Parking Eye Court proceedings

hansligg

Hi. I've read plenty of messages on here about this shocking excuse of a company and this is my dealing with them of which I need support.

14.08.14 I dropped my partner and child off at Sunderland royal hospital where parking eye operate a 20 minute parking policy. I dropped them off and left the parking vicinity to return 2 hours later to collect them and leave.

Parking eye then sent me a letter stating I was in breach if their rules and that I had parked without paying for a ticket. Again I did not stay there. They have images of my vehicle entering at 09.10 and leaving at 12.33. Although this could be true I did leave initially and re enter to pick my partner and child up.

I appealed the letter stating my valid reasoning of which I had no reply so thought nothing of it.

I then received another letter asking for full £70 as it was last 14 days of appeal. Again I sent another letter explaining my appeal and that I had no confirmation of my initial complaint.

I had no other letter from parking eye other than a letter stating they are following court proceedings.

Again I sent a letter to parking eye explaining all recent correspondence and I had no reply.

I then received an official letter from the county court asking for my defence within 14 days. I have sent all correspondence I have sent to parking eye along with offering to pay £35 as a good will gesture to stop the hassle and stress it is causing even though I believe I am not in the wrong. I have also offered to pay over terms as I cannot afford to pay £135 of what they are asking for including court fees now.

since sending this off I have now received a letter from parking eye with a point by point explanation of why they feel I should pay. They basically say they have no evidence of my vehicle leaving the first time and re entering the hospital ground's.
They also have no image of my vehicle parked either.

this letter includes photocopies of the last letter I sent parking eye but nothing before this and photocopies of a map of the hospital grounds s h owing the signs of rules of parking eye.

Being honest I dont want the stress of this looking over my head and a possible black mark on my credit record but I can't afford to pay and I feel helpless to this company who although have no evidence of my vehicle or letters in have sent seem to have the upper hand.

I have had another look at the letter today and they have scanned a google image of the entrance and exit of the hospital, however they have missed another 2 exits and entrances from the map, 1 of which I did use.

also is it worth approaching the Chief Exec of Sunderland Hospital to see if i can get in writing the chief Exec wanting to withdraw the claim?

Any help is appreciated. I acknowledge I may appear to have accepted responsibility to pay 35 but they have refused this payment and seem happy to take this to court.

Umkomaas

Definitely write to the CEO and tell him/her how you are being threatened with court action by their agent. Remind him/her of the Secretary of State for Health's - Jeremy Hunt - advice to Trusts that predatory practices by private parking companies have no place harassing vulnerable patients attending hospitals.

Ask him/her how PE's actions, which, by dint of their agent-of-the-Trust status, mean that these are also the actions of the Trust.

Ask him/her, that should this proceed to court, and in order to prepare your defence, for the name of the senior official (if not him/herself) who will be the person to appear in court for questioning on behalf of the Trust.

Parking-Prankster

This is a typical scam operated by parking-eye.


This is known as double dipping. You visit twice but they only use your first entry and last exit.


I recommend you file a defence stating you visited twice on that day, staying briefly each time and therefore no offence was committed.


Nearer court time you can then file witness statements from other people to back up your case. You can also use my resources page which has info on why these ANPR errors occur
http://www.parking-prankster.com/exhibits.html


My free guide to defending a court case has a section on double dipping too.
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/393970




However, meanwhile you need to get in touch with the hospital to get this cancelled.

hansligg

is it worth going to the hospital and asking to speak with Chief Exec to request a short letter there and then to take to court? I feel a letter will either be ignored or will be received too late.

hoohoo

I'm not sure from your first post if you already filed a defence or not.

If not, file one before the deadline.

The process is you file a short defence listing all the points you want to defend with. The Prankster's book lists lots of other legal reason why the charge is not valid, but in your case I think it would be best just going with your killer point - you were not there. Other people may disagree and recommend a fuller defence.

The court processes wend away slowly, and many months later you will get a court date. At this point you file a fuller defence, expanding on your points, a witness statement, and any evidence.

The Prankster sells a second book explaining all this, but this one is free -its the price of a cup of (expensive) coffee.

You therefore have plenty of time to write to the hospital

1) File your defence
2) Badger the hospital
3) Hopefully the hospital get PE to cancel
4) ...but if not, come back for more help

hansligg

ive sent an email to corporate requesting the chief Exec cancel the fine as PE's actions are relecting badly on Sunderland Royal Hospital and its trustees.

I am finding great difficulty pinning down the name of the chief exec or an email / contact number for him/her. gone through last few minutes of board meetings but no name of the actual chief exec.

email went like this:
''I am writing to you to inform you of Parking Eye and their harrassment to chase me for an unpaid fine on behalf of Sunderland Royal Hospital where they state I parked in breach of your rules on the 12/07/14.

I did however enter on the time they have my vehicle captured, leave and re-enter 2 hours later to collect my partner and 6month old son who was admitted to your hospital due to breathing difficulties.

Parking eye have stated they are acting on behalf of the land owner. I feel very upset as i didnt park i Sunderland Hospital grounds but it seems that Parking Eye are causing distress and ill-feeling to Sunderland Hospital and in turn the Trustees which to me seems that this is the action of the Trust.

I have been given a court summons and in order to prepare my defence: could i please as a gesture of good will request a letter on behalf of Sunderland Royal Hospital that you no longer wish to uphold this unjustified fine which has gone from £35 to £140 of which I simply cant afford.

I thank you for your patience and taking your time out to read my email. As you can imagine this is my last resort as Parking Eye have ignored all appeals and I cannot afford legal advice.


[Removed by Forum Team]

I have already sent in my defence to the court explaining the ''double dip'' which seems to have happened to me.

of which I have a reply from Parking eye explaining the reasoning behind refusing part-payment of £35 to settle.

according to the letter parking eye have sent me, they say they will not respond to any correspondance so do i wait for a letter from the court now?

The_Slithy_Tove

Shame you've already sent it. You haven't mentioned what Jeremy Hunt has said. You have been far too polite in asking as a "gesture of goodwill". You should be TELLING them what to do.


Also, EDIT OUT YOUR PERSONAL DETAILS NOW!!

bazster

Mr. Ken Bremner
Executive Director
City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust
Kayll Road
Sunderland, Tyne and Wear SR4 7TP
United Kingdom

Parking-Prankster

If it goes to court I can help you prepare your witness statement, evidence and skeleton defence. I can't promise I can lay represent for you, but may be able to.


I don't think it will go this far, but it might.


It's not mitigating circumstances that you visited twice. This is a cast iron defence. If the judge believes you, he will have no option but to throw the case out.


You task now is to try and remember as fully as you can exactly what happened on the day between the two visits. If you saw or talked to anybody, you should try and get a witness statement from them confirming this as soon as possible before memory fades.


If you used a mobile phone, sent or received an email, bought anything, watched tv, etc, all of this will help.


My email is [EMAIL="prankster@parking-prankster.com"]prankster@parking-prankster.com[/EMAIL] if you want to discuss this offline.


I have helped with large numbers of cases like this, so if it does come to court you can quote these to show the judge that their systems are flawed and regularly fail in this way.


This is a well known scam by parking companies, and some judges are getting wise to this.

hansligg

Parking-Prankster wrote: »

If it goes to court I can help you prepare your witness statement, evidence and skeleton defence. I can't promise I can lay represent for you, but may be able to.


I don't think it will go this far, but it might.


It's not mitigating circumstances that you visited twice. This is a cast iron defence. If the judge believes you, he will have no option but to throw the case out.


You task now is to try and remember as fully as you can exactly what happened on the day between the two visits. If you saw or talked to anybody, you should try and get a witness statement from them confirming this as soon as possible before memory fades.


If you used a mobile phone, sent or received an email, bought anything, watched tv, etc, all of this will help.


My email is [EMAIL="prankster@parking-prankster.com"]prankster@parking-prankster.com[/EMAIL] if you want to discuss this offline.


I have helped with large numbers of cases like this, so if it does come to court you can quote these to show the judge that their systems are flawed and regularly fail in this way.


This is a well known scam by parking companies, and some judges are getting wise to this.

wow i didnt realise!

i remember exactly what I done, as it was the 12th I went into town as it is 5 minutes drive. I parked in Debenhams car park (dont have the car ticket as ticket machine takes this on leaving). I looked in 3 shops looking for phones as my mobile phone was due to end in July. Carphone warehouse, EE, Tmobile specalists.

is the fact that they cannot provide an image of me parking going to tilt the balance in my favour as at the minute it seems to be my word against theirs. I am not exactly a criminal, no criminal convictions, I work in a respectful job helping people with learning difficulties overcome issues and I am very honest. Will this be taken into account?

BenefitMaster

hansligg wrote: »

I am not exactly a criminal, no criminal convictions, I work in a respectful job helping people with learning difficulties overcome issues and I am very honest. Will this be taken into account?

The county Court is nothing to do with the Criminal system - ParkingLie cannot Fine you, put you in prison or anything like that, even if you lose and don't pay.