Premier parking solutions-exceeded marked bay area notice

oxford-nick

Hello All,

My ordeal so far

On the 27/11/2014 I parked in the car park opposite Didcot Railway Station this car park is controlled by Premier Parking Solutions LTD.

I paid for a days worth of parking and placed my parking ticket on display on my dash board. I didn't park in a proper parking bay as there were a couple of flooded car parking spaces plus the location I found meant I would not be an obstruction to anyone else.

I returned to my car later that day to find a Parking Charge Notice on my screen and the reason for this was "Not Parked in allocated Bay". The notice also states I am required to pay a charge of £100 - reduced to £60 if paid within 14days.

I noticed they had an online appeals email address and sent the following:

"Reference Number: Removed for the sake of this post
Vehicle Registration: Removed for the sake of this post

The reason I have not supplied my contact name or address is due to the fact members of an accredited trade association can access DVLA data, while non-members can't. To avoid my details being obtained by a non accredited trade association I have opted not to provide these to you at this point.

To Whom it may concern,

I am writing to you today to express my concern over the parking charge notice I received on my car upon returning to it after spending the day in London. I list below a series of pointers that I wish you to address and clear up as part of your notice and also to provide evidence as to why I think I was not in the wrong.

First of all, I see the ticket I received states it is a "Parking Charge Notice" which upon carrying out my own research for advise I see a Parking Charge Notice is not a "fine" and cannot be imposed, unlike a Penalty Charge Notices. - Please confirm this is the case and in fact true... If I don't pay then legally you cannot pursue it further!
The reason I had parked where I did was due to the fact your car park had sections that were flooded which was impossible for cars to park in at least 2 parking bays that I witnessed. This resulted in unusable parking spaces which had clearly not been maintained to a suitable standard allowing cars to park.
I along with other members of the public found space to park at the end of the rows of cars where in fairness you could easily mark out another 1 if not 2 parking spots. The fact you had not marked these areas with diagonal white lines (as you have used in other areas of the car park) gave the impression it was okay to park there.
I also think the charge amount if unfair due to the fact where I parked did not hinder the flow of traffic in and out of the car park along with the fact I had paid for 24 hrs of parking...

To conclude in my appeal... I would like you to answer all my queries above and to wrap up my case... I believe the inadequate maintenance of the car park (flooding not dealt with) and poor visual markings used in some areas of the car park but not others. Along with the fact I did not hinder the flow or parking for other users of the car park at all.

I look forward to hearing your response.

Many Thanks"

To which PPS's reply was this:

Dear Sir/Madam,

Re: Parking Charge Notice Number Removed for the sake of this post (Vehicle: Removed for the sake of this post)

Site: Station Road, Didcot

Issue date: 27/11/2014

Thank you for your appeal which we will respond to below. Firstly, however, you should be aware that as you have not given us a full serviceable address for the driver of the vehicle we will be making a request to the DVLA for details of the vehicle keeper so that we can establish the identity of the driver according to Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act.

Further to your email of appeal received on 03/12/2014 regarding the above parking charge, I have now had the opportunity to review this case and my findings are below.

Whilst we appreciate and sympathise with your situation, we are unable to take mitigating circumstances into account. Parking at this site is only for vehicles that are parked in accordance with the site instructions, as detailed on signage on site. This signage is clear, in excess of industry standards and clearly details any charges that may be imposed should these restrictions be contravened. The amount sought as the parking charge notice is a term of the contract.

The vehicle was not parked in an allocated bay, which is contrary to the conditions of parking. Please see the attached photographs, which show that your vehicle was not parked correctly at the site. I therefore uphold our operative’s decision to issue this parking charge notice. It is your responsibility to make sure you adhere to all the rules and regulations when at this site, including parking correctly in a marked bay. If you do not park correctly you can obstruct the other customers from parking at this site and prevent them from parking correctly themselves.

We are therefore unable to cancel the Parking Charge Notice as it was issued correctly. Please forward a payment of £60 to reach us by 25/12/2014 or £100 to reach us by 08/01/2015 in order to avoid Debt Recovery proceedings; incurring additional costs. Please be aware that when appealing any further the charge will not be placed on hold.

Payments can be made by cheque or postal order - payable to PPS Ltd, or on our website

If your appeal is unsuccessful, you have the opportunity to go to an Independent Appeals Service known as POPLA (Parking on Private Land Appeals).

Company VAT number: 938 2565 92
Registered in England & Wales Valley Enforcement is a trading name of Premier Parking Solutions Ltd Company No.06659134 Please note that if you wish to appeal to POPLA, you will lose the right to pay the charge at the discounted rate of £60, and should POPLA’s decision not go in your favour you will be required to pay the full amount of £100.

If you appeal to POPLA then please use the accompanying form, or if your appeal has been submitted electronically please visit our website for further information. However, if your appeal is dismissed by POPLA, we will use their adjudication in future Court proceedings which may commence without delay and further costs may be added. Removed for the sake of this post is your designated POPLA code.

If you choose to do nothing, we will seek to recover the monies owed to us via our debt recovery procedures and may proceed with Court action against you. NB: If, as the keeper of the vehicle, you do not give the details about the driver or hirer, or if the driver or hirer refuses to acknowledge their liability, you may be liable to pay any unpaid charges in accordance with the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Oliver Taylor

Appeals Manager

As you can see from the above I have already contacted PPS via email. They have decided against my appeal and have provided me with a POPLA number (expires on the 8th of January).
I see another forum user (xxdaix) posted the same issue on 17-07-2014, at 2:15 PM - To which another forum user (Coupon-mad) quite kindly constructed a reply as PPS have been bending the truth to get around some POPLA claims.
I think PPS may have changed their signage since then as such I have taken pictures yesterday which I need to see if I can upload to this forum.

Could someone please take a look at these sign's and advise if the wording Coupon-mad provided is still correct...

Many Thanks for everyone's input and time on this.

Kind Regards

Nick,

oxford-nick

You can see the updated signs here:

For the following to work you may need to place https:// at the start

dropbox.com/sc/5jr7qjywbrfmq2l/AACSCcr4_dwlWwbK7F1cAn1la

hoohoo

https://dropbox.com/sc/5jr7qjywbrfmq2l/AACSCcr4_dwlWwbK7F1cAn1la

The signs show the charge is for breach of contract, so you will win at popla if you state the charge is not a genuine pre-estimate of loss.

The signs also have no company number on them, which is a breach of the bpa code of practice for signage and companies house requirements. Report the signs to both of them.

Coupon-mad

I replied here:


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/67333383#Comment_67333383


HTH

oxford-nick

Coupon-mad - I have done just that and sent payment

Coupon-mad

Nice one - we'll help you off forum then, one to one and looking at your documents and signage individually. Perfectly winnable, just takes certain wording.