Woman fined 拢24,500 for ignoring parking rules
A sheriff backs a parking company, shattering the common belief that fines issued by private firms can be ignored in Scotland.
Tuesday 4 April 2017 09:19, UK
A woman has been ordered to pay 拢24,500 in charges after ignoring more than 200 penalties from a private parking company.
Carly Mackie, of Dundee, ignored notices given to her almost daily by a private company for parking in front of a property along the city's waterfront without a permit.
Mackie, 28, thought the notices were unenforceable and that she had a right to park in the area as her mother and stepfather were tenants at the time.
But the firm, Vehicle Control Services, took her to court and won.
In a written judgement, Sheriff George Way said Mackie was in breach of contract after she ignored the notices.
He said she had been "simply wrong in her analysis of the contractual chain of authority that this had led her to take a position on the ground that rendered her liable to such substantial charges".
Sheriff Way said: "She had no better right or title to do so than any other interloper or stranger, no matter what her belief might be.
"The defender refused to pay the parking charges not because she was unaware of the parking scheme or the terms of the notices or the financial consequences of parking at any time, but because she did not believe that the charges were valid in law."
Interest will be charged at eight percent a year until the debt is repaid, according to reports.
Private firms give out parking charge notices - which are different to the penalty charge notices given out by local authorities.
Parking charge notices are not backed up by law in the same way and are invoices for a breach of contract.
Ms Mackie said in 2015, she said: "We have a right to park in front of our own property.
"I've considered moving out.
"It just makes my life so hellish.
"I always make a point of parking in front of my own garage, where nobody else could park, and never parking on the double yellow lines on the road."
Debt Recovery Plus, which acted on behalf of the parking company, said Mackie's fine is thought to be the "highest value" parking charge case in the UK.