‘Cowboy’
parking squads hired by High Street firms are hitting hundreds of
thousands of drivers with £100 ‘fines’ and using threats to make them
pay up.
The
companies – employed by fast food chains, retailers and railway
operators – issue what appear to be official penalty notices, similar to
those used by council traffic wardens. They then extract huge sums from
drivers who are sometimes just a few minutes late in returning to their
cars.
However,
the tickets do not have the same legal standing as official fines. Many
are being issued unfairly and – in some cases – without proper legal
authority.
Warning: A branch of McDonald’s Drive-Thru with parking restrictions advertised at the entrance
The
‘bounty hunter’ tactics are an unintended consequence of the outlawing
of clamping on private land in 2012. Private firms who used to fleece
motorists with
clamps have simply switched tactics and now issue £100
tickets to those judged to have overstayed.
But
consumer groups say High Street names such as McDonald’s are letting
their reputations be dragged through the mud due to their association
with suspect firms hired to police their car parks.
Have you been the victim of private parking cowboys? Contact the Daily Mail via parking@dailymail.co.uk
Some offer a
limited free parking period while others charge. But the parking firms
often issue tickets safe in the knowledge that many drivers will simply
pay up even though they often have an excellent chance of winning an
appeal.
If
tickets are ignored, firms often follow them up with threatening
letters – sometimes purporting to be from baliffs. But the notices are
not backed by criminal law and cannot be enforced without a County Court
order.
The
Daily Mail can reveal that McDonald’s has a contract with MET Parking
Services – which has links to an ‘unfit’ debt collection agency and a
firm of solicitors which was shut down because of staff dishonesty.
MET is contracted to make sure vehicles do not stay beyond a permitted time at 104 of the fast food giant’s car parks.
But
there have been claims that its wardens are placing £100 penalty
notices on cars even when families are simply eating inside the
restaurant.
MET also polices 21 car parks belonging to Chiltern Railways, which runs services through Buckinghamshire to the West Midlands.
Fast food chains, including McDonalds,
shops and railway operators employ companies like MET Parking Services,
who issue what appear to be official penalty notices, similar to those
used by council traffic wardens
Last
night Marc Gander, of the Consumer Action Group, said: ‘Private parking
companies are part of a bounty hunting fad which has risen up over the
past few years and is making an industry of penalising people without
good reason or for their simple human mistakes.
‘Big
brands like McDonald’s don’t seem to appreciate how this new industry
operates or the sense of anger and injustice that it produces in its
victims and who are also their own customers.’
Often
motorists know that they are in the right but when they get a letter
that looks like an official fixed penalty notice, followed by a letter
that looks like an official bailiff’s letter, they pay up because they
are scared
Edmund King, AA president
AA
president Edmund King said that ‘cowboy tactics, scaremongering and
bullying’ were being used by many private parking companies.
‘Often
motorists know that they are in the right but when they get a letter
that looks like an official fixed penalty notice, followed by a letter
that looks like an official bailiff’s letter, they pay up because they
are scared.’
He
said that the British Parking Association is paid for by the car
parking industry, a situation akin to ‘inmates guarding the jail’.
Retired
Scotland Yard superintendent Bernie Gravett said: ‘MET Parking do not
have staff on site. Rather they operate mobile patrols to rotate around a
group of car parks. Their operative will walk into the car park and
issue a Parking Charge Notice or PCN.
‘The PCN has all the appearance of a lawful Penalty Charge Notice issued by the authorities.’
In
2012, MET Parking was one of six firms that had their access to the
DVLA database of number plates, names and addresses suspended for a
period for issuing misleading information to motorists.
If
people refuse to pay the penalty fee, the company passes the case on to
a debt recovery firm such as Roxburghe Debt Collection, of West Byfleet
in Surrey.
Earlier
this year, Roxburghe was declared ‘unfit’ to hold a credit licence by
the Office of Fair Trading. Its tactics include arranging for a
solicitor’s letter to be sent to the driver, generally adding more than
£200 in charges.
Some
of these were issued under the name of GPB Solicitors in
Stratford-upon-Avon. Last October, the Solicitors Regulatory Authority
looked into the firm’s practices and closed it down. It found there was
‘reason to suspect dishonesty’ on the part of an employee.
Roxburghe
is appealing against the OFT’s decision that it is ‘unfit’. Incredibly,
its managing director is Gary Osner, who sits on the board of the
British Parking Association, which, in theory, is responsible for
policing parking companies.
McDonald’s
said: ‘All parking contractors that we work with are approved by the
British Parking Association and are required to meet strict standards
which address appropriate levels of charges and behaviours demanded from
staff.’
MET
Parking insisted its staff issue penalty notices only when they have
good evidence that a driver has stayed beyond the permitted time.
Chief
executive David Marks said: ‘When we receive an appeal in respect of a
charge notice that has been issued, we consider all the evidence
provided, any mitigating circumstances and the decision process agreed
in respect of each individual site with our clients.
‘Should
the motorist’s appeal be unsuccessful we offer them the opportunity to
appeal to POPLA, the independent appeals service.’
Roxburghe
did not respond to requests for a comment. However, it issued a
statement earlier this year saying: ‘We have consistently provided the
highest levels of service to our clients and their customers.’
£100 FINE FOR DIABETIC WHO STAYED PARKED 16 MINUTES TOO LONG
An
80-year-old diabetic was targeted by McDonald’s private parking wardens
after suffering a medical emergency while parked at its outlet at
Gatwick airport.
Charlie Webley, right with his daughter Sharon,
needed to wait at the restaurant longer than planned to ensure his
blood sugar had stabilised before he could to drive on safely.
Two days later a parking penalty notice arrived from MET Parking.
It had captured the details of the car using automatic number plate recognition cameras and the official DVLA database.
After the firm was told about his condition it doubled the charge from £50 to £100 because it was not paid within 14 days.
Mr Webley, from Strood in Kent, had travelled to the airport last summer to pick up his daughter Sharon, who owns the car.
Miss Webley, 54, said: ‘Effectively, we were sent a £100 penalty for over-staying by just 16 minutes.’
The civil servant launched a successful appeal to the independent tribunal service POPLA and the penalty was cancelled.
DM
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