Staff Parking at Hospital - forgot to display permit. TPS Ticket. Ignore or appeal?

zoonyx

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SUCCESS - TICKET CANCELLED!
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Please see post 40 (bottom of page 2) for the final email.

Please note that we appealed via email, and while it took a bit of time, and a few curve balls from TPS, that was all we did - it's worth doing!

Original thread:


Hi,

I've searched this forum and many others but cannot find exactly the same circumstances. I think I know my stuff, but could someone just confirm the following:

My girlfriend works in a hospital. She pays for a permit monthly, which she has done for at least a year, which she has records for because its listed on her payslip.

The staff car park is barriered, and she uses a card to access. I assume to prevent people tailgating into the car park, she must also display a permit.

She believes she also signed something when she got the permit, although I have no idea what it was, or what she agreed to.

A few weeks ago, she forgot to display the permit. It wasn't expired, just in the glovebox rather than the window!

She was left with a ticket from TPS. I told her to ignore it, but like many people she is nervous about the number of letters she's surely about to receive.

I guess my main questions are:

Could she have signed something which means she DOES have to pay?
Is it better to ignore, or appeal, since in this example I suspect she probably could appeal?
If it went to court, could my gf be in trouble for ignoring the letters, rather than informing TPS she is not going to pay?

As far as I can see, she has a permit, so there is no material loss to the hospital or parking firm, so if it did somehow get to court stage, it would be thrown out pretty swiftly.

Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

martmonk

If I've read correctly she has windscreen ticket. You need to wait for notice to keeper and then proceed from there.

In the meantime a word with the estates manager or similar might squash this before it goes anywhere but even then I'd be tempted to wait for the NtK.

zoonyx

I suspect the estates manager will be pretty useless if the stories from other people are anything to go by - basically washing hands of situation and referring to TPS.

The NtK is stage 2 I assume? Stage 1 being 'ticket on window'? And yes you are right, she had the ticket on the window, and hasn't done anything yet (its outside the half price 7 days thing now).

What happens at NtK (please feel free to tell me to read up elsewhere if applicable!)

Coupon-mad

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/63547395#Comment_63547395

Challenge it when the first Notice to Keeper arrives in the post, as per all the usual advice.

zzzLazyDaisy

zoonyx wrote: »

Hi,

I guess my main questions are:

Could she have signed something which means she DOES have to pay?

This is unlikely. It is more likely that she signed a policy document agreeing to the terms and conditions of the permit scheme. If she has lost her copy, she should ask HR for a replacement copy.


Is it better to ignore, or appeal, since in this example I suspect she probably could appeal?

The ONLY part of this that she should ignore is the windscreen ticket (though she should keep it safe). She needs to wait for the NtK to come through the post and appeal the charge at that point, explaining that she forgot to display her permit, enclosing a copy of her permit, and also explaining that she pays for her permit which gives her the right to park, so the hospital has suffered no loss, and therefore the charge is punitive and unenforceable. Chances are they will refuse her appeal, but must give a POPLA code. She can then appeal to POPLA on tried and tested legal points, which win 100% of the time at POPLA (as long as she follows forum advice)

If it went to court, could my gf be in trouble for ignoring the letters, rather than informing TPS she is not going to pay?

If she appeals to POPLA with forum assistance, she will win and will not be going to court. If she simply ignores and ends up at court, she is in for a lot of stress and a time consuming court process, with no guarantee of success. I know which I would choose.

As far as I can see, she has a permit, so there is no material loss to the hospital or parking firm, so if it did somehow get to court stage, it would be thrown out pretty swiftly.

It would not be 'thrown out pretty swiftly'. It would go to a full hearing unless the PPC withdraws the case, and she would have to defend the case in the normal way. By that point there is NO guarantee of success, despite what 'common sense' might appear to suggest.

Daisy .

zoonyx

Hi Daisy,

Excellent advice, and thanks for correcting my guesswork. I thought at one point the standard catch all response was 'ignore'. I assume this has changed somewhat?

Thanks again!

Oh and also... in terms of phone calls/written appeals etc. 1) Does this have to be in writing rather than phone calls and 2) Does it have to be done by her? I'm pretty sure she'd rather me sort it (and I don't mind) but I suspect you'll say she has to do the majority as registered keeper.

bod1467

I don't think it matters if you do it, as long as it is sent in her name as the RK. I mean - LOTS of appeals are created by people here on the forum, but it's not the forum people sending them in.

zoonyx

bod1467 wrote: »

I don't think it matters if you do it, as long as it is sent in her name as the RK. I mean - LOTS of appeals are created by people here on the forum, but it's not the forum people sending them in.

Yeah true. I'd really like to go down the route of sending an epic letter (like I've just read on pepi) but I suspect the significantly easier option is via POPLA.

Will endeavour to stick around and keep this thread updated!

zzzLazyDaisy

You really need to do some research on the forums, starting with the most recent threads and ignoring any concerning LBCs or court action. You will find all your answers there.

But to answer your question - you can't deal with appeals by phone, they must be in writing, from the registered keeper, written in the third person, and not identifying the driver. But you can do this on her behalf just write the letters/emails from her as the RK.

If you put some basic key words into the search box, such as 'windscreen' 'POPLA' 'Hospital' 'TPS' etc you will find the answer to your questions, just make sure you are looking at threads started in the past 3-6 months (the more recent the better).

Just one other thing - this case is complicated by the fact that she is an employee of the hospital, so if not handled carefully, it could get messy from an employment point of view.

There is a recent thread on here from someone facing court action for unpain parking charges AND disciplinary action by her hospital employer for breach of Trust policy, so she needs to appeal and get the charge knocked on the head swiftly, and not let it get as far as court.

martmonk

zoonyx wrote: »

Hi Daisy,

Oh and also... in terms of phone calls/written appeals etc. 1) Does this have to be in writing rather than phone calls

I doubt you'll find anyone here who answers this by saying phone them.

Stroma

zoonyx wrote: »

I suspect the estates manager will be pretty useless if the stories from other people are anything to go by - basically washing hands of situation and referring to TPS.

The NtK is stage 2 I assume? Stage 1 being 'ticket on window'? And yes you are right, she had the ticket on the window, and hasn't done anything yet (its outside the half price 7 days thing now).

What happens at NtK (please feel free to tell me to read up elsewhere if applicable!)

Thats interesting as that does not comply with the BPA Code of Practice, are you sure it says 7 days? Also are you the registered keeper, or your partner?

Thanks