Help-Robin Hood airport parking charge

Glynn2014

Hi, I sent the generic parking appeal found in the newbie thread to VCS and received this automated response....

Dear Sir/Madam

This is an automated acknowledgement to your CORRESPONDENCE regarding a Parking Charge Notice.
We will be responding to you within the timeframe specified on the Notice you have received (this will be either 28 or 35 calendar days from today) subject to the points listed under Important Notes below. However, as stated on the reverse of the Notice you have received, we require the following information in advance to enable us to process the matter further. If you have not already done so, please forward the PCN reference number (and, ideally, the Vehicle Registration number).

Please also provide the following information:
1. As applicable, either the driver’s or the keeper’s name (including Title, Forename and Surname) and their full serviceable postal address.
2. If you are appealing on behalf of the driver or the keeper, you must include a written statement signed by the driver or keeper confirming that you are authorised to act on their behalf together with your name and full postal address.
3. Full details of the reason for your appeal/challenge and mitigating circumstances along with any supporting information/evidence.
If you have already provided all relevant information, then please accept our apologies and ignore this email, as we will be dealing with your appeal/challenge and notification of the outcome will be sent to you in the timeframe specified in the Notice you received.

Important Notes:
a) If you are appealing a PCN, which was affixed to your vehicle and you have not provided the information stated above, it may be necessary for us to contact the DVLA for details of the vehicle keeper in order that we can establish the identity of the driver.
b) In order to retain the option of the discounted payment amount (should your appeal be unsuccessful), your appeal must be received by the Central Payments Office no later than 14 days from the Issue Date of this Notice.
c) If your appeal has not been received within the timescales set out on the Notice, it will be deemed out of time and as such declined UNLESS there are exceptional mitigating circumstances AND only at the company’s discretion.
d) Vehicle Control Services Ltd cannot accept any responsibility for any increase in the NOTICE CHARGE should YOU fail to provide us with the requested information within 7 (SEVEN) days from the date of this email.
e) If you have already received a response from us informing you that your appeal had been unsuccessful, we will NOT respond to any further correspondence from you. Our letter would have informed you that our decision was final. As such, please disregard the information/requests referred to in the previous paragraphs of this email.

What we do when we receive a serviceable appeal/challenge:
Upon receipt of the required information we will place the NOTICEon hold while the circumstances surrounding the issue of the NOTICE are investigated and the Management team review the contents of your email. Once a decision has been reached; a letter will be issued to the motorist at the identified postal address conveying the outcome of the appeal/challenge. We will advise you in writing of any further course of action you should take, as deemed necessary to support your appeal/challenge. Should we require longer to deal with the matter than the timeframes set on the Notice you have received we will write to inform you of this within the timescale specified along with a date/timeframe by which we expect to confirm our decision.



Do I need to act further or just wait to see what they respond with? Thanks for your help guys

Coupon-mad

Ignore it - that's an auto response and we see it all the time.

Glynn2014

Hi. Received a letter from vehicle control services regarding the parking charge they issued to me in the post this morning. I'm just looking for any advice about what my next step should be. The letter is as follows::

We acknowledge receipt of your appeal (representations) received on the 14th December 2014 in relation to the above parking charge notice (PCN)

Please note that we are proceeding on the reasonable assumption that you were the driver of the vehicle on the date in question unless you are able to prove the contrary.

Whilst we understand your concern at receiving a notice, it is entirely the motorists responsibility to ensure that they adhere to the terms and conditions of use for the airports private access roads.

The roadway in question is part of a high security zone and as such motorists are clearly advised not to park, stop or wait on double yellow lines, red routes zones or roadways at any time. Such actions may also pose an obstruction or danger to other road users. There are numerous warning signs in place along the private access roads.

In response to your comments, we can confirm that on the 27th October 2014, you stopped your vehicle in a prohibited area. Please be advised that our signage located throughout the area clearly state "No stopping at any time". It is the motorists responsibility to ensure that he/she is fully aware and compliant with the terms and conditions of this area.

You have raised a number of points in your appeal which are not appropriate for us to deal with at this stage. Please note that, as members of the Independent Parking Committee (IPC) it is necessary for us to evidence to the IPC that we have relevant authority to undertake enforcement activity at the site concerned and that our signs in situ are compliant in setting out the relevant terms and conditions of use. We will defend the points you have raised as appropriate should the matter proceed to the Independent Appeals Service (IAS) and/or court. We have therefore dealt with the pertinent points in your appeal below.

We are satisfied that the parking charge notice has been issued correctly and your appeal (representations) is therefore rejected. We will not accept any further appeals.

What you should do next- Either:

1. Pay the parking charge. In order to settle the parking charge notice at the discounted rate, the payment of £60.00 is to be received within our office by 23rd January 2015, after which the amount payable will revert to £100.00. It is the motorists responsibility to ensure that payment is received within our offices by the date specified above.

OR:

2. If you believe this decision is incorrect, you are entitled to appeal to the Independent Appeals Services (IAS). In order to appeal, the IAS will need the following information (which is contained in the subject header of this letter).

Appeals must be submitted to the IAS within 21 days of the date of this letter.

It is important you note that if you wish to appeal to the IAS, the discount offer will no longer apply and the full amount of the parking charge will b pursued.

Please note that further costs may be incurred should it be necessary for us to subsequently recover any outstanding charge using debt recovery and/or court action.



Any advice given to me by other members is really appreciated by me as I don't really understand the process of this and all the implications at surround it. Thanks in advance.

trisontana

Not that "high security" nonsense. How can sending a fake fine to a motorist a couple of weeks after the event prevent a car-bomber?

BenefitMaster

Appeal to IAS - it costs them money. Ensure your appeals points out that JLA is not elevant land, so POFA and Keeper Livability cannot apply, they must contact the driver, which the keeper denies being.

They will reject the appeal almost instantly with some sarcastic comments.

Then ignore unless court papers arrive.

ManxRed

There's mixed advice regarding these IAS appeals, they are a sham and stacked against you, so in one respect a waste of time, but I like to think that in certain conditions like this one, a well written appeal will be rejected but may make them think twice about taking court action as you would have a very strong hand and be able to demonstrate unreasonable behaviour on their part.

Might be worth your Dad sending them a witness statement that he was not the driver. In fact was he with anyone at the time? He could get them to send one too.

IAS will reject but will look foolish for doing so if it ever got to court.

Marktheshark

They have no choice but to "assume" you are the driver
POFA does not apply on Airport land.
They can assume all they like, the onus would be on them to prove you were driving if they chanced court.

As for the IAS, you would be better writing to santa, they have all the independence of Genkus Khans executioner

Ralph-y

You might be interested to watch 'Rip Off Britain ' on the 14th Wednesday as they are doing a feature on this issue all be it is at Liverpool JLA

Ralph:cool:

Glynn2014

Last week I received a IAS rejection letter which I fully expected. Quickly followed by an initial letter from Debt recovery plus (DRP) which said I now owed them £160. I follow up letter from DRP arrived today saying that there is intended court action and the matter will be passed on to the creditors solicitors. Before I go down the route of ignoring every letter from these people that I receive I just wanted to be 100% sure this is the course of action I should be taking? Should I contact DRP in any way? Thanks for your help

ManxRed

I wouldn't contact Debt Recovery Plus at all.

You shouldn't ignore actual stamped court claim forms. If you get one of those then come back here.

Similarly a letter from either VCS or a Solicitor (Gladstones, presumably) titled Letter Before Claim (or similar), then come back here.

They'd be pretty foolish to try a court claim with a case like this.