Yes, the law has certainly changed in that respect in England, and you will find the private companies are extremely persistent, even when it you point out breaches of code, like signage etc... for example, I had tried fighting things like not being given time to decide if you want to park there or not. If you enter a car park, the dodgy private firms like to think they've got you as soon as you pass their sign on the way into the car park. But they have to give you time to read it and if, having read it, you don't agree to the terms and conditions, you should be able to leave without penalty.
We have been caught out visiting the same place twice, and the company chooses to pick the first entry photo and the last exit photo from the ANPR, thus making it look like you have overstayed.
Mrs S has been sent an invoice for "overstaying" in a carpark where she was employed to assist a young person who was working in the adjacent business. The manager even gave the company our reg, but they chose to send her a bill anyway. The staff said they regularly got bills for parking too, despite the parking company having their registration numbers.
Mrs S got an invoice for parking in a hotel carpark to give blood after being assured by the hotel that parking restrictions were lifted that day.
The ANPR in/ out malarkey has happened to us three times now, we have appealed to POPLA every time and each time, unironically they have told me that this is extremely rare and I have been told I don't need to pay.
All other occasions, we have been told to pay at least £100, have appealed (where possible, see below) and been rejected. The dodgy companies (most of them, in my opinion) don't bother to send a "Notice To Keeper" (NTK) letter. They should, of course, because this sets out your right to appeal and lets you know you have 14 days to do that. But by the time you get the "next" letter from them, it's too late, so they reject any attempt to appeal on the grounds of time.
Guidelines say that if there is a dispute, any debt collection procedures should be halted, but in one case, I was absolutely bombarded by letters from the parking company's debt recovery agency.
So, in the event that my appeal fails or is a non starter, I send a short letter telling them that I would be delighted to meet them in court so the facts of the case can be put under the scrutiny of a judge and to let them make a decision.
In every case, letters from both the parking company and any debt recovery agency if involved have ceased and they haven't made any efforts to damage my credit score.
IMO, these companies are absolutely ruthless, and will stop at nothing to bully money out of people, regardless of the facts of the case.
Most people are frightened and/ or worried about going to court, or cannot afford to take time off to do that.
The companies bank on this, but people need to fight back.
There was a point where Joris Bohnson proposed to limit the amount invoiced by these companies to £50, but they moaned and winged, so he dropped the idea.
