Parking Eye. 10ish mins = £70

Moneybox

Ok so I have found the template ..

http://images2.moneysavingexpert.com/attachment/PrivateMitigating.rtf

But want to check what the view is. I will claim that The fee is disproportionate.

Parked in Aldi Car park, Newquay. Parking Eye! This offers 1 1/2 hrs for customers. No option to purchase tickets for parking time.

Parked for 1hr 4? Mins. Max is 1hr 30mins so I exceeded by 10ish mins!

To be honest (here) I thought charges were from when u had parked and returned to car and not the time in and time out of the car park! Should I include this in my letter or just claim it is disproportionate?

So I guess like others I look at the offer of a £40 charge if I pay early! , but if this has a chance to be challenged I will send the template.

Is it fair to challenge this on grounds of 10ish mins = £70

Thanks in advance!

And beware the parking eye! Big brother.

Stroma

That letter is utterly useless to use as a real appeal to popla as they don't do mitigation. Appeal to parking eye with that just to get a popla code only , but there are much better soft appeals around here.

Complain to Aldi on their Facebook page, there hundreds are complaining about this company and Aldi's use of them

Guys_Dad

First point is that BPA in their CoP recommend a period of grace to cover finding a parking space and then leaving, as well as reading the signs.

I would incorporate that in my appeal.

There are a number of elements that should be in any parking charge situation. The first is often missed, and should be in every appeal to PPCs and POPLA.

1. When planning permission was granted to have a car park, did the application have reference to there being any form of charges attached and was a specific period of free parking specified? If so, does that match the current time limits? So, you challenge the PPC to provide proof of these two things as your current research can not find planning permission for a 90 minute parking limit.

2. Does the PPC have a valid contract with the landowner that permits them to charge motorists and take them to court. In Aldi's case, we know the answer, so no point in pursuing that one.

3. Is the charge a genuine pre-estimate of loss? Of course not!

Moneybox

Thank you so much for taking the time to help others with these parking tickets! I have read the guides but your help is valuable.

So am I correct to use the template and adapt to include your points. Do I specifically ask for a POPLA code in my letter or do I not mention it at this stage until I get a rejection for my appeal?

Thanks for the comment re. Reading the sign. A good point as I did take the time to read it. There is a lot on the sign to read!... But still failed in my parking etiquette! Certainly 10mins to park, read sign, get out of parking place with pedestrians and others in the car park is ambitious.

Guys_Dad

It's an "either/or".

You ask the PPC to either cancel the charge or send you a POPLA code in your appeal letter.

Umkomaas

Were you shopping at Aldi (or other retailers if it's a shared car park)?

Do you have receipts or credit card/bank statements confirming proof of purchases on the day? If so send copies (redacted if statements) with your appeal, stating that you were a genuine customer - and here's the proof.

Despite PE being one of the most rapacious of all PPCs, ironically, they do display a streak of 'common sense' when receipts are produced - a good track record for cancelling PCNs in this context.

Moneybox

I do have a receipt but it was for only 1 item and it was early in the parking period. Does not give reason for me being over the parking time but does show me as a genuine Aldi customer. I will have to try and find it now!

Guys_Dad

Umkomaas wrote: »

Were you shopping at Aldi (or other retailers if it's a shared car park)?

Do you have receipts or credit card/bank statements confirming proof of purchases on the day? If so send copies (redacted if statements) with your appeal, stating that you were a genuine customer - and here's the proof.

Despite PE being one of the most rapacious of all PPCs, ironically, they do display a streak of 'common sense' when receipts are produced - a good track record for cancelling PCNs in this context.

Good point. Don't know if they have a minimum spend level, and be careful that a receipt for 1 item might backfire and raise the point why you took all that time for 1 item. However, if you were shopping for an older relative and bought a full shop for them, naturally giving them the receipt and only retaining the receipt for the 1 item you bought, that would be a different story.

Umkomaas

If you have other proof of your custom at Aldi (from previous visits) have a look for those as well. £30 seems to be the magic figure PE work to - but don't worry too much about that at the moment, see what your search digs up.

Moneybox

It was a different day than I thought. On this day we spent about £20 (that's a fair bit in Aldi!). I remember now better that my wife had gone out to the car as we were worried about time. I finished in the shop so the purchase was towards the end of the time period not at the start as I had thought.

The more I think about it the crazier it is (if u do not understand the parking period is from driving in to driving out) as we have to park, get 2 kids out (toddler age), read the signage! , then do it all again in reverse when we leave and manoeuvre around the Newquay tourists along with the regular shoppers. Amazed there is no allowance for this.

Needless to say we will also log this with Aldi.

Thanks for the comments. Helpful as I would have missed a lot of this in our appeal letter.

Stroma

It makes no difference the amount spent or the number of items bought, you have a receipt , you were a customer , there is no loss! If this went to a court parking eye would have huge problems proving their loss, especially if informed of this.