Cinema Carpark Fine

cdl_2

Hi all,

I'm sure this has been asked a thousand times, but here goes..

So last Tuesday I went to the cinema. I parked the car on the end space (over the white lines and about 12" onto the angled lines (I was the last space on the row) For the reason that I have a new car and didn't want it pranged!

I came out of the cinema and went home. On arriving home I noticed that I'd been given a 'Parking Ticket' which when i opened it wanted £60 or £100 for 'improper parking'

So I wrote a letter to them which i sent recorded saying, this is ridiculous and prove it.. Sure enough they sent one back with photos of my passenger side 12" onto the angled lines..

They are now saying I can either;

A. Pay the fine
B. Appeal via POPLA with a number
C. Do nothing and they will seek to recover the monies via our debt recovery procedures and proceed with court action

Now.. I've spoken to CAB who said basically; The 'Fine' is not a true reflection of the costs as the carpark is free to park in, I wasn't over another space or blocking anyone and what they have given me is a penalty which by law they're not allowed to do?

So my question is.. what would you do!?

sorry for the long winded first post!

thanks

bazster

What a pity you contacted them before coming here. Still, we are where we are. Are we to take it that they have actually provided you with the POPLA number (don't tell us what it is, we don't need to know, a simple "yes" or "no" will suffice)?

What parking company is it?

cdl_2

Thanks for your reply, much appreciated.

Company called TCM Total Carpark Management.

And yes they have provided one.

I thought it the correct course of action to reply via recorded delivery.. wondering if i did the right thing now!

What do you suggest to move forward?

I don't fancy it escalating into "you owe us £5000" or something!

bazster

Panic ye not, it isn't the end of the world! What you have lost is the ability to refute registered keeper liability (assuming that, when you contacted them, you gave away that you were the driver of the vehicle). However, you still have plenty of grounds to win this at POPLA.

What you need to do now is to draft your appeal to POPLA. There are loads of examples on this site, so have a look through and cobble something together. You are looking for the following kinds of points:

- That TCM has no authority to enter into contracts for parking or to pursue charges with respect to this land
- That you paid nothing and gave nothing for parking here, therefore you entered into no contract
- That any signage purporting to bind you into a contract is inadequate
- That no losses have been demonstrated therefore the sum demanded is an unenforceable contractual penalty
- That the terms of the alleged contract are unfair

That's the sort of thing you are looking for, loads of it on this forum. When you've pulled something together, post it up here so we can check it over before you send it off.

cdl_2

Right, thanks, will put something together.

So you don't think i write back to them and explain this?

Also, does POPLA have a success rate or am I fighting a losing battle?

thanks again

bazster

cdl wrote: »

Right, thanks, will put something together.

So you don't think i write back to them and explain this?

Also, does POPLA have a success rate or am I fighting a losing battle?

thanks again

Nope, do NOT write back to them. They have no interest in cancelling this, they just want your money.

They have given you a POPLA code, so POPLA is where you go. With a good POPLA appeal, checked over here, your chances of winning are very good. Since the folks here figured out what POPLA is looking for, we are unaware of any appeal following our advice that hasn't succeeded.

But you've nothing to lose anyway: you don't have to pay to appeal to POPLA (TCP will be charged £27+VAT though HAHAHA!), and whatever POPLA decides is binding on TCP but NOT on you, so in the unlikely event of you losing at POPLA, you still don't have to pay! But if you win, they have to drop it completely and you will then get no more letters from them.

bazster

Some great stuff on their website:

With increase strain on your business to recoup Parking Tickets, TCP Ltd can help facilitate this income stream.

Income stream??? From damages?

With our new and exciting web portal we can handle your penalty charge payment systems...

If you are unhappy and cannot keep track or trace fines, we will do this for you. Our infrastructure is in place and we can increase your untapped revenue, by managing the system for fines within your business.

This is an easy, and one of the most effective ways to work with Total Car Parks Ltd, we have the expertise to minimise (or on many occasions, totally stop) illegal parking in our clients parking spaces.

TCP Ltd can even ease the burden of processing tickets on your behalf to discourage illegal parking and repeat offenders.

bazster

Hahaha, wrong Total Carpark! Total Carpark Management not the same as Total Car Parks (which is the one the gems above came from).

Both Total Crap though.

cdl_2

Thanks Bazster.

Could you check the below and see how this sounds:

To whom it may concern.

On the 2nd July I parked my car in the City car park. I parked on the end of a row and approximately 12" outside of the white lines on the chevrons. My car was left for around 1 hour.

I received a parking ticket for this from 'TCM' who suggested that I was improperly parked. Now I wasn't blocking any roads, preventing any disabled access or preventing the emergency services from accessing the area.

The 'fine' suggested is £100.00 which is something i find unreasonable and strongly disagree with as this is not a true reflection of costs incurred by Star City or TCM. Not only was my car only present for a short period of time it did not park across multiple spaces.

TCM has no authority to enter into contracts for parking or to pursue charges with respect to this land. I paid nothing and gave nothing for parking at City and thus entered into NO CONTRACT.

TCM are trying to impose a penalty which by law in a private car park they simply cannot do. I would therefore respectfully request that this 'notice' be deemed null and void.


Does that sound OK or too much info?


thanks again for looking

peter_the_piper

That was unusual, CAB getting it mostly right, someone on here got a new job?

cdl_2

does that sound like i've a fighting chance!?

Also should I send the photo the parking company sent me?