Parking Charges

[sprayermick]

An entertainment/restaurant complex near me has Cine world, KFC, Macdonalds
etc has just started issuing parking tickets for cars that stay over 3 hours, the fine is £100. which if you see a long film then go for a meal after will always take you over the 3 hour limit, the car park is run by a company called "Civil Entertainments Ltd" but I am sure I read somewhere that unless the parking was run by either the local council or the police these parking tickets issued by private companies were unenforceable by law, is that correct?

[ummmm]

They could try and take you to court but it's not worth it so they don't bother.

[EDDIE51]

They issue a parking invoice it is NOT a fine though it is made to look like a fine.
They can issue a summons in the county court to get payment but are very unlikely to bother as they have to pay over £1000 court cost which they can not claim back from the driver.

[sue11]

Are you able to stay longer than 3 hours or is that the limit? If not, then the answer is just to pay to stay a bit longer but if you cannot do this, then I think it is a bit harsh given that it would be quite easy to go over the limit.

I know that the general advice given in these situations is to ignore the ticket, but can I just defend this from the position of those responsible for maintaining the car parks?
We ourselves run a cafe business at which we have parking for customers. When we took over the premises it was just a wasteland at the rear and we spent many thousands of pounds turning it into a parking area with space for at least 14 cars. As soon as we finished the parking area, people living in the flats around the premises started to use this area as their own private parking. We asked them to stop leaving their cars but were ignored, so we had to get a company in to patrol the area for us and give tickets to those that abuse the parking. Of course we also have an ongoing cost to maintain the car park as well, to ensure that it remains in a good state for our customers.
There often is a good genuine reason why businesses put controls in to stop people abusing the car parks or they would not risk alienating customers, there is a cost to upkeep this area, but some people seem to forget this!

[sir.prize]

sprayermick - you will find many comments on a number of forums regarding Civil Entertainments Ltd. Here is just one which you may find interesting

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4253251

Parking tickets issued by private companies are unenforceable invoices. They are not fines. Only the police and local authorities can issue parking tickets which may result in a fine.

[sue11]

Just had a look at the link, it looks like Civil Ents may fall more into the cowboy category. But can people still bear in mind what I said, not all of us are out to attempt to defraud people but just want to those abusing the spaces that we supply to our genuine customers.
Thanks
Sue

[EDDIE51]

3 hours is unreasonable if you want to see a film and have meal. I would complain to the owners of the site and suggest the time limit is changed to 4 hours.