CP Plus PCN at Railway Station

Kuly

Hi,

Got a Parking Charge Notice today from CP Plus for parking at a railway station in "A non designated bay".

I am a season ticket holder so had paid for parking but when I went to park there were no spaces. Manage to park right in the corner of the car park squeezing through 2 cars parked in bays. There was no obstruction to anyone or anything. Was quite proud of myself to have made a spot where no-one can usually park until I found that damn notice when I got back!!!!!

Anyways, have read with interest all the threads and the advice to ignore and fully intend to do so :beer:, unless things have changed :-(

If I do ignore and continue to park there (in a bay of course and not squeezed in the same corner), cause I have to basically, will I have an issue with them issuing notices on my car or even clamping it? Should I swap cars with the mrs till it all blows over?

Any advice is much appreciated.

Thanks,
Kuly

RENEGADE_2

Generally speaking Kuly, with railways it rather depends on whether Byelaw 14 is being implemented. This would legitimise the penalty but I have a sneaky suspicion that railway byelaws do not apply where you are concerned.

If you read your ticket, I presume it mentions the byelaws but that it itself is not adequate evidence that this is really the case. The only stations I know CP Plus to manage are South West Trains car parks: namely Salisbury and Weymouth.

Here are a few clues that will help you identify whether the ticket you have is a fake like on non-railway private land, or whether it might just be a real ticket.

1) Search for the word "civil", do they use that word anywhere in their wording? If they use it in place of "penalty", then you are laughing.

2) To whom do you appeal? CP Plus? The operator that issued the charge? If so, bin it and forget it. Appeals on railway byelaw breaches are handled by a third party company.

3) What does it threaten if the charge remains unpaid? County Court? If so, discard the invoice as any failure to pay penalties for byelaw breaches are handled by magistrates.

Examine the document and let us know. Thanks.

Kuly

Hi Renegade,

Thanks for your quick reply. Station was SWT Fleet.

Nothing at all like what you have mentioned in the 3 points.

Wording is as follows:
Vehicle reg xyz was seen at Fleet SWT on Date at time by CPR: XYZ who had reasonable course to believe that the following occured:
05 Not Parked in designated parking space.

and that this was in contravention of t&c for parking as detailed on signs on the site.

You are therefore required to pay a parking charge of £80 within 28 days of date.......

A reduced charge of £50 if paid within 14 days......

If payment is not received within 14 days details of owner will be obtained form DVLA. See overleaf for further info.

Payment of the sum mentioned overleaf must be made within 28 days or 14 if paying reduced charge. If payment is not received within 28 days the name and address of the registered keeper will be obtained for the DVLA and will result in further action being taken and an administration charge of £40 will be added.

Then all the details on how to pay etc.

It says 14 days on the front before obtaining details and 28 days on the back.

There were no signs or markings where I had parked saying it was a non-designated bay. Should I just appeal on that fact you think?

Cheers.

RENEGADE_2

to whom do you appeal?
what is the address for appeals?

Kuly

CP Plus Ltd
PO Box 14836
London NW3 1WT

It says:
Appeals cannot be dealt with over the telephone and must be made in writing within 7 days of the date of issue. If you do not receive a reply within 28 days after appealing, your appeal has been accepted and no further correspondence will be sent.

taffy056

Think bylaw 14 is only if you haven't paid, you have it wouldn't apply. In any case this is just lousy invoice that can be used in a variety of ways, the favourite at the moment is bedding for hamster cages, I use mine for the car litter, she seems to like the multi coloured paperwork

Kuly

lol Cheers Taffy.

I'll have to think of something as I don't have a cat or a hamster. Maybe just take the bag it cam in, stuff the ticket in it and use the bag as a pooper scooper next time I take the dog for a walk.

All joking aside, should I take my wife's car just to avoid any hassle?

RENEGADE_2

The only network I have known to enforce Byelaw 14 has been East Coast and unsurprisignly, this is the stretch which became renationalised, effectively making it a minature British Rail. Here, the TOC issued the ticket and the appeals were handled by a third party.

The very hiring of a PPC coupled with its policy of being the body to handle appeals is very revealing. The issuing body is not sufficiently placed to handle a genuine appeal and we all know about the apologetic CP Plus perusal system. But the smoking gun is the term, "Parking Charge Notice". Byelaws see "penalties". You've been issued a fake, ignore it.

Kuly

Thanks Renegade. Consider it ignored.

What about parking there in the future though?
1) Should I be looking to take my wife's car just to avoid any hassle
2) Get dropped off and picked up? Won't save me any money as back and forth fuel will cost the same as parking but won't be putting my money into their pockets anymore.
3) Use the next nearest station instead?
4) find a job locally. Easier said than done in my field!

RENEGADE_2

It won't matter. You're not on some black list. Every time they slap on a ticket, they'll search for your details from fresh. After all, even they cannot be sure that the same person keeps the car since the last time they issued an invoice.

You also play a fair game in that you observe their pathetic fees, just carry on as normal!

Coupon-mad

RENEGADE wrote: »

The only network I have known to enforce Byelaw 14 has been East Coast and unsurprisignly, this is the stretch which became renationalised, effectively making it a minature British Rail. Here, the TOC issued the ticket and the appeals were handled by a third party.

The very hiring of a PPC coupled with its policy of being the body to handle appeals is very revealing. The issuing body is not sufficiently placed to handle a genuine appeal and we all know about the apologetic CP Plus perusal system. But the smoking gun is the term, "Parking Charge Notice". Byelaws see "penalties". You've been issued a fake, ignore it.

Northern Rail also pursued a few cases that were on pepipoo but the BIG difference was that they hadn't used a PPC issuing a 'parking charge' (fake PCN). Northern Rail had issued their own 'penalty notices' which they then could try to enforce using bylaws...within reason...but that's another story.

Anyway, this is CP Plus with a fake PCN, like pretty much any other thread on this forum, Kuly. Just play snap with the threatogram letters as they'll match the pics linked in the 5th from top thread 'PPC letter chains'. See what to expect next, it's not very exciting though...junk mail!