday. Their base of operations is a 10 minute walk from my house, but by 8.01am, they're out in my street ticketing people. They use the road traffic act to fine you, but I read up on the road traffic act and argued 13 tickets successfully. Basically, all of the signs for each bay have to be within 5m of the end of the bay and signs no further than 40m apart. The painted double yellows have to be unbroken. The end of the parking lines have to have a straight forming a kind-of square U shape on it's side. Even if there is excessive paint on the way that bay ends, it invalidates the whole bay. If the signs are 40.01m apart, it invalidates the whole bay, if there are roadworks that have broken the double yellows at any point on the bay, it invalidates whole bay. If there isn't a sign within 5m of the end of the bay, it invalidates the bay. I walked around my local streets within 300m of my house and I found a reason to invalidate EVERY parking bay. I took photo's and documented it. I approached them, they dismissed my evidence. I told them " you're using the road traffic act to collect unlawful fines, I'm using the road traffic act to get out of paying them ". Each time I got a ticket, I used my photo's and evidence to get out of paying them. 15 years on, and they have still not fixed the signage or painted lines. People just accept that it's easier to just pay the fines. They're using that unwillingness to fight to just hoover up everyone's money without actually sticking to the law. Also, up near the hospital, to stop workers parking in Aldi's car park, they have these nasty b*stards Parking Eye to limit your time there to 2 hrs. They used to give you a ticket at the checkout , but since many people spent over 2hrs in the shop including queuing and bagging, they had a tonne of complaints to the store. I think they still operate the 2hr policy, but I don't think they really enforce it, unless somebody clearly parks there for several hours. I read somewhere that each time Parking eye contacts the DVLA to obtain drivers info, the DVLA charges them £2 a time for the info. One year, the DVLA made over £20 million from these enquiries. However, I believe that the DVLA are illegally handing out peoples personal details ( data protection act ) to aiding and abetting harassment ( that's my interpretation of it anyway, I might be wrong ) - the reason that Parking eye are f*cking up, is because I also read that in a controlled car park, they're supposed to have a ticket operated barrier to enter and exit. By taking the ticket, you are entering into a contract to park there. Most parking eye car parks do not have barriers. The DVLA don't want to lose this income stream, so they hand out your details. Then the harassment begins. Parking nazi's are far too unregulated. We already pay through the nose for everything to do with running a car, but we're just targeted for even more money each time. Going back to the council. They'll employ more parking nazi's NOT to keep the roads clear, they hire them to make the council more money. If they were not financially worthwhile, they wouldn't hire them.

[@streetkaaccord344]

In what universe is this business model a legitimate enterprise, where the main source of income is derived a penalty from a possible breach of terms and conditions, designed to either catch you out, or inflated by harassing letters and phone calls. Disgusting.

[@peterkinner1678]

I proved the same with my bank statement. They then told me that I had commited a "Fatal Keying Error" when entering my registration number and as such they were entitled to fine me £20 for costs arising from the matter. I paid to get rid of them. p.s. Don't forget to update the address on your log book. Apparently, I committed a moving violation in Kingston-upon-Thames and the PCN went to my old address. Three months later, I had a clamped car and costs of £624 to release it. Driving appears to be an easy target for the greedy and corrupt.

[@davidhilditch680]

Apart from all the other issues already mentioned, why on earth did they think the could get away with waiting EIGHT MONTHS before making contact? What if the motorist had paid cash? I think this is covered by Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, schedule 4, paragraphs 4 and 9(5) and the parking company has just 14 DAYS write to the keeper of the car. This is the same as the police would do to give notice while the case is still fresh in the person’s memory. Eight months is outrageous!

[@kezzokav5905]

I got a fine similiar to this before. I wrote back with some legal counter arguments that I found on a very helpful website. They said it didn't matter and that I was still fined. Tore up every letter that came in the door after that. They stopped after about 2 attempts. That was 2 years ago. If you challenge their points/rationale for the fine legally, personally I believe they are much less likely to come after you because you could cause them more grief than the average Joe. I wouldn't be suprised if they separate people by lists e.g. won't pay, less likely to pay, will pay.

[@ggee7391]

In fifty years of driving I've never paid these bloodsuckers anything. Unless its a Constable in proper uniform in a car that says Police on it then no ignore it, do not engage they are just paper tigers. This young girl had the courage to stand up to these creeps who are collecting commission which probable shows how widespread this extorsion racket is. The reason they kept calling was because they new they had a "bite" and would pick up the phone, they could then wear her down into paying knowing she did not owe any money but would settle just to escape the pressure.

[@genemclabs9338]

It happened to me and just ignored everything for more than a year. Never call and response to their letter or to any bogus correspondence. Bin it all the time.

[@pzycoman]

Is there any legal basis for going "Dear Scam Parking unLimited, thank you for your correspondance, as I have provided proof to you that I have paid for parking, any further correspondance or contact from yourself or any of your agents or contracts will be charged at my going rate of £150 per hour (or part thereof), and by continuing to contact me, you hereby agree to these terms" then just suing them for that? Offer, consideration, acceptance, done?

[@stevenhodgson834]

No.

[@Xyg0t]

I paid money to a company like this because I wanted it to stop. I tried to pay through their parking machine that didn't work and there online parking app didn't work which I could prove so I left the car park to go somewhere else. Unfortunately I exceeded the five minutes grace period and got fined. Even after showing evidence.