Another Parking eye one

Dumbledore13

Hi, new here and would just like clarification on which course of action to take with parking eye, appeal or ignore?

I parked in a retail park which has 2 free hours parking, however I stayed for 2 hours 40 mins. I shopped in the vicinity and had been recovering from an operation on my back which caused me to walk slower than I usually would be able to. I came back to the car with no ticket on it, unaware that they now send you a lovely letter demanding money instead.

So I'm am unsure of which course of action to take. A lot of people say ignore ignore ignore but then I've seen a few people going down the appeal route. I have 5 days til the payment goes from 50 to 85 quid, neither of which I can afford on my low wage and both I feel are not in line with loss of earnings or whatever they claim it to be.

All help is greatly appreciated! I have no intention of paying these scammers but want to go the correct way about it to minimise disruption to myself. Thanks again!

Umkomaas

The way to get that payment to go from £50 to £85 to possibly £150 is to ignore.

The way to get that payment to go from £50 to £85 to £0 is to invoke the appeals process.

First off - can you tell us how long after the 'offence' date did you receive the first letter from PE? If that is within the POFA 2012 required 14 days then the next step is appeal to PE.

If you have receipts from the store(s) at the site the car park services, PE will sometimes cancel the PCN, but if not then you need to send in a 'soft' appeal, which will, without doubt, be rejected. The purpose of this is get a POPLA verification code (the 'independent' appeals service), so don't waste too much time on your soft appeal, you just want the code.

Something like this will suffice at this stage:



I am writing to you regarding parking charge xxxxxxxxxx !issued to vehicle xxxx xxx on xxxxx at xxxxx.

The Registered Keeper of the above vehicle denies any liability for the unenforceable charge detailed in the above Parking Charge Notice.

The charge does not represent any form of loss and as such it is punitive and a therefore a PENALTY.

Confirm acceptance of this challenge and cancel the charge, or provide a POPLA verification code where a vigorous and robust challenge will be mounted.

No further correspondence will be entered into with you on this matter. If nothing further from you is received within 35 days of the date of this letter it will be assumed the challenge is accepted and the charge cancelled.

Failure to send a POPLA code would be a breach of the BPA Code of Practice. Be advised that failure to comply with a code of conduct to which you have committed would be an offence under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, and I would not hesitate to report such a breach to the BPA, DVLA and Trading Standards.

Your faithfully

Come back when you get a reply. DO NOT attempt POPLA appeal on our own, we can help formulate a winning appeal.

HTH

Dumbledore13

Yes the letter was received within the 14 days. It happened on the 3rd July and the fine was issued on the 9th July.

Thanks for your help, I'll get on to the appeal and update once they reply.
Cheers


*edit*

Should I go through the "Appeal" section on their website or email them? Their appeal section asks for a lot of my details and just thinking maybe in some way that this would 'confirm guilt' putting me on a weaker foot?

Dumbledore13

I tried to email my response to PE but they sent one back saying it had not been processed as it has to go through their web form. Their web form requires a lot of my details of which I am not sure to give. Any advice in this area from anyone?

Umkomaas

Dumbledore13 wrote: »

I tried to email my response to PE but they sent one back saying it had not been processed as it has to go through their web form. Their web form requires a lot of my details of which I am not sure to give. Any advice in this area from anyone?

Send via surface mail. Get a (free) proof of posting from your Post Office.

By the way - did you have any receipts from the car park store(s)?

Dumbledore13

Umkomaas wrote: »

Send via surface mail. Get a (free) proof of posting from your Post Office.

By the way - did you have any receipts from the car park store(s)?

Will do. Should I sign with my name of leave it blank?

Yeah I do have a receipt from that day that I've scanned already should they ask to see it. Though I have seen that other people have suffered when producing tickets to PE as they deem a certain amount 'enough' to cover the cost of the ticket and so then cancel it. £30 was the amount most people seem to get the ticket cancelled at. Many are saying that they will provide receipts to POPLA when and if the verification code is given to them, a route I was planing to take.

Thanks

Umkomaas

Dumbledore13 wrote: »

Will do. Should I sign with my name of leave it blank?

Yeah I do have a receipt from that day that I've scanned already should they ask to see it. Though I have seen that other people have suffered when producing tickets to PE as they deem a certain amount 'enough' to cover the cost of the ticket and so then cancel it. £30 was the amount most people seem to get the ticket cancelled at. Many are saying that they will provide receipts to POPLA when and if the verification code is given to them, a route I was planing to take.

Thanks

I'd write to PE enclosing a COPY of your receipt (keep original) and tell them you were legitimately shopping at the store and here's the proof. Ask them to cancel the ticket before you put together a vigorous POPLA appeal - it might work, (they're doing that with Aldi customers, so why not other stores). If it doesn't work all you've lost is a stamp. Make sure that if they are not going to cancel it, then they need to provide you with your POPLA code.

Then leave it to POPLA.

Coupon-mad

Dumbledore13 wrote: »

Will do. Should I sign with my name of leave it blank?

Yeah I do have a receipt from that day that I've scanned already should they ask to see it. Though I have seen that other people have suffered when producing tickets to PE as they deem a certain amount 'enough' to cover the cost of the ticket and so then cancel it. £30 was the amount most people seem to get the ticket cancelled at. Many are saying that they will provide receipts to POPLA when and if the verification code is given to them, a route I was planing to take.

Thanks

If you really want it cancelled nice and early send a copy of the receipt and make the letter a bit longer, pointing out that the driver was covered by the Equality Act 2010 as they were recovering from recent surgery relating to a long-term debilitating back condition. Therefore 'the driver' was legally allowed to a longer allowance for parking and shopping, as a reasonable adjustment under disability legislation. Don't be put off by the word disability - it's nothing to do with Blue Badges - because anyone with such a long-term chronic condition as a back problem that needs surgery, does meet the definition of disability:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8488737.stm

https://www.gov.uk/definition-of-disability-under-equality-act-2010

Depends if you want to get it cancelled now or at POPLA really?!

Dumbledore13

Coupon-mad wrote: »

If you really want it cancelled nice and early send a copy of the receipt and make the letter a bit longer, pointing out that the driver was covered by the Equality Act 2010 as they were recovering from recent surgery relating to a long-term debilitating back condition. Therefore 'the driver' was legally allowed to a longer allowance for parking and shopping, as a reasonable adjustment under disability legislation. Don't be put off by the word disability - it's nothing to do with Blue Badges - because anyone with such a long-term chronic condition as a back problem that needs surgery, does meet the definition of disability:

Depends if you want to get it cancelled now or at POPLA really?!

Thanks for you help. Unfortunately I have already sent the letter that did not include this. When they send me a reply I will try taking this tact with them. I assume the 35 days will continue to run in parallel even if I give them receipts and more information, so if they don't cancel it, then the clock will still be running down on the POPLA code.

Coupon-mad

When they send you a reply the POPLA code 28 day clock is already ticking so DO NOT write back to the PPC. On a thread the other day someone did exactly that like some numpty, and timed out their perfectly good POPLA code.

What happened when you complained to the Management of the Retail Park then (as you do when an agent threatens you with a menacing demand for money, just for being a customer)? And if you haven't, do it! Send the Retail Park Management that paragraph I gave you and point out that they are liable for the actions of their agent (which currently constitute disability discrimination because you are allowed longer).

Dumbledore13

Coupon-mad wrote: »

When they send you a reply the POPLA code 28 day clock is already ticking so DO NOT write back to the PPC. On a thread the other day someone did exactly that like some numpty, and timed out their perfectly good POPLA code.

What happened when you complained to the Management of the Retail Park then (as you do when an agent threatens you with a menacing demand for money, just for being a customer)? And if you haven't, do it! Send the Retail Park Management that paragraph I gave you and point out that they are liable for the actions of their agent (which currently constitute disability discrimination because you are allowed longer).

I've read on other threads that if they don't send you a POPLA code in 35 days then the charge is effectively cancelled as I outlined that to them in my letter. So if I write to them again, the clock resets?

I haven't written to the retailers. I don't know who employs them as there are about 6/7 shops that could be responsible for them. B&Q are the biggest there though so I may send something to them and see what their side of it may be.