Campaign for licensing of former clamping firms (From Daily Echo)
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Campaign launched as driver fined while he bought ticket from machine
4:20pm Saturday 13th October 2012 in News
By Patrick Knox, Senior Reporter
Campaign for licensing of former clamping firms
CALLS are mounting for proper regulation and licensing of former clamping firms who are back demanding cash from motorists.
Yesterday the Daily Echo revealed how private operators are back in business following the ban on clamping – this time handing out parking tickets and threatening motorists with bailiffs.
One such driver was Derek Lunn who said he was shocked to be handed a parking ticket by a former clamping firm while he was at the machine getting a ticket for his dashboard.
The 51-year-old from Marchwood was parked at Totton Retail Park and says he walked 30 yards to a machine to get a ticket for one hour's free parking.
But he returned to his car three minutes later to find himself with a ticket and charge from Premier Parking Solutions, who were last night unavailable for comment.
Today the Daily Echo has launched a Fair Deal for Drivers campaign which calls for an industry tarnished by heavy-handed behaviour to be licensed and regulated. The Automobile Association and politicians such as Southampton Itchen MP John Denham have got behind the campaign.
Paul Watters, head of road policy at the Hampshire-based AA, said that by licensing the firms they would have to stick to the rules governing council parking wardens.
He said: “If they failed to comply they would lose their licence, it would be really easy.”
On October 1 the Government introduced the Protection of Freedom Act making clamping on private land illegal. But it did allow the former clamping firms to ticket cars and pursue drivers using DVLA data. But Mr Watters said the legislation had left the door open for the Government to introduce new rules.
Criticised Along with Mr Denham, he criticised a new independent appeal service which is paid for by British Parking Association (BPA) which operates a self regulation system for the private parking industry.
The BPA said the service it pays for, known as Parking on Private Land Appeals, or POPLA, was an important step towards fair ticketing.
But as revealed in the Daily Echo, unlike independent appeal hearings for council-issued tickets, POPLA makes all its decision behind closed doors with people having no right to attend.
Mr Denham said: “In principle the whole thing is completely wrong. There ought to be a system of independent appeals which is based on the local authority system.”
The MP also accused the Government of not thinking through the consequences of the law changes which had been instigated by calls to protect the driver from threatening private operators.
He said: “I think there needs to be proper regulation and licensing. You can’t have people issuing parking tickets and trying to enforce them without proper regulation.”
He added: “There have been some colourful characters in the clamping industry in the south coast and not the people you would necessarily want accessing DVLA data.”
n Have you been caught? Have you received a ticket from these firms or a similar one? Contact Patrick Knox on 023 8042 4501 or email patrick.knox@dailyecho.co.uk.
Comments(24)
IronLady2010
says...
5:13pm Sat 13 Oct 12
VictorMeldrew wrote:They have to have some kind of parking restrictions or local workers will abuse parking.
We can fight back by avoiding retailers who allow aggressive parking companies on their site. When their sales drop they will be less keen to use them.
If the example above of Totton Retail Park is the one where Lidl and In-Store is the ticket machines rarely work on the front car park, so you are forced to walk to the rear and queue.
If the Company is taking advantage of this then they should be dealt with.
George4th
says...
5:22pm Sat 13 Oct 12
It is common sense to give a parking charge to anyone who parks where they shouldn't park or parks over their allotted time. It is the responsibility of the individual driver to ensure they are parking legally - if not, you deserve whatever punishment comes your way!
>
This one single incident may be just a misunderstanding which has been blown up out of all proportion by the Daily Echo!
>
When clamping was withdrawn, all the clamping companies said that nothing changes with regard to parking illegally - you still get caught!
tootle
says...
5:45pm Sat 13 Oct 12
delay in obtaining a ticket, I for one will be parking and shopping elsewhere. Never known a car park where the machines are so frequently not working and where at least one is very hard to operate. Whilst I agree that some parking controls are necessary this car park is rarely full.
mansak_hunt
says...
6:06pm Sat 13 Oct 12
If I can't park for free, I will simply go somewhere I can, or buy whatever I need from the net.
Or use my bike.
In the USA they think it crazy that you have to pay money to park in order to spend money at shops, I agree!
Motoring is expensive enough as it is.
IronLady2010
says...
6:13pm Sat 13 Oct 12
mansak_hunt wrote:The example above with Totton, if I have the correct Retail park, they give an hour or more free, but you still have to get a ticket which is issued free by pressing the green button.
I refuse to pay for parking, full stop.
If I can't park for free, I will simply go somewhere I can, or buy whatever I need from the net.
Or use my bike.
In the USA they think it crazy that you have to pay money to park in order to spend money at shops, I agree!
Motoring is expensive enough as it is.
If they don't have restrictions then anyone could park all day which would be a disaster for the shops as no-one would be able to park due to workers from other areas pinching the parking spaces.
I feel the main issue is the machines are poorly maintained as they are often out of order, yet the one at the rear always seems to work. If this is a business ploy, it needs to be stopped.
Graeme Harrison
says...
6:31pm Sat 13 Oct 12
Fact: the owners of private car parks are only entitled to damages equal to their loss. If you over stay by an hour and that would have cost you £1.20, that's all the owner of the car park are entitled to.
Pay what you owe and put the demands for extortionate sums in the bin.
beatrixkitto
says...
6:32pm Sat 13 Oct 12
Ginger_cyclist
says...
6:39pm Sat 13 Oct 12
IronLady2010 wrote:The parking at the range in Thornhill is completely free yet it's rarely filled to capacity, it's the same with the parking kfc, greggs and costa there too, even with staff for other buildings there who might use the car parks, though I have seen a breakdown truck going round the car park after closing time before, possibly looking for any cars that got left there over night since the car parks have barriers that get locked.
mansak_hunt wrote:The example above with Totton, if I have the correct Retail park, they give an hour or more free, but you still have to get a ticket which is issued free by pressing the green button.
I refuse to pay for parking, full stop.
If I can't park for free, I will simply go somewhere I can, or buy whatever I need from the net.
Or use my bike.
In the USA they think it crazy that you have to pay money to park in order to spend money at shops, I agree!
Motoring is expensive enough as it is.
If they don't have restrictions then anyone could park all day which would be a disaster for the shops as no-one would be able to park due to workers from other areas pinching the parking spaces.
I feel the main issue is the machines are poorly maintained as they are often out of order, yet the one at the rear always seems to work. If this is a business ploy, it needs to be stopped.
chunky_lover
says...
6:58pm Sat 13 Oct 12
wizard
says...
7:13pm Sat 13 Oct 12
Graeme Harrison wrote:People havent read this obviously as they are still talking nonsense, fab post btw and all true
Fact: parking 'fines' issued by the owners of private car parks can only be enforced by a claim made in the county court.
Fact: the owners of private car parks are only entitled to damages equal to their loss. If you over stay by an hour and that would have cost you £1.20, that's all the owner of the car park are entitled to.
Pay what you owe and put the demands for extortionate sums in the bin.
IronLady2010
says...
7:32pm Sat 13 Oct 12
wizard wrote:Can they not claim costs? I'm saying they can, just asking the question.
Graeme Harrison wrote:People havent read this obviously as they are still talking nonsense, fab post btw and all true
Fact: parking 'fines' issued by the owners of private car parks can only be enforced by a claim made in the county court.
Fact: the owners of private car parks are only entitled to damages equal to their loss. If you over stay by an hour and that would have cost you £1.20, that's all the owner of the car park are entitled to.
Pay what you owe and put the demands for extortionate sums in the bin.
IronLady2010
says...
7:45pm Sat 13 Oct 12
owen_thesaints
says...
8:04pm Sat 13 Oct 12
IronLady2010 wrote:I'm with you on this!
As part of the Daily Echo campaign, it would be great if someone come up with a Park and Ride from their offices to the City Centre. We use their Car Park FREE of charge!
If we can find the editor's address I'm sure he won't mind us parking on his drive as well...
Come on Echo, what's the alternative? Or is anywhere fair game to park?
George4th
says...
8:14pm Sat 13 Oct 12
Graeme Harrison wrote:Fine if it is a regulated car park charge. However, as I understand it, if not then the owner can display an amount that you will be charged for parking without permission on their premises e.g. £85.00 - just send off the invoice to the driver whose details can be obtained from the DVLC.
Fact: parking 'fines' issued by the owners of private car parks can only be enforced by a claim made in the county court.
Fact: the owners of private car parks are only entitled to damages equal to their loss. If you over stay by an hour and that would have cost you £1.20, that's all the owner of the car park are entitled to.
Pay what you owe and put the demands for extortionate sums in the bin.
derek james
says...
9:23pm Sat 13 Oct 12
of course this will all be too technical for retford to understand
userds5050
says...
10:54pm Sat 13 Oct 12
Graeme Harrison wrote:So when your credit card company issues you with an unfair charge for not paying off last month's balance, and you choose to ignore their subsequent demands for money. Is the resulting CCJ invalid because the original charge was not equal to their loss?
Fact: parking 'fines' issued by the owners of private car parks can only be enforced by a claim made in the county court.
Fact: the owners of private car parks are only entitled to damages equal to their loss. If you over stay by an hour and that would have cost you £1.20, that's all the owner of the car park are entitled to.
Pay what you owe and put the demands for extortionate sums in the bin.
chunky_lover
says...
10:44am Sun 14 Oct 12
om/watch?feature=end
screen&NR=1&v=Tp9s1G
6PdeY
scum.
George4th
says...
12:04pm Sun 14 Oct 12
Why is it that drivers (mostly male!) think they are a privileged species?!
userds5050
says...
2:14pm Sun 14 Oct 12
George4th wrote:Er, parking on private land is not against the law. We're not talking about the police. We're talking about rogue clamping firms.
It is amazing how the great British public spend so much time and energy trying to avoid paying for car parking! In order to do this, many risk parking illegally and then have the affront to complain when they are punished for doing so! If you break the law you should be punished - that's how law works!
Why is it that drivers (mostly male!) think they are a privileged species?!
Ginger_cyclist
says...
2:31pm Sun 14 Oct 12
userds5050 wrote:Also the signs they have in car parks for shopping centers and stuff, aren't law, they're rules specific to that company and when a driver parks there, they enter a contract with the business, if that contract isn't honored by both parties, then the law has been broken but if there is inadequate signage then no law would be broken as the contract would be null and void due to that lack of signage which would then mean any ticket you receive there, would be illegal.
George4th wrote:Er, parking on private land is not against the law. We're not talking about the police. We're talking about rogue clamping firms.
It is amazing how the great British public spend so much time and energy trying to avoid paying for car parking! In order to do this, many risk parking illegally and then have the affront to complain when they are punished for doing so! If you break the law you should be punished - that's how law works!
Why is it that drivers (mostly male!) think they are a privileged species?!
thedavie
says...
3:15pm Sun 14 Oct 12
They ticket vehicles even if they have a valid permit shown
Read the forums on this Southampton Company
I agree with making enforcement companies apply for a licence from the local authority that is responsible for site they are supposed to be controlling
Forget BPA the companies that join it do so only for access to DVLA information I do not think they join up with a thought of keeping to a code of conduct
If you phone VP Parking Solutions Ltd on 0871 265 7219 to dispute a ticket you will pay to get abuse down the phone line
VictorMeldrew
says...
1:08pm Sat 20 Oct 12
VictorMeldrew
says...
1:08pm Sat 20 Oct 12
VictorMeldrew says...
5:01pm Sat 13 Oct 12