Parking Eye and DRP at it again

appletreetop

Gosh, I wasn’t expecting today to be reading up on so much legal jargon! I’ve read through all the stuff on the links to the Practice Direction itself and the CRB advice too. Its now really clear to see exactly how Parking Eye are NOT complying with the Practice Direction…

I don’t think I would qualify at all under the equalities act, though I’m really aware that this does apply to loads of people who post on here.

I was in a retail car park that was free for an hour and a half; I overstayed this by 12 minutes – but I was confused by the car park and I know I drove around for a while before deciding where to park. It was also dark when I was there and the car park was pretty much empty, so therefore my being there an additional 12 minutes wasn’t stopping anyone else from parking and using the shops there.

Right, here’s my version of the Acknowledgement of the Letter Before Action.

Any suggestions etc much appreciated. I will be sending it off registered delivery just to ensure there is proof they receive it. I intend to send it off as soon as possible in the next day or two.



My address

Parking Eye’s address

Parking Eye reference:xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Vehicle registration number:xxxxxxxx

Todays date xxx

Acknowledgement of your“Letter Before Action”.

I am writing to formally acknowledge your “Letter Before Action” dated xxxxxxx as required by the Practice Direction on Pre-action Conduct.

I wish to bring your attention to several aspects of your letter which are in contradiction of the said Practice Direction.

Your letter completely fails to notify myself, an individual, to the actual Practice Direction Document itself.

Your letter also fails to comply the steps set out in Section 7 of the Practice Direction on Pre-action Conduct which relates to Letters Before Claims.

In addition your letter also fails to state the facts on which your claim is based and specifically how your loss of £100.00 for an overstay of 12 minutes in a free car park has been calculated.

Under the Practice Direction the claimant is required to list all documents that will be relied upon in the Letter Before Claim: your letter failed to do this. The defendant will be unable to comply with the Practice Direction until this is rectified.

Under Section 8 of the Practice Direction there is an obligation on the Claimant to consider an appropriate form of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). Your letter totally fails to mention this. As your company is a member of the British Parking Association there is now an independent resolution service open to myself as the defendant – the Parking on Private land Appeals Service (POPLA). Therefore I, the defendant, invite you to issue a POPLA code so that this dispute may be settled through this arbitration service without the need for court action.

You may of course, alternatively wish to cancel the parking charge of £100.

If you, the claimant, wish to continue with this claim then the defendant requires the following documents issuing within 14 days of this letter so that they can fully respond:


1. Does Parking Eye – the claimant – own the land on which the carpark is situated? If not, then please provide the name and addresses of the owners of the land on which the car park is situated.

2. Please provide the full name and address of the person, company or legal entity by whom the claimant was instructed to mange the car park.

3. Please provide evidence which establishes both the freehold ownership of the land on which the car park is situated and the names and addresses of who holds any relevant leasehold interests.

4. Please explain the claimants legal standing to bring these proceedings and supply copies of any documents you propose to rely on to support this, specifically:


4 a). a copy of the contract by which the claimant was instructed to manage the car park – clauses of this will form a material section of the defence, especially in regards to payments made to your client.


4 b). A copy of the contract which the driver ofthe vehicle is alleged to have agreed to in this case. This must include indications of which terms the claimant considers “core” and the reasons of this.

4 c). all other documents on which the claimant intends to rely on (which, as noted, were required to have been included in your original Letter Before Action).

5. You state that I, as the defendant, owe Parking Eye £100 for staying in this free car park on xxxxxx (date). I require a full explanation of how the sum of £100 has been calculated for parking in a free car park at time when the car park was almost empty. Please do not send a generic reply to this, I need to know how this sum has been calculated in relation to the specific alleged parking incident.

6. A full and detailed breakdown of the actual losses – if any - alleged to have been caused to the landowner / businesses on the land as a consequence of the alleged parking incident; and again how you have calculated a charge of £100 for this.

7. a full and detailed breakdown of the actual losses – if any – caused to your company as a consequence of the alleged parking incident.

8. confirmation that your Notice to Keeper was fully compliant with Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012.

9. full details of the signage at the location at the time of the alleged incident; these must clearly show the locations, lighting and wording at the time of the alleged parking incident. Please note here that the alleged parking incident took place after dark in the winter months.


10. A VAT number for the alleged charge of £100.

As stated above, I, the defendant, demand that you give a full and proper response to the above points within 14 days of this letter. Please do not send any type of generic response which fails to address the above points,I expect a reply addressing the points specific to the alleged parking incident on xxxxxxxx (date). Your response,within 14 days, will then enable the defendant to provide a full written Response as required, within 30 days of receiving the information requested in this letter.

Alternatively, as stated previously, you may wish to simply cancel the Parking Charge.

I await your reply.

Yours faithfully,

My name xxxxxxxxxxxx

fil_cad

Top man appletreetop, but i bet they try there usual stubbern money sucking reply, dont give up they will play you to coughing up point.

zzzLazyDaisy

appletreetop you are a little star :j

Can you hang on on for 24 hrs or so as there are a couple points that I want to check out, and I may not be on here much tomorrow.

Also when you send it, don't sign it, simply type your name.

Also, don't send it by recorded delivery as PPCs don't always accept them. So send it by first class post from a post office and get a certificate of posting (free).

There is an online web address for appeals I suggest sending it that way too, but scan the letter on and send it as an attachment, that way no one can 'accidentally' delete anything. You will get a web confirmation.

I'll get back to you tomorrow, but it will probably be the evening.

Daisy

EDIT - silly question but just to be sure - this is definitely a Letter Before Action (in red scary writing) from Parking Eye themselves, and NOT a 'notice of intended litigation' from a debt collector?

zzzLazyDaisy

OP just a couple of questions....

Was your first PCN a windscreen ticket, or was it a PCN through the post with photos of your car entering and leaving?

Following on from that, am I correct in assuming that you have never identified the driver to the PPC?

These points could be very important.

I am logging off now back later

Dx

zzzLazyDaisy

Here is a tidied up version. If you are happy with it, send it by post with a certificate of posting. You may also wish to scan the letter on and send it to their appeals address as an attachment (as a belt and braces). Then you wait for 14 - 21 days and let us know what happens.....

---

Parking Eye reference:xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Vehicle registration number:xxxxxxxx

Todays date xxx

Acknowledgement of your“Letter Before Action”.

I am writing to formally acknowledge your “Letter Before Action” dated xxxxxxx [STRIKE]as required by the Practice Direction on Pre-action Conduct.[/STRIKE] threatening to commence legal proceedings against myself, as the Registered Keeper.

First, I wish to draw to your attention that fact the the PCN to which your letter relates does not comply with Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 ('PoFA') in that it does not identify the creditor. PoFA expressly states that the claimant must comply with ALL the provisions in order to pursue the Registered Keeper. On that basis I do not believe that you have any case against the Registered Keeper at all. Should you start proceedings, I will make an immediate application to the court to strike out the action together with an application for my costs under CPR 27.14(2)(g), on the basis that the claimant has behaved unreasonably in pursuing the claim against myself as the Registered Keeper.

I therefore invite you to advise your client to cancel the charge, on the basis that the PCN is defective and does not give your client the right to proceed with this claim against the Registered Keeper.

However if the claimant is determined to pursue this action, notwithstanding the above comments, then the Defendant wishes to bring your attention to several aspects of your letter which are in [STRIKE]contradiction[/STRIKE] contravention of the [STRIKE]said[/STRIKE] Practice Direction on Pre-action Conduct.

[STRIKE]Your letter completely fails to notify myself, an individual, to the actual Practice Direction Document itself.[/STRIKE]

[STRIKE]Your letter also fails to comply the steps set out in Section 7 of the Practice Direction on Pre-action Conduct which relates to Letters Before Claims.
[/STRIKE]

Inparticularly:

• [STRIKE]In addition[/STRIKE] Your letter [STRIKE]also[/STRIKE] fails to [STRIKE]state[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]the facts on which claim is based.[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]and specifically how your loss of £100.00 for an overstay of 12 minutes in a free car park has been calculated.
• [/STRIKE]
  
• The Claimant has not provided enough information for the Defendant to understand the claim. The letter before claim does not say whether this claim is based on a contractual charge, a breach of contract, or an action for trespass. Clearly the Defendant cannot defend an action which is unspecified. Please therefore specify exactly the Claimant's claim against the Defendant.
  
• 
  
• Under the Practice Direction the Claimant must quantify its loss. Please therefore provide a full breakdown of the alleged loss, with details of how the loss has been calculated. If the claim against the Registered Keeper is for breach of contract, please supply a genuine pre-estimate of loss, showing how this has been arrived at. On this point it is notable that the alleged overstay was a mere 12 minutes, which would surely come within the Grace Period set out in the BPA Code of Practice, and therefore it is difficult to understand how the Claimant has sustained any loss at all.
  
• 
  
  
• Under the Practice Direction the claimant is required to list all documents that will be relied upon in the Letter Before Claim: failed to do this. The Defendant will be unable to comply with the Practice Direction until this is rectified.
  
  
• Under Section 8 of the Practice Direction there is an obligation on the Claimant to consider an appropriate form of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). Your letter totally fails to mention this. As your company is a member of the British Parking Association there is now an independent resolution service open to myself as the defendant – the Parking on Private land Appeals Service (POPLA). Therefore [STRIKE]I, [/STRIKE]The defendant invites you to issue a POPLA code so that this dispute may be settled through this arbitration service without the need for court action.

You may of course, alternatively wish to cancel the parking charge of £100.

If [STRIKE]you, [/STRIKE]the claimant wishes to continue with this claim then the defendant requires the following documents issuing within 14 days of this letter in order to fully respond:


1. Does Parking Eye – the claimant – own the land on which the carpark is situated? If not, then please provide the name and addresses of the owners of the land on which the car park is situated.

2. Please provide the full name and address of the person, company or legal entity by whom the claimant was instructed to mange the car park.

3. Please provide evidence which establishes both the freehold ownership of the land on which the car park is situated and the names and addresses of who holds any relevant leasehold interests.

4. Please explain the claimants legal standing to bring these proceedings and supply copies of any documents you propose to rely on to support this, specifically:


4 a). a copy of the contract by which the claimant was instructed to manage the car park – clauses of this will form a material section of the defence, especially in regards to payments made to your client.


4 b). A copy of the contract which the driver ofthe vehicle is alleged to have agreed to in this case. This must include indications of which terms the claimant considers “core” and the reasons of this.

4 c). all other documents on which the claimant intends to rely on (which, as noted, were required to have been included in your original Letter Before Action).

[STRIKE]5. You state that I, as the defendant, owe Parking Eye £100 for staying in this free car park on xxxxxx (date). I require a full explanation of how the sum of £100 has been calculated for parking in a free car park at time when the car park was almost empty. Please do not send a generic reply to this, I need to know how this sum has been calculated in relation to the specific alleged parking incident. [/STRIKE]

[STRIKE]6. A full and detailed breakdown of the actual losses – if any - alleged to have been caused to the landowner / businesses on the land as a consequence of the alleged parking incident; and again how you have calculated a charge of £100 for this.[/STRIKE]

[STRIKE]7. a full and detailed breakdown of the actual losses – if any – caused to your company as a consequence of the alleged parking incident.
[/STRIKE]
8. Bearing in mind the concerns noted in the first paragraph of this Acknowledgement, [STRIKE]confirmation [/STRIKE] the defendant formally puts the claimant to strict proof that the Claimant's [STRIKE]that your [/STRIKE]Notice to Keeper was fully compliant with Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 in every respect. Please provide copies of the documents that the claimant intends to rely on in this regard.

9. full details of the signage at the location at the time of the alleged incident; including map and photographs. These must clearly show the locations, lighting and wording at the time of the alleged parking incident. Please note here that the alleged parking incident took place after dark in the winter months.


10. If it is alleged that the claimant's case is based on an invoice for a contractual charge, please provide A VAT number for the alleged charge of £100.

[STRIKE]As stated above, I, [/STRIKE]The defendant, [STRIKE]demand that you give[/STRIKE] requires a full and proper response to the above points within 14 days of this letter. [STRIKE]Please do not send any type of generic response which fails to address the above points,I expect a reply addressing the points specific to the alleged parking incident on xxxxxxxx (date). Your response,within 14 days, will then [/STRIKE][STRIKE]enable[/STRIKE]

The defendant [STRIKE]to[/STRIKE] will provide a full written Response [STRIKE][STRIKE]as required,[/STRIKE] within 30 days of receiving the information and documentation requested in this letter, as required by the Practice Direction.

Alternatively, as stated previously, you may wish to simply cancel the Parking Charge.

I await your reply.

Yours faithfully,

My name xxxxxxxxxxxx

appletreetop

Hi again, sorry have been away from the computer all day. Thank you for all of this, its so helpful and supportive and helps feel its possible to fight…

my PCN came through the post with photos of the car entering and leaving the car park.

I have never identified the driver to Parking Eye.

Also, yes it is the official Letter Before Action that arrived yesterday.

Thank you again x

appletreetop

:T Sorry, my post must have crossed with yours Daisy, that’s BRILLIANT, thank you so very much xx :T :T

appletreetop

Right, just read that all through properly, thats so wonderful. I’ll get it off to them as soon as I can – and as you suggest, will send it first class with free certificate of posting (I wouldn’t have thought of not using recorded delivery, so very good point). I’ll also turn it into a pdf and email that too – is it worth using my normal email address or a different one?


In the meantime I’ve been telling lots of people about the whole PE thing and the wider issues around it – and warning people to be VERY careful where they park… I’ve certainly found myself not using certain shops now because they use
PE…

thank you so very much again Daisy :T :T :T

Umkomaas

In the meantime I’ve been telling lots of people about the whole PE thing and the wider issues around it – and warning people to be VERY careful where they park… I’ve certainly found myself not using certain shops now because they use PE

You know, this is potentially a very powerful weapon in the fight. Even if people continue to fraternise the businesses that PE (mis)manage the site for, the PE business model is shot as, they provide the service for free, they will receive no income from the particular car park (see the Aldi FB page https://www.facebook.com/AldiUK?filter=2). But if the business also suffers losses as well as PE, then it's a double-whammy that will no doubt see PE marched off the site, at the latest, when the contract renewal date comes up.

zzzLazyDaisy

appletreetop wrote: »

thank you so very much again Daisy :T :T :T

You are very welcome. Yes just use your normal address - I am not aware of any problem around that (unless someone else knows different?)

Give it 14 - 21 days, and then come back and let us know what's happening.

And yes SHOUT IT FROM THE ROOFTOPS ..... don't patronise the retailers that use PE.