After getting away with it for a couple of years worth of CAFC games, I finally got slapped with a parking fine for parking in the retail park opposite the Valley for home games. Probably should of known better, but hey-ho...
Needless to say I wont be trying that one again!
Can anyone recommend a road/street/area thats OK to park in for home games? Preferably near to the Valley of course!
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I used to park on those retail parks and got 2 tickets in very quick succession (by the time the 1st one got to me the 2nd had been issued). All caught on digital cameras.
Strange because it is always packed on a match day and you see fans walking to the ground
Alternatively, park on the streets up the top of the park and wander down. Been doing it since the £5 car park across from Makro shut down about 18 months ago. Quick getaway too towards Shooters Hill.
The £5 car park I normally go to has shut down so I am trying to find an alternative.
First, sure, you will not get prosecuted. It's a civil contract. But you might get taken to court for the non-payment of their speculative invoice - it's not a fine but a penalty charge.
The cases are dealt with by a low-ranking Judge, so the matter is NOT precedent setting. Results are very different and some judgements make it clear what the Judge thinks about the company. BUT companies like Parking Eye are not really worried when judgements go against them as they sometimes do. They will still win enough to make it worth their while. Presently it is estimated that Parking Eye might be commencing legal proceedings for around 1,000 cases a week. Of course many never get that far because people pay up and some are lost because of the various legal complexities like whether they are claiming for monies they are entitled to or claiming an exorbitant penalty. Or whether the signage was accurate, legal and readable. Or whether they are actually entitled to claim at all because they have no rights to the land.
The current wisdom appears to have changed from "just ignore all letters" to either paying up or appealing the matter to POPLA before considering incurring the cost of fighting the matter in Court and getting a somewhat random judgement. But here's quite a good one: debtrecoveryplus.co.uk/debtor/ParkingEye%20v%20Beavis%20and%20Wardley%20Judgment.pdf
Private companies cannot issue penalty charges. Any document that uses the word penalty in connection with private land is not valid.
Don't pay it, and don't contact them under any circumstances.
Let them take you to court.
They won't bother.
In any event, while luck might well be on your side do you want to take the risk when there is clear evidence that some cases are going to court. The judgement I posted above shows that. It is common sense that a further larger number are dealt with before they get that far (but at a higher cost to the parker). As does a FoI request which showed that several hundreds of cases had gone that far for Parking Eye alone from a period before their lawyers really got up a head of steam. Then there's the people on here forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showforum=30; who have received court papers, ignored them and now find they've got a CCJ which has stuffed their credit rating. So do you think you advice is sensible and are you still sticking with it?
For anyone inclined to take it, I'd point out that it's very easy for you to say let them take you to court - it's not you who will be a few hundred quid out of pocket if they do is it? Or do you intend to provide some form of warranty?