What happens if I ignore the charge affixed to my vehicle?

The charge should be paid by the driver/keeper within 28 days from when the charge was issued unless the charge is with the appeals board. If the charge remains unpaid and no appeal has been lodged, then we will request the keeper details from the DVLA on the 29th day. Once we have the keeper details we will send a formal demand to the keeper for the full amount.

If this still remains unpaid then the debt will be sent to a debt recovery specialist at a higher rate who will attempt to settle the debt or start the county court proceedings against the driver.

We can chase a debt for 6 years from the date of issue, so if you have not heard anything for a while from us, then please do not be fooled into thinking you have got away with the charge.

/by

Why did I not get a VAT number on the receipt when I paid my charge?

The receipt will not show a VAT number as a parking charge is essentially a contract between ourselves and the driver/keeper and not considered a supply of service to the landowner. They do not pay for the service and we do not compensate them for any loss caused by any unauthorised vehicle parked on their land. 100% of the charges are retained by the operator which contributes towards the cost of running the business, which in turn is deemed outside the scope of VAT.

/by

If I appeal the charge, will I still be entitled to the lower rate discount?

‘If your appeal is received within 14 days of issue, the discounted rate will be put on hold until the appeal has been reviewed. If the appeal is declined, the discounted rate will be reset and you will have a further 14 days to pay at the discounted rate.’

/by

Does your company take pictures in order to record the event?

All of our operatives are trained to a very high standard and for each parking charge issued, they take numerous pictures to record the event. These pictures are date and time stamped.

/by

I have a permit or ticket, but I failed to display it, or it fell off the dashboard, out of site from the windscreen. Can I appeal?

It is the responsibility of the driver to ensure that when they are exiting the vehicle the permit is on display. Once they have exited the vehicle, they should take a quick glance from the outside of the windscreen to ensure the permit and/or ticket is clearly displayed, so it can be seen by our patrol operatives.

It is not the responsibility of our patrol staff to look on the floors or seats to try to find a permit or ticket. The signs located within the car park clearly state that permit/tickets must be clearly displayed in the front windscreen.

/by

Are the fees you charge disproportionate to the loss suffered by the landowner?

All of the fees that we charge are in line with the Protection Of Freedoms Act 2012 and the code of conduct set out for all approved operators.

If you are requesting that we send you a breakdown of the profit and losses suffered by the landowner (our client) and the parking operator (us), please note this does not apply to a contractual relationship between ourselves and the drivers. The terms of parking were agreed by the driver when they chose to ignore the parking rules that are displayed on the signs in and around the car park.

They then have contractually agreed to pay a parking Charge and that they accept the liability of payment of that charge, made payable to the parking operator.

The fees we charge contribute to the free of charge services we supply the landowner and as such, the contract is not between the landowner and the driver but between the operator and the driver and/or keeper.

/by

Can you send me a copy of the contract between you and the landowner?

Our contracts between us and the landowner/agents are protected through the Data Protection Act 1998, updated April 2018. However, should the case be taken to the county court to recover a debt then it will be produced to the courts.

/by

I received a Parking Charge from your company. Is this legal?

Many online forums & advice centres will tell you this is just an invoice, and you don’t have to pay this charge, this is factually incorrect, Charges are issued under a contractual relationship with the driver and/or keeper of the vehicle – the terms of parking are listed on the signs within the car park showing the contractual rates.

These charges are in line with the International Parking Community code of conduct and Schedule 4 of the Protection Of Freedoms Act 2012 (POFA).

If the driver of the vehicle chooses to ignore the terms and continue to park, they are accepting liability and are contractually agreeing to pay a parking charge to ourselves.

We have a valid contract with the landowner and are a fully accredited operator with the IPC. This gives us reasonable cause to request the keeper details from the DVLA to pursue any outstanding debts through the county court.

The majority of the CCJ’s issued against drivers and/or the keepers of vehicles that have unpaid charges outstanding all claimed that they read information online, so they thought they did not have to pay the charge – these people now have had their credit rating severely affected with a County Court Judgement issued against them.

/by