9:12am Wednesday 14th May 2008
By Reader letter
READERS may be interested to know that the charges that Euro Car Parks dish out on behalf of Tesco in Altrincham have next to no legal basis and are almost certainly un-enforceable.
In short, this is because these charges, as is typical of car parks operated by private companies as opposed to those issued by local councils, are not "fines" in the strict legal sense, but are actually little more than invoices for an alleged breach of the terms and conditions for parking displayed at the site.
It is a fact of English law that penalty charges for breach of contract are unenforceable, as damages claimed under breach of contract must correspond to the actual loss suffered, which in this case, as Tesco are offering free car parking, are zero!
There are few if any examples of companies like Euro Car Parks taking people to court and winning, for the simple reason that no county court judge worth his salt would be so ignorant of the laws of contract as to find in their favour. Instead, companies like this rely much bluff and bluster along with escalating but baseless threats of additional charges and debt collectors in order to coerce people into paying up.
I urge readers to visit the following website which has a wealth of information on the issue: http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showforum=30 Name and address supplied
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