Watchdog Tonight - Parking Fines/Fees

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Tue 28 Feb 2006 19:58
Watchdog Tonight - Parking Fines/Fees - Welliesorter
I've just been watching an item on Watchdog regarding fines (if fine is a correct term) for parking on private property. As is typical with this programme, the item was superficially presented and poorly researched, raising more questions than it answered.

Briefly, it featured several people who'd apparently been charged extortionate amounts for parking on what was (presumably) private land. The parking company featured operated by taking a photo of the victim's car and including it with an official-looking demand for payment of hundreds (sometimes thousands) of pounds.

The accusations were that the company worded their demands in such a way that they could be assumed to be working on behalf of local councils, failed to post easily visible warning notices at the locations concerned, didn't fix notices to the vehicles (so the offenders repeatedly parked in the same place before the demands started to arrive), and had been able to obtain the drivers' details by applying to the DVLA.

Although these issues, especially the data protection ones, were genuine enough, the programme failed to address a more basic point: how could the company enforce the fines or charges? If the drivers refused to pay, could the so-called debt be pursued by legal means? And could merely entering premises (one owner never even left their vehicle) be construed as acceptance of the extortionate charges for parking there?
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