Parking Ticket

robblenk

I live in some residential flats which has a private car park. Each flat has its own parking bay and a permit which has to be displayed when parking in the bay. The permit is linked to the flat, not to one particular vehicle.

My car is parked there every week, displaying the permit. And I've never had a problem. Except this week, my car was cleaned and I took down the sticker (which holds the permit) to clean the windscreen and without realising, when I put the permit back up, it wasn't facing outwards. The inside of the sticker is semi transparent, so you wouldn't really be able to see the permit without really looking.

For this small error, on Saturday I got hit with a parking ticket for £100 (or £60 if I pay within 14 days) from CM Services Ltd who have issued a Parking Charge Notice, 'on behalf of the landowner'.

Now I can appeal, but I'm pretty sure they're going to come back and just say, the permit wasn't properly displayed, even though it was there just unfortunately the wrong way round. The smallest amount of logic from the attendant would have deduced this and a note on the windscreen would have sorted it out! But of course that would mean being a good natured human being.

Anyway, if I appeal, according to the notes on the back of the ticket, it 'does not alter the discounted period' so I'll be an extra £40 down should I be unsuccessful as it can take up to 35 days to respond to the appeal.

I've read through the forums, but am still not sure what to do as there were signs up warning a permit needed to be displayed. Not sure whether to take the hit and put it down to experience. I can't imagine them being compassionate based on a mistake from human error, pretty sure they'll just try and bounce me to the POPLA.

Any advice people could give would be really useful.

Coupon-mad

CM Services Ltd

Them again! We think they are not a BPA member, look:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4823585

So do nothing except a complaint to the retail manager. Let us know if you get a letter from the PPC but non-AOS members can't get your data.

DO NOT APPEAL YET!

bod1467

Coupon-mad wrote: »

but non-AOS members can't get your data.

I thought we'd already seen that non-AOS members CAN get RK details from the DVLA under "reasonable cause", just that they can't get them "electronically"?

Coupon-mad

No they cannot, they have to be an ATA member as at the moment only the AOS is an ATA (the new one isn't OK'd yet).

Landowners/legal occupiers can get DVLA data, e.g. re trespass situations, which I think is how the notorious Proserve got around it somehow.

robblenk

This is from the BPA website:

"Alongside the launch of the AOS in 2007, DVLA announced that any company/organisation accessing Vehicle Keeper data via an electronic request process that is not a Local Authority or Government Organisation must be a member of an Accredited Trade Association (ATA).

The BPA welcomed this change but called for further restriction, as it did not refer to postal applications from operators. In 2009, DVLA published a consultation to close the loophole and from 23 November 2009, all operators that request information accessing vehicle keeper data, whether electronically or by post, must either be a member of an ATA or be regulated by government or legislation.

A condition of an ATA is that they have a Code of Practice in place. The BPA has been working with DVLA since their announcement, achieving ATA status and sharing all plans for the AOS with DVLA."


CM Services Ltd are not listed as an AOS on the BPA website. So this would mean they would be unable to get my information from DVLA, right?

So do nothing except a complaint to the retail manager

It's a residential car park.

bod1467

Complain to the managing agents/factors/whoever it is that manages the flats.

Do you own the flat?

robblenk

No, I rent the flat.

nigelbb

If they can only get keeper details manually then they are bound to miss the 14 day deadline for serving a valid Notice To Keeper under POFA 2012 to pursue the keeper for unpaid parking charges. They can only pursue the driver whose identity they don't know unless you tell them. So… do nothing. Wait for a letter through the post addressed to the vehicle keeper & only then respond as the keeper to inform them that they should take up the matter with the driver.

Coupon-mad

They can't even get the data manually, at all. The landowner could if alleging trespass but I don't expect that to be the case here. CM Services are trying it on with a fake PCN that will go nowhere.

robblenk

I have contacted the BPA directly and they have confirmed that CMS Limited (Car Park Management Services UK Ltd) are no longer members of the Approved Operator Scheme (AOS)

I've let them know they are still displaying there logo on their website (cmsukltd dot com) They're going to look into that.

Are there any other Accredited Trade Association (ATA) organizations, other than the BPA, that they may be a member of?

Coupon-mad

There's a new one they may try to join but I checked that when I saw this morning on other threads here, that CMS were no longer AOS members.

Independent Parking Committee - keep an eye on this list:

http://www.theipc.info/#!aos-members/cv75

But as your 'ticket' was issued when this lot were not in any ATA they cannot get your data retrospectively IMHO. Keep it safe though in case you have to respond and win at POPLA if they suddenly morph into an IPC member next week. IPC members can get DVLA data even though as an ATA it's only got provisional status.