Summary: Mr X complained about a Parking Charge Notice he received when he parked his car outside a council owned community centre. There was no fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about a Parking Charge Notice he received when he parked his car outside a council owned community centre.
2. Mr X said he parked his car with permission from the community centre staff. He also said a private company issued the parking charge notice, but the Council ignored his requests for help in challenging it.
3. As a result, Mr X said he lost the right to pay or challenge the parking charge notice and he received a County Court Judgement which is on his credit file.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in the decision making, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
5. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. As part of the investigation I have considered the following:
• The complaint and the documents provided by the complainant (including his medical evidence).
• Documents provided by the Council and its comments in response to my enquiries.
7. Mr X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

8. The process for paying or challenging a parking ticket depends on the type of ticket and who issued it. Most parking tickets will be either:
• a Penalty Charge Notice, usually issued by a council for a parking offence on public land.
• a Parking Charge Notice, issued by a landowner or parking company for a parking offence on private land.
• a Fixed Penalty Notice, issued by the police for parking in an area where the police manage parking.
9. When a parking company issues a Parking Charge Notice they will provide their details on the notice. Motorists can usually challenge the notice in writing or on the parking company’s website. If the parking company rejects a challenge, a motorist can appeal to an independent appeals service.
10. If a motorist decides not to pay the parking ticket the parking company will have to decide whether to take them to court. If this happens, the fine will go up and the motorist may have to pay court fees if they lose.

What happened

11. Mr X parked his car at a council run community centre in December 2019. He said he was volunteering for an event and staff at the centre said he could park his car at the centre to unload his equipment. The Council told me there was no event at the community centre on the day Mr X parked his car there. It said the centre was closed so staff could not have given Mr X permission to park.
12. Mr X said he did not have a parking ticket on his car and did not receive one through the post.
13. He received a letter from a solicitor in April 2020 chasing payment of a parking fine which he had no knowledge of. Mr X telephoned the solicitor to challenge the fine, but they told him it was too late to appeal, and they would only discuss payment. Mr X had 30 days to pay.
14. Mr X said he tried to contact the Council, by phone and email, for help because the community centre had closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He said the Council did not respond and its failure to do so meant the 30-day payment period expired.
15. Mr X did not hear anything more about the fine. He then moved house in December 2020. Due to the pandemic, and his wife being ill, Mr X said he forgot to tell the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) his new address.
16. Court papers about the parking fine went to Mr X’s old address in May 2021, but Mr X was unaware of them at the time.
17. Mr X received a letter from a debt collection agency in May 2022, demanding payment of over £300 for a County Court Judgement (CCJ) issued in May 2021. At that point, Mr X paid.
18. Mr X said the CCJ has affected his ability to work, as he does contract work and some employers carry out credit checks.
19. Mr X contacted the Council in June 2021 asking for help. He said staff at the community centre gave him permission to park his car. He also said he tried to contact the community centre and the Council in April 2020 but got no response.
20. The Council looked into Mr X’s parking fine in September. It liaised with the community centre manager and the private parking company. It told Mr X that, since it was the private parking company who issued the fine, his dispute is with them, and the Council cannot help.

My investigation

21. I found the Council used to manage the car park at the community centre. However, there were issues with cars blocking access to community centre visitors, and there was also anti-social behaviour. The Council therefore decided to employ a private company to manage the car park, to ensure only community centre visitors used it.
22. In response to my enquiries, the Council told me it owns the car park at the community centre but has a contractual agreement with a private company who manages the car park.
23. The Council said staff at the community centre did not give Mr X permission to park his car. It has a parking system at the centre where vehicle details are recorded at reception.
24. The Council said it did not fully close the community centre during the COVID-19 pandemic. Staff visited and collected post and messages. Mr X could have contacted the community centre in this time but did not do so.
25. The Council said Mr X contacted the community centre a year after the parking company issued the Parking Charge Notice. The Council told him he needed to appeal to the private company who managed the car park as they issued the parking charge notice.

Analysis

26. The parking company issued Mr X a Parking Charge Notice in December 2019. Mr X denies receiving the notice. Unfortunately, I do not have enough evidence to make a finding about this. If Mr X did not receive the notice, this would have given him grounds to make representations to the court later in the process.
27. Mr X received a solicitor’s letter in April 2020. At that time, he had 30 days to pay the fine. Instead of paying, or contacting the parking company, Mr X said he contacted the Council for help. I have not seen any evidence to confirm Mr X contacted the Council then. In addition, the Council did not fully close the community centre, and it said staff still checked correspondence and emails at this time. The only correspondence I have seen evidence of is an email to the community centre from January 2021, which the Council said Mr X incorrectly addressed.
28. Instead of waiting and allowing the 30 days to expire, Mr X could have asked for free advice from Citizens Advice. Or, he could have contacted the parking company. The parking company’s website has clear information about the appeals process and an appeal can be made online. He could also have asked for more information from the solicitor’s he received correspondence from.
29. Mr X moved house in December 2020, so he did not receive court papers sent in 2021. It was Mr X’s responsibility to tell the DVLA about his change of address. It is not the fault of the Council or the parking company that Mr X received a CCJ. Mr X received the relevant paperwork in April 2020 and would have received the court papers if he had told the DVLA of his new address.
30. Mr X contacted the Council about the CCJ in June 2021. While it took the Council some time to investigate and respond to Mr X, there was no injustice caused by any delay, as Mr X had already received the CCJ.
31. I found that, even if Mr X had been able to contact the Council in April 2020, the Council would not have supported Mr X’s appeal. That is because it was not satisfied with the evidence he gave. The Council does not agree that community centre staff gave Mr X permission to park his car. It spoke to staff on duty, and they denied speaking to Mr X. Also, the Council considers the photograph Mr X provided of the community centre car park was taken at a different time of day to when the parking company issued the Parking Charge Notice. The Council also had concerns the warning notices in the car park had been edited out of the photograph.
32. As the Council confirmed to Mr X, it did not issue the Parking Charge Notice. Mr X needed to contact the parking company to contest the notice. He had a right of appeal, and he also had a right to make representations to court. It was not the fault of the Council that Mr X lost the opportunity to use those rights.

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Final decision

33. I have completed my investigation. There was no fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman