Parking Scam in Chatham

A word of warning for all. Our car was parked in Staples in Chatham on a recent Sunday evening when the shop was shut. A company called G24 then sent a "Charge Certificate" demanding payment of £95 for a parking violation. This stated that I was liable to pay as the registered keeper.

Legally, any claim which they have is contractual and not criminal under the Road Traffic Act. As such, it is only the driver or person who was in control of the car at the time who has a potential liability. On top of this there are other lawyerish objections to payment such as the contra proferentum rule and the question of whether the charge is an irrecoverable penalty in the contractual sense.

I wrote back to them twice stating that it would not be paid and inviting them to issue County Court Proceedings. Strangely, they haven't done so and are now threatening me with the bailiffs, again on the erroneous ground that I am the registered keeper. I've just replied pointing out that their conduct is 1) an attempt to obtain a pecuniary advantage by deception and 2) an offence under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 and have threatened them with the Peelers.

I will keep you informed. The moral is: don't pay up if you receive a demand from G24.

BTW - these principles don't apply to parking tickets issued by the police/council!