Customer service + 372 661 0223 Mon-Fri 9-17 / europark@europark.ee
Customer service + 372 661 0223 Mon-Fri 9-17 / europark@europark.ee
EUROPARK ESTONIA OÜ (EuroPark further on) operates and manages private and government owned parking places and territories in accordance with the contracts that have been signed with landowners. As a private parking operator, information signs and territory markings used are devised by EuroPark. General Terms of Use are set up in visible places near entrances and additionally in parking areas also, so that every person acting in good will would notice them and understand them. It can be proved even by the fact that the clients who have not paid for the service form a small minority of all the clients parking on EuroPark territories. Thus, we have made the terms available to our clients and given them the opportunity to decide about entering into a contract. By starting parking on EuroPark parking area, the client accepts all the parking terms valid on that parking territory and enters into contract between the client and the parking operator. Our primary focus is to offer easy and convenient parking service for our clients for an affordable parking fee. Penalty claims are not our goal, but are issued as an extreme sanction for violating the parking terms and are meant to motivate clients to use the parking places according to the terms of use, to guarantee alacrity for payments and so to assure free space in parking lots for our law-abiding clients, the majority of our clientele. Parking attendants organise parking, ensure order and perform inspection in our parking lots, they can be recognised by EuroPark uniforms with the company logo. They are authorised to issue Penalty Claims in cases when no payment for the service has been made or other General Terms of Use have been violated. Parking control is done regularly and in accordance with strict rules established by EuroPark.
Parking Attendants are not authorised to annul Penalty Claims and their salary does not depend on the amount of Penalty Claims issued. Clients may submit objections in respect of the applied penalty within 7 days from the date the penalty claim was issued by filling a complaint form at EuroPark webpage. If the contractual penalty is not paid in time, EuroPark has the right to transfer the further processing of the claim to a third party, turn to a court and publish the details of the claim (debt) in the payment default register. In its activity, EuroPark follows the local legislation. The service model offered by us has undergone a thorough and impartial legal analysis to ensure the compliance of the general terms and conditions used in our activity with all legislative acts.
Besides issuing contractual penalty, EuroPark has the right to use all legal remedies, including to prevent the vehicle from leaving the parking area or to move the vehicle.
A contractual penalty is the obligation of a contract party in breach to pay the party harmed an agreed amount of money as set down in the contract. A contractual penalty differs from a fine decision issued by a local authority parking warden in that a contractual penalty is not served by an administrative authority and payable to the account of a local government but an obligation arising from a contract made between private persons (EuroPark and its client). The difference between a contractual penalty and a fine imposed as a punishment for a misdemeanour is that the above penalty is a contractual sanction for being in breach of the contract as opposed to a fine ‒ a punishment the objective of which is to restrict violations of public order which only an official has the authority to levy.
A contract is an agreement between two or more parties who both promise to perform or not to perform something. A contract is considered concluded when both parties have expressed their intention through action, among other things, that indicate such intention. This means that a contract is concluded not only when a person signs a written contract but also when a client parks a vehicle in a fee-paying parking area after having had reasonable opportunity to read the contract responsibilities at the entrance. When a client parks a car, he/she agrees to be legally bound, and the contract is deemed to have been concluded from this moment.
The terms and conditions of the contract shown on the information board are to be considered standard terms and conditions (terms and conditions that have been developed to be used in standard contracts or terms and conditions that the parties have not separately negotiated for some other reason). EuroPark uses standard terms and conditions because the company must conclude a large amount of parking contracts and negotiating the terms and conditions with each client is not possible. The standard terms and conditions form a part of the contract if a party to a contract using these terms and conditions (EuroPark) has clearly referred to them before concluding the contract and the other party (client) has had an opportunity to learn its contents. The contract terms and conditions together with a reference to standard terms and conditions and/or a reference, where it is possible to read the standard terms and conditions are displayed on the respective information board at the entrances to our parking lots. If a client does not agree with these terms and conditions, he/she has the possibility not to park his/her car and leave the parking area.
When concluding a contract, a client agrees with the terms and conditions of the contract, including the clause to pay a contractual penalty in the event that he/she breaks the contract (for example does not pay the parking fee). A contractual penalty is not a penalty or fine enforceable under public law and levied only by a parking official, but a contractual obligation agreed upon between private persons. According to the agreement, EuroPark can require the obligation to pay a contractual penalty to be complied with if a client is in breach of the contract.
The idea of the contractual penalty is to ensure performance of the contract and to avoidance of possible future violations of contract. This must be kept in mind when determining the amount of a contractual penalty, which is why the contractual penalty cannot be reasonably within the same amount with the parking fee.
Parking can be organised by a local government or private person depending on the ownership of the immovable used as a park lot. An owner of an immoveable has the right to possess, use, and dispose of a thing owned at his/her own discretion. The right to use an immoveable includes, for example, providing parking services, and the right of disposal of immovable allows for it to be rented out so that a third person can provide parking services and the right to dispose of the immovable enables to sublease the immovable so that a third party can provide parking services on this land. EuroPark has concluded various contracts of use with the owners of the immovable and provides parking services there with their consent.
We apply the car owner liability assumption. Usually, the owner is driving the vehicle but even if this is not the case, the owner has to know in whose possession his/her car is at all times, including at the time parking terms were contravened. The vehicle’s owner can inform EuroPark of the person driving the car at the material time and free himself from the liability. Similar liability assumption is applied in public parking areas if people violate the parking rules there. Further information on private law contracts and the abovementioned issues can be found in the Law of Obligations Act, Law of Property Act, and Traffic Act (available online at www.riigiteataja.ee).
If you have transferred the vehicle by the time the penalty claim was filed but not settled, however, the respective entry has not been made in the traffic register, you may submit the contract of purchase and sale on the transfer of the vehicle, to escape the liability.
Based on the outdated treatment of law, the database of vehicle owners, managed by the Transport Administration, had been closed and EuroPark was unable to send the reminders. According to the Tallinn Circuit Court judgment in 15.01.2019, it is possible for EuroPark to inquire the vehicle owners’ data from the Transport Administration in case of justified and legitimate interest under a court judgment. Data acquisition agreement between Transport Administration and EuroPark was signed in second half of 2020. If a payment is made based on the first reminder, no penalty interest or debt collection fees are added.
Based on the outdated treatment of law, the database of vehicle owners, managed by the Transport Administration, was closed and EuroPark was unable to send the reminders. Based on the judgment of the Tallinn Circuit Court that entered into force on 15.01.2019, a private car park has the right to obtain from the Transport Administration, in the event of a justified and legitimate interest, the data of the owners of the vehicle or, if there is a responsible user, of the responsible user. The contract for obtaining the data was signed between the Transport Administration and OÜ EUROPARK ESTONIA in the second half of 2020.
Based on the current case-law, the owner or a responsible user (if available) of a vehicle is liable for the performance of the parking contract, including settlement of the penalty claim, unless otherwise proven by the responsible user. This means that if the filed penalty claim has not been paid, EuroPark shall make a respective inquiry from the Transport Administration (previously, Road Administration), to establish who the owner or responsible user was in relation with the vehicle that was parked by violating the parking conditions and in relation with the penalty claim therefore filed.