Debt collectors send threatening texts and emails.
Private parking firms have been accused of plumbing new depths in their efforts to force motorists to pay fines.
Several major supermarkets and shopping centres have brought in enforcement companies to monitor car parks. Those staying too long are issued with fines of up to £150. But when motorists dispute the tickets the parking firms are turning to debt collectors to persuade them to cough up.
And they are allegedly using threatening text messages, phone calls and letters in their pursuit of the charges.
Critics have described the practice as “harassment” and said it borders on “extortion”.
Graham Walker, solicitor with Glasgow-based RoadTrafficLaw.com said: “It’s not unusual to see tickets for parking on private land escalate to between £200 and £300. “Using text messages to chase up the money is going to a whole new level. The cost of chasing up these people gets passed back to the driver and the admin bills that they pay. Some of the heavy duty letters they use are on the edge of extortion.”
Retired plumber Ian Aitken, from Kintore, says debt collection firm Roxburghe began demanding £210 from him six months after he was given a disputed car park ticket in Inverurie High Street. The 66-year-old grandfather claims the ticket, which he was given almost a year ago amid claims he had stayed in a private car park for five hours instead of the maximum one hour, was a mistake. But that’s not stopped the car-park owner’s, Civil Enforcement Ltd, and Roxburghe plaguing him with demands ever since.
He said: “This is been a nightmare from beginning to end. It’s so stressful trying to prove my innocence. I went to the car park at 11.45am but left minutes later to go to another shop. I then returned to the same car park to get some shopping and left 20 minutes later. But for some reason it meant it looked like I’d been there from 11.45am and didn’t leave until 3.45pm, which was wrong.
“It meant their system showed I had overstayed and they hit me with a ticket for £150 that should be paid within 28 days. If I did it would be reduced to £75. But why should I pay? I appealed to them and they said they would check it out but never got back to me.
“I chased them up but they said I was getting a final reminder. Before I knew it my details were being passed to a debt collection agency and the cost had spiralled to £210. That’s when the calls and texts started.
“I contacted my solicitor who told me just to ignore it, but I can’t put up with it any more. It needs to end.”
Thousands of car parks across the country, including several belonging to Marks & Spencer, Tesco and Sainbury’s, are managed by private enforcement companies. The firms have recently come under fire from motorists for issuing unfair fines. In one case a woman was ordered to pay £50 after leaving her car in a disabled space, despite showing a parking officer her artificial leg.
However, some experts claim there is no legal requirement to respond to the tickets.
Solicitor Graham Walker added: “Parking fines given on private land are civil matters and can be fought. They are not like fines given by the police or council. It’s up to the firm to prove it in court. In my experience they usually fold before it gets there.”
Parking campaigner Barrie Segal said: “Using texts, calls and letters could be considered harassment. And that is illegal. He should tell them to go to hell.”
A spokeswoman for Civil Enforcement Ltd said their system showed the vehicle had been in the car park for five hours.
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