Over-Zealous ASDA Parking Charge Tickets U Turn

We have been contacted by several people who have been issued with what appears to be parking tickets in ASDA – with demands for £60 attached – however on further investigation they do not seem to be official parking tickets!

We delighted to say our investigation helped trigger a u-turn!

Today we spoke to several stakeholders, the national ASDA press office, the local store, Wrexham Trading Standards and the British Parking Association. We are please to say that Wrexham ASDA is telling customers that ALL tickets will be cancelled and the time period extended to three hours.

ASDA told us “it appears we may have been a little over-zealous with the time limit – and after feedback from our customers that two hours is just not enough we’ve extended the parking limit to three hours. We feel this gives all of our customers enough time to shop or eat in the cafe, or both.”

The problem started a couple of weeks ago when these signs started appearing around the ASDA carpark:

People breaching these rules have had ‘parking charge’ letters turn up at the car owners address.

These ‘parking tickets’ are infact private invoices from a company called Town and City Parking Limited rather than official parking tickets as issued by police or local authorities via traffic wardens. The key difference is that the private invoice parking tickets are based off contract law, so when you park at ASDA you are apparently forming a contract between the landowner or their agents.

Town and City Parking Ltd appear to have an office address in Perth, Scotland. No where on entering ASDA does it state if the customer is entering into a contract under Scottish or English & Welsh law.

We popped down to ask a few drivers about the contract they had formed when entering the ASDA car park however many were confused by the question!

The system is automated using automatic numberplate recognition cameras situated at the entrance of the car pack. The numberplate is recorded entering and exiting the carpark, and the DVLA provides the full registered keepers information to the parking company.

One Wrexham.com reader told us how a family member received a ticket lately saying “They have shopped in Asda since they opened their original store in Eagles Meadow. They take a neighbour who is in her 80’s shopping every week but because she is not too good on her feet but still very independant my Mum & Dad do their shopping and then wait in the cafe for her to finish her shopping as she likes to go around the store at her own pace. They didn’t leave the car there and go off anywhere else just spent more money in the cafe.”

We called the British Parking Association who confirmed that Town and City Parking Ltd was on their ‘approved list’ which means they ought to act inside the associations code of conduct, however when we asked if such companies issued parking tickets or invoices they refused to answer and provided details of their PR agency, who told us that all operators ought to abide by the code of practice and they are “legally binding notices”.

We asked ASDA the same question, if the demands being sent are legal parking tickets or just speculative invoices and they told us “the car park management company issue a parking charge notice (PCN) which are not fines, but civil penalties.”

Normal parking tickets are backed by law, however such ‘civil penalties’ as ASDA call them are civil contract matters. Therefore they ought to be treated as invoices for the contract that you entered into.

Wrexham has a proud history of challenges to parking claims when Alan Matthews won in a dispute with Excel Parking Services, which set a precident that such a claim is under the law of contract not the tort of trespass. As it is contract law, a claim by a parking company would have to show there was all elements of a contract present eg. offer , acceptance and consideration. The DVLA only provide the registered keeper, to whom the invoices are made out. This may not always be the driver of the vehicle. There is also an ‘Unfair Contract Terms Act’ which tests if a charge is unreasonable.

Some of the actions of some private parking companies may actually break the law namely Section 40 of the The Administration of Justice Act 1970. This states that if someone attempts to coerce money from another person and “harasses the other with demands for payment which by their frequency, or the manner or occasion of their making, or any accompanying threat or publicity are calculated to subject him or his family or household to alarm, distress or humiliation” , “falsely represents, in relation to the money claimed, that criminal proceedings lie for failure to pay it” and the like its breaking the law.

It is possible to complain to the police on these grounds, as we are aware of a pattern of invoice based ‘parking tickets’ resulting in a several threatening style letters with legal overtones which we have seen certainly cause distress.

Wrexham Trading Standards told us that they advise “when the public park on private or indeed any car park they should always read the terms and conditions of use which will appear on signage/notices in or around the car park“.

They went on to say “If the car park operator is a member of the British Parking Association – Approved Operator Scheme they should visit their website which provides useful information in these circumstances (www.britishparking.co.uk) , their telephone number is 01444 447 300. Alternatively if they feel they are being treated unfairly they can also contact Consumer Direct Wales for further advice on 08454 04 05 06.”

The first parking notice sign appears just after the entrance to ASDA off the mini roundabout by the police station, we are unsure if Trading Standards would encourage drivers to park up or pause to ensure the full contract details are read prior to entry!

Is my parking ticket real or an invoice based off contract law?
Real parking tickets are entitled Penalty Charge Notice” or “Excess Charge Notice” and will have the council’s address on them. A police ticket will be called a “Fixed Penalty Notice” and have either a police or HM Courts Service address on it. If it’s not called one of the above and it’s got a private address on it then the chances are that it’s a ‘ticket’ from a private parking company and ought to be treated like any unsolicited invoice.

HAD A PARKING TICKET? WAS IT REAL OR INVOICE? Let us know where and when in our forums as we are going to keep following this up to ensure there is clarity between the two and people are not intimidated into paying ‘parking tickets’ which are just invoices for contracts people dont know they enter! Click here to enter the forums.