Parking abuse refers to the illegal act of unwanted people parking on your land without permission. Unfortunately, due to the often-heightened emotions around parking, it can come in the form of confrontational abuse as well. Seeing that yellow PCN notice stuck on the windscreen can evoke the strongest of reactions and a barrage of excuses as to why it’s not fair and why they shouldn’t have to pay.
Nobody wants to be dealing with that every day. It’s not fair to the car owners who have paid for a valid permit to park on your premises. It’s not fair on your staff, who might inadvertently be on the front line of any dispute. Finally, it’s not fair on you, the car park owner, who is not receiving a fair exchange of value in terms of someone choosing to illegally park on your property.
There are a number of ways that you can step away from this confrontational situation by putting in place a number of measures that are designed to deter car park abuse.
What is a PCN
To be clear, a PCN – Penalty Charge Notice – is the fine levied on a vehicle that is illegally parked on private land.
If an individual enters your private car park, it needs to be made absolutely clear to them that by parking without a permit, they are agreeing to the contractual terms and conditions of leaving their vehicle on your land. This is why it is so important that you display signage around your car park as evidence of their contractual obligations.
Importance of signage
The signage that you display in your car park must clarify that by parking on your land, they agree to pay ‘consideration in the form of a ‘parking charge’ to the sum of £100 to be paid within 28 days of issue.’ The sign continues to clearly outline that the charge is repeated every 24 hours that the car remains in the car park and that failure to pay will mean that ‘enforcement action may incur additional costs that will be added to the value of the parking charges.’
In short, the driver should NOT park their car if they do NOT agree to this contract. They should leave with immediate effect.
This clearly sets out your PCN parking charge contractual position and should the owner of the vehicle decide to break the contract, they are aware that they will be fined.
Warden Patrols
There’s a reason why traffic wardens have a reputation – their very presence is enough of a deterrent to drivers who want to ‘chance their arm’ and hope to get away with parking their car illegally.
Warden patrols are a crucial army in the PCN parking war. First and foremost, the fact that they are patrolling car parks across the UK, 24 hours a day, 365 days a week, helps to give you peace of mind that there is a human face in your car park.
While they may receive the brunt of the emotional confrontation when issuing a physical PCN parking charge, they are trained to deal empathetically and calmly in such circumstances and remove the onus for you, the car park owner, to feel the need to take responsibility.
Giving you more control – remotely
Even though your warden patrols are there to support you on the ground, it is important to have further tools in your armoury to help you manage your car parks.
A self-ticketing app is a discreet and confidential way for you and your staff to issue your own PCN fines without having to personally confront any individual. The app, which is free of charge, has a simple two-step process for you to register the details of illegally parked vehicles.
First, record the offending vehicle’s make and registration number, and make a note of the time and place. Secondly, take a photograph of the registration number and download this directly onto the self-ticketing app. The app will automatically time, and date stamp your upload.
Once we have received your information, then we will issue the PCN directly to the vehicle’s owner.
You, or your staff, can submit this information directly with no involvement with the vehicle owner, and it is completely confidential. It removes you from the PCN payment and appeals processes – simply giving you and your team a remote tool to underpin all the work that your parking company carries out.
By creating a methodical and systemised approach to managing your car park and implementing PCN, parking solutions will take the onus off you, the car park owner, remove you and your staff from potential confrontation, and create a number of deterrents warning potential illegal vehicle owners. If you would like to discuss how these options can work for your car park, please contact us for more information.
Previous
ANPR Vs. Warden Patrols
Next