Not wholly parked in bay .. Parkwatch

babbaboo

I would like advice on what to do .. having read the sticky posts I remain confused .

I have had a letter and photographic evidence of my vehicle parked outside the bay lines. It was in a private car park at a shopping centre .

The fine is 100 pounds or 60 if paid within 14 days .

As I feel the charge is so high.. can I appeal on the grounds the car park was mainly empty . It is free on Sundays - the day I was there . The main reason was I had suffered a sudden and tragic bereavement of a close family member , the funeral was three days later and in a state of stress causing me to overlook the way it was parked .

Many thanks for advice on how best to proceed .

Half_way

Key words, Charge is inappropriate, its not a genuine pre estimate of loss, neither is it commercially justified, also the parking company has no standing to issue such things.

You have stated this is a shopping centre car park, which is useful, however you haven't said what PPC (Parasitic Parking Company ) issued the ticket.

As you also appear to be at an early stage, write your self a time sheet with four columns such as:
Time Start, Time finish: Activity/expense incured, sub total

Complain to the shopping centre it is their car park and in most cases the parking company are nothing but agents acting for and on behalf of the shopping centre, if the shopping centre wont call off the parking company ( it agents) they could be held liable for your expenses.

Coupon-mad

As I feel the charge is so high.. can I appeal on the grounds the car park was mainly empty .

Nope, use the tried & tested appeal template or a shorter version written as the keeper (not driver). Stop thinking you have to tell them an excuse or reason for the 'offence' as there is NO OFFENCE.

babbaboo

The car park is NCP and I work for a retailer in the attached centre ,
so .I should do the template letter and not bother with any " excuses " and send to park watch or should I speak to the car park management direct ?

The_Deep

Excuses are irrelevant. Did the PPC suffer a loss as a result of your wayward parking? If not it is a penalty, and penalties are not allowed under the Law of Contract. It really is that simple.

You can ignore or you can appeal and cost them money. They are unlikely to take you to court

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4317481r

Coupon-mad

babbaboo wrote: »

The car park is NCP and I work for a retailer in the attached centre

Can't see how an NCP car park is infested by Park Watch, a different firm?

so - I should do the template letter and not bother with any " excuses " and send to park watch ?

Yes, if you've had the first letter. Was there no windscreen PCN then? What is the time lapse between the parking event and the date of the postal Notice? A PPC cannot issue a PCN by post unless they've used ANPR cameras (which they cannot have done, for an 'out of bay' allegation). They are not allowed to send the PCN by post, under the DVLA KADOE contract ,so was there a windscreen ticket and was this over a month ago?

or should I speak to the car park management

Nope, not if that's NCP! I thought the Newbies thread was clear what to do?

babbaboo

There was no windscreen ticket . The letter has arrived six days after the parking and has photo of the car being parked over the line into the next bay .

I maybe wrong about it being ncp .. I think it could be owned by the shopping centre management .

babbaboo

I have checked... The car park is owned by the management of the centre . There was no windscreen ticket and I got the letter 6 days after the careless parking" offence" and it is free all day on Sundays so paid no charge .

Coupon-mad

babbaboo wrote: »

There was no windscreen ticket. The letter has arrived six days after the parking and has photo of the car being parked over the line into the next bay.

Great, they have mucked up and can't do this!

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/66800253#Comment_66800253

That's a link to threads with a POPLA or IAS appeal, explaining why a 'postal PCN' which is not generated by ANPR, is not allowed under the DVLA KADOE contract. You will win at 2nd stage appeal.

So it's up to you if you hit the PPC with this fact straight away or just send them the Newbies thread template appeal, or a short one just saying 'you have suffered no loss'. DO NOT APPEAL ON THE BASIS YOU WERE THINKING OF, PLEASE! Whatever you send make sure it does NOT imply or state who parked/was driving.

babbaboo

Just to clarify .. how do I know that my postal PEN was generated by ANPR or not ?

Coupon-mad

Can't have been - not least because I don't think ParkWatch have them! You say your PCN shows a car at a bay. It's a normal camera photo taken by a person at a 'normal' hand-held height isn't it?

By contrast, ANPR cameras are set high up on poles, and are trained only on the entrance and exit, to pick out car registrations in moving traffic. Like here:

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=77872

You can see ANPR pics are taken from a height and distance, of moving cars. That's not like your pic is it?