Why Can Private Parking Companies Charge 20 Times The Fee .

[cuttsie 1,089]

If you over stay or miss paying the proper fee in some privately owned car parks , those companies can charge you more than 20 times the fee you would have paid if you had not made a mistake in reading the signs etc.

 

So for instance if you forget to pay your gas bill or phone rental then you just get a letter or message asking you to pay or get cut off etc.

 

Not so  with these parking companies though they can get your private info and address from a Government Dept ,(is that legal?) then they send you a demand for the sum that as stated can be 20 or even more the cost of the original service .

Why ?????

 

 

[Jim Hardie 524]

13 minutes ago, cuttsie said:

If you over stay or miss paying the proper fee in some privately owned car parks , those companies can charge you more than 20 times the fee you would have paid if you had not made a mistake in reading the signs etc.

 

So for instance if you forget to pay your gas bill or phone rental then you just get a letter or message asking you to pay or get cut off etc.

 

Not so  with these parking companies though they can get your private info and address from a Government Dept ,(is that legal?) then they send you a demand for the sum that as stated can be 20 or even more the cost of the original service .

Why ?????

 

 

DVLA sells your name and address for £2.50 a pop.

There’s plenty of advice what to do on the internet. Best is Money Saving Expert.

[carosio 186]

Yes, they have a special contract with the DVLA (with conditions) that give them access to the Reg. Keeper (note, not necessarily the driver!).

 

A few years ago they won a court case that allowed them to charge £100 for breach of contract; their barrister persuaded the court that £100 was not an "unconscionable" amount for a parking notice.

[CLECKHECK 10]

I was a victim of this a while ago.  We're supposed to have a Data Protection Act.  The government keeps a record of the keeper of registered vehicles who [as carosio points out] is not necessarily the person parking the vehicle.  Why does parliament permit the DVLA to sell this information to anyone else?   What are our MPs doing about it?  Nothing!

[Dromedary 166]

1 hour ago, cuttsie said:

If you over stay or miss paying the proper fee in some privately owned car parks , those companies can charge you more than 20 times the fee you would have paid if you had not made a mistake in reading the signs etc.

 

So for instance if you forget to pay your gas bill or phone rental then you just get a letter or message asking you to pay or get cut off etc.

 

Not so  with these parking companies though they can get your private info and address from a Government Dept ,(is that legal?) then they send you a demand for the sum that as stated can be 20 or even more the cost of the original service .

Why ?????

 

 

Lets hope this government's proposals to put a cap on PCNS actually happen.

 

https://www.britishparking-media.co.uk/news/proposed-cap-on-pcns-for-parking-on-private-land-a-real-concern-says-bpa

[dan2802 53]

These companies use a camera system and compare the time you entered and the time you left to assess if you've over stayed.

On the odd occasion I need to use these carparks (Wickes at the bottom of the Moor usually), I drive out with the boot open so the camera can't log the time I leave.

This method hasn't failed me yet.

[carosio 186]

4 hours ago, CLECKHECK said:

I was a victim of this a while ago.  We're supposed to have a Data Protection Act.  The government keeps a record of the keeper of registered vehicles who [as carosio points out] is not necessarily the person parking the vehicle.  Why does parliament permit the DVLA to sell this information to anyone else?   What are our MPs doing about it?  Nothing!

https://www.transportxtra.com/publications/parking-review/news/64735/dvla-defends-sharing-vehicle-keeper-data-with-private-parking-companies/

Edited December 23, 2021 by carosio

[Annie Bynnol 612]

6 hours ago, cuttsie said:

If you over stay or miss paying the proper fee in some privately owned car parks , those companies can charge you more than 20 times the fee you would have paid if you had not made a mistake in reading the signs etc.

 

So for instance if you forget to pay your gas bill or phone rental then you just get a letter or message asking you to pay or get cut off etc.

 

Not so  with these parking companies though they can get your private info and address from a Government Dept ,(is that legal?) then they send you a demand for the sum that as stated can be 20 or even more the cost of the original service .

Why ?????

 

 

We have a parking problem on our road as its just before the first ANPR cameras coming into Sheffield along the A57.

To reduce the problem we have informed several insurance companies of illegally insured vehicles parked on our road.

Sometimes they are younger drivers(usually students) insured as occasional drivers by their parents.

Sometimes commercial vehicles insured as private vehicles.

Sometimes delivery vehicles without business insurance.

Sometimes SORN vehicles.

Sometimes numberplate mismatches.

 

I have no idea if prosecutions etc. happen but it certainly results in less fewer returning problems. 

 

 

[carosio 186]

17 hours ago, Annie Bynnol said:

We have a parking problem on our road as its just before the first ANPR cameras coming into Sheffield along the A57.

To reduce the problem we have informed several insurance companies of illegally insured vehicles parked on our road.

Sometimes they are younger drivers(usually students) insured as occasional drivers by their parents.

Sometimes commercial vehicles insured as private vehicles.

Sometimes delivery vehicles without business insurance.

Sometimes SORN vehicles.

Sometimes numberplate mismatches.

 

I have no idea if prosecutions etc. happen but it certainly results in less fewer returning problems. 

 

 

These will be general traffic offences which will involve the police/council, nothing to do with private parking companies.