PCN with a twist!

smilingninja

Last night while coming back to my car after a Christmas dinner, I saw a man in casuals, with a take away hamper, merrily clicking photographs of my car. I quickly ran to him when I saw that there is a PCN on my windshield and realised that he might be the parking warden. I argued with the guy saying that why has issued me a ticket for a 5 min delay and when I am standing right in front of him. He continued click photos and mumbled, "If you late, you get ticket."(sic). (As a gesture of gratitude, a normal person would have planted graceful kiss on that guy's cheek, but I decided it wasn't appropriate to do so at the time! ) Also, I wasn't sure what a grace period is and was hassled at the time. So took the PCN home with me. A few things which I have a query about:
1) The time on the PCN is 7 min past the expiry. When I argued with the guy, the time on my phone was 5 min past and the ticket was already on the car. Taking into consideration the time he must have took printed it, put it in the envelope and placing it on my car means that he had falsely increased the time when he was issuing the ticket. All this can be disputed but is there something called a grace period? Gov.uk say, "introduce mandatory 10 minute ‘grace periods’ at the end of on-street paid for and free parking; councils and parking adjudicators, who rule on penalty charge notice appeals, would be obliged to follow the new statutory guidance; any breach would be deemed an illegal fine and trigger a refund. " but It is not clear whether this is applicable to private car parks.
(gov.uk/government/news/right-to-challenge-yellow-lines-and-unfair-parking-charges)

2) The company name is Parking and Enforcement Agency and is a part of BPA. (Their accreditations: peaparking.eu/Accreditations.htm)
Do I use the same template as found on- 'NEWBIES READ THIS FIRST' thread?

3) The car is on my wife's name but I was driving it. Does that make her the keeper and will it make any difference?

I am planning to send an appeals email today itself to not lose time due to holidays. Hence, any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Redx

there are no "rules" on private car parks, its unregulated and its not a "fine" , its an invoice , which could be as worthless as used toilet paper

but the BPA has a set of "guidelines" so you can check their site

and a judge ruled earlier this year that driving in and out etc does not constitute "parking"

to be honest, the pedantry is irrelevant , you appeal it on the usual manner , as per the sticky thread

as your wife is the registered keeper, then you wait for the RK to get a pcn in the post and the RK appeals it with the template letter

then its popla time if the PPC dont cancel

1) its not a fine, and there are no "regulations"

2) check the BPA GUIDELINES to see if a breach has occurred
, also check the signage and take pictures of it, plus any other "evidence"

3) the RK appeals a postal pcn , unless the driver really wants to do it all and absolve the RK from the paperwork (or possible court)

I would normally wait for the postal pcn and send the template letter as if I were the RK, SO YOU DO THE WORK BUT SHE SENDS IT , as she is the RK

this is all covered in the NEWBIES sticky thread, so please read it thoroughly

smilingninja

Dear Redx, Many Thanks for the response. I will go ahead with what you have suggested. Will keep you guys updated on further developments.
Cheers!

hoohoo

As they are small fry I would also consider sending in an appeal as the keeper on day 21.

Do not say who the driver was, but appeal on the grounds that the grace period was not observed and according to the driver the person who issued the ticket was not a liveried attendant.

This gives them the chance to cancel, but if they don't its off to POPLA with you for a slam dunk win on gpeol.

SevenTowers

Was this in N.Ireland? If so there is only one thing you need to do, ignore PEA and their dodgy dealings.

Here is a story about PEA clamping a car, despite it having a valid ticket. The clamped because the ticket was displayed in the driver's window and not the windscreen.

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=91597

Redx

as its a small company, hoohoo is probably correct with the day 21 appeal strategy , because you dont want them to use back office debt collectors (providing this is in england or wales)

smilingninja

Thanks hoohoo!
Seventowers-This was in London.
Reds- I have contacted another driver who was also charged by the same guy yesterday and she is ready to provide a witness statement. Shall I include that with the appeal letter as well?

Redx

nope, keep your powder dry for popla

smilingninja

Sounds Great! Will do.👍