Bloomin' parking charge - pay, appeal or share cost?

similar thing happened to my sister, she contested it as it was out of normal pay to park hours in a supermarket that was closed. to my knowledge they have never actually made any attempt other than threatening letters to retreive the money and this was some time ago now.

Hello,

I had a simmilar problem a year or so ago. I managed to find a site that showed a template letter to send to them.

The fine was cancelled via communication by post. When calling them they even asked me "how much i wanted to pay?" - the cheek" obviously i said no.

These types of companies tend to be a bit dodgy. with various MD's etc. If you check companies house website i bet the company has probably only been around a few years at most.

ANYWAY! i couldnt find the letter which i sent to them but below is a letter i have just found on the www it should do the trick!


Dear Weasels,

I am writing again with reference to PCN number XXXXXX which you recently issued directly to my home address without prior warning. I was disappointed with your last reply dated 12th September in which you state that you are “unable to cancel this ticket” as described in your own words.

I have since taken legal advice regarding this private PCN and have several legitimate grounds on which to contest its validity. These are outlined as follows:-

The PCN simply states that my vehicle was parked at Gatwick North Connect on the 01/08/2006 from 12:48:42 until 13:21:34. It then states that therefore I am responsible for the payment of this PCN in accordance with the terms and conditions prominently displayed at the entrance and around the car park. There is no statement on the PCN explaining either the terms and conditions I am supposed to have agreed to or in what way I have specifically breached any such terms and conditions. So there appears to be no basis for the charge other than being present at the petrol station between those stated times.

The PCN format itself quite obviously purports to be of an official nature with a misleading title “Civil Enforcement Notice” in bold red font. This document is nothing more than a notice from your company sent unsolicited to my personal address. It is also of a threatening and intimidating nature with comments such as “Failure to pay the amount due within 28 days will result in Civil Enforcement Ltd forwarding your account to a debt recovery agency and you will incur additional costs” written in large capital letters and clearly aimed to cause alarm. It would be interesting to see how the police would view such documentation if I made a complaint of attempted extortion, blackmail and deception.

Your PCN refers to a car park, when in fact I was actually using a petrol station. I think you will agree it is not customary to be charged for parking when using the facilities of a petrol station in a normal manner and I was totally unaware of any of the terms and conditions you say were prominently displayed in the “car park”. I do not recollect any such notices and neither do any of the group of friends who I was with at the time.

Your conduct in this instance is in direct breach of the DVLA code of conduct pertaining to the enforcement of parking restrictions on private land. Specifically, point 3.2 of the code states:- “Notices giving full details of the parking contravention and the proposed course of action to be taken by the enforcer should be placed in a prominent position on the ‘offending’ vehicle without causing it damage. Vehicle keepers should be made aware that their name and address will be requested from the DVLA”. No such notice was ever placed on my vehicle but you clearly obtained my personal details from the DVLA without my prior knowledge in order to send your PCN to my address. Under these circumstances I will consider writing a strong letter of complaint to the DVLA regarding your abuse of this system. If pressed they may decide to withdraw your company’s right to obtain vehicle keeper information.

From a legal standpoint, I understand that private charges can only be based on contract. You will have to prove in court that I agreed to a contract, agreed to park under the terms of the contract, that I agreed to pay a charge if I breached the contract, that I actually did breach the contract and that the charge is both fair and not an unenforceable penalty charge which is not a reasonable estimate of your loss. I deny that such a contract ever existed and I believe this is an unenforcable charge.

I hope you will now agree that not only is this an inappropriate penalty, but you are also in breach of the code of practice as stated by the DVLA. I am sure your company would have due regard for its reputation for operating both ethically and within regulation, particularly as you are effectively representing the interests of a high profile company. I now expect a full written apology and notification in writing that you are going to withdraw your charges with immediate effect.

Your failure to respond appropriately to this letter within the next 12 working days will result in the following actions on my part. I will report your company to the DVLA for your failure to comply with the code of practice. I will report your company and BP to the office of fair trading. I will write a strong letter of complaint to both my local MP and contact the local press. I will write a strong letter of complaint to BP (your client) regarding your conduct and methods used in an unlawful attempt to extract money. I will report this entire incident to the police for nuisance and harassment and for attempting to extract money using threatening documentation purporting to be of an official nature.

You should also take note that further threats for money will most certainly be reported to the police under the protection of harrassment act 1997.

Take that!

themaccas wrote: »

They have sent a letter with colour photos of me arriving and leaving.

Do the photos actually show you driving the car (are you identifiable?) or just the car entering/leaving?

If you can't see who is driving then just tell them that they need to contact the person driving the car on the date concerned (they've no proof it was you). You are under no obligation to tell them who that was

imoneyop wrote: »

Do the photos actually show you driving the car (are you identifiable?) or just the car entering/leaving?

If you can't see who is driving then just tell them that they need to contact the person driving the car on the date concerned (they've no proof it was you). You are under no obligation to tell them who that was

That sounds about right.

For a civil matter such as this you are under no legal obligation to name the driver - the letter is sent to the registered keeper of the vehicle who may not even drive, and any "contract" would only be applicable with the driver at the time.
Of course if they do take it further you may end up having to name the driver, but they are fairly unlikely to do that.