Meridian shopping centre Havant

Muscat63

I have just received a parking charge notice from Parking Eye, issued on 15/8/14. We parked at Havant before getting a ferry to go on holiday (we returned on 29/8/14) and have since moved house. The notice went to our old address and was then forwarded to us which is why we only received it yesterday (1/9/11). The 14 day discount period has therefore already elapsed.

When we parked I was not familiar with the payment system, which required us to enter the vehicle registration. I can't remember exactly how I paid (whether card or cash) but I do recall paying for two hours at £1.20 and taking a while to study the machine instructions. We stayed for 58mins, according to the notice. I thought that the point of entering of the vehicle registration into the payment machine was to allow you to top up remotely if you stayed longer than planned.

I remember that you had to keep your ticket with you, rather than displaying it in the car, and I had to take my husband to the machine to show him as he did not believe me. I don't recall whether we had to put the ticket in a machine to exit the car park, or whether we collected the ticket at an entrance barrier or from the payment machine. All I know is that we paid (more than was necessary!).

I don't know why we got the notice, as we paid to park. I simply cannot remember all the details of whether we used cash or card - I do remember remarking on the £1.20 fee to my husband, as it seemed very reasonable. It was a busy time for us as we had moved house the previous day.

Obviously I don't want to pay this charge. Does anyone know this car park? I have read the newbie threads but most people seem to be dealing with overstaying etc and my case seems different as I paid. Could the machine have been faulty? Maybe I misunderstood the instructions...?

Any help would be most welcome, I just don't know what to do.
Thanks :-)

Redx

what happened on the day is actually irrelevant

the fact its a p&d car park and not free is largely irrelevant

all you do is appeal it in a 2 stage process

send the template letter in post #1 of the newbies thread

if its a p&d car park and you have any proof an amount was paid, you attach the ticket to the appeal and add a point D) saying here is proof of payment , blah blah , but NOT admitting who was driving

let us assume they reject your appeal, you get a popla code and appeal at popla on legal points

popla wont care about the ticket, they wont care about "WHAT HAPPENED" , they wont accept any mitigation or the fact the instructions are designed to entrap motorists and raise revenue

do not over think this process

you appeal to PE

if they refuse to cancel , you appeal to popla (post #3 has the link for popla appeal examples)

you should also complain to the landowner and demand a cancellation too

its not hard, it is confusing for a newbie unused to the process , hence the help you will get on this forum, which means it will be uncontested at popla and you will pay nothing at all, but you will cost PE £27 + vat for being stupid about it

ps:- the point about the car park and ticket machine is one you missed

the anpr cameras take pictures of you entering and exiting the car park, the ticket machines ask for the VRN so they can check against the anpr pictures, any discrepancies and you get a ticket in the post, even if you entered the wrong code, its designed to entrap the unwary and provides extra revenue when people havent followed the "rules"

Northlakes

First things first.


Do not contact PE yet! Have you informed DVLA of your change of address?


Don't panic you will not have to pay this.


Check your debit card and credit card statements to see if you paid it by that method.


Mitigating circumstances don't count at all with any PPC.


Read and digest thoroughly the NEWBIE threads relating to Parking Eye.


The keepers soft appeal will be rejected by PE and then it's POPLA and if you follow the experts here and you will win.

Muscat63

Thank you for replies so far. I tried to inform DVLA yesterday, but you need the actual document (cannot do it online) and I cannot find it. I think I've left it in France. I can't find a card payment so it must have been cash. I will ferret around in the car to see if the ticket is lurking there. I have done a bit more searching and I don't think you can get a ticket without paying. Maybe I entered the reg incorrectly.

Browntoa

thats ALL still irelevant......

go and read the newbie thread

appeal and get the POPLA code from PE

standard appeal to POPLA

fisherjim

Muscat63 wrote: »

Thank you for replies so far. I tried to inform DVLA yesterday, but you need the actual document (cannot do it online) and I cannot find it. I think I've left it in France. I can't find a card payment so it must have been cash. I will ferret around in the car to see if the ticket is lurking there. I have done a bit more searching and I don't think you can get a ticket without paying. Maybe I entered the reg incorrectly.

I would say that's exactly what you did and the numskulls at Paring Eye just see another sucker to extract money out of. In reality you paid your fee so no one lost out, you just didn't quite fulfil their made up rules.
They could if they felt inclined match the actual details on the day and cancel this but that will not make them money will it?
Follow the advice on here and be yet another one that shows these bullies where to go.

Redx

do not mention anything about the V5C and yes assume you entered the VRN incorrectly as that is the most likely issue here

just use the template appeal letter to appeal to PE

then use a PE appeal example to appeal this to popla

dont focus on "what happened" as nobody will actually care

focus on winning on legal grounds , the points of which are in those appeal examples, not a gpeol , no contract , poor signage , uncalibrated anpr etc

most of the work is done for you if you read the newbies thread closely and find the most suitable apopla appeal and adapt it in notepad for your actual popla appeal

the process will take a few months but once you win that is the end of the saga, with nothing to pay

so get the template appeal in to PE asap (post #1 of the newbies thread)

Muscat63

Ok, so I just send the appeal letter, even though I paid...? No explanation needed...?

(Just to be clear about the documents for the car, we moved out of our old home in the UK on the day this parking thing happened, and lived in France for a few weeks before deciding where to live in the UK. We only moved in to our new place on 29th August, so we're just getting all our change of address stuff done. Most of our stuff is in storage but I think I somehow left a bag of documents in France :-( )

Thank you all for your help. It's so nice to know there is support out there when this kind of thing happens - totally unnecessary stress :-(

Umkomaas

totally unnecessary stress

And it's the stress factor that plays straight into the hands of the PPC.

Just send the appeal 'as is'; you might want to add a paragraph D) to put anything you wish to say about purchasing a ticket, but do not reveal who the driver was. You must say 'the driver purchased a ticket', not 'I purchased a ticket'.

But to be frank, any mitigation will be ignored, and with the danger of making a tiny detrimental slip in what you say, best use the standard appeal, unadapted - it has been very carefully crafted.

HO87

Know the car park well. The Meridian (hardly what you'd describe as a stunning shopping centre) has long been the haunt of PPC's which is why I haven't used it for some time - probably why I didn't know that PE infested it.

For future reference I usually park on street in North Street, on Market Parade itself or in Waitrose's underground car park off Prince George Street/The Pallant.

Does the Notice that you have received not detail what it is that you are supposed to have done/not done?

ParkingEye maintain that they cancel 55% of all of their PCN's although I find that slightly unbelievable. That said it is worth putting your case to them - that you paid and did not overstay (if that is in fact the case). The very worst that they can do is to refuse your appeal and in so doing must supply you with a POPLA code.

Armed with a POPLA code - if it gets that far - we can guide you (actually its in the Newbie thread) so that you will win and pay PE nothing.

Sounds daunting I know but it requires a little bit of reading, holding your nerve and following a path that is well trodden. Just keep in mind the fact that you haven't done anything wrong (at worst you probably failed to input your registration number into the ticket machine - a popular PE ploy) - after all you paid for goodness sake!

This is not a fine and is simply a demand based on a supposed civil wrong.

Muscat63

Ok, I have found the ticket!!! To be fair, it is entirely my fault. I put the registration of our other car into the machine by mistake. I guess I will now have to prove that my husband owns both cars (a bit difficult as we've currently misplaced the one for the car in question). I think the best route is to go down the straightforward appeal route, which will give me some time to find the registration document and then I can send copies of all the documentation which will hopefully be adequate. What a numpty - I am cross with myself but it was so stressful with moving house, having the other car fail its MOT and going on holiday!