UKCPS Ltd didn't include the location, how can I appeal?

SoupFly

As promised...

I am standing on the shoulders of giants. After reading many threads on these forums, the BPA Code of Practice and the POFA 2012, this was my first letter to UKCPS Ltd.

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RE: Parking Charge Reference XXXXXXXX

To whom it may concern

I am the registered keeper of the vehicle with registration number XXXXXXX and I can confirm that on XXXXXXX I received your 'Notification Letter' for the parking charge XXXXXXX dated XXXXXXX. Your letter states that on XXXXXXX at XX:XX my vehicle was observed overstaying a stipulated time limit on land at 'name of land'.

This 'Notification Letter' was the first and only correspondence I have received from UKCPS Ltd. I have not received a 'Notice to Keeper' or anything similar from yourselves, however now that I have been informed of this issue I deny any liability to pay this parking charge and I wish to invoke your appeals process.

The appeals process described on your website (copy enclosed) states that appeals must be through the postal service, and must include the following details:
- The parking charge issue number;
- The vehicle registration;
- Time, date and place of issue;
- Full name and address;
- Appellant's status (driver or keeper).

I have not yet received any correspondence from UKCPS Ltd which establishes the place of issue of this parking charge. You will note that the 'Notification Letter' (copy enclosed) lists the location as 'name of land'. By withholding this information, not only have you failed to comply with the British Parking Association (BPA) Code of Practice and the Protection of Freedoms Act (POFA) 2012, this failure also prevents me from lodging an appeal in accordance with you own appeals process.

In order to allow me to lodge my appeal, I would appreciate it if you could provide me with the place of issue of this parking charge. Any delay in providing this information could be interpreted as a deliberate attempt to delay or prevent my appeal. Alternatively, if you are able to accept an appeal without the place of issue, then please accept this letter as my intent to challenge this parking charge once you have provided me with the required information.

My challenge is based on the assertion that your parking charge does not represent a genuine pre‐estimate of loss to yourself or the landowner (which you have yet to identify). I reserve the right to add additional points to my challenge once the place of issue has been established and the circumstances of this parking charge have been clarified.

If you do reject my challenge and insist upon taking the matter further I must inform you that I may claim my expenses from you. The expenses I may claim are not exhaustive but may include my time at the court rate of £18 per hour, the cost of stamps, envelopes, travel expenses, legal fees, etc. By continuing to pursue me you agree to pay these costs when I prevail.

I will also be contacting the BPA and DVLA regarding your failure to comply with the BPA Code of Practice and the POFA 2012.

In view of the above, I look forward to receiving either your written confirmation that this parking charge has been cancelled, or details of the place of issue which will allow me to appeal in accordance with your appeal process.

Yours faithfully

XXXXXXX

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I hoped that after a few days I would have received a response, perhaps a rejection letter (and possibly a POPLA code), however I received nothing from UKCPS Ltd. A couple of weeks later I contacted the DVLA at the email address listed in the Newbies FAQ. I explained my situation (as per my original post), referring to the specific sections of the BPA Code of Practice and the POFA 2012 that applied. Specifically, I wanted to know why the DVLA had released my details...

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Without establishing a location, UKCPS Ltd could not possibly comply with the requirements of the BPA Code of Practice and the POFA 2012, and in failing to do so could not establish reasonable cause to obtain my details from the DVLA. Despite this my details were released to UKCPS Ltd and I am obviously concerned as to how this came about.

I would appreciate it if you could provide me with answers to the following questions:
1) On what date did UKCPS Ltd request my details from the DVLA?
2) What supporting information was included with the request from UKCPS Ltd?
3) On what date did the DVLA respond to the request?
4) What information was provided to UKCPS Ltd?
5) What checks does the DVLA have in place to ensure that requests for keeper details are valid and/or appropriate?

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Within a couple of hours the DVLA had answered my questions. I was also provided with the location where the parking notice had been issued, together with before and after photographs of my vehicle. UKCPS Ltd were obviously able to respond promptly when it suited them. Since a vehicle with my registration number was present, reasonable cause had been established to request my details (which to be fair to the DVLA was correct). The DVLA also advised that breaches of the BPA Code of Practice should be raised with the BPA for further investigation.

So... I now knew where the incident occurred, and it did appear to be my vehicle in the photographs. I visited the site (I hadn't personally been there for over a year) and I observed a number of UKCPS Ltd signs dotted about the parking areas. Is it really so hard to make signs that comply with the BPA Code of Practice? There weren't even any entrance signs. Time for another letter...

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RE: Parking Charge Reference XXXXXXXX

To whom it may concern

Over three weeks have now passed since I originally wrote to you regarding the parking charge XXXXXXXXX and I have not yet received a reply. As I stated in my previous letter (copy enclosed), you failed to establish the place of issue of this parking charge in your correspondence. This was a failure to comply with the British Parking Association (BPA) Code of Practice and the Protection of Freedoms Act (POFA) 2012, and by withholding this information you prevented me from lodging an appeal in accordance with you own appeals process. Your failure to provide this information in the first instance and your failure to respond to my subsequent request for this information could be interpreted as a deliberate attempt to delay or prevent my appeal.

I have discussed this matter with the DVLA who advised that I should raise this issue with the British Parking Association for further investigation. The DVLA also advised that they had been in contact with you and were able to ascertain the place of issue for this parking charge on my behalf.

Thanks to the DVLA, I am now in possession of all the necessary information, and I repeat my earlier statement that I deny any liability to pay this parking charge and I wish to invoke your appeals process.

Here are my details in accordance with the appeals process described on your website:
- The parking charge issue number: XXXXXXXXX;
- The vehicle registration: XXXXXXX;
- Time, date and place of issue: XXXXXXX, XX:XX, XXXXXXXXX;
- Full name and address: XXXXXXXXX;
- Appellant's status (driver or keeper): Keeper.

My challenge is based on the assertions that:
- Your parking charge does not represent a genuine pre‐estimate of loss to yourself or the landowner;
- Your signage does not comply with the BPA Code of Practice;
- You are not the landowner and do not have the capacity to offer contracts or to bring a claim for trespass.

These points and others will be raised with POPLA should you not accept this appeal, and you will be expected to provide a full breakdown of your alleged loss, and your full un‐redacted contract with the landowner.

If you do reject my challenge and insist upon taking the matter further I must inform you that I may claim my expenses from you. The expenses I may claim are not exhaustive but may include my time at the court rate of £18 per hour, the cost of stamps, envelopes, travel expenses, legal fees, etc. By continuing to pursue me you agree to pay these costs when I prevail.

In view of the above, I look forward to receiving your written confirmation that this parking charge has been cancelled.

Yours faithfully

XXXXXXX

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After sending this I had forgotten about the matter. Complying with the BPA Code of Practice could not have been a factor when the signs were prepared, and I was looking forward the POPLA process if the need arose.

That brings us to today, when I received their cancellation letter...

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Dear XXXXXXX

Thank you for your appeal regarding the above parking notice charge.

After review of your parking charge detailed above we have decided to cancel. This is a one time gesture of goodwill and will not be repeated on future occasions. Please be assured this matter is now closed on our systems.

UKCPS Ltd provide national car parking solutions. We are DVLA and Data Protection registered; SIA approved and members of the British Parking Association (BPA).

Regards
UKCPS Appeals Department

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While the PCN may have been cancelled, there are still ongoing processes that have not completed yet...

I hope the above helps anyone who finds themselves in a situation similar to mine.

da_rule

I nearly fell off my chair laughing when I read the "This is a one time gesture of goodwill..." sentence. No, you idiots, you royally screwed up and started to panic when you realised the DVLA had been contacted. I suppose it does show that some PPC's do actually read their correspondence though rather then just sending generic replies to appeals.

Also, I like how UKCPS also boast of being SIA approved. Seeing as there are no SIA approved contractors outside of Northern Ireland in the area of vehicle immobilisation (SIA vehicle immobilisation licences no longer being valid in England and Wales after the POFA), and the 3 which are there are not UKCPS, this cannot be true. UKCPS also do not appear on any of the other approved contractors lists (CCTV etc). Just fired off a quick e-mail to the SIA to let them know of this company misusing their approved contractor scheme.

SoupFly

A minor update...

This morning I received another PCN cancellation letter from UKCPS Ltd. Technically they've now given me their "one time gesture of goodwill" twice!

:doh:

da_rule: Thanks for the SIA tip, I'll follow that up.

lescm19

da_rule wrote: »

I like how UKCPS also boast of being SIA approved. Seeing as there are no SIA approved contractors outside of Northern Ireland in the area of vehicle immobilisation (SIA vehicle immobilisation licences no longer being valid in England and Wales after the POFA), and the 3 which are there are not UKCPS, this cannot be true. UKCPS also do not appear on any of the other approved contractors lists (CCTV etc). Just fired off a quick e-mail to the SIA to let them know of this company misusing their approved contractor scheme.

This was the BPA reply to me about this:
"We can confirm UKCPS are members of the BPA.
We have contacted UKCPS and they advise they have an affiliation with SIA in relation to the use of CCTV cameras.
If you require any further information regarding this we would suggest you contact UKCPS directly, who should be able to assist."

And the SIA:
"Thank you for your email, we do not have this company registered with us as an approved contractor.
Could you email me a copy of the letter you were sent from them stating they were ‘SIA approved’ so we can investigate this?"

Copy sent in. The SIA are still looking into it.