NGP PARKING 'FINES' - UPDATED

Regulated Private Parking Tickets on Private Land:



Private parking firms CANNOT fine you. Tickets at supermarkets and private car parks may be disguised as fines, but they are really just invoices. Like any invoice, you don't have to pay and they cannot sue you.

If a parking company tries to take you to court, then defend it. Your can defend it on the grounds the parking company is seeking to make a profit.

That will make their claim financial uneconomical to pursue. Under court rules, the parking company pays their own solicitors fees regardless the outcome of the claim.

Parking companies rely on pursuing undefended claims to make a profit and obtain default judgment.

Clamping of motor vehicles on private land is a criminal offence Section 54 of Chapter 2 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 and clamping vehicles on public roads is illegal under Regulation 17(3) of the Taking Control of Goods Regulations 2013 when the driver (not necessarily the owner) has not received a statutory Notice of Enforcement, or the vehicle does not belong to the liable person.

It is not illegal to clamp a debtors car parked on his own private land. See Paragraph 211 of the explanatory notes.

It is also illegal for bailiffs to clamp or seize goods not wholly belonging to the debtor, Paragraph 10 of Schedule 12 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007.

The regulations enable parking companies to ask the driver to pay an unpaid parking charge, but the regulations do not provide for 'penalties' or any sums greater than the actual pre-estimate of a loss to the regulated company. If your overstay in a regulated car park cost 30p and the parking company spends a 1 disbursement for sending you a demand then the most that can lawfully be claimed from you is 1.30.

DVLA fees are subscription based and there is no specific cost to looking up the registered keeper of a vehicle and the parking company will already have this subscription so there are no actual disbursements claimable from the driver under these regulations.

If the parking company is not a member of an Accredited Trade Association (ATA) or does not use Parking on Private Land Appeals (POPLA) service for its appeals then the company is not compliant with regulations, or the company is unregulated and the driver or keeper does not have to pay the ticket.



Here is the Department for Transport official guidance on private parking tickets issued on private land from 01 October 2012.



As these regulations are new and drivers may not fully understand it, private parking companies may take advantage of this by pretending the regulations give companies a right to charge penalties for unpaid private parking tickets.



This is not true. If you receive a demand greater than the actual parking charge you would have otherwise paid plus the actual provable disbursements the company has paid in sending you a demand being about 1 including the 2nd class stamp, then you can reply using the template below and send it with your appeal against the parking charge notice on the grounds the demand is too high.



The template letter cites the regulations chapter and verse to dispel any notion a parking company is entitled to make a gain by charging drivers more than the original unpaid parking charge and the disbursement paid to send you the demand in the post. There is no such thing as "discounts" for early payment.


Appeal if you have been overcharged.





Private car parks are usually unmanned and take your vehicle registration using ANPR when you drive in. You enter your vehicle registration into the machine when you buy your ticket, but if you don't buy a ticket or enter a wrong registration, the registered keeper receives a demand through the post.



If you are dealing with a private parking ticket on private land issued before 01 October 2012 then you do not have pay it and it is unenforceable because private parking became a regulated activity from 01 October 2012. You may still get a series of letters, or threatograms sent through the post to the vehicle's registered keeper. The following is an example sequence of letters following an unregulated unpaid parking charge notice from Premier Parking Solutions Ltd



Example Parking Charge Notice issued before 01 October 2012: - designed to imitate a Regulation 9 Penalty Charge Notice as amended in 2007







First Reminder - about 30 days after the event







Second Reminder about 80 days after the event







Third reminder about 120 days after the event







Then nothing!



NEVER appeal a private ticket because if you do it will be rejected and you are wasting your time. The Private Parking Ticket industry is an unregulated activity and the example below confirms the rejection letter suggests it is sent to all appellants.

I used the car park at llandough as I had a hospital appointment.

Was only later aware that only first two floors were for patients and that the others were for staff.

Have not heard anything yet and have complained to the hospital as signage was not clear.

Apparently the "fine" is £70 - any advice in these circumstances as there was no request for payment etc.

I used the car park at llandough as I had a hospital appointment.

Was only later aware that only first two floors were for patients and that the others were for staff.

Have not heard anything yet and have complained to the hospital as signage was not clear.

Apparently the "fine" is £70 - any advice in these circumstances as there was no request for payment etc.

I went to Llandough Hospital for a training course 18 months ago and they tried fining me. They must have followed it up half a dozen times and I just kept ignoring them. Eventually, they gave up. I think it costs them £5 every time they send something out to you, so if you just keep ignoring them, they will eventually go away as they will eventually realise they're not going to make any money off you.

Private Parking firms rely on contract law. Basically they put signage up stating what the cost of parking is and if you park your car there you are deemed to have accepted the Terms and Conditions expressed on the signage.

Contract Law only allows for the injured party to recover its 'losses' due to any breach of contract. In the case of PP that would be the parking ticket price plus any out of pocket expenses incurred in pursuing a claim against the car owner. CL does-not facilitate 'penalty' charges.

Also the PP company is an agent of the landowner. Therefore your contract is with the landowner not the PP company (it is exactly the same situation as estate agents who rent out properties on behalf of the property owner). So technically the PP Company can't take you to court as there was a contract between the car owner and the landowner, not the PP company. So if the matter goes to court you should defend the action by making an offer to the landowner for the price of the parking ticket and a 'reasonable' amount for administration fees (£5 at most)

Totally agree with OP that using the appeal process is a complete waste of time. All they will rule on is if there was a 'breach of contract' they will not rule on the amount being claimed.

I have never paid a PP 'fine'. Generally ignoring the first couple of reminders is enough.

However, sometimes they check to see if the car owner has property and will pursuing them more vigorously hoping they will pay up to avoid court action/damage to credit rating.

At that point contact the PP Company and express a willingness to settle out of court by paying the landowner directly the price of the ticket plus a small amount of administration fees as you know they (the PP Company) are only agents and cant enforce the penalty chardge

Well done that man.This post should be framed somewhere on this forum because this topic has always crept up from time to time.

Interesting, cheers mate!

I used the car park at llandough as I had a hospital appointment.

Was only later aware that only first two floors were for patients and that the others were for staff.

Have not heard anything yet and have complained to the hospital as signage was not clear.

Apparently the "fine" is £70 - any advice in these circumstances as there was no request for payment etc.

I went to Llandough Hospital for a training course 18 months ago and they tried fining me. They must have followed it up half a dozen times and I just kept ignoring them. Eventually, they gave up. I think it costs them £5 every time they send something out to you, so if you just keep ignoring them, they will eventually go away as they will eventually realise they're not going to make any money off you.

I have had three letters after parking at Llandough hospital asking me to pay £70 and I have ignored them all.
The last letter I had stated that it was the final one they would send and that he next one would be a court order.
I ignored that as well.
Fingers crossed!