'Private' Parking Tickets

This is an unusual topic for us to cover because we try and stick to tourism related news. But we feel that in certain circumstances, tourists may also fall into the private parking ticket trap. Recently a supermarket car park in Newport was in the news because people had been issued 'Parking Charge Notices' from the company which had been hired by the supermarket to patrol their car park. While it is totally legitimate for them to do so, it does not necessarily follow that there is an absolute legal obligation for anyone to pay the 'charge'. Unlike a Penalty Charge Notice which can only be issued by a local authority or the police, these private notice cannot be recovered via the court process as a penalty. Simple reason is that a 'fine or penalty' cannot be issued by a private concern. Same applies to your bank where they cannot use the word 'penalty' when dealing with a default matter. However, they can bring a claim for trespass whereby they (or the landowner) could sue for 'loss or damages' but those losses would have to be proportionate to a tariff meaning they would have to justify the amount being claimed as an actual loss. In some cases we are talking free parking so difficult to see how someone can calculate a loss there. A lot of people of course a probably unaware of the legalities on this matter hence the reason we are posting this. Click HERE to look at this clip from the BBC programme, WatchDog on the subject.  Any comments/experiences are welcome!     

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