Parking Eye - input wrong reg.

GotToChange

I'll try to be simple -

Borrowed friend's car for a quick trip to local town which has newly installed PE system in a car park that previously had simple buy ticket and stick on car system.

(My own car had been broken into and at that point was unrepaired and insecure/not safe to use while awaiting repair.)

I paid the 60p (for 1 hour) and (as had always been the way in that car park) input MY OWN registration number not that of the car I was driving that day.

To add to my stupidity, I wasn't even sure if the machine gave out a ticket, just assumed that with the new system I knew who was there and when, so if it spat a ticket out, I didn't pick it up.

But I did "the right thing" and paid for my parking, just not with the right details.

Friend has now received a PE invoice and PAID IT.

He hasn't told me of this but I do know; he probably thought I was being sneaky and didn't want to tell me about it.

Anyone think it's worth challenging/"appealing"? Are they likely to (be able to - or willing to) check the detals in the machine and that the vehicle with my reg. no. didn't enter/leave that car park that day?
Or just not worth the bother???

And help advice would be appreciated.
TIA


[Oh - another risk is that if I tell them my own reg. - which is the one I input - I may be in their system from some time ago when I ignored them after hounding me for another occasion - which I did not appeal or pay Not keen to stick my head above the parapet if it will backfire on me.]

Half_way

Once its been paid its nigh on impossible to get the money back, your friend needs a little help with regards to private pairing tickets.

The only chance for a solution would lie with the car park owner, What/whos car park was this?

GotToChange

hmmm - thought so - even though it is a legitimate cause for appealing......

(If only he had told me - first off, I would have told him to ignore it anyway.....)

It is a small shopping centre car park in the (lovely) town of Worksop.
It has long been there, although upgraded a little a couple of years ago - addition of a multi(two)-storey extension. As I mentioned, only just swapped over to PE; I noticed the survey beng done prior to installation.

da_rule

Unfortunately the advice of ignoring is massively outdated.

Also, as the PCN has been paid and the appeal time limit has probably passed you are extremely unlikely to get anywhere with an appeal.

GotToChange

Update -
Thank you Half_way :beer:
Spoke to the Manager of the Centre and she is going to sort it out
(not sure how - but she was totally on board and helpful!). I am to take in the letter today.
Result!

GotToChange

da_rule wrote: »

Unfortunately the advice of ignoring is massively outdated.

Also, as the PCN has been paid and the appeal time limit has probably passed you are extremely unlikely to get anywhere with an appeal.

Right - noted.
I am still within the appeal window though.

Interested to know why the "ignoring" advice may be out of date?? I thought that was still the concensus.

da_rule

Ignore hasn't been the thing to do since late 2012. Changes in the law mean that the parking companies can now pursue the registered keepers (in England and Wales), whereas before they could only pursue the driver (and they couldn't actually prove who the driver was).

Many parking companies, specifically ParkingEye, are taking registered keepers to court, on a daily basis.

Half_way

GotToChange wrote: »

Update -
Thank you Half_way :beer:
Spoke to the Manager of the Centre and she is going to sort it out
(not sure how - but she was totally on board and helpful!). I am to take in the letter today.
Result!

well done, although dont count your chickens until there hatched etc etc.
The reason for the change in the ignore advice is that when the ban on clamping came into force with the protection of freedoms act, owner liability also came in to effect, this means that the registered keeper could be held liable for private parking tickets.
Prior to this quite a few people went for the "not telling you who was driving " approach, or just ignored.
However since this came into effect a handful of parking companies have become litigious and have started putting ignores through the small claims court lottery, that is the outcomes are far from consistent.
While a good defence should so the trick, its not guaranteed, and the best way to avoid the risk of court action is to prevent it in the first place.
companies have up to 6 years to make a claim, and companies change their methods often, so what was once a safe to ignore company may change into a litigious one, such as parking eye.

If you do receive a private parking charge get in touch with the car park owner in most cases the parking company (ppc) are acting as agents for and on behalf of the landowner, if you can do this within a short time of receiving the letter in the post then the better, you should also research and prepare a challenge to the ppc, some people talk of a soft appeal to get a popla code, if you ewant rid of it asap then the best way is to try and get the landowner and or the ppc to cancel, see the sticky at the top.
if you do go down the route of saying that the ppc may be liable for your expenses should an appeal at popla be successful, then also copy the car park owner in on this as they will be liable as well.
Again see the sticky thread for details - and make sure you let your friends/colleges relatives and anyone else know about the private parking industry

GotToChange

da_rule wrote: »

Ignore hasn't been the thing to do since late 2012. Changes in the law mean that the parking companies can now pursue the registered keepers (in England and Wales), whereas before they could only pursue the driver (and they couldn't actually prove who the driver was).

Many parking companies, specifically ParkingEye, are taking registered keepers to court, on a daily basis.

Well, that shows how out of touch I am - and what a Law Abiding Citizen* I have been for the last couple of years.
(*Which didn't really end well for Mr Butler.....)

I wonder then, how it would have played out, had he told me and then gone to PE to appeal.....?

Coupon-mad

I think I would still submit an 'appeal' online to PE this weekend as the driver and say you are dismayed to find the keeper has inadvertently paid a PCN where there was no loss because to the best of your recollection, it appears to have merely been a matter of an error when inputting the car registration. You are the driver and as such you are mortified that the keeper didn't seem to realise it could be appealed and as such you feel it is wholly unfair - if a PCN had been placed on the windscreen at the time you would certainly have appealed but instead you were in the dark about the problem until now. So, you have spoken to the Manager of the Centre and she is going to sort it out but to support this you have decided to send this email appeal so that the keeper can be reimbursed as they paid the PCN in error and the Centre require it to be refunded. Tell them you put in your own car reg in error and they can check their records and will see this to be true (give the car reg) plus they will know for a fact that your actual car with that registration number was not also in the car park.

That will surprise your friend when a random refund might arrive out of the blue! They really need to wise up & learn to smell a scam when such a letter arrives.

GotToChange

Thanks for all replies and advice.

The refund was sent to my friend by PE at the instruction of the Shopping Centre Manager.

I was a litle sceptical but she told me - when I called to thank her - that the Parking Co works for them and they have to do as they are told.

My friend has not actually told me that he received the refund - but I do know; maybe he is scratching his head about it but he isn't telling.

Good outcome anyway, I would say.