4 days ago
Private car parking firms are hitting drivers with illegal fines
June Bowers endured a near five-month battle over a fine imposed after an alleged infraction.
Private car parking firms are intimidating unwitting car owners to part with illegal fines, it has been claimed.
GB-based firms are operating contracts in Northern Ireland to redeem fines for traffic offences at places such as the George Best Belfast City Airport and other public amenities.
Aggressive tactics include threats of legal action, court appearances and rising fines if the original demand is not met.
It has now emerged in most cases they are not entitled to demand penalty payments which can escalate to hundreds of pounds.
The firms, appointed by the likes of the City Airport, are applying laws that are enforceable only in England and Wales and do not apply to Northern Ireland.
The disparity emerged after car owner June Bowers from Monkstown emerged victorious in a near five-month battle over a £100 fine imposed after an alleged infraction at the City Airport.
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She was hit with a £100 fine and, having had two appeals rejected by Sheffield-based Vehicle Control Services, was then threatened with an additional £70 levy and possible legal action.
Mrs Bowers, who is 81 and in poor health, was not behind the wheel on the evening of February 8 this year.
The driver was at the airport to collect people travelling to Belfast to attend a funeral.
Mrs Bowers' husband, veteran trade unionist Joe Bowers, said it was an 'outrage'' that his wife has been subjected to such intimidating behaviour.
He said they were determined to resist increasingly aggressive demands.
'I think it's outrageous how these companies intimidate people into paying these fines, we have discovered that, certainly in our case there was no legal requirement to pay.'
He said the Sheffield-based company sent them repeated demands for £170, threatening court action.
It became clear in repeated correspondence that Vehicle Control Services were basing their demands on laws that don't apply here.
The Bowers made repeated appeals, all of which were rejected with increasingly aggressive and threatening behaviour from the company.
It a further twist the 'debt'' was sold to a debt recovering agency called Debt Recovery Plus.
June Bowers pictured in her home. Photo: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker Press
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'They have created an industry of their own,' said Joe, 'they are generating huge amounts of money – the debt recovery agency is on record as making millions.
'My issue is that people are being intimidated into paying fines that they should not be getting. We could have let this go for a quiet life, but it got under my skin that people are being put under this type of pressure.'
Earlier this month the private company relented but 'warned' Mrs Bowers that any future transgression would result in firm action.
The ticket was as a result of the driver of Mrs Bowers' car finding themselves in the wrong car park at the City.
'The driver found themselves in the wrong car park when they should have been in the short stay, so had to pay to get out, then repeated the mistake and had to pay again, that was their mistake we have no issue with that,' said Joe.
'But the new layout at Belfast City is confusing and there are lots of signs, which you can't read unless you slow down.
'I just think it's outrageous that this company can behave like this.
'These private companies seem to be completely unaccountable they are very aggressive in their approach, it's a form of intimidation.'
The law in England and Wales requires those issued with a ticket to reveal the identity of the driver, that is not a requirement in Northern Ireland and unless the ticket company know the identity of the driver, a fixed penalty is not viable.
But VCS were not interested in any mitigating circumstances and insisted they would try and enforce the fine.
Joe Bowers said he suspects people finding themselves in a similar situation have been bullied into paying.
He said: 'How can you understand what you're supposed to do if you don't pause to read the rules?'
This week Foyle MLA Mark H Durkan called for greater regulation around the issue of private firms issuing fines.
The SDLP MLA claimed that, after dealing with 'countless cases' of people contacted by private parking firms, the 'supposed violations' are 'often based on faulty camera evidence or registration systems'.
He was speaking after writing to the Infrastructure Minister to ask if new legislation could be introduced to regulate private parking firms in Northern Ireland.
The minister, Liz Kimmins, said in a written response that there was currently 'no legislation which specifically applies to privately owned car parks' and 'no plans' from her department to introduce any.
Ms Kimmins said: 'Whilst my department is responsible for on-street parking enforcement across the North, it has no responsibility for the operation and management of private car parks nor the enforcement companies that operate within them.
'There is no legislation which specifically applies to privately-owned car parks and my department currently has no plans to introduce legislation in this area.'
She added: 'However, any organisation that operates parking on private land and requests keeper details from the DVLA must be approved by an Accredited Trade Association such as the Approved Operator Scheme managed by the British Parking Association.
'Members of this scheme must adhere to the BPA AOS Code of Practice for the control and enforcement of parking on private land and unregulated public car parks.'
Belfast City Airport has been contacted.
