What REALLY Happens? 

the most disgusting site for these is a hospital. hospitals are generally far away from train staitions, so the 'stopping commuter parking' excuse is nonsense. when my gran was in hospital for 2 months until she passed away, it cost me a fortune to visit her every day. it's infuriating.

Is there anything left in the UK that you can do without getting taxed or fined? What a nightmare.

The amount of money they try to make from a slab of tarmac is sheer greed. If they charged a reasonable amount like £10 for an overstay, people would have more respect for them and would immediately pay it. I don't understand how three fine can be so much more than what anyone would pay to park. I really don't get why we can't argue in court that the amount is excessive and that the landowner can't show an equivalent loss.

I've accumulated hundreds of these charges over the past 15 years. Never paid a single one. Never will. Those companies can swivel on the big one 😂

I’ve had one of them on my car for 7 years, not touching it as I’m not authorised

I had to defend no less than 6 CCJs from SIP parking management who fined me daily for using the parking space assigned to my apartment. While I was displaying a pass. They didn't inform me of the intention to go to court, there was no summons. They persued as many parallel cases as possible. It was a nightmare. All 6 CCJs were overturned because they didn't have any evidence or even an agreement to manage the parking there. Also, the space was on the land registry and they contravened my right to quiet enjoyment of the property. Absolute snides these parking people.

In my opinion the only way we will get rid of these "parking management companies" is by boycotting every company that uses them. Once the companies start seeing a major drop in footfall and revenue they will start getting rid of those "parking management companies" because it'll be costing them to much money. Personally I refuse to spend money in any shop / company that uses a "parking management company" out of principle.

I remember visiting family in the UK from Canada and I had a rental. My mother-in-law had a disability display badge as she needed a wheelchair. I parked at the Metrocentre car park and got a notice because the badge was upside down. We were returning to Canada the following day, but they sent letters for 2 years threatening legal action. I did not want to get into an argument about a disability badge that was upside down. I have more important things to do and worry about. Needless to say. They stopped sending letters for what was a £35 penalty. If I had been in the wrong, I would have paid it without question, but I think in this case, their actions were unjustified.

I've never deliberately went into a carpark or similar knowing I was going to ignore the charge, but the times I have received parking charge notices, I have binned every letter over the years, and nothing ever come of it

I received a parking ticket when I went for an appointment at Preston Hospital. All I did was drive in and out of a parking area designated for staff. I drove straight out when I noticed the signage. I couldn't find anywhere to park and drove about 1/4 mile away and parked on the street. Some of the guys at work said I should ignore the fine. I didn't want the stress and paid. Ironically, the hospital appointment was for a stress related condition.

Only the County Court or High Court can instruct Bailiffs. Any other threats of bailiffs, whether in writing or over the phone, is just scare tactics. The Magistrates Court can instruct Bailiffs in respect of unpaid Council Tax, because that's classed as a criminal debt not civil.

Over 10 years ago I received a Parking Charge Notice and ignored it. Every 2 weeks I received a reminder, and the charge increased 100% every 2 weeks. It accumulated into thousands of pounds that was slightly worrying, but then the letters stopped arriving. 😊

These rapacious parking cartels are just one aspect of the deteriorating country. The fact they exist and prosper is arguably testament to the failings of the legal system. Principally it being a system for the wealthy and powerful uppermost, and it's disparity from being a justice system. And it's surprising how many believe it to be the latter!

I knew a guy who used to write on the letters "recipient is deceased" and return to sender and would never hear back from any of them

Got a CCJ against me for a parking charge without knowing anything about no paperwork at all.

Had an wrongly issued Parking Charge Notice issued and I telephoned the company. They told me that their PCN was a fine and if I don't pay the court will tow away my car! How many victims have they threatened and lied to?

Hola from Spain...I had a couple of these parking notices when I lived in England...I contested them and they went away eventually...seemingly they don't want to work too hard to collect their money....where I live in Spain now, you can park almost anywhere....the local council (Ayuntemiento) also provide 3 big free carparks in town...Cabbage Island monetizes everything...

I won one of these in court, which was very satisfying! It was a shared office block car park. The land title for each office included the spaces for that office from within the car park. A management company that owned the common land in and around the car park (but not any of the spaces) brought in a parking company for the whole car park. My car got ticketed and it ended up in court. I produced land registry documents showing my car was parked on land belonging to X (as it was allowed to) the parking company produced a contract with Y (the management co.). The judge, quite annoyed, promptly threw it out. I wouldn't mind if not for the fact that it took an entire year from ticket to judgement and I'm told that was fast.

Our pals went through something like this and took them to court. The private parking company failed to show up on that case and the other 5 cases of the same same nature on that day, and it was thrown out.

I beat my PCN. I put together a good defence and their legal people backed off whilst we were waiting for the booked court date. I won. It took from Dec 2021 until March 2024 of numerous letters from parking companies, solicitors and debt collectors. I wanted my day in court because they lied in the particulars of claim. I made an official complaint about the solicitors too. In my defence I showed how the parking company had not followed the BPA guidance with full colour A4 photos.

Had several parking eye PCNs. Ignored them all, after several threats, they gave up. Had one from another company, Ignored that and I got a letter from a court 140 miles away. Replied to the court, saying I'd happily attended a local court and heard nothing more. Simple fact is, it costs them more to take you to court than they'll get out of you.

I live in a converted railway station, which is still a working line. My house (the old station building is converted into 3 town houses) is situated in the car park. 3 years ago a parking company took control of the car park, but wouldn't issue us with parking permits. Eventually, me and my neighbour (one neighbour doesn't drive) built up scores of parking notices. We have ignored every one, they stop writing after 6 months, and now the parking attendant doesn't even bother giving us tickets anymore!

As a debt collectors, working for one of these bailiff companies for 25 years, I say this is not the best advice. Just DON'T pay it, but if they do take it to court, then pay it. It'll cost you an extra 50 quid. About 3-5% get taken to court, so we'll worth the gamble.

Worth checking with the owner of the land sometimes as well to find out if the parking company actually do have permission to enforce on the land A guy I know was involved in a case where he actually owned a small industrial estate and rented the units out, he parked in an empty units car park to talk to a tenant and came back to find his Range Rover hand been towed away, from land he actually owned... Police got involved as he accused theft but didn't do a lot. He got the car returned but undrivable, from CCTV footage he proved they had towed it with a spectacle lift so as it was full time 4x4 it had destroyed the gearbox, he took action for repairs/ rental etc. He is a very nice bloke but not someone to P off, and also not short a bit of money. He decided to break them, they made claims the land owner had given them permission to enforce parking but strangely couldn't find proof, further evidence suggested they had some legal enforcement contracts but were also putting up notices and enforcing on any other bit of land they could find. Other tenants had had staff and customers fined but had assumed the company was operating it with his permission, he collected as many cases of fines as he could and took legal action (class action?), bankrupted the parking company, sent in the bailiffs, had them remove everything they could lay there hands on and chased the directors for everything he could as well. I don't think he actually managed to get back all the money the legal action cost but was willing to take the hit just because they had seriously annoyed him. Realistically they had probable hidden assets via Ltd companies etc and probable popped up again under a different name but he put a serious dent in the operations for a while

Just another example of the state's new economic model, extortion. In this case the state aiding the extortionists.

My son had a few years ago , he is disabled and felt ill whilst driving so stopped at his first opportunity in an empty dark car park for about 20mins , he never got out of the car and left as soon as he felt better he had letters and threats but ignored them all , they were told he was ill but still they pursued him , he was willing to go to court but heard no more .

Here in Mansfield you often find the yellow plastic bagged tickets took off, and on the ground.

NEVER dispute a PCN/FPN. Always write & ask for a copy of the contract signed by both parties showing you agreed to the Ts&Cs. Offer to pay when you receive a copy of the contract. They'll write back citing RTA1988. Write back & explain you're not disputing RTA1988 or the PCN. You simply require a copy of the contract for your records. You'll never hear from them again.

In Scotland, with no effect from POFA, only the driver could be taken to court. If the owner doesnt identify the driver, or cant identify the driver, no court action is possible. In Scotland I never communicate with private charge issuers and dont become scared by repeated heavily worded letters, which usually stop at number 7. This has been my privelege for at least a decade

Currently dealing with debt collectors set on me by a parking company for a parking charge iv already paid, due to them sending 2 separate invoices for the same incident because they forgot to put the date/time stamps on the pics of the original. Iv provided evidence of both the duplication and payment, but they're still havin a go 😕

The notice to keeper has to be sent out within 14 days of the alledged contravention (assuming no parking ticket put on vehicle). The alternative is that the parking company needs to prove who the driver was. My wife has successfully defended parking charge notices sent to her as the keeper because they were sent after 14 days and the parking charge company failed to prove who the driver was.

I always thought these stickers were for complimenting my driving skills. Parking, fine👍🏿. 😂

I had a letter from a company 2.5 years after a violation. The odd thing was the location was a place we would have never been to. I called them and asked to prove by providing a photo of the vehicle on the day. They couldn’t and we never heard anymore about it.

If everyone stops paying they will not be able to take everyone to court

I received a parking charge because the only payment machine was faulty in as much as the screen providing confirmation of input and instructions remained dark throughout my attempt to complete the correct payment. This was the only reason i did not make sufficient payment. I appealed but they rejected my appeal. I appealed through POPLA and the company submitted images of a more modern machine, beautifully lit as evidence of how easy it was to follow instructions and pay the correct amount. I am waiting for the POPLA verdict.

The fact that the ticket and envelope used look EXACTLY like the police/council/DVLA is illegal under Section 40 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970 (i.e. making the invoice look like it's a official/government issued one).

We went to a park in Milton Keynes on the day of the Muse gig. It was packed and every single parking payment machine was down. We tried all the machines, tried calling the parking machines providers and went as far to attempt to make payment in all the local pubs and shops to no avail. Que a raft of letters for none payment etc

OK, So you are going onto PRIVATE land right? cover your plates as you are on private land and the police can't do anything. uncover once you leave.

I had the same thing happen in the first story, it took 2-3 years before it moved to court. Didn't hear for 2 years. It then reached the courts stage, I wasn't invited to attend court as the judge made the decision beforehand I had to pay which was £500ish due to interest etc. I did send in my evidence showing the lack of signage, the machine out of service/ vandalised etc, however this was ignored.

I got taken to court but the judgement went my way. My advice is ignore everything except a letter from the county court.

It's a long time ago, but I was parking in central London near Hyde park, and about half the meters had yellow out of order hoods over them. The spaces were all unoccupied, so I parked. Luckily for me a warden came over and told me that if it was out of order I could not park. How ridiculous is this, when parking spaces are in short supply.

These companies go for the 'low hanging fruit', one of them tried bullying my elderly father who would probably of paid up without my intervention - he was unaware of the difference between a court bailiff and a commercial collection agency (which is something they commonly rely on). I didn't ignore them - my strategy was to repeatedly request evidence of the alleged debt, as well as the other paperwork described in these comments. Best of luck everyone!

It has been a while since I had a parking notice. Last time I had a solicitor write a note to the firm disputing the charge and saying that no agreed contract was entered. It cost more than the fine, but it was a point of principle as it was not at all clear regarding the parking arrangements. They ceded the point and did not contact me again. Generally, a letter back disputing the entry to contract and the agreed fees worked. I also heard that if they then “reject your appeal” again reject any entry to contract an invoice then for your admin time and again and again. Then ask for dispute resolution of the contract. Never admit fault, never say sorry and never ever say you agree to their contractual terms (appeal etc). But always be aware that if you owe enough they can take you to court and if they have a photo of your car then you probably lose.

I have another set of plates in my boot that I may or may not use sometimes. I also have a cover on my VIN, nothing saying I have to display that. This country is just sickening at times, no freedom, nanny state with extortion as an economic model.

I've been given an automatic ccj no court summons no proof of liability. No court date. No name. The phone number is worse as no one answering the phone. Spoken to debt collection agency they have no documentation for me. They couldn't even give me contact information for the claimant. They are pursuing me for parking with disabled badge displayed. The other parking charge notice was for a paid ticket being authorised by the on site machine but low and behold They can't access the machine to check. Yet they have had numerous complaints from the public who have experienced the same issue but still harrass them for money not owed. The judicial system is being manipulated and abused. Joke absolute joke.

I have my own parking bay leased to me as part of my property lease. I got one after someone parked a van across my own parking bay meaning i couldn't park and had to find a spot i could leave it until the owner left. Next morning it was gone, and within a few days I get a parking charge for 'being outside my allocated bay'. I wrote to them to tell them why I was unable to park in my own bay and that I have a permit for it, but of course they ignore stating "The infraction still occurred". I told them to take me to court and ignored them from them on out. After a few months of letters from various different 'dept collection' companies that were "taking over the case" they eventually gave up.

What i really love about these companies is how they use technology only for enforcement, and not for charging you the correct fee. With ANPR there is nothing stopping the company just logging you in and out and charging you accordingly. All you have to do is register with them. But no, many still require you to pay at a machine and then use the ANPR only to penalise you. I know some companies in the UK are finally starting to be a bit more consumer friendly in this regard, but it does feel like most would really rather screw you. In much of the rest of europe this all works much better of course.

this happened to my auntie recently I appealed the charge on her behalf whilst it was still under a apel process they send a letter demanding £1,000 even though it said online it was only £60 charge and had sent it to a bailiff company I sent this to them it was still under the appeals process yet they demanded the money the bailiff company wrote it off no further action and the place where my auntie parked actually paid the charge on her behalf to stop the letters

A few weeks ago, members of the council knocked on my door during a working day. They said they wish to trim the tree in front of my house (no prior notice given) and that I should remove my car from the driveway. So I had to find a parking spot between two meetings, no free spot on my street except in the areas where parking needed a residence permit. Since I had no alternative, I parked my car for half an hour and received a penalty notice within five minutes. I contested it on the grounds that the council asked me to move my car without prior notice which they obviously rejected (completely ignoring that it was the council who caused me to move my car). From now on, I will never collaborate with a council member again.

I ignored 4 of these in 2020, and also received a couple of follow up letters from a dodgy law firm. I simply ignored them and so far nothing has happened 🎉

I was under the impression if there is no loss you can’t be sued for £ ! I never respond and file the dozens of letters in the bin and have never paid.

I am a subscriber and I live in Scotland. I got 2 PCN tickets from 2 different car parks. I completely ignored the letters and threats of court and bailiffs letters etc for 2 years. Then they started again from another balling company for another 2 years. Then they stopped about 1 year ago and I’ve heard nothing since. Could you please do a short video for your views on what happens up here and why it’s different than in England? It would be very helpful sir. I do love your varied content. Thanks a lot.

I’m an ex Royal Marine, I got injured during operations in Afghanistan and spent the last 18 months of my service in a specialist rehab unit at HMS Drake in Plymouth. One day, myself and two other broken Marines (3 and a half legs between us) headed into town for some lunch. We parked in toys r us car park (2hours) one of the lads was having a problem with his prosthetic, so we over stayed the 2 hours. A few weeks later a got a fine. I wrote to the company explaining the situation, I gave them our service numbers, unit address and telephone numbers to prove that I wasn’t trying to pull a fast one! They wrote back saying they weren’t interested and I had to pay. I wrote back telling them that I was going to the local papers and tell them how badly they were treating injured servicemen. Hey presto! They wrote back saying “on this occasion blah, blah, blah” the fine was rescinded, I imagine because they didn’t want the bad publicity.

In Scotland, it's the driver and not the registered keeper who's responsible for PCNs. The first time I received a PCN I wrote to the company and asked if they could tell me who was driving the car at the time, as I couldn't remember. After a couple more letters from them demanding payment, I wrote to them, again asking them to tell me who was driving, this time telling them not to contact me again, unless it was to provide that information, or I'd be reporting them to the police for harassment. Never heard from them again.

My son ignored a charge notice and it went quiet after 12 months.....3 years later a court judgment and a fine of £400.

A bloke that I used to drink with had a couple of speeding tickets. His response was to say the authorities could not do anything to force him to identify who the driver was. "You mark my words, boys!" Famous last words, he persisted with refusing to identify the driver - despite the photographic evidence showing he was driving - until he appeared in court. Again, "nothing they can do". Long story short, he had a driving ban in addition to the usual fines.

What is the legal situation with the DVLA giving your details away without your permission. It's fine in my book for authorities, but not for some commercial outfit.

I got one a few years ago. I explained I was there for work, and it was to do with vulnerable children. I asked to pay in installments but they said no. After a few more letters I told them to take me to court and let me tell the court why I was there, and see who they side with

I had one in 2018 and just kept ignoring them. Any way it went to court this year. The payment machine was genuinely broken at the time and I argued this plus offered to pay the charge as it was always my intention to pay. The court judged in my favour thankfully

There's no such thing as a high court bailiff, they are a private firm contracted to work for the court

I had a run-in with a private parking company, which I let unfold right up until the point they had registered the case with the local court and set a date. It got to about 2 weeks before the date of the hearing, and the company in question pulled out. I had looked at previous cases where the best outcome the parking company could hope for was to be awarded the original price of the charge (£50-£100) as to my knowledge, no judge has actually awarded one of these companies the inflated total that the ticket ends up reaching through inaction. In this type of court also, even if you lose the case they are unable to recoup any legal fees or expenses, bar the cost of registering the case with the court (around £35 i beleive). So realistically, the best they could hope to get out of me via court ruling was around £135 best case. When you compare this with how much it would cost in legal representation for them, it becomes clear as to why they did not go through wirh the hearing. It doesn't make financial sense for the parking company with solicitor fees etc.

The registered keeper of my car does not exist. I have around 30 private unpaid tickets. Good luck with them recouping the fines. However, I have paid some if the amount they ask is £30 or under as it's fair. But when they ask for a lot, I just ignore it. If the fine is from a council, local authority, TFL, or the Police you must pay it as you can be pulled over for it.

If you know that the parking company operates on behalf of your landlord, or landlord's property manager, you can likely get it removed through them too. I was subject to 3 PCNs for parking in a space I was told was free to all tenants, I even had been given an access code to this car park by the maintenance guy who my landlord had pointed me towards. I paid one (in my naivety) and then appealed the other 2 through the company's internal appeals process, both appeals were (unsurprisingly) denied. Finally after getting the bailiff letter I rang my landlord who said it's not the first time he's heard about it. To my understanding he went back and complained to the property manager who contacted the company, who then overturned the outstanding notices. They never refunded me for the first notice I paid, despite the PCN being wrongful.

I got robbed recently, they toed my car away down my street. I had to pay over £260 to get it back. It was very dark and the way I drove in the sign on my side of the road was facing the other way so I didn't see it. I showed them proof of all of this, but they still refused to give me my money back.

I've had a few. In my cases I ignored them completely. Once you start talking to them, you're lost- so don't enter into correspondence. In my cases, they just stopped sending letters after a while.

Go to visit someone in hospital and you pay for parking, visit a doctor and you pay for parking, go to London and you pay for parking, it’s time to move to a different country!

In the past six years or so I've had four of these and have dealt with them all in the same way: I respond to the letters asking them to demonstrate the applicability of the legal principles they're relying upon to enforce the charge before I can consider the notices further. I simply get automated letters back that don't address any of my queries. So I write back asking them to address the queries in my first letter. To which I get an automated reply back which is identical to the previous. I maintain this back and forth for about a year - totalling around four letters, which they eventually escalate to bogus bailiffs letters, before they cease communicating and it fizzles out. I find this method enables me to have a paper trail showing that I tried to resolve queries about the dispute and that they failed to cooperate. None of the notices I've had has ever escalated beyond letter threats.

My band was booked for a 9: gig i got there early as i have a long drive and have to use a notorious road for delays I waited outside the venue for about 20 mins till the other band members turned up The drummer turned up so we entered the venue only to find that a disco and wedding reception reception was in progress, turns out the guy who booked the venue had changed it to a cheaper one down the road and didn't tell the band!!, two weeks later i got a parking charge from euro carparks for £60 I appealed it because i thought I had a good case but they didn't agree so i paid it before it went up to £100, very unfair That day i worked from 12 am to 1pm for £10

Most companies won't take you to court for parking charge notices but some will. I personally ignore them and they have all gone away so far and I've been doing this for years!

Around three years ago , a relative had an accident through no fault of his own, and he now has a permanent disability in his leg, so he has a blue badge Disabled parking permit, Unfortunately the same people who will believe that they should be no parking fines on either Private or Public land Are exactly the same people who tend to park in Disabled bays and on Public Footpaths. The infrastructure in the UK is not there exclusively for Lazy-idol- selfish car & Van drivers.

With all the GDPR regulations, why are the DVLA allowed to give your name and address out???

The main thing everyone overlooks, including yourself, is that these parking companies which are scum and flout the law and code of practice in nearly every instance, is that they can only operate with the authority of the car park owner. So, every time I get one of these I contact the owners and discuss with them why it should be rescinded. 99% of the time it will be rescinded and then you hear no more. The benefit of this is there is zero need to engage with the parking penises and they can't hound you any further. Only once did I not succeed when I over stayed a 2 hour parking slot late at night when my meal overran, down in Mousehole, Cornwall and a camera got me. Although I found the owner I couldn't get them to reply. All other instances I get them quashed, but I do make reasonable attempts to comply or make a later payment.

I received a ticket once and the ticket had the wrong time on it. Parking charges started at 8am. I went to move it at 7:50am. Ticket said 8:20am. The phone line didn't open until 9am. I couldn't prove it was moved in time. On University parking.

I moved into a new apartment which had a nearby NCP car park included with the rent. However, I was not informed that there was actually TWO ncp car parks in the area and the one that was located directly opposite my apartment building was in fact NOT the one which was included in my rent. The actual NCP car parking lot that was included in my rent was in fact a 5 minute walk from my building. I parked in the one opposite for about 2 months before I realized that I was parking in the wrong one. I occurred a debt of over £3,000. NCP were unwilling to understand and it was forwarded to a debt collection agency. I was threatened to oblivion and forced to pay it.

I tried this successfully for a few years. Then, a couple of years ago, I overstayed by (literally) a couple of minutes in a small, privately owned seaside car park. Same thing, ignored all the letters. Finally, after about 8 months, I received a CCJ from the courts themselves. I paid this inflated cost immediately (I always said I'd pay anything 'official' as a cost of doing business, if that makes sense). So, be aware, the landscape seems to be changing on this. Also be aware that if you do receive a CCJ, if you pay it within the timescale (28 days?), it doesn't go on your credit file. If, however, you choose to set up a payment plan, it DOES go on your file as a CCJ.

What If your a broke student in a new city and get tickets for parking outside your own flat as there is no parking provided by the flats nor a permit possible to obtain and you have no money to pay the 7 tickets you have? 👀 am I going to prison for parking tickets???

How is the DVLA allowed to break data protection to send our names and addresses to these private companies? Can you explain how its a not data protection breach? I havent given my permission to pass my data on and i dont want it passing on either

best thing to do is send a letter saying you don't agree with it you don't believe you have to pay it you weren't driving at the time and any future threating letters will be seen as harassment and reported accordingly. They shut up real fast.

I've accumulated a handful of Parking Charge Notices over the years and always ignored them and the letters eventually stopped... with one exception. One time, despite me saying not to, my wife sent them an angry reply and then it ended up going to court. We settled in the end for a reduced amount to cover their admin costs.

So I go to a dealership paid out of my own pocket to “own” the car, have to pay insurance to cover the car to drive on “public” roads, pay road tax and other road worthiness such as MOT to say I can drive the car that I paid for, but the DVLA claims I am the “registered keeper”, who then owns the car?

You say "... they can and very often do take people to court". That's not my experience. I and MANY people I know have had these, have ignored them (like your viewer) and they have always eventually gone away ... every time. I do not know of a single case (I've never even heard of one second hand) where it has been pursued. So while they may indeed have the RIGHT to chase you for payment and I'm not saying no-one has ever been pursued through the courts, for the overwhelmingly largest part, they don't. Hold your nerve people, even when in receipt of letters with bold type in red ink on the envelope, it'll go away.

What happens if someone randomly walks past and removes my parking fine off my windscreen before i come back to the car and i know nothing about it until im chased by the parking firm a few weeks later?

I had a parking company aggressively come after me for parking in my own residential parking space. They look it all the way to court at which point it was clear their solicitor had barely skimmed through the relevant contracts and the judge dismissed it in a matter of minutes.

very good educational video. thank-you. I was caught out by a parking eye car park recently and appealed by apologising (I was in the wrong) and explaining my personal circumstances in detail. parking eye initially reduced the charge from £100 to £20 and after further appeal did very kindly accept my plea to have the charge cancelled. I was impressed that parking eye behaved so kindly. My friend also got caught and paid the £100 fee immediately.

Used to ignore these up until about 2016 then all of a sudden every one took me to court. In one instance the firm of solicitors they used acted for me to have my CCJ removed / set aside. During the time it was active my credit rating tanked. Luckly i wasnt getting a new car or messing about with the mortgage at that time I no longer ignore them.

I had letters from a private parking firm that was used by Asda, with accusations that I was parked in parent and child bay without children, no parking ticket on the windscreen to inform me, so I ignored the 3 threatening letters, zero contact with the parking company, its been longer than 6 years and I have had no issues.

Thank you. That was an excellent summary of the law and why you should pay charges for which you had prior notice that you would be liable. My case was mentioned towards the end - unclear signage. There was no parking charge. You were allowed to park in certain marked bays, and the sign at the entrance said "Customer Parking Only", "90 minutes maximum stay" and critically "see notices in car park for more details". Some bays had signs for an adjacent shop, and some said "private car park". But some bays had no markings and I parked in one of these but was hit by a charge. I pointed out the signage was wrong, but to no avail. I could have pursued it by appealing to some regulatory organisation, but the blurb read as if the charge would go up significantly if I lost.

I had one. I was getting a new windscreen fitted by A mobile outlet in the carpark. It took them 20 minutes over. Complained to auto glass and they resolved it.

Always carry some gaffer tape in your car. Drive in the car park, if you go over the time allowed, cover your reg plate with tape, drive out and past the camera, then remove the tape. That way the camera gets you going in, but cannot prove when you left.

I ignored them, you get a letter reminder for full payment. then later threatening court letters

i had one from parking eye a few years ago and was reading through the small print and they said I was being prosecuted under some section of government law(can't remember more) I checked this and they changed quite a lot of the wording in it I emailed them to ask why they had done this as surely you can't alter government documents. I never heard back from them about this or the charge notice

Once I parked my car in a multi story car park. I had payed for 2 hours parking yet I received a parking fine in the post. Apparently, I was supposed to enter my reg no into the parking meter but there was no option to do so. I put together a lot evidence including a screen shot of my bank statement and the parking receipt and sent it to them. After a few weeks, I received a letter in the post telling me they have cancelled the charge. I think its ridiculous how they are just giving out fines to people even if you park legally.

Thank you for raising this . I have subscribed to you excellent advice. I have been driving to clients selling all my life and although these tickets are very seldom received they are worrying. Thanks again for your clarity. I have always if I felt in the wrong paid . Things just don’t go away .

I owed a pay day lender £1600. For years I kept setting up new payment plans with them and not paying for months on end then setting up new payment plans and doing the same. I fully intended to pay, but was in the grip of drug addiction and never managed to. Then just before lockdown they went into administration and I’ve not heard from them since. My original contract with them was well over 6 years ago.

I need to occasionally deal with CCJ default judgements in the UK for my clients as part of my job with Insurance. What you've said is becoming a more and more default for people. I've lost count just how many default CCJ judgements I've seen, where my client wasn't even informed of the court case raised against them. Where they have had no letter or notice, and nobody knew until the default CCJ was already issued. It's a serious issue with our UK county court systems, including in Scotland.

I've ignored dozens of these, only one started court action then dropped the case wasting their court fees. I do not engage at all, it helps them if you confirm the identity of driver. If goes to court again I would claim no recollection of parking and ask them to prove it wasn't a vehicle with cloned number plates.

Keeping quiet while being threated by a parking fine company should be seen differently than staying silent with the police investigating a crime IMO.

Hi Daniel. Was very much hoping you might cover the laws surrounding rivers. I live on a boat and I am a white water / smaller river kayaker. Understand it gets complicated civil / criminal. As a kayaker I'd like to understand right of navigation - i always ignore the many private signs. As i understand it, no agreement for navigation does not mean it is illegal. This i do in in Wales and the lakes mostly. As a live aboard boater i wish to understand - private moorings / civil trespass and mooring where can / can't. I live on the Great Ouse system. Thank you for making law easy - er, on point and not sleep inducing. Great work.

I have never gotten a parking charge notice! Maybe if I visit the UK at some point...

In my local area saba parking enforce charges on the public for parking on public land. There seems to be a clear conflict of interests and an automated appeals procedure. Who is the claimant in this case, is it saba parking or the local councils? And how is it lawful for a private for profit company to charge the public for use of public land?