Urgent Parking Eye appeal question

parkingeyepanic

I am feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the information about contesting parking charges and am trying to work out exactly how to contest a Parking Eye charge notice for our local hospital. Please could someone just check I am doing the right thing?

I have taken the standard appeal template from this forum and am about to submit it online but really really need someone to make sure its ok before I press send. This is really stressing me out!

Here is a link to the copy and paste template I am using... forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4816822

Some background:
I went for a high risk pregnancy scan at the hospital in Sept. The parking situation at the hospital is always horrific so I arrived an hour early. A new system had been put in place so you pay up front and put in your reg plate details but don't display a ticket.

I arrived at around 8.50, scan was due at 10.10 (but you have to be there earlier for samples) and so I paid for 3 hours of parking just in case something went wrong.

Ultrasound department were running very late so I was seen nearer 11am and out from that at 11.20ish. I then had to go to the day unit next door for blood pressure and urine checks.

They were insanely busy and had me on a waiting list. When i was eventually called, they insisted on a 30 mins observation. I explained about the car park but we were still just about ok for me to be there for this. Bearing in mind high blood pressure is one of my risk factors you can see that this was already not a great situation.

Due to various mess ups, it then took a further 20/30 minutes for them to book my next growth scan.

This meant I left the hospital almost an hour later than the time I had pre-paid for. There are no signs explaining what to do in that situation and so I just had to leave.

We received the letter with a parking charge for £60 if paid by 10 Oct or £100 thereafter. I am so upset that basically I am being penalised for having to waste 4 hours for what should have been a 15min scan and a 5 min urine/blood pressure test with absolutely no way of doing anything about it from the ward.

I understand from reading these MSE forums that the registered owner (my husband) needs to appeal on the grounds in the template but I don't really understand them. I also understand he shouldn't name me as driver nor add any of the extenuating circumstances above.

Is that right? Do I just submit that template and wait until the next rejection comes through?

Basically it seems insanely unfair way of making money out of patients. I am happy to pay for the time I use but I can't always predict what that will be prior to the appointment time. I thought that 3 hours was excessive!! If the system worked as it does in our local shopping centre then I pay on return and that makes perfect sense.

Please help and apologies for the essay.

martmonk

The letter is fine to use. Await your POPLA code and in the meantime read the newbie sticky a couple of times so you know what to send at that stage.

Separately I'd contact the hospital trust themselves, estate manager details should be easy enough to find on google, and/or any PALS at the hospital.
Also worth looking at the patient opinions site and posting there if they look like they are one of the trusts who take notice.

There are Equality Act points you could make in all of the above but you'd need to do some reading and understand it first. A search of this forum for hospital and equality act would I'm sure get you some decent threads to read.

parkingeyepanic

Thank you so much. OK, I will just cut and paste the full template on that link and submit. I have used the info in my original post and put that in to an email via the hospital trust website complaints section. I will read up on the next stage and await the appeal rejection.
Thanks for taking the time to answer.

parkingeyepanic

Aaagh, ok so the form only allows for 3000 characters. Even taking out the last optional para of disgust leaves 3,700+. What is safe to remove?

Edited to say - ignore the above. Have found the short version and submitted that. Panic obviously doesn't work well for me!

James_N

You are doing well so far. A very positive attitude and response from you is encouraging for the regulars here.
A standard approach to get a POPLA code is the way to go - as you are doing. However, personally I am disgusted that any person attending a hospital appointment - almost by definition a vulnerable person - is targeted in this way. As well as the standard way to fight this "charge", I'd very much like to see you target the hospital itself for allowing this kind of abuse to happen in the first place - letters of complain in a formal approach.

parkingeyepanic

It is a really horrible way to treat patients who are definitely often feeling vulnerable. I have had an email acknowledgement from the PALS admin assistant who says she has passed it over to the team to contact me directly.

There doesn't seem to be any other excuse apart from more money - either by encouraging patients to pre-pay beyond their expected amounts just to escape this possibility or by catching them at the end for outstaying their ticket.

The infrastructure is now in place for registration recognition so why can't they turn that to a fair advantage and charge at the end according to time used?

The whole situation has been really upsetting. I was panicking at the time, racing around (heavily pregnant) trying to work out what to do, total ignorance from staff (brand new system so not their fault) and seemingly no way to solve the issue on the day.

I really appreciate the help from here, the newbie guides and templates are great but a little overwhelming for a first timer.

bod1467

Does the appeal system offer an email appeal option? (Send an email - there won't be a character limit)

Or an option to attach files? (Create the appeal as an attachment, and put in the online form "My appeal is contained within the attached document <filename>" [where <filename> includes the PCN reference).

martmonk

Let us know which hospital. I'll fire off some FOI requests and see where it takes me. Won't necessarily help in your case but may eventually help others in future.

parkingeyepanic

Thanks again for the messages. I have had a voicemail from the PALS rep at the hospital apologising for the situation and saying he will be speaking to the Estates management team about cancelling the ticket or how to appeal from their end.
He has promised an email on Monday so we shall see.

Umkomaas

While I hope the contacts you have made might help, I wouldn't put all your faith in them being able to resolve this easily. Sorry to pour cold water on your expectations, but have seen such optimism dashed in the past.

In my view, there is no place in a hospital for predatory outfits like PPCs.

With a very sick, close relative in emergency care, with all my experience of dealing with PPCs through this forum, I can tell you, the very last thing on my mind while dashing 50 miles to the hospital, was complying with the !!!!!! these PPCs try to place on me parking (more dumping/abandoning) my car.

If I could place my hands on them, there'd be another in need of emergency care. It's just sickening!

Let's hope that Jeremy Hunt can get rid of such pond life from such places of often desperation and despair.

Hot_Bring

As we seem to have a moron stopping proper threads being displayed ..... bounce.