Parking Charge Notices – Warning for LGV Operators

24th April, 2015

In a case decided yesterday (23 April 2015) between Parking Eye Limited and a private individual, Mr Beavis, the Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal from Mr Beavis who claimed that the charge of £85.00, which had been imposed on him by Parking Eye Limited for overstaying the permitted period of free parking in the car park at the Riverside Retail Park in Chelmsford, was unenforceable.

The Court of Appeal has held that the charge was enforceable and does not contravene the principles of common law, specifically with regard to penalties and liquidated damages. The Court also considered the operation of Schedule 4, Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, which allows parking charge companies such as Parking Eye Limited to recover parking charges from the registered keeper of the vehicle, even if that registered keeper was not the driver at the time.

The result of this decision is that if haulage companies are not vigilant in ensuring that their drivers are purchasing the required amount of time when at service stations and car parks the haulage company itself, in addition to the driver, may well be liable for the parking charge.

Despite the Court of Appeal’s decision in Parkingeye v Beavis, there are still a number of ways by which parking charge claims may be defeated, however, this decision from the Court of Appeal may encourage parking charge companies to be more aggressive in their pursuit of parking charge notices they send out.

It is not unusual for LGV companies to incur many parking charge notices in a short period of time. If this does happen, it is important to be proactive in dealing with them. The first step is to seek expert legal advice.

For more help and advice please contact Tim Culpin on 01244 405533, [email protected] or David Mann on 01244 405592, [email protected]. Alternatively, in an emergency please ring our 24 hour helpline on 01244 405577.

PARKINGEYE LIMITED V BARRY BEAVIS
Neutral Citation Number: [2015] EWCA Civ402

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