Car Park Management used to be performed by the use of Wheel clamping on private land but this was made a criminal offence on 1 October 2012, through the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012.
It was outlawed to stop rogue clampers from maximizing profits on vehicles through alleged manpower, time, and hardware costs. This change has also impacted how we issue private parking tickets and how they are enforced.
We refer to them on this site as private land parking fines, but the legal status is they are private land parking charges and not fines and it is important we clarify this point.
With clamping no longer an option for most private locations (with the exception of some railway stations, airports and local authority housing under local by-laws, as well as public bodies including the police and DVLA) – landowners were left trying to figure out how they would be able to perform effective car park management to stop people parking on their land.
There is still a need for landowners and private car park operators to be able to control those who park, but the enforcement must be fair and reasonable when a need arises to issue private land parking fines.
As we have explained many people think of these as private land parking fines but only the council and police can issue a parking fine and anything issued on private land is a parking charge and the method of enforcing is different.
The laws of contract and trespass still allow for landowners—or their parking enforcement contractors in order to perform effective car park management—to issue what most people call private land parking fines to people who park on all types of private land, provided there are clear private parking signs in place and to ensure that private parking tickets are issued clearly and legitimately.
The International Parking Community (IPC) have a new code of practice which stipulates the process that members need to comply with in order to issue private parking tickets and as a result access DVLA so a company can enforce keeper liability under Schedule 4, Protection of Freedoms Act 2012.
The change in the law allowed landowners the opportunity to issue what people call private land parking fines on private land with the legal backing to enforce unpaid charges (as explained previously these are parking charges) – This was later confirmed by the Supreme Court in the case of Parking Eye -v- Beavis in which they rules parking charges were not penalties and closed down old arguments why they were unlawful – All courts in the UK are bound by this decision.
The IPC & BPA have devised a strong system of control over how companies and individuals can perform effective car park management and parking tickets on private land can be issued, requiring their approved members to issue notices that provide options for credit or debit card payments, as well as fair and clear means for appeal if the person who has received a private parking ticket and wants to challenge it.
The IPC code of practice states the normal maximum sum its members are allowed to demand from a ticket is £100, which must be discounted by up to 40 per cent for prompt payment. Any amount in excess of this must be fully justified by the parking enforcement company, for example, if the parking has caused substantial consequential losses.
Combined Parking Solutions offers landowners (and any person authorised to manage private land) a new solution to preventing unauthorised parking on their property and the ability to issue private parking tickets (aka: private land parking fines) on private land and enforce them via the courts.
We have explained that many people call these private land parking fines and despite the wording of fines not appearing anywhere on any signage or letters people still refer to them as fines.
This is not helped when even media outlets refer to them as private land parking fines – we need to be very clear that no private parking company can issue a fine on private land and the correct wording is private land parking charge.
Once the signage is in place it is a very simple process to issue what people know as private land parking fines on all types of private land.
Clients then take pictures of any offending vehicle, in accordance with strict guidelines set out by Combined Parking Solutions, they upload them to their account and the contravening vehicle is sent a private parking ticket in the post. Combined Parking Solutions, as a member of the IPC approved operator scheme is able to obtain the details of owners and keepers of cars from the DVLA
Combined Parking Solutions believe you should not be tied into long term contracts to use any service we offer to enable landowners to issue what people call private land parking fines on your land , although we would like you to be a customer for as long as you have a need.
If you require custom made signage then this is charged at cost price or you can make your own signs based on the approved template and there is no cost from ourselves to set you up.
The signage does not call them private land parking fines, all signage refers to anything issued as a parking charge notice which is the correct legal definition.
The IPC require all self ticketers who issue parking tickets on private land to be approved and they make a charge of £30 for a 2yr approval – this is a cost for ALL ticketing companies in the UK and is outside our control.
With our system you will be up and running to issue private parking tickets (also known as private land parking fines) on your land within a short space of time.
