I came home from Christmas shopping to find a car parked in my driveway. What are my rights? DEAN DUNHAM responds

Coming home after an afternoon of shopping, I keep finding a car parked in my driveway.

I live on a cul-de-sac near an elementary school and I suspect a parent is trying his luck.

On one occasion I went in to call the police, but when I came out he was gone. What are my rights? Can I impose a fine?

ASS, Winchester.

Dean Dunham responds: When someone parks on your private property without permission, it is considered trespassing, which can be both a criminal offense and a matter that can be pursued through the civil courts.

The law that covers trespassing is the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, which says it becomes an offense if trespassing involves other actions such as causing damage or refusing to leave after being asked to do so.

With this in mind, when confronted with someone parking on your land without permission, there are two steps you should initially take.

First, gather evidence: take photographs of the car and note the time and date; and secondly, if you see the owner of the vehicle, ask him to move it, politely; If not, leave a polite note on the vehicle asking them to move it and not park on your lot again.

These preliminary steps are important, as the next step will be to report the matter to the police if the invasion continues.

The police will notice only if you can prove the invasion and show that you already asked the perpetrator to stop.

At this point I must give a word of warning. If you speak to the vehicle owner or leave a note, do not use any language that could be interpreted as threatening or overly forceful, as this will change the situation and get you in trouble with the police.

Also, do not take any action that could cause damage to the vehicle. Prevention is always better than cure, so there are two more steps you can take.

You could talk to the school, if you think it’s a parent parking in your driveway; and a ‘No Parking’ sign could be installed in a visible place, with a fine notice.

This would potentially allow you to impose a fine and enforce payment through the courts.

The shocking switching bill from the energy supplier

I have just tried to switch to a new energy supplier but my current supplier has issued me a bill for £1390 and says I need to pay it first. I have a prepaid meter, how do I owe money?

HR, via email.

As strange as it may seem, it is possible to incur debt with a prepaid meter.

It can happen when a debt was incurred before the prepaid meter was installed and is then added to the meter, or when someone regularly uses emergency credit and allows permanent charges to accumulate, but then does not recharge enough to pay off the debt. debt. in its entirety.

In both cases, you would expect the debt to be paid off immediately when you top up; So if you have a debt of £10 and then top up £20, you would expect your credit to now be £10, but I am told this is not always the case.

However, there is a third, more sinister reason why you may have debt on your account and this is where your provider is simply wrong.

I say it all the time: for some reason, most energy providers are really bad when it comes to administration and often make mistakes with billing.

Therefore, your next step should be to request proof that you actually owe this debt and specifically request a breakdown of the charges.

You should know when the alleged charges were incurred and confirm that you have not been previously informed, as these are the questions that will arise if it is simply an error on the part of your provider.

It’s also worth noting that your provider cannot “bill” you for more than 12 months of use.

If you cannot solve the problem, your next step will be to file a complaint with the Energy Ombudsman, details of which you will find online.