(edit title) Parking ticket on foreign reg..do I have to pay? Can they get me at home? Options

[madra08]

im visiting sweden for a 3weeks and im in an irish reg car..got a parking ticket for 400kr..do i have to pay on a foreign reg? from what i understand theyve no way of chasing me up legally, that private companies have no real legal leg to stand on..any advice? will i bother or just should i just burn the thing?

[intrepidfox]

Answer is no. Just tear it up.

[philios33]

Even if it happened in the UK and it was a private company then I wouldn't bother. Private companies have no legal leg to stand on if they give you a ticket in the UK. Only local borough councils (i.e. The government) can legally give you a fine. I would have thought the situation is similar in Sweden, someone correct me if i'm wrong.

Also, the amount of effort required on their part to track you down in Ireland seems like too much for them to bother about for 400SEK.

I guess it also depends on Irish law too and what agreements they have with Sweden. I forgot that Ireland isn't actually part of UK so not sure if you guys use DVLA or not.

[madra08]

cheers for that..yeah, if the shoe was on the other foot, the irish couldn't chase down a swede..so i doubt these guys will chase me down..wonder how many tickets i can run up in my 3 week spell here?!

[Puffin]

The answer used to be no

But the law changed a few years ago and parking fines can be pursued within the EU - just depends whether they bother to do it or not - I know people with Danish registered cars who have been pursued

[Bender B Rodriquez]

im visiting sweden for a 3weeks and im in an irish reg car..got a parking ticket for 400kr..do i have to pay on a foreign reg? from what i understand theyve no way of chasing ... (show full quote)

im visiting sweden for a 3weeks and im in an irish reg car..got a parking ticket for 400kr..do i have to pay on a foreign reg? from what i understand theyve no way of chasing me up legally, that private companies have no real legal leg to stand on..any advice? will i bother or just should i just burn the thing? ... (hide full quote)

Virtually all types of debt can be collected throughout the EU thanks to the European Order for Payment Procedure http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/jus...s/l16023_en.htm

However, the question is: will they bother? First you can wait and see if a letter appears in you mailbox. You should not be liable to pay anything before that happens.

Secondly, on the question of private vs. public: Parking, like most public services such as healthcare, schools, infrastructure, public transport, etc, is often run by private contractors on behalf of the government, so you rarely see a parking ticket that is not from a private company even if it is on public ground...

[Gamla Hälsingebock]

I know for sure you do not want to hear this...but...why not park legally?

That way you won't have to be worried about the "Collection Police" dragging you screaming from your digs at 3AM...or posting here.

[Gordy]

A Swedish man has been issued with a £90 (1,211 kronor) ticket for illegally parking his snowmobile in Warwick.
But Krister Nylander, who lives on a farm in Bollstabruk, 205 miles north of Stockholm, said he had never been to the town and would not be paying up.

Mr Nylander said the ticket was issued by Euro Parking Collection showing his snowmobile was parked illegally for three hours in Warwick on 22 June.

"The snowmobile is in my barn. It has never left Sweden," the mechanic said.

Mr Nylander said all the information on the ticket was correct, including the make of the snowmobile and the licence plate number.

Euro Parking Collection, a London-based company which collects parking fines issued to foreign registered vehicles, was unavailable for comment.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england...ire/3629494.stm

[Yorkshireman]

If your ticket was issued by one of the organisations working together with Euro Parking Collection then it is better to pay-up rather than risk the debt mutliplying up in fees and interest. They will try to collect.

http://www.epcplc.com/authorities.php

[madra08]

no, it's not listed on the EPC website and neither is the local authority i live in back home. let them mail me the ticket in the post...it'll 'arrive' in ireland right? good luck with that! one of the benefits of living in a banana republic

[philios33]

What people fail to realise is that as I said before, private companies like that have absolutely no legal ground to charge people money or issue tickets. It is only the "scare tactics" that they use that usually forces most people to pay up. It is possible to obtain a persons registered address from the DVLA providing a reg number. I'm sure there is an equivalent in Sweden. There is a small fee for this tho.

That article was from 2004, but have just looked this company up and they are still going. If they are doing things legally and it's under some new legislation, this also means there could be some AB companies registered in Sweden doing the same thing.

[byke]

If you live in the republic of Ireland, and a letter does turn up.
Since "Irish" is the official #1 language, I wonder if you can dismiss any letters sent to you in languages other than Irish? (Such as English). It could be quite amusing to see a parking ticket bill having to be translated for it to be served.

[byke]

What people fail to realise is that as I said before, private companies like that have absolutely no legal ground to charge people money or issue tickets.

I am not sure that s entirely true as you have laws of different countries which can vary greatly.
If the car is parked in Sweden, then that is where the law is dictated and enforced.

[philios33]

OK, so I admit, I didn't click on the link before posting. What EPC are doing is legal (and clever). They are infact acting on behalf of the borough councils. It looks like they have contracts with all of them.

[philios33]

I am not sure that s entirely true as you have laws of different countries which can vary greatly.. If the car is parked in Sweden, then that is where the law is dictated and enforced.

Yeah sorry, I was referring to UK since they are a UK company (was talking about EPC rather than ops situation). But even so, they get around this by having contracts with all local authorities. Quite clever.