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Parking Eye Appeal

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13

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  • Wizkid7
    Wizkid7 Posts: 17 Forumite
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    Ok my apologies, the skim read over-looked those key points and I thank you for pointing them out.

    Here is the amendment I have made. I don't know if there is any further information of pay and display, hence i haven't added much.

    And with regards to the Principal details (North Tyneside hospital) I don't know if this detail is accurate for appeal.

    FYI - I never mentioned the 'vulnerable nature' part on my first appeal to ParkingEye - don't know if this matters

    In red are changes from Morrisons to North Tyneside Hospital and in blue are my areas of concern, can this be checked for accuracy as I am unsure if these statements are correct for this process.
    [FONT=&quot]
    [/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]
    [/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]Dear POPLA Assessor, [/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]Re: ParkingEye fake PCN, verification code[/FONT][FONT=&quot] xxxxxxxxxx[/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]I am the registered keeper and I wish to appeal a recent parking charge from ParkingEye. Notwithstanding that the driver was a genuine visitors of the principal (North Tyneside Hospital) and the vulnerable nature of visiting a family member in hospital, I submit the points below to show that I am not liable for the parking charge:[/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]1) No genuine pre-estimate of loss[/FONT][FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]This car park is pay and display[/FONT][FONT=&quot]. There was no damage nor obstruction caused so there can be no loss arising from the incident. ParkingEye notices allege 'breach of terms/failure to comply' and as such, the landowner/occupier (not their agent) can only pursue liquidated damages directly flowing from the parking event. Given that ParkingEye charge the same lump sum for a 15 minute overstay as they would for 150 minutes, and the same fixed charge applies to any alleged contravention (whether serious/damaging, or trifling as in my case), it is clear there has been no regard paid to establishing that this charge is a genuine pre-estimate of loss. [/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]This charge from ParkingEye as a third party business agent is an unenforceable penalty. In Parking Eye v Smith, Manchester County Court December 2011, the judge decided that the only amount the Operator could lawfully claim was the amount that the driver should have paid into the machine. Anything else was deemed a penalty. [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Therefore I suggest paid amount to the machine a reasonable loss to be re paid.[/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]The Office of Fair Trading has stated to the BPA Ltd that a 'parking charge' is not automatically recoverable simply because it is stated to be a parking charge, as it cannot be used to state a loss where none exists. And the BPA Code of Practice states that a charge for breach must wholly represent a genuine pre-estimate of loss flowing from the parking event.[/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]ParkingEye and POPLA will be familiar with the well-known case on whether a sum is a genuine pre-estimate of loss or a penalty: Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Company Limited v New Garage and Motor Company [1915] AC 79. Indeed I expect ParkingEye might cite it. However, therein is the classic statement, in the speech of Lord Dunedin, that a stipulation: “… will be held to be a penalty if the sum stipulated for is extravagant and unconscionable in amount in comparison with the greatest loss which could conceivably be proved to have followed from the breach.'' There is a presumption... that it is penalty when "a single lump sum is made payable by way of compensation, on the occurrence of one or more or all of several events, some of which may occasion serious and others but trifling damage". [/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]No doubt ParkingEye will send their usual well-known template bluster attempting to assert some ''commercial justification'' but I refute their arguments. In a recent decision about a ParkingEye car park at Town Quay Southampton, POPLA Assessor Marina Kapour did not accept ParkingEye's generic submission that the inclusion of costs which in reality amount to the general business costs incurred for the provision of their car park management services is commercially justified. ''The whole business model of an Operator in respect of a particular car park operation cannot of itself amount to commercial justification. I find that the charge is not justified commercially and so must be shown to be a genuine pre-estimate of loss in order to be enforceable against the appellant.''[/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]My case is the same and POPLA must be seen to be consistent if similar arguments are raised by an appellant.[/FONT]


    [FONT=&quot][/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]2) No standing or authority to pursue charges nor form contracts with drivers [/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]ParkingEye do not own the land mentioned in their Notice to Keeper and have not provided any evidence that they are lawfully entitled to demand money from a driver or keeper. Even if a contract is shown to POPLA, I assert that there are persuasive recent court decisions against ParkingEye which establish that a mere parking agent has no legal standing nor authority which could impact on visiting drivers.[/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]In ParkingEye v Sharma, Case No. 3QT62646 in the Brentford County Court 23/10/2013 District Judge Jenkins checked the ParkingEye contract and quickly picked out the contradiction between clause 3.7, where the landowner appoints ParkingEye as their agent, and clause 22, where is states there is no agency relationship between ParkingEye and the landowner. The Judge dismissed the case on the grounds that the parking contract was a commercial matter between the Operator and their agent, and didn’t create any contractual relationship between ParkingEye and motorists who used the land. This decision was followed by ParkingEye v Gardam, Case No.3QT60598 in the High Wycombe County Court 14/11/2013 where costs of £90 were awarded to the Defendant. District Judge Jones concurred completely with the persuasive view in ParkingEye v Sharma that a parking operator has no standing to bring the claim in their own name. My case is the same.[/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]3) Flawed landowner contract and irregularities with any witness statement[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]Under the BPA CoP Section 7, a landowner contract must specifically allow the Operator to pursue charges in their own name in the courts and grant them the right to form contracts with drivers. I require ParkingEye to produce a copy of the contract with the landowner as I believe it is not compliant with the CoP and that it is the same flawed business agreement model as in Sharma and Gardam. [/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]If ParkingEye produce a 'witness statement' in lieu of the contract then I will immediately counter that with evidence that these have been debunked in other recent court cases due to well-publicised and serious date/signature/factual irregularities. I do not expect it has escaped the POPLA Assessors' attention that ParkingEye witness statements have been robustly and publicly discredited and are - arguably - not worth the paper they are photocopied on. I suggest ParkingEye don't bother trying that in my case. If they do, I contend that there is no proof whatsoever that the alleged signatory has ever seen the relevant contract terms, or, indeed is even an employee of the landowner, or signed it on the date shown. I contend, if such a witness statement is submitted instead of the landowner contract itself, that this should be disregarded as unreliable and not proving full BPA compliance nor showing sufficient detail to disprove the findings in Sharma and Gardam.[/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]Indeed I submit (and as I have raised the issue, ParkingEye must now disprove) that their Contract or User Agreement with [/FONT][FONT=&quot]North Tyneside Hospital[/FONT][FONT=&quot] is likely to contain a secret [/FONT][FONT=&quot]'genuine customer exemption' clause which in fact exempts[/FONT][FONT=&quot] North Tyneside Hospital [/FONT][FONT=&quot]visitors like the driver from these spurious charges.[/FONT][FONT=&quot] [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Not only have ParkingEye not allowed my initial appeal that the driver was genuine North Tyneside hospital visitors[/FONT][FONT=&quot], but at the outset, when they allege a contract was formed, (which is denied) ParkingEye failed to alert the driver to that secret clause. Which leads me to the next point: [/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]4) Breach of UTCCR 1999 and CPUTR 2008[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]I contend that a secret term which leaves a visitor at a severe disadvantage as they are unaware of it, is a 'wholly unreasonable' contract term and a 'misleading omission' which is in breach of the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 and Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations (CPUTR) 2008. [/FONT][FONT=&quot]ParkingEye are taking unconscionable advantage of the registered keeper by demanding a 'charge' for alleged 'breach', holding me liable and yet not informing the driver at the point of any alleged contract, about the secret exemption clause that I believe exists in their contract with North Tyneside Hospital. Nor did they refer to it when rejecting my appeal which told them that the driver was a visitor of a vulnerable nature to the hospital. Parking Eye as agents, have no lawful excuse to pursue this wholly unfair and disproportionate charge when I believe their own contract with the hospital is for financial gains only. Parking Eye are seeking to impose punitive sanctions that are not required at all by any 'legitimate interest of the principal'.[/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]CPUTR 2008 Part 2, Prohibitions[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]Misleading omissions[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]6(1) A commercial practice is a misleading omission if, in its factual context, taking account of the matters in paragraph (2)— [/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot](a)the commercial practice omits material information, [/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot](b)the commercial practice hides material information,[/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]and as a result it causes or is likely to cause the average consumer to take a transactional decision he would not have taken otherwise. [/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]Office of Fair Trading 'Guidance for the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999'[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]''It is unfair to impose disproportionate sanctions for breach of contract. A requirement to pay more in compensation for a breach than a reasonable pre-estimate of the loss caused to the supplier is one kind of excessive penalty. Such a requirement will, in any case, normally be void to the extent that it amounts to a penalty under English common law...''[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]Test of fairness[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]''A term is unfair if:[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]Contrary to the requirement of good faith it causes a significant imbalance in the parties' rights and obligations under the contract, to the detriment of consumers. [/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]5.1 Unfair terms are not enforceable against the consumer.[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]9.2 ...terms of whose existence and content the consumer has no adequate notice at the time of entering the contract may not be binding under the general law, in any case, especially if they are onerous in character.''[/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]If they refute this then Parking Eye must explain their position to POPLA, produce the unredacted section of the contract and/or User Manual and show how they consider they can override the express wishes of the principal when Parking Eye are mere agents. And explain how their secret 'exemption clause' meets the test of fairness if they do not share it with the party they hold liable. Such terms must be in the signage they are relying upon to have formed the alleged contract at the outset.[/FONT]

    5)[FONT=&quot]The signage was not compliant with the BPA Code of Practice so there was no valid contract formed between ParkingEye and the driver[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]I[/FONT][FONT=&quot] [/FONT][FONT=&quot]submit that this signage failed to comply with the BPA Code of Practice section 18 and appendix B. The signs failed to properly warn/inform the driver of the terms and any consequences for breach. Further, because ParkingEye are a mere agent and place their signs so high, they have failed to establish the elements of a contract (consideration/offer and acceptance). [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Any alleged contract (denied in this case) could only be formed at the entrance to the premises, prior to parking. It is not formed after the vehicle has already been parked, as this is too late. In breach of Appendix B (Mandatory Entrance Signs) ParkingEye have no signage with full terms which could ever be readable at eye level, for a driver in moving traffic on arrival. The only signs are up on poles with the spy cameras and were not read nor even seen by the driver of the car, who was there as a visitor to a hospital, a place that carries high emotions and stress at difficult times.[/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]6)[/FONT][FONT=&quot] ANPR Accuracy and breach of the BPA Code of Practice 21.3[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]This Operator is obliged to ensure their ANPR equipment is maintained as described in paragraph 21.3 of the British Parking Association's Approved Operator Scheme Code of Practice. I say that Parking Eye have failed to clearly inform drivers about the cameras and what the data will be used for and how it will be used and stored. I have also seen no evidence that they have complied with the other requirements in that section of the code.[/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]In addition I question the entire reliability of the system. I require that ParkingEye present records as to the dates and times of when the cameras at this car park were checked, adjusted, calibrated, synchronised with the timer which stamps the photos and generally maintained to ensure the accuracy of the dates and times of any ANPR images. This is important because the entirety of the charge is founded on two images purporting to show my vehicle entering and exiting at specific times. It is vital that this Operator must produce evidence in response and explain to POPLA[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]how their system differs (if at all) from the flawed ANPR system which was wholly responsible for the court loss recently in ParkingEye v Fox-Jones on 8 Nov 2013. That case was dismissed when the judge said the evidence from ParkingEye was fundamentally flawed because the synchronisation of the camera pictures with the timer had been called into question and the operator could not rebut the point.[/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]So, in addition to showing their maintenance records, I require ParkingEye to show evidence to rebut the following assertion. I suggest that in the case of my vehicle being in this car park, a local camera took the image but a remote server added the time stamp. As the two are disconnected by the internet and do not have a common "time synchronisation system", there is no proof that the time stamp added is actually the exact time of the image. The operator appears to use WIFI which introduces a delay through buffering, so "live" is not really "live". Hence without a synchronised time stamp there is no evidence that the image is ever time stamped with an accurate time. Therefore I contend that this ANPR "evidence" from the cameras in this car park is just as unreliable and unsynchronised as the evidence in the Fox-Jones case. As their whole charge rests upon two timed photos, I put ParkingEye to strict proof to the contrary. [/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]I request that my appeal is upheld and for POPLA to inform ParkingEye to cancel the PCN.[/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]Yours faithfully,[/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]THE REGISTERED KEEPER[/FONT]
  • Wizkid7
    Wizkid7 Posts: 17 Forumite
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    Can someone please check the above go me. I'm aware the POPLA appeal has to be done right and I'd like to get the letter sent.
  • ColliesCarer
    ColliesCarer Posts: 1,593 Forumite
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    Hi Wizkid7
    That's looking pretty good.
    Only have a couple of comments

    1/ It's not clear what you mean in the sentence below

    Therefore I suggest paid amount to the machine a reasonable loss to be re paid.

    2/ And I think this para

    Parking Eye as agents, have no lawful excuse to pursue this wholly unfair and disproportionate charge when I believe their own contract with the hospital is for financial gains only. Parking Eye are seeking to impose punitive sanctions that are not required at all by any 'legitimate interest of the principal'.

    Would be better as

    Parking Eye as agents, have no lawful excuse to pursue this wholly unfair and disproportionate charge and are seeking to impose punitive sanctions that are not required at all by any 'legitimate interest of the principal'.
  • Wizkid7
    Wizkid7 Posts: 17 Forumite
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    Thank you

    The bit re machine amount was me offering to pay the pay and display amount only? Should I re word or just delete. I'll use the other suggestion thank you.
  • ColliesCarer
    ColliesCarer Posts: 1,593 Forumite
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    I would just delete it - the point is made with the court case info.

    That should then be good to go but just hold on for others to confirm
  • Coupon-mad
    Coupon-mad Posts: 132,737 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post Photogenic First Anniversary
    edited 2 April 2014 at 5:57PM
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    I agree - make no offer to pay anything - in fact you don't even need 'This car park is pay and display' so delete that as well.

    You'd find other Hospital POPLA appeals by using the 'search this forum' facility next to 'forum tools' on page one above the Sticky threads - search for the words 'Hospital POPLA' as keywords. Searching the forum here works well when you know how. Change the default search to 'show posts' and NOT 'show threads' as the results will be more relevant.
    PRIVATE 'PCN'? DON'T PAY BUT DON'T IGNORE IT (except N.Ireland).
    CLICK at the top of this/any page where it says:
    Forum Home»Motoring»Parking Tickets Fines & Parking - read the NEWBIES THREAD
  • Wizkid7
    Wizkid7 Posts: 17 Forumite
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    [FONT=&quot]Hello kind helpers...[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot][/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]I have made the amendments as suggested above and would like to thank CollieCarer and Coupon-mad for your input.[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot][/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]Is there any final amendments anyone would suggest I make before sending?[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot][/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]I'm anxious I want to get the letters sent and because I have two appeals to do, I want to be sure they are the best they can be as the financial implications are high.[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot][/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]I will add the POPLA verification number as a header on each page of each letter.[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]
    [/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]Could I also be advised if there are any special requirements for the blank POPLA appeal forms that were sent out with the rejection letters.
    [/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]
    [/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]
    [/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]
    [/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]
    [/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]Dear POPLA Assessor, [/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]Re: ParkingEye fake PCN, verification code[/FONT][FONT=&quot] xxxxxxxxxx[/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]I am the registered keeper and I wish to appeal a recent parking charge from ParkingEye. Notwithstanding that the driver was a genuine visitors of the principal (North Tyneside Hospital) and the vulnerable nature of visiting a family member in hospital, I submit the points below to show that I am not liable for the parking charge:[/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]1) No genuine pre-estimate of loss[/FONT][FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]There was no damage nor obstruction caused so there can be no loss arising from the incident. ParkingEye notices allege 'breach of terms/failure to comply' and as such, the landowner/occupier (not their agent) can only pursue liquidated damages directly flowing from the parking event. Given that ParkingEye charge the same lump sum for a 15 minute overstay as they would for 150 minutes, and the same fixed charge applies to any alleged contravention (whether serious/damaging, or trifling as in my case), it is clear there has been no regard paid to establishing that this charge is a genuine pre-estimate of loss. [/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]This charge from ParkingEye as a third party business agent is an unenforceable penalty. In Parking Eye v Smith, Manchester County Court December 2011, the judge decided that the only amount the Operator could lawfully claim was the amount that the driver should have paid into the machine. Anything else was deemed a penalty.[/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]The Office of Fair Trading has stated to the BPA Ltd that a 'parking charge' is not automatically recoverable simply because it is stated to be a parking charge, as it cannot be used to state a loss where none exists. And the BPA Code of Practice states that a charge for breach must wholly represent a genuine pre-estimate of loss flowing from the parking event.[/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]ParkingEye and POPLA will be familiar with the well-known case on whether a sum is a genuine pre-estimate of loss or a penalty: Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Company Limited v New Garage and Motor Company [1915] AC 79. Indeed I expect ParkingEye might cite it. However, therein is the classic statement, in the speech of Lord Dunedin, that a stipulation: “… will be held to be a penalty if the sum stipulated for is extravagant and unconscionable in amount in comparison with the greatest loss which could conceivably be proved to have followed from the breach.'' There is a presumption... that it is penalty when "a single lump sum is made payable by way of compensation, on the occurrence of one or more or all of several events, some of which may occasion serious and others but trifling damage". [/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]No doubt ParkingEye will send their usual well-known template bluster attempting to assert some ''commercial justification'' but I refute their arguments. In a recent decision about a ParkingEye car park at Town Quay Southampton, POPLA Assessor Marina Kapour did not accept ParkingEye's generic submission that the inclusion of costs which in reality amount to the general business costs incurred for the provision of their car park management services is commercially justified. ''The whole business model of an Operator in respect of a particular car park operation cannot of itself amount to commercial justification. I find that the charge is not justified commercially and so must be shown to be a genuine pre-estimate of loss in order to be enforceable against the appellant.''[/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]My case is the same and POPLA must be seen to be consistent if similar arguments are raised by an appellant.[/FONT]


    [FONT=&quot][/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]2) No standing or authority to pursue charges nor form contracts with drivers [/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]ParkingEye do not own the land mentioned in their Notice to Keeper and have not provided any evidence that they are lawfully entitled to demand money from a driver or keeper. Even if a contract is shown to POPLA, I assert that there are persuasive recent court decisions against ParkingEye which establish that a mere parking agent has no legal standing nor authority which could impact on visiting drivers.[/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]In ParkingEye v Sharma, Case No. 3QT62646 in the Brentford County Court 23/10/2013 District Judge Jenkins checked the ParkingEye contract and quickly picked out the contradiction between clause 3.7, where the landowner appoints ParkingEye as their agent, and clause 22, where is states there is no agency relationship between ParkingEye and the landowner. The Judge dismissed the case on the grounds that the parking contract was a commercial matter between the Operator and their agent, and didn’t create any contractual relationship between ParkingEye and motorists who used the land. This decision was followed by ParkingEye v Gardam, Case No.3QT60598 in the High Wycombe County Court 14/11/2013 where costs of £90 were awarded to the Defendant. District Judge Jones concurred completely with the persuasive view in ParkingEye v Sharma that a parking operator has no standing to bring the claim in their own name. My case is the same.[/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]3) Flawed landowner contract and irregularities with any witness statement[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]Under the BPA CoP Section 7, a landowner contract must specifically allow the Operator to pursue charges in their own name in the courts and grant them the right to form contracts with drivers. I require ParkingEye to produce a copy of the contract with the landowner as I believe it is not compliant with the CoP and that it is the same flawed business agreement model as in Sharma and Gardam. [/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]If ParkingEye produce a 'witness statement' in lieu of the contract then I will immediately counter that with evidence that these have been debunked in other recent court cases due to well-publicised and serious date/signature/factual irregularities. I do not expect it has escaped the POPLA Assessors' attention that ParkingEye witness statements have been robustly and publicly discredited and are - arguably - not worth the paper they are photocopied on. I suggest ParkingEye don't bother trying that in my case. If they do, I contend that there is no proof whatsoever that the alleged signatory has ever seen the relevant contract terms, or, indeed is even an employee of the landowner, or signed it on the date shown. I contend, if such a witness statement is submitted instead of the landowner contract itself, that this should be disregarded as unreliable and not proving full BPA compliance nor showing sufficient detail to disprove the findings in Sharma and Gardam.[/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]Indeed I submit (and as I have raised the issue, ParkingEye must now disprove) that their Contract or User Agreement with [/FONT][FONT=&quot]North Tyneside Hospital[/FONT][FONT=&quot] is likely to contain a secret [/FONT][FONT=&quot]'genuine customer exemption' clause which in fact exempts[/FONT][FONT=&quot] North Tyneside Hospital [/FONT][FONT=&quot]visitors like the driver from these spurious charges.[/FONT][FONT=&quot] [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Not only have ParkingEye not allowed my initial appeal that the driver was genuine North Tyneside hospital visitors[/FONT][FONT=&quot], but at the outset, when they allege a contract was formed, (which is denied) ParkingEye failed to alert the driver to that secret clause. Which leads me to the next point: [/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]4) Breach of UTCCR 1999 and CPUTR 2008[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]I contend that a secret term which leaves a visitor at a severe disadvantage as they are unaware of it, is a 'wholly unreasonable' contract term and a 'misleading omission' which is in breach of the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 and Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations (CPUTR) 2008. [/FONT][FONT=&quot]ParkingEye are taking unconscionable advantage of the registered keeper by demanding a 'charge' for alleged 'breach', holding me liable and yet not informing the driver at the point of any alleged contract, about the secret exemption clause that I believe exists in their contract with North Tyneside Hospital. Nor did they refer to it when rejecting my appeal which told them that the driver was a visitor of a vulnerable nature to the hospital. Parking Eye as agents, have no lawful excuse to pursue this wholly unfair and disproportionate charge and are seeking to impose punitive sanctions that are not required at all by any 'legitimate interest of the principal'.

    CPUTR 2008 Part 2, Prohibitions
    Misleading omissions[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]6(1) A commercial practice is a misleading omission if, in its factual context, taking account of the matters in paragraph (2)— [/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot](a)the commercial practice omits material information, [/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot](b)the commercial practice hides material information,[/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]and as a result it causes or is likely to cause the average consumer to take a transactional decision he would not have taken otherwise. [/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]Office of Fair Trading 'Guidance for the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999'[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]''It is unfair to impose disproportionate sanctions for breach of contract. A requirement to pay more in compensation for a breach than a reasonable pre-estimate of the loss caused to the supplier is one kind of excessive penalty. Such a requirement will, in any case, normally be void to the extent that it amounts to a penalty under English common law...''[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]Test of fairness[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]''A term is unfair if:[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]Contrary to the requirement of good faith it causes a significant imbalance in the parties' rights and obligations under the contract, to the detriment of consumers. [/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]5.1 Unfair terms are not enforceable against the consumer.[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]9.2 ...terms of whose existence and content the consumer has no adequate notice at the time of entering the contract may not be binding under the general law, in any case, especially if they are onerous in character.''[/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]If they refute this then Parking Eye must explain their position to POPLA, produce the unredacted section of the contract and/or User Manual and show how they consider they can override the express wishes of the principal when Parking Eye are mere agents. And explain how their secret 'exemption clause' meets the test of fairness if they do not share it with the party they hold liable. Such terms must be in the signage they are relying upon to have formed the alleged contract at the outset.[/FONT]

    5)[FONT=&quot]The signage was not compliant with the BPA Code of Practice so there was no valid contract formed between ParkingEye and the driver[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]I[/FONT][FONT=&quot] [/FONT][FONT=&quot]submit that this signage failed to comply with the BPA Code of Practice section 18 and appendix B. The signs failed to properly warn/inform the driver of the terms and any consequences for breach. Further, because ParkingEye are a mere agent and place their signs so high, they have failed to establish the elements of a contract (consideration/offer and acceptance). [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Any alleged contract (denied in this case) could only be formed at the entrance to the premises, prior to parking. It is not formed after the vehicle has already been parked, as this is too late. In breach of Appendix B (Mandatory Entrance Signs) ParkingEye have no signage with full terms which could ever be readable at eye level, for a driver in moving traffic on arrival. The only signs are up on poles with the spy cameras and were not read nor even seen by the driver of the car, who was there as a visitor to a hospital, a place that carries high emotions and stress at difficult times.[/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]6)[/FONT][FONT=&quot] ANPR Accuracy and breach of the BPA Code of Practice 21.3[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]This Operator is obliged to ensure their ANPR equipment is maintained as described in paragraph 21.3 of the British Parking Association's Approved Operator Scheme Code of Practice. I say that Parking Eye have failed to clearly inform drivers about the cameras and what the data will be used for and how it will be used and stored. I have also seen no evidence that they have complied with the other requirements in that section of the code.[/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]In addition I question the entire reliability of the system. I require that ParkingEye present records as to the dates and times of when the cameras at this car park were checked, adjusted, calibrated, synchronised with the timer which stamps the photos and generally maintained to ensure the accuracy of the dates and times of any ANPR images. This is important because the entirety of the charge is founded on two images purporting to show my vehicle entering and exiting at specific times. It is vital that this Operator must produce evidence in response and explain to POPLA[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]how their system differs (if at all) from the flawed ANPR system which was wholly responsible for the court loss recently in ParkingEye v Fox-Jones on 8 Nov 2013. That case was dismissed when the judge said the evidence from ParkingEye was fundamentally flawed because the synchronisation of the camera pictures with the timer had been called into question and the operator could not rebut the point.[/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]So, in addition to showing their maintenance records, I require ParkingEye to show evidence to rebut the following assertion. I suggest that in the case of my vehicle being in this car park, a local camera took the image but a remote server added the time stamp. As the two are disconnected by the internet and do not have a common "time synchronisation system", there is no proof that the time stamp added is actually the exact time of the image. The operator appears to use WIFI which introduces a delay through buffering, so "live" is not really "live". Hence without a synchronised time stamp there is no evidence that the image is ever time stamped with an accurate time. Therefore I contend that this ANPR "evidence" from the cameras in this car park is just as unreliable and unsynchronised as the evidence in the Fox-Jones case. As their whole charge rests upon two timed photos, I put ParkingEye to strict proof to the contrary. [/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]I request that my appeal is upheld and for POPLA to inform ParkingEye to cancel the PCN.[/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]Yours faithfully,[/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]THE REGISTERED KEEPER[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot][/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot][/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]Thank you thank you thank you everyone!!!!
    [/FONT]
  • ColliesCarer
    ColliesCarer Posts: 1,593 Forumite
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    Been some interesting developments - Parking Eye have been kicked out of Northumbria health trust and no longer manage the car park for North Tyneside - take a look at recent posts

    Also do a search of the forum using Tyneside as search word
    Couple of posts there with some info that could be useful for you
    one by OP Tickedoff and one by Mr McDonald
    Have you ever complained directly to the trust? Some contact names and emails within those posts that could be useful to you.
    Take a look

    re the appeal - looks pretty good - what's your deadlines for these two?
    Would suggest leaving a gap between sending in the first and the second one if you can - extra evidence etc can be sent up to the hearing so leaving a gap gives you the chance to strengthen your case for number 2 in the hopefully unlikely event that you might need to - depending on the outcome for appeal 1.
  • Wizkid7
    Wizkid7 Posts: 17 Forumite
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    Deadline is 21st of April.

    Gonna do some searching now for north tyneside thanks.

    Also I haven't appealed to the hospital..... but think i might be doing that today!!

    thanks
  • ColliesCarer
    ColliesCarer Posts: 1,593 Forumite
    Options
    Yes - contacting the hospital is worth a try.
    There may also be info in those threads that could be useful for your appeals.
    Is the 21st April for the first or the second PCN you're dealng with?
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