| Topic: | Re:Why do people keep breaking no real law | |
| Posted by: | Phil Kay | |
| Date/Time: | 02/07/13 12:50:00 |
| The first few posts in this thread set the tone - which has now been forgotten. It would appear not to be illegal to park in these bays, depending on your definition of the word (e.g. not enforceable in court) but also not illegal for the bays' owner to send letters threatening non-existent court proceedings etc. Based on personal experience and observation: - these bays are not used as parking spaces by any persons or organisations, they currently exist only so that motorists park in them, are photographed and then sent notices demanding money - the notices purport to be fines - they are very carefully crafted to look nearly identical to local authority Penalty Charge Notices - the notices claim that a large fine is due and that this is enforceable in court if not paid within a short period - this would appear to be a lie. Advice on this forum and on several others is that one cannot legally be fined for parking in the bays. However, the owner can demand payment for the time spent parked there - e.g. 5 minutes at £6 per hour = £0.50p. To my knowledge, this is never explained to drivers nor are these small amounts ever claimed nor accepted by the bay owner - the reason I believe the owner's letters demanding fines to be untruthful is that no court has ever enforced one, despite many hundreds of thousands of such letters having been issued by similar companies around England and Wales - the owner commissions solicitors or similar to write a stream of strongly worded letters to the motorist demanding that the "fine" be paid and escalating the amount that will be recoverable should the payment not be paid immediately. If a telephone number can be found, repeated calls are made to the motorist threatening court proceedings - motorists who ask for the owner to take them to court are ignored - after a few months, the solicitor abandons the case as it is unenforceable and moves on to the next motorist. Neither party is exactly in the right - I guess personal judgement on the morality of the situation depends on whether one is a motorist or a bay owner. |