Parking Eye Fine - Aire Street, Leeds

lucilemcneil

Hello all,

I have received this parking charge notice from Parking Eye fines and have been reading the advice on here all night, it's such a great resource and thank you all for being so helpful. I am composing my reply letter to dispute the claim but just wanted to get some advice before I send.

The situation was - The driver parked in the Aire Street car park in Leeds on Friday 22 November at 7.46pm (and only received the letter tonight 28/11/13!! Meaning there is only 8 days to dispute it). Its not a very well lit car park and it was really full on the night in question. The driver saw other drivers getting out of their vehicles and making their way over to the ticket machine, so followed them. The ticket machine they all went to was in the opposite corner to where they had parked but as the car park seemed to be all the same piece of land they didn't think anything of it. The gentleman in front of the driver was about to pay but noticed the sign above the machine stated 'Mon-Fri 8am-6pm' with the tariff below. They both read it several times to make sure and then agreed that's what it said. As it was Friday at 7.46pm both parties recognised was outside of the chargeable hours so turned and made their way to the exit.

I went to the car park this evening to examine the signage and noticed there was a sign next to it (on the back fence of the car park) saying SHORT STAY CAR PARK. So does this mean those charges only applied to that side of the car park? I took a photo and I am composing a letter to dispute the charge. The driver informed me they genuinely thought outside of the hours 8am-6pm Mon-Fri there was no charge.

I will post my letter below when I have composed it. Thank you very much in advance for any advice/help.

lucilemcneil

Also - just to clarify there were no markings signifying a different car park or barriers. Just a sign on the fence which was hidden by cars parked there so there was no way I could have seen it!

I do feel silly for not being more suspicious but I have learned my lesson and will be extra cautious in future.

Redx

you may have a good case due to poor signage, also due to no GPEOL as the charge far outweighs what you should have paid to park there, + any costs by the PPC (maybe £10 at most)

so gather your evidence , photos etc , read the template letters and then post a draft of your appeal (with no personal info or reg or ppc references) to be checked before it goes in as a soft appeal

take photos of all signage , how small it is , how high it is , all good evidence as you may "get off" due to poor signage as you say

although no GPEOL is the one most people get off with at POPLA

Coupon-mad

If you don't know what the acronyms mean, read the sticky'' info threads first please. But as you say you have found lots of info I assume you are in the know now. Except you do NOT only have 8 days to dispute it - you have 28 days. Forget the poxy discount bribe because as long as you play the POPLA game properly, you won't be paying a penny.

lucilemcneil

Thank you! Here is my soft appeal....

28 November 2013
Dear Sir or Madam,

Ref number: XXXXXXXXXXX
Vehicle registration number: XXXXXXX

You issued a parking charge on 22/11/2013 which was received by post this evening (28/11/13). This letter is to dispute the charge as it was unfairly issued and I will not be complying with your invoice for payment for the following reasons:

1) The tariff signs in Aire Street Car park are misleading
The vehicle was parked in the Aire Street car park on Friday 22 November at 7.46pm, and remained there for 36 minutes, the driver returned at 8.22pm. The tariff next to the ticket machine states that charges apply Monday – Friday between the hours of 8am-6pm, please see photo below. If you will study the CCTV footage of the car park you will see the driver make their way over to the ticket machine in order to pay for one hours parking. Upon reading the sign and understanding that charges did not apply outside of those hours the driver made their way to the exit. The driver has since been back to examine the signage and appreciate those charges may only apply to a small section of the car park, but this dispute refers to the fact the signage is misleading. If certain sections of the car park are charged at different rates then it would be advisable to make this clearer. There is no barrier or a clearly marked boundary signifying which area of the car park is which.

<Photo of tariff sign here>

2) The amount of the charge is disproportionate to the loss
The amount you are proposing to charge is disproportionate to the loss incurred by Parking Eye Car Park Management and any landowners and is punitive, contravening the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1997. The vehicle was left on the understanding it was parked legally outside of the chargeable hours of 8am – 6pm.

I invite you to cancel this charge, or supply a POPLA verification code if you reject this appeal.

If you choose to pursue me please be aware that I will not enter into any correspondence and this will be the only letter you will receive from me until you answer the specific points raised in my letter.

Coupon-mad

You are saying who was driving...why??!

Read the sticky thread for 'NEWBIES' again and change your post as PE staff read this forum.

lucilemcneil

Thank you! I have edited, is that better?

Coupon-mad

And your first post too. 'The driver parked'.

And the appeal will be fine to submit online if you maybe remove these unnecessary parts in your point 1):

1) The tariff signs in Aire Street Car park are misleading
The vehicle was parked in the Aire Street car park on Friday 22 November at 7.46pm, and remained there for 36 minutes, the driver returned at 8.22pm. The tariff next to the ticket machine states that charges apply Monday – Friday between the hours of 8am-6pm, please see photo below. [STRIKE]If you will study the CCTV footage of the car park you will see the driver make their way over to the ticket machine in order to pay for one hours parking. Upon reading the sign and understanding that charges did not apply outside of those hours the driver made their way to the exit. The driver has since been back to examine the signage and appreciate those charges may only apply to a small section of the car park, but this dispute refers to the fact the signage is misleading.[/STRIKE] If certain sections of the car park are charged at different rates then it would be advisable to make this clearer. There is no barrier or a clearly marked boundary signifying which area of the car park is which.

lucilemcneil

Thanks so much for your help - I will let you know the outcome, and will read up about POPLA in the meantime in case it comes to that.

Coupon-mad

Good stuff, you have got the hang of it. And we win at POPLA 100% of the time at the moment.

rita-rabbit

I got a Parking Eye `fine' recently - Morrisons Supermarket car park (no unfortunately I didn't do a shop in that store that day!)

I wrote a letter clearly refusing to pay due to unfair/excessive charging. I did not say I was appealing (following martins guidance). I received a letter back stating that my appeal had been refused! This document also included several judgements that gone against other people where they had gone to court - I hadn't appealed - do I have to pay now or what exactly (gutted.com)?!