How to Appeal Vehicle Control Services Taking Me To Court

Got a parking charge notice from Vehicle Control Services? You might be worried about court and wondering what your choices are.

Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Every month, more than 32,000 people visit this website to get advice about tickets and fines.

In this easy-to-understand guide, we’ll show you:

•  Who Vehicle Control Services are and where they work
•  Why you got a parking fine
•  If you need to pay your ticket
•  How to appeal against a parking ticket
•  Where to find more help if you need it

We get how scary it can be, and we’re here to help you understand how to handle your parking fine.

Let’s dive in!

Why Did Vehicle Control Services Give You a Parking Fine?

VCS is notorious for slapping a parking fine on people for the most trivial of reasons. Indeed, this is the general pattern for most private parking firms. But there are some reasons that could, in certain circumstances, be seen as a valid cause to be given a parking fine. Such as the ones listed below.

• Parking in a permit holder bay without a permit.
• Not displaying a valid ticket in a pay and display car park.
• Returning to your vehicle after the time you paid for parking has expired.
• Taking up more than one parking bay.
• Parking or stopping in a zone that is clearly marked as not stopping.

Keep in mind, that because you are on private land, it is VCS that is making up the parking rules. Therefore, VCS is free to interpret these rules in any way it wants with no legal comeback. 

Do You Have To Pay Vehicle Control Services?

This is the million-dollar question, isn’t it? Do you have to pay a parking charge notice from VCS? To answer this question, let me first explain what a parking charge notice is (and isn’t). A parking charge notice is just an invoice, for an alleged parking fee. It is not legally enforceable.

Unfortunately, many people confuse a parking charge notice with a penalty charge notice. The latter, is an official fine from a local authority and is legally enforceable. Matters are further confused due to the fact that private parking operators like to dress parking charge notices up to look like an official document, and notice of an official fine.

Put simply, you don’t have to pay a parking charge notice, and if you don’t pay it, there is no legal process in place to enforce the notice. But, there is another route that VCS can follow to get you to pay the notice. The fine can be enforced through the traditional process of chasing a bad debt.

So if you don’t pay the parking charge notice, you could well find that you are then hounded by a debt collection agency to pay the parking charge. And if you still don’t pay, the collection agency might eventually approach the local court to have a Country Court Judgement (CCJ) issued.

Will a company such as VCS turn a minor debt for a parking charge over to a collection agency? Absolutely. Don’t imagine for a moment that a firm such as VCS is going to let even a small fine slide. They will pursue you for payment. If you don’t want to pay the parking charge, you will need to appeal against it.

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How to avoid paying Vehicle Control Services parking tickets

If you want to avoid paying a Vehicle Control Services parking ticket then you’ll need an airtight appeal.

The best way to perfect your appeal is getting a little advice from a Solicitor. I’d 100% recommend spending a fiver to get a trial of JustAnswer.

You can explain your situation in their chat and they’ll connect you with a Solicitor who can advise you and give you the best chance to win your appeal.

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Appealing Against a Parking Ticket

You really have nothing to lose by trying to appeal against a private parking ticket. The worst thing that can happen, is that you lose the appeal. But the simple truth is, that a high percentage of appeals against a parking fine are won. 

Your first port of call to challenge a parking charge notice from VCS is the company website. You will need to have the serial number that is printed on the notice, and also your car registration number. You will then be able to give your reasons for appealing the parking charge.

Alternatively, if you don’t want to make the appeal online using the company website, you can get in touch with VCS using the following contact details.

When you make your appeal, you have to have a valid reason to have the charge overturned, and good examples of these can include:

• You had a valid parking ticket (you can provide the ticket as proof).
• The signage was either missing, hard to read, or entirely misleading.
• You can provide a witness statement from somebody who was present, and believes you should not have been given the parking fine.
• You have a letter from a garage that states your car was broken down.
• You can prove that the landowner gave you permission to park.

If your appeal is unsuccessful, you still have a further option open to you. You can make an appeal with the Independent Appeals Service (IAS). There is no fee for doing this. You need to make this formal appeal to the IAS within 21 days of the date of issue of the notice unless you are willing to pay a £15 fee, and then you have up to one year to start your appeal.