Parking Charge Notice - PCN

hollydays

You could email dvlc and ask them if excel subscribe to the code-they are inferring they do.Did you see the sign when you parked?If they subscribe to the code-they do need a ticket on the windscreen theoretically.Most of these companies are a law unto themseves because they are not regulated.Google" dvlc sell your details to criminals-The mail."

Cumbrian_Male

Who owns and operates the CCTV system? Is it a local car park you can go back to check?

A sign must state CCTV is in operation and the purpose ie crime prevention etc. and who operates it.

Make a subject access request under the data protection act, for the footage of you arriving and departing the car park.

£10 charge but cheaper than £100

hollydays

Cumbrian_Male wrote:

Who owns and operates the CCTV system? Is it a local car park you can go back to check?

A sign must state CCTV is in operation and the purpose ie crime prevention etc. and who operates it.

Make a subject access request under the data protection act, for the footage of you arriving and departing the car park.

£10 charge but cheaper than £100

In other establishments i have known,the way round this is not to reply for 28 days(or whatever period of time they keep their cctv data for) then write back saying it has been recorded over.,

reduceditem

Whenever I get a parking notice from anyone other than the local council I just throw it in the bin, along with any subsequent letters sent to me...I don't even read em'. Never been taken to court, never had it effect my credit rating. The idea that a private company can dish out legally enforcable parking tickets to other private individuals on a third party's land is plain silly. If a bouncer in a club issued you with an on the spot fine for occupying a seat at the bar for 10 minutes more than allowed would that be fair? If a man parked his car in your driveway and refused to move it would you write a fine out on a bit of paper and stick it on his windscreen? Of course not because you know that both the man and any judge who looked at it would burst out laughing. Yet that is just what these companies do and people pay them because they feel intimidated. Parking fines from a local council traffic warden incurred on public roads should be paid (unless they were unfairly issued). Any 'parking fine' from a private company on private land should be used to light your next BBQ IMO.
Communicating in any way with companies like this only encourages them AND CONFIRMS TO THEM THAT THEY HAVE YOUR CORRECT DETAILS! The only time you've really got problems is if they clamp you...ouch!

Aggrieved2

I received exactly the same as you from Excel Parking on Saturday notifying me that I had exceeded the 2 hour time limit for a date in November. I also get the same threat that if I do not pay £100 in 7 days they will issue court proceedings.

I've been researching on the internet and what we have received isn't a PCN but a Notice to Owner. Apparently a PCN notifies you that you have committed an offence and says if you pay within a certain time then the penalty is reduced. If you ignore a PCN then you get a Notice to Owner threatening you with court action if you don't pay up within a specified number of days!

Would the car park where you got the ticket from be Portland Retail Park in Mansfield by any chance?

I've been back to the car park and on reading the notice it states that if you exceed the 2 hours parking then you will receive a fine of £100 reduced to £40 if you pay within 7 days. At the same time I was there I was approached by another member of the public who informed me he too had that morning received the same "pay £100 in 7 days" Notice to Owner (He had allegedly overstayed in October)

It looks like Excel Parking are not sending out the PCN's and are going straight to the Notice to Owner.

I won't be paying and would advise you not to either. I have written to Excel asking who they are (for all I know this is a scam) and asking for evidence of this supposed "overparking offence".

hollydays

That makes sense..£100 request straightaway seems like an awfullot of money>

lubylwu

Thanks Aggrieved2, that is the exact car park. No doubt you will have seen the article in the Chad last week by Tim Paget. I did email him but no response to date so presume he's dropped that one and moved on to other things. Needlesstosay I have not paid the fine but have asked for proof of length of stay.

Aggrieved2

Thank you Lubylwu.

I hadn't seen the Chad (I don't live in the Mansfield area). Just had a look at it via their website and there is another article which is dated today headed "Parking Fines went missing in the Mail".

Excel are now claiming that a batch of mail went missing which enclosed PCN's for offences comitted between 7 September and 11 October and this is why so many people have received the £100 fines.

Hmm..... don't think I believe that. The Notice I've got says it was issued in November. How much mail can they claim has gone missing!

I still haven't had a response from Excel despite it being 2 weeks since I asked them to provide details of my alleged offence although I do feel a lot betting knowing that they have been "rumbled".

lubylwu

Just looked on Chad website - that's a laugh - I think Excel needed time to cook up an excuse, as the Chad stated they tried to contact Excel in their first article but they did not respond to any of their calls!

We'll have to wait and see what happens next. I don't think it's worth contacting them again as I have already logged a query with them.

I'm sure that area of Mansfield will lose a lot of trade through this, as I have already said I will never park there again as 2 hours is not sufficient time for the type of shops that are there.

waster_2

Exactly who are this bunch of theives (AKA Excel) asking to pay? If it's the owner I'd just write back and say I wasn't driving the vehicle that day and consequently am not responsible and suggest they contact the driver.

Unlike the Excel Parking Charge Notice (a proper PCN is a Penalty Charge Notice and is issued by a local authority or other legally authorised body) a proper PCN can rely upon the law for information from the Registered Keeper to provide details of the driver at the time of the offence or otherwise carry the can themself unless they can convince the court they genuinely cannot recall the information. Excel cannot do this and in the first instant would have to prove that the person they are suing was in fact the person who committed the offence. Fat chance.

Tell 'em to F*** Off.