My mum is disabled and wheelchair bound, I couldn't find anywhere to park so parked in lidl while I took her out for a meal. This also says final reminder and I have missed the appeal window, this is actually the first letter I got from them

by the_idiot_at_home

27 comments

  1. You can ignore it, or if you want the letters to stop, appeal it using the moneysavingexpert template.

  2. 99% sure these are unenforceable in NI. There was a brilliant thread about this a while back and someone included a great template for a polite ‘fuck you I’m not paying and you can’t make me’ response letter.

  3. PCNs are not legally enforceable in the North of Ireland.

    They just send you these letters to scare you into paying to avoid their bluff of taking you to court

  4. It would cost more for them to take you to court so I doubt they would

  5. They can’t take the owner of the car to court, only the driver. The owner of the car has no legal obligation to name the driver. As long as you don’t name the driver then you’re OK.

    Saying that, the courts here haven’t been used to enforce these fines yet.

  6. I have a couple of these now, and I am ignoring them, but I get increasingly worried with each new one that comes through

  7. If you read the t&c it says about it being enforceable in eng scot and wales but not ni

  9. Was subjected to a few of these letters with the amount of money increasing each time and the language becoming more threatening. As long as you don’t respond they should stop after a year or so.

  10. Tell them there are several drivers registered for that vehicle and ask for proof it was you that parked it there

  11. Ignored them, three letters straight in the bin. No more since.

  12. Yep, I got one for parking in Lid carpark for an hour and a half. Went straight into the fire, got another one saying the time was up to pay it, it followed the previous one.

  13. Let the battle commence!! Your gonna feel like the dudleys with all those letters

  14. I’ve ignored one for about 7 months now. Get a letter every so often threatening legal action but nothing ever comes of it

  15. If you’re a person who would get anxious at seeing these letters then I’d say pay because they do turn up the heat, but if you’re the kind of person an angry piece of paper would not annoy then throw it in the bin.

    If you go the second route my personal advice would be that you do not contact them whatsoever.

  16. You can ask them what NI law they are using to enforce this, there isn’t any, then usually go away

  18. Here we go again…

    Private parking charges are a civil matter in Northern Ireland, so they have very limited power and cannot pursue criminal charges, as council/police fines can.

    You need to state you were not the driver of the vehicle at the time of the contravention (though, foolishly, you have admitted right here that you were), they will then request the details of the person who was the driver, which you have no legal obligation to provide. The legal requirement here lies with them having to prove you were the driver, which they cannot do.

    If you have not done the above yet, that should be your first action, then ignore all further communication from them

  20. Just a note of warning. The council uses private operators to do their car parking fines. Check the car park is not council owned. If it’s not they can take a running jump.

  22. Parkmaven are a member of the BPA. All members of the BPA must provide a 10 minute grace period either end of your parking. So you have 90 minutes parking plus 10 minutes either/both sides. Appeal it on the grounds of you still being within the grace period, then involve the BPA. That’s how I got out of it.

  23. I had a similar situation a few years ago when a private company tried to relieve me of £60 for parking in a car park attached to a medical examination facility in NI.
    I phoned the Consumer Council for Northern Ireland, in Belfast, on 0800 121 6022. They were absolutely fantastic and apparently deal with issues like this all the time.
    I gave them all the details from the demand letter and they took care of it all themselves with the parking company. Totally free service. Shortly after they got in touch to let me know that the demand notice had been cancelled as it simply wasn’t enforceable in NI.
    I strongly recommend you contact them.

  24. Fucking Lidl are a scammy bunch of bastards, got charged £60 then they were all like “unfortunately our car parks are operated by…..” whoever the fuck runs their car parks. Well my shopping is now operated by Sainsbury’s and Lidl can fuck right off

    P.s. I had to pay the charges as I’m in middle of remortgage and didn’t need the hassle on credit scores

  25. Dear Sir/Madam

    As the registered keeper of [insert car registration], I am writing to formally challenge the above Parking Charge Notice on the basis that I was not driving the vehicle at the time of the parking event.

    The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 is not applicable in Northern Ireland. In this jurisdiction it is the driver of the vehicle who is liable for any parking charges, not the registered keeper.
    As the burden of proof is on the claimant, I would ask you to provide evidence that I was the driver of this vehicle at the time this alleged contravention occurred.

    If you are unable to provide the information/documentation requested, I would respectfully request that you rescind this Parking Charge Notice and desist from any recovery action against via debt recovery agency.

    I look forward to receiving notification within 35 days that the Parking Charge Notice has been cancelled, and confirmation that you desist from any further debt recovery action.

    Yours sincerely,

    [Insert signature]
    [Print name and Surname]

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