Forum Topic

Parking fine

What is the situation with a parking charge in Morrison's parking lot these days?  Issued by Parking Eye - are they now valid?

Charles Campbell ● 4337d22 Comments

Would that be the Morrison's in Acton or somewhere else?

Gerry Tan ● 4337d

yes Acton.  This is something new for them.  Been shopping there for 30 years or more.

Charles Campbell ● 4337d

If they choose to enforce it at all they can only do so through civil action. I would simply have a word with the store manager if it was issued in error.

Nigel Brooks ● 4337d

Thanks Nigel

Charles Campbell ● 4337d

Title of this post reminds me of one of my favourite Tommy Cooper jokes..."I went shopping last week and when I got back to my car, somebody had left a note on the window of my car saying 'parking fine', I thought to myself, 'well that was nice'.."

Bud Richards ● 4337d

LOL - good one.  I have since been corrected as it is not a "parking fine" but a "parking charge".

Charles Campbell ● 4337d

The charge is enforcement of an implied contract between the car park owner and the car driver - you park here, you obey my rules or agree to pay a charge. The liability is on the car driver not the car owner; one way people have avoided these charges is to refuse to say who was driving the car, making the charge near impossible to enforce. Parking fines issued by the Council are the liability of the registered owner, not the person who was driving the car at the time, which of course makes enforcement much easier.

Vlod Barchuk ● 4335d

I received one a few years back and ignored it after a few attempts to contact me via post. Like Vlod states it is a civil contract and it would cost them to take me to court, subject to confirming that I was the driver. Previous cases that have ended up in court, although there haven't been many, the verdict is that the driver will only have to pay the amount equal to the excess time spent so if it's £1/hour and you overstayed by a couple of hours, they can only claim £2 in total. So it's not worth it for them to take it to court, however, most people will pay up

Joanna Dabrowska ● 4335d

Are the free parking conditions and times at Morrison's clearly displayed?

Gerry Tan ● 4335d

> The liability is on the car driver not the car owner; one way people have avoided these charges is to refuse to say who was driving the car, making the charge near impossible to enforce.That used to be true, but the law was changed in 2012 to introduce keeper liability for parking charges incurred on private land.

Dave Robertson ● 4335d

Can somebody explain to me what it is with some car drivers and their presumption that they can park anywhere or for any length of time without recourse, and then resort to lying and effective fraud when caught breaking the rules?

Paul James ● 4335d

Yes Paul, I was wondering why some folk assume they can get away with what is unreasonable anti-social behaviour - if the requirement is to free parking for x hours then don't park for x + more time.

Gerry Tan ● 4335d

Thanks all for your helpful comments -  issue all sorted thanks to Morrison's. Good to hear from you again Joanne.  Good to see that Carbury Ave. got sorted to everyone's satisfaction thanks to you.

Charles Campbell ● 4334d

At least motorists can be identified by the compulsory vehicle registration scheme unlike law-evading cyclists!

Nigel Brooks ● 4334d

Can somebody explain to me what it is with some car drivers and their presumption that they can park anywhere or for any length of time without recourse, and then resort to lying and effective fraud when caught breaking the rules?I must have missed something here.  Unless you are referring to a different thread, I see no "fraud" referred to - unless it is the duplicity of the companies who issue letters pretending that they can take people to court to enforce 'fines' for what they call illegal parking.Clearly there are some drivers who do think along the lines you indicate but I see no evidence whatever of that here.I know there are some people who believe that the law should always be interpreted very strictly.  However, this is impossible in these cases as these parking enforcement companies have not sought to take people to court to have the law clarified, despite every one of their letters threatening to do so.  From my reading of the situation on several sites, including moneysaving expert.com and PePiPoo.com, they are trying it on and should be prosecuted for misleading the public.

Phil Kay ● 4334d

I also thought it was a bit odd but one can't tell what the person behind the comment is like - maybe odd likes odd.  So just ignored it.

Charles Campbell ● 4334d

Paul is a fairly well-known campaigner for the cause of cycling. Cyclists, as we all know, are above the law :-)

Nigel Brooks ● 4334d

Cracks me up I (and all cyclists) get denigrated for being law breaking where people here are discussing how to get out of a car parking charge by being dishonest!

Paul James ● 4333d

Glad you are amused.Now how about compulsory registration and insurance for cyclists?

Nigel Brooks ● 4333d

Umm.  Don't know why you picked me for your venom, but so far you have accused me on an open forum of lying,resorting to fraud, and being dishonest. Tread carefully Mr. James.

Charles Campbell ● 4333d

I've done nothing of the sort Charles. It's the advice you've been getting that I'm talking about.

Paul James ● 4333d

>Now how about compulsory registration and insurance for cyclists?A moot point because neither will ever happen.

Paul James ● 4333d