Peel Centre, Excel Parking

Peely01

Dear All, please could I have some advice?
I parked at Peel Centre on 19.10.13. I paid to park, (I still have ticket). I received a PCN for £60 yesterday saying I had parked without displaying a ticket. When I checked my ticket I had typed one letter of my reg no wrongly.
What shall I do, Appeal sending a photocopy of ticket?
Should I write my name on the appeal?
Thanks for any advice.

Trebor16

Keep hold of that ticket, it is most important. Now have a read through the long post below, it will inform you of the process.


A WALK THROUGH THE PROCESS

Firstly, you don't have to pay the charge, it is not a fine, it is not a penalty, it is a speculative invoice from a Private Parking Company that has no statutory authority. However, you will need to go through a few hoops to get rid of it.

The first thing you MUST do is to start to understand what all this stuff is about. The only way to do this is to spend a day or so reading this forum - the most recent threads, say from the past month. If you see the advice 'IGNORE' you MUST ignore it. Ignoring a Parking Charge Notice will bring you months of fun and games that I can assure you, you don't want to be dealing with.

In a nutshell this is the process you will need to follow.

1. Read recent threads.

2. If the parking incident was at a retail park/shop go back to the store the Parking Charge Notice relates to and see THE manager, complain about a genuine customer being harassed and ask that they cancel the ticket. Show him/her any receipts for the day in question. If they are unable to do this ask for the name and address of the MD/CEO, as you will now write to them (and DO it!).

3. If it was a general car parking facility you need to find out who the landowner is (Google search) and send off a letter of complaint to them.

4. If you have receipts for the day (or bank/credit card statements) proving purchases, send (redacted) copies of them to PPC with covering letter stating you were a customer on the day, and shopping at their principal's establishment was the only cause of any overstay.

5. If 2, 3 or 4 above don't work, then you're into the more formal stuff.

6. If it was a windscreen ticket, do not contact the PPC at this point, you must wait for the 'Notice to Keeper' (NtK) to arrive. This should be no sooner than 28 days after the incident and no later than 56 days after it. Theses dates are very important, and you must retain all tickets and letters you receive.

7. If it was an ANPR camera incident and the first correspondence you've received is the NtK, this needs to be received within 14 days of the incident; as above, dates very important, retain all paperwork.

8. Once you receive the NtK the process below will need to be followed.

9. Soft appeal to the PPC (you'll understand this when you start reading the threads).

10. Likely rejection, so in your soft appeal you ask that a POPLA code be given to you if your soft appeal is rejected.

11. Lots more reading about POPLA Appeals (read the 'sticky' at the top of the forum index 'POPLA Decision', especially the last couple of months' reports of victories - it will give you a good idea of which points win at POPLA).

12. Draft POPLA Appeal and let us see it for further advice before submission.

13. Send to POPLA.

14. Await POPLA (positive) result with PCN cancelled - we're running at 100% success rate on the forum. A POPLA decision is binding on the PPC, but (in the event of an unlikely loss), not binding on you.

---

Please confirm a couple of things (if they are not already contained in your opening post)

a. Was the incident, and do you live, in England or Wales?
b. Is the car a lease/hire or company vehicle (important as the process will be slightly different and you will need to act quickly)?
c. Are you under 18?

---

Now - final, but IMPORTANT points.

* Never say who might or might not have been the driver on the day - there is no obligation on you to do so (some PPCs will ask you to name the driver/motorist before they can deal with your appeal - DO NOT comply with their wishes). In any correspondence with the PPC, always refer to the driver in the third person, never say 'I didn't see the signs' or 'my wife didn't see the signs', you say 'the driver didn't see the signs'.

* Always be aware of any deadlines, PPCs impose them (but most of these are challengeable), but if they are reasonable do keep to them. The important one is the POPLA deadline - strictly 28 days from the date the rejection letter containing the POPLA verification code is sent to you by the PPC. Miss it and you miss the one golden opportunity you have to totally kill this charge. I cannot stress that enough.

Peely01

I'll appeal and ask for POPLA code if they reject.
I wont be shopping at the Peel Centre again.
Thanks for advice.

jeanraffio

Yes that's the route, but make sure that you contact the Peel Centre directly as well. Give them details, and tell them that you were a genuine customer and you made a genuine error. Present a copy of the ticket as evidence. If they have any sense then they will cancel it there and then for you.

Peely01

Can I give my name or shall I just say "the driver"?

Trebor16

Peely01 wrote: »

Can I give my name or shall I just say "the driver"?

If this is in respect of contacting the Peel centre then follow the advice in post 2 above. Don't contact the PPC until you receive the NtK. Don't identify who was driving.

Umkomaas

Trebor16 wrote: »

If this is in respect of contacting the Peel centre then follow the advice in post 2 above. Don't contact the PPC until you receive the NtK. Don't identify who was driving.

I think he's had the NtK.

bod1467

This is what your first post should say ...

Peely01 wrote: »

Dear All, please could I have some advice?

The car for whom I am the registered keeper was parked at Peel Centre on 19.10.13. The driver paid to park (the ticket is still available). I received a PCN for £60 yesterday saying my vehicle been had parked without displaying a ticket. When the ticket was checked it was apparent that one letter of the reg no was entered incorrectly.

What shall I do, Appeal sending a photocopy of ticket?
Should I write my name on the appeal?
Thanks for any advice.

Hopefully you'll start thinking along these lines (3rd party view) so there is no chance of the driver being inadvertently identified.

Peely01

I have had a Parking Charge Notice through the post, knew nothing of it beforehand. No sticker was placed on my windscreen. Letter said my contravention was detected and recorded by Automatic Number Plate Recognition.
Please can you explain why driver shouldnt be identified? Is it a legal thing?
I will appeal in the third party, presumably they will accept my appeal as it would be harsh to try and penalise me when it was a simple mistake and I had paid and have ticket still.

Coupon-mad

Why don't you just search this forum for the single keyword 'Peel' or 'Excel' and read all the umpteen dozen other Peel Centre threads and follow their appeal wording? We have had Peel Centre Excel threads over the Summer where there has been a typo as well, JUST LIKE YOUR QUERY. And you can in your POPLA appeal cite a BBC article where a Peel Centre Spokesperson assured the BBC that they check for car reg typos...! We can't type this all over again when it's easily searchable.

You write as the registered keeper because it gives you a stronger appeal at POPLA stage. Pleeeeease read other Peel Centre threads as you need to be ready for Excel's letter and how to respond if they ask for the driver's name, which you do not give. Read the results when you simply put the single keyword I suggested, into the 'search this forum' heading just immediately above the thread list on page one of the parking forum board (next to 'forum tools' on the right).

Change the default search to 'SHOW POSTS' (not show threads).

Read all resulting threads from searching 'Peel' then 'Excel' where the thread is dated June 2013 onwards. I expect all your Qs will be answered and you will even see POPLA appeal wording which wins.

Peely01

Ok Ive done it- I appealed.
"The car for whom I am the registered keeper was parked at Peel Centre on 19.10.13.
The driver paid to park vehicle registration number ******** (the ticket is still available please see attached).
I received a PCN for £60 yesterday saying my vehicle been had parked without displaying a ticket.
The PCN Number is ********
When the ticket was checked it was apparent that one letter of the registration number was entered incorrectly.
I know that you are required by the BPA Code of Practice to make checks to make sure that PCNs are not issued in error - so you should simply be able to make the necessary checks now and you will indeed find my payment.

Please cancel this charge or provide me with a POPLA code so I may appeal."
I also supplied my name and address.
Moments later I recieved an automated message acknowledging receipt of my email. It says appeals must inluce the PCN, a full postal address and the name of the Driver.
Do I just ignore this- Idont give the name of the driver?
Thanks for your advice.
Peely01