Parking Charge issued by UKPC

diamondscotland

Hi there


I'm new to the site and hope you will all be kind to me


I was issued a parking ticket by UKPC whilst shopping recently at our local retail park


The ticket was unfair on many levels and I would appreciate any help in how best to appeal the decision


I used the tenplate letter from the forum and wrote to UKPC asking they cancel the fine


Obviously they refused though several of the paragraphs in their letter confuse me


hving read many of the other posts i'm not sure what way is best to word my appeal to POPLA


I would also like some general advice from anyone who has been in similar circumstances


The ticket was issued for "not parking correctly within the bay or space"


At the time of the alleged offence I was not actually parked in any bay


I was sitting outside Argos at the request of one of their employees who was helping me and my disabled daughter to the car with several large bulky items


The letter I received from UKPC said as follows


We confirm that it is not necessary for us to provide you with a breakdown of our parking charges at this time. that information is confidential but would be provided in the event of court proceedings


we further advise that our parking charges can be justified on the basis that they amount to a genuine pre estimate of loss but are likely to amount to liquidated damages


this is because the courts position is that where parties agree to fix the amount that is paid by damages in the event of a breach(which is the basis of our signage)- a sum stipulated in this way particularly in circumstances where it is difficut calculating a precise estimation


either way our charges are fully enforceable and do not amount to a penalty


you should be aware of the case robophone facilities v blank the onus on proving that an amount is a penalty raather than liquidated dameges is upon you as the party who the charge is levied against


This text goes against the train of thought on many of the posts and responses


Clearly it could be a load of bull trying to scare me into paying but clearly some of the forum experts are far more knowledgeable than I


Other than mitigating circumstances what are my best grounds for appeal


1/ the company does not have the authority and landowners permission to levy charges
2/ The charges are punitive and do not reflect GPEOL
3/ there is no signage at the entrance to the car park that I used and also that the signs are not lit and able to be seen on dark winters nights
4/ The ticket was incorrectly issued as I was not parked incorrectly within the markings of the bay(I was not parked in a bay whe the ticket was issued)
5/ the amounts of the penalty are not clearly visible on the ticket issued
6/ No POPLA code was issued by UKPC with their refusal to waive the charge letter
7 anything else you guys can think of


All and any help appreciated


I was tempted to pay these thieves as life is hard enough looking after my daughter but have taken hope from reading about the sucessful appeals listed on here




Many thanks


xx

SevenTowers

Is this in Scotland? If you live in Scotland the advice is very simple - ignore, ignore and ignore some more.

diamondscotland

yes I live near Glasgow


Why is it different up here

SevenTowers

diamondscotland wrote: »

yes I live near Glasgow


Why is it different up here

I live in N.Ireland, and like Scotland, we still have the luxury of being able to ignore these scammers.

Our friends in England and Wales are subject to legislation called POFA 2012 which allows PPC, if they meet certain conditions, to chase the Registered Keeper if they can't identify the driver.

PPCs won't take people to court in Scotland or NI because they know they wouldn't stand a chance.

You didn't abuse the parking facilities, you were there giving your custom, just because you didn't follow some silly rule they made up doesn't mean you owe them a penny!

In Scotland you can ignore with impunity, UKPC have never taken anyone to court and no Private Parking Company has ever been known to take a case in Scotland.

There is no fine, no debt and no risk to your credit rating, despite what they would have you believe. A debt can only be established by a credit agreement or a CCJ, a speculative invoice from a parking company establishes nothing.

I got a ticket om UKPC in Jan 2013, got the expected series of junk mail and haven't heard a thing from them since June.

Do not have any correspondence with UKPC/DR+ or Zenith (who are the same company as DR+), ignore all letters from them, ignore, ignore and then ignore some more.

diamondscotland

thanks for that


when I appealed to UKPC i think i said it was me who was driving
does that matter


should they have given me a POPLA code with their response


why are the mentioning GPEOC in their response as well


that has confused me somewhat

Coupon-mad

POPLA doesn't apply; you are in Scotland and wasted your time appealing. Never mind what the reply says! Ignore them and only take seriously real court papers (UKPC don't do court).

If you want to read more on this subject and other threads like yours please search this forum for the keyword 'Scotland' and read threads by mimosaDR and chickadee13, among dozens of others where 'UKPC' and 'Scotland' feature in the discussion already on this forum.

diamondscotland

sorry for being really thick
i'm just incredibly stressed about this whole sorry mess


does popla only apply in england & wales


what will happen if i just ignore UKPC

bod1467

You shouldn't have even corresponded with them at all, but it's too late to worry about that now.

So they know you were the driver, which means they at least know who to pursue - so what? As ST says above, UKPC have never been to court*, and they are almost certainly NOT going to start in Scotland or NI.

And POPLA is an irrelevance up here ... it essentially goes hand-in-hand with POFA 2012 and so the POPLA appeals process only applies to England and Wales.

GPEOL - Genuine Pre-Estimate of Loss. That's one of the silver bullet appeal points that wins for the motorist at POPLA (and at court). What they have sent you is a template response.

*UKPC have been to court twice in the past year or so. Both times it was someone taking THEM to court - and winning!

Coupon-mad

diamondscotland wrote: »

what will happen if i just ignore UKPC

Nothing. Just the usual letter chain everyone ignored for years anyway; we all have these letters in our collection, or similar ones! Please just read other Scotland threads as we are repeating ourselves now and you'd find more comfort in reading other people's threads like yours by searching the forum as I just suggested above.

SevenTowers

diamondscotland wrote: »

thanks for that


when I appealed to UKPC i think i said it was me who was driving
does that matter It would be better if you hadn't, but still no big deal, they will send you out a series of junkmail letters with empty threats, just ignore everything you get from UKPC, Debt Recovery + and Zenith Collections


should they have given me a POPLA code with their response. No, POPLA only applies in England and Wales


why are the mentioning GPEOC in their response as well Because our friends in England and Wales win every POPLA appeal where Genuine Pre-Estimate of Loss (GPEOL) is raised as an appeal point. UKPC are trying to justify their charge, it is supposed to reflect the actual loss suffered, it doesn't, POPLA see through it and cancel the tickets. All PPCs hate GPEOL!


that has confused me somewhat

Does that clear things up?

Bentley149

My husband has an ongoing saga with UKPC, Debt Recovery Plus and now The Small Claims Company who are apparently A Law company. We stupidly replyed to the initial ticket and have sent a further email since with photographic evidence to support not paying. I myself called the Small Claims Solicitors yesterday after locating their rather dodgy looking website...I after explaining we are adamant we are in the right, I was told by Peter Blackmore, the guy I spoke to that he would write it down....sounded a little unprofessional!! I asked him outright if they we're solicitors and who else they did work for. The reply was that he couldn't tell me who his company did work for (which I accept to be a good reply) and rest assured he was a fully qualified solicitor.
After the call I managed to find an email address for said company, info@thesmallclaimsservice.co.uk' which amazingly bounced back!!
I am still convinced its a scam and the numerous forums with comments to support this tend to put your mind at rest.
We will continue to not pay these pranksters a penny!!!