Elite Parking fine

[Drivencrazy]

Hi I’m looking for advice really.
First time on this site so please forgive if this is totally in the wrong place.
I received a letter today from elite saying I have a parking fine of £100. I was adviced to totally ignore the letter, not sure if this is the right thing to do ??

 

[Doggit]

It depends on the circumstances. Was the parking fine valid. Was there a visible notice that advised you of any potential fine if you overstayed a certain period. No idea who Elite are, but are they a company that the parking area uses to enforce it's regulations.

Not sure if this forum can help you.

 

[mattylad]

The fightback forums at peppipoo.com will also help, they seem to know their stuff well and are aquanted with Elite.

 

[big-all]

from what i remember they have little legal standing
they word there notices similar to police or official notices but are no more than a private company asking for payment with no more legal standing than you or i and have to go to court to enforce
in other words they use words and impressions to manipulate what you think there legal standing is when in fact they may have no more power than your vaccum cleaner when you look into it

 

[ReganAndCarter]

I think the advice has changed, and it is no longer recommended to ignore these 'parking charge notices', not actually fines. I've had a couple in recent years and approached the car park owners (Co op and a sports centre) with sob stories and typical guff like "you shouldn't be treating your customers like this, won't use your shop, etc again, blah, blah, blah). Worked both times and the businesses that owned the land instructed the parking co to quash the charge. The Co op charge was dropped very quickly when I emailed the CEO direct, There is an appeals process with the charge companies, but looked like hard work and no guarantee of success. Approach the land owners first.

The Money Saving Expert forum has a good parking charge notices section with some knowledgeable people.

 

[Drivencrazy]

I think the advice has changed, and it is no longer recommended to ignore these 'parking charge notices', not actually fines. I've had a couple in recent years and approached the car park owners (Co op and a sports centre) with sob stories and typical guff like "you shouldn't be treating your customers like this, won't use your shop, etc again, blah, blah, blah). Worked both times and the businesses that owned the land instructed the parking co to quash the charge. The Co op charge was dropped very quickly when I emailed the CEO direct, There is an appeals process with the charge companies, but looked like hard work and no guarantee of success. Approach the land owners first.

The Money Saving Expert forum has a good parking charge notices section with some knowledgeable people.

I did go into the shop today which the car park leads out from and they advised Elite recently bought the land and it is no longer anything to do with them. They did tell me as long as I use the shop I’m fine but can’t go anywhere else only that shop which was my mistake . They also said the tickets are usually £60.

 

[Drivencrazy]

from what i remember they have little legal standing
they word there notices similar to police or official notices but are no more than a private company asking for payment with no more legal standing than you or i and have to go to court to enforce
in other words they use words and impressions to manipulate what you think there legal standing is when in fact they may have no more power than your vaccum cleaner when you look into it

This is what I was told but was then told the laws all changed recently and I should pay ?

 

[DaveHerns]

I think the charges are enforceable, the legal case Beavis v Parking Eye rings a bell.

 

[Notch7]

This is what I was told but was then told the laws all changed recently and I should pay ?

I cant see anything online following a quick google.

AFAIK, a parking charge notice, is still an invoice requesting payment.

It should nit be confused with a Penalty Charge Notice -only authorities like the council can issue penalties.

 

[ReganAndCarter]

I did go into the shop today which the car park leads out from and they advised Elite recently bought the land and it is no longer anything to do with them. They did tell me as long as I use the shop I’m fine but can’t go anywhere else only that shop which was my mistake . They also said the tickets are usually £60.

I suppose it's possible they bought the land, but would be very unusual for one of these parking charge notice companies to do so. They usually work for the retailer, etc - retailer gets their car park 'managed' and the PCN co pockets the charges levied. I still think the first place you should try is the shop - go to the top, not the teenage manager. I always made up some cock and bull sob story (car broke down, didn't think to inform shop that I would be breaking parking rules, etc, etc). The retailer can and often do cancel these charge notices, even when the staff in the shop say they can't. It's the management/CEO that will be the best to approach.

Assuming it's Elite Management (Midlands) that's pursuing you, there are lots of threads about this company on the Money S E forum.

 

[Brigadier]

They did tell me as long as I use the shop I’m fine but can’t go anywhere else only that shop which was my mistake .

Tough luck then.

 

[Deleted member 63160]

I think the charges are enforceable, the legal case Beavis v Parking Eye rings a bell.

This is one the parking companies keep parping on about. It's not generally relevant to most cases. I've ignored dozens of these over the years and am ignoring one at the moment. The current one is from a hospital car park where my ticket was hanging in plain view from the rear view mirror on a clip.
I've still got the ticket FFS. Usually you get 6 or 7 letters each threatening to escalate the issue. Unless you get a court summons just ignore them. There has been virtually zero % of "notices" actually taken to court. If you respond they'll latch on to you.
The letters make for a fun read too. Like they've been written by a child some of them.

 

[gasbanni]

Presumabably you got a ticket on your vehicle at the time .......were you clearly in violation and was it well signed ?

I've fought two and in they end they gave up, I accused one of entrapment and said I'd see them in court. I had photographs and images to prove it ( I didn't tell them that ). I also said I'd be charging them for my time.

If you were in clear violation I'd just pay it unless your happy for a fight, they usually give after a few threatening letters but you never know, they might take you to court.

Now if it's the local authority that a different thing as already mentioned.

 

[transam]

afai recall the law changed last year (??) the previous advice was to ignore the notice as they were not enforceable .

that has afaik has now changed & they can pursue u through the courts

 

[Buck_68]

As above, do not ignore. I had one a year or two ago and ignored until they passed the issue to their debt recovery service and the £££ kept going up. I stumped up the original fee despite the latest 8ncrements and they accepted this.

They can and do take people to court these days and unfortunately have a high success rate. Unless you paid/had a valid ticket then I would pay up and put it in the lesson learned box.