of some
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Your consumer questions answered
A
Parking charge notices
(PCNs) that are issued on
private land are still
enforceable under the law of
contract, just as they are
in council-owned ones. When
you use any car park, you
are agreeing to be bound by
the terms and conditions
of the site and failure to do so
is a breach of the parking
contract, which is enforceable
in law. You can be pursued
for the debt at court if this is
not paid. Therefore, do not
simply ignore the ticket.
If you accept that you
haven’t complied with the
terms and conditions, then
you should pay the charge
promptly, before the cost
increases. However, you have
I parked my car in a store’s car park rather than a council-run
facility. I thought that parking was free for customers, but when
I returned I found that there was a ticket on my windscreen.
As it’s the shop’s car park, not the council’s, do I have to pay?
A
Q
mentioned that you believed
that car parking was free
to customers of the shop. If
parking should have been
free to customers, or it was not
made clear to you that there
was a charge through
appropriate signage, then you
can appeal the PCN to the
parking company, explaining
why you dispute the charge.
You should include evidence,
such as receipts confirming
use of the shop on that
day, confirmation from the
shop that parking is free
for customers and/or
photographs of any signs.
Details of how to appeal
the charge will be available on
the PCN. There is usually
a deadline for making an
You can be
pursued for the
debt at court if
this is not paid.
Therefore, do not
ignore the ticket
Money
appeal, so make sure that you
respond within the time frame
if you wish to do so. If your
appeal is not accepted by the
parking company, then there is
also a further right of appeal
to POPLA (Parking on Private
Land Appeals, popla.co.uk).
This independent appeals
service will provide a final
decision on your appeal.
Private land and car parks
provided on private land
are owned and must be
maintained by someone. As
such, there is a cost to parking
there and measures are often
needed to prevent people other
than those for whom it is
intended from parking there.
A good example of this,
although frustrating for
genuine visitors, is hospital car
parks located near city centres.
When they weren’t managed,
people would park there and
walk into town, clogging up
the car park. Hospital car-park
charges are in some cases the
unfortunate result of drivers’
selfish behaviour. DM-S Z
Your
experts
Derek Millard-
Smith
partner JMW
Solicitors,
Manchester
Jo Carlowe
Consumer journalist
Hannah Jolliffe
Consumer rights
journalist
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