Private Parking Ticket HELP?

lawsy2412

Hi All,

I recently received a private parking ticket at my place of work (City College Norwich). On the back of the out of date advice, I have previously ignored private tickets from the likes of UKPC and been successful. However, due to the fact that I have not dealt with this company before and ignoring them is no longer the most effective method, could somebody please offer me some advice?

Due to the fact that I have been snowed under in my new job, I neglected to sort the parking permit and therefore received the ticket in question. Having ignored the ticket itself, upon receiving a letter through the post (see link below), I now have time to fight this I feel it's best to tackle it head on!

Firstly, do I still have the right to appeal? And if so, would somebody please be kind enough to link me to the templates for which I can?

Secondly, if I'm passed the appeal stage... has anyone got any suggestions?

Many thanks for any help in advance!

da_rule

Delete that link immediately, it shows your name and address. We do not this information, or the PCN Number. The PPC's monitor this forum.

da_rule

By ignoring the ticket on the windscreen you have, inadvertently, done the right thing. The next step is to appeal to the PPC. Please read the Newbies sticky thread as it contains a template to use when appealing. Also, read the rest of the Newbie sticky thread thoroughly as it gives you a guide on the steps needed to get this PCN cancelled.

lawsy2412

http: //forums.pepipoo.com /index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=27463

New link, just remove the spaces

da_rule

That's better. Just get on with preparing your appeal using the template in the Newbies sticky thread.

Umkomaas

Have a look at this 'walk-through' of the process you now need to follow. It's a generic template, which avoids me having to type it out every time we have a 'newbie' query. Most of it will apply to you. Get back if you don't understand anything.

A WALK THROUGH THE PROCESS

Firstly, you don't have to pay the charge, it is not a fine, it is not a penalty, it is a speculative invoice from a Private Parking Company that has no statutory authority. However, you will need to go through a few hoops to get rid of it.

The first thing you MUST do is to start to understand what all this stuff is about. The only way to do this is to spend a day or so reading this forum - the most recent threads, say from the past month.

In England and Wales the advice to 'IGNORE' is now outdated. You must NEVER ignore a parking charge notice. You may receive a series of subsequent letters that will require no action, but you must give them your attention. Ignoring a Parking Charge Notice will bring you months of fun and games that I can assure you, you don't want to be dealing with.

Retain all documentation relating to your PCN - this is important.

In a nutshell this is the process you will need to follow.

1. Read recent threads.

2. If the parking incident was at a retail park/shop go back to the store the Parking Charge Notice relates to and see THE manager, complain about a genuine customer being harassed and ask that they cancel the ticket. Show him/her any receipts for the day in question. If they are unable to do this ask for the name and address of the MD/CEO, as you will now write to them (and DO it!).

3. If it was a general car parking facility you need to find out who the landowner is (Google search) and send off a letter of complaint to them.

4. If you have receipts for the day (or bank/credit card statements) proving purchases, send (redacted) copies of them to the PPC with covering letter stating you were a customer on the day, and shopping at their principal's establishment was the only cause of any overstay.

5. If 2, 3 or 4 above don't work, then you're into the more formal stuff.

6. If it was a windscreen ticket, do not contact the PPC at this point, you must wait for the 'Notice to Keeper' (NtK) to arrive. This should be no sooner than 28 days after the incident and no later than 56 days after it. Theses dates are very important, and you must retain all tickets and letters you receive.

7. If it was an ANPR camera incident and the first correspondence you've received is the NtK, this needs to be received within 14 days of the incident; as above, dates very important, retain all paperwork.

8. Once you receive the NtK the process below will need to be followed.

9. Soft appeal to the PPC (you'll understand this when you start reading the threads).

10. Likely rejection, so in your soft appeal you ask that a POPLA code be given to you if your soft appeal is rejected.

11. Lots more reading about POPLA Appeals (read the 'sticky' at the top of the forum index 'POPLA Decisions', especially the last couple of months' reports of victories - it will give you a good idea of which points win at POPLA).

12. Draft POPLA Appeal and let us see it for further advice before submission.

13. Send to POPLA.

14. Await POPLA (positive) result with PCN cancelled - we're running at 100% success rate on the forum. A POPLA decision is binding on the PPC, but (in the event of an unlikely loss), not binding on you.

---

Please confirm a couple of things (if they are not already contained in your opening post)

a. Was the incident, and do you live, in England or Wales?
b. Is the car a lease/hire or company vehicle (important as the process will be slightly different and you will need to act quickly)?
c. Are you under 18?

---

Now - final, but IMPORTANT points.

* Never say who might or might not have been the driver on the day - there is no obligation on you to do so (some PPCs will ask you to name the driver/motorist before they can deal with your appeal - DO NOT comply with their wishes). In any correspondence with the PPC, always refer to the driver in the third person, never say 'I didn't see the signs' or 'my wife didn't see the signs', you say 'the driver didn't see the signs'.

* Always be aware of any deadlines, PPCs impose them (most of these are challengeable), but if they are reasonable do keep to them. The important one is the POPLA deadline - strictly 28 days from the date the rejection letter containing the POPLA verification code is sent to you by the PPC. Miss it and you miss the one golden opportunity you have to totally kill this charge. I cannot stress that enough.

CONTEXTUAL LINKS

1. BPA Code of Practice
http://www.britishparking.co.uk/writ...,_Feb_2014.pdf

2. BPA Approved Operators
http://www.britishparking.co.uk/Approved-Operators

3. POPLA
http://www.popla.org.uk

Sorry this is a bit long, but it does more or less cover most bases.

BEYOND THIS

For more detailed information on how to take this forward you need to read Coupon-mad's NEWBIES sticky thread (everything is contained within it for you to move through this problem you are encountering). C-m is the foremost expert on this site in all things private parking and her sticky thread is the best web-based advice you will find anywhere.

Here is the link:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4816822

Come back if there is anything you don't understand after reading this.

lawsy2412

Well, the template letter worked! Thanks all! :beer:
FYI, this was the response I recieved... ha

http: //postimg.org/image/ 86hrglc77/ (just remove the spaces)

Coupon-mad

That's good news that the template worked again!

http://postimg.org/image/86hrglc77/

No more than expected really from that lot, they'll have seen this thread!

Anyway, why are they saying you aren't allowed to park there now?

Umkomaas

I note they state in their letter they are not VAT registered. Can't be much of a (car park 'management') business if they can't turn over £79k in a year at £100 a pop.

That's about 15 tickets a week. If they can't do better than that, it's hardly worth getting up in the morning!