DSA Doncaster Airport Parking Charge Notice from VCS

locknation · 7 March 2015 at 4:10PM

Hi All,

First-time poster here. I have spent all morning trawling the internet and have read countless threads on this site relating to Parking Charge Notices issued by private companies. I am finding it hard to piece together all the advice so felt it best to begin a new thread in the hope that others may be in the same situation as me, or have already dealt with the same issue themselves in the past and could explain, in layman’s terms, what is the best course of action.

I have just received in the post a Parking Charge Notice from VCS (issued 4 March 2015). The notice has been issued for "allegedly breaching the Terms and Conditions of use of the Privately Operated Access Roads at RobinHoodAirport, Approach Roads". The notice goes on to say "the alleged Contravention was detected and recorded by Mobile Traffic Enforcement Cameras (CCTV) at the site on the 27/02/2015..." and "The Reason for the contravention was: Stopping on a roadway where stopping is prohibited".

I remember the alleged 'offence' well: I cannot deny that I had knowingly pulled up on double yellow lines, but I feel that the fine for doing so, in this instance, is completely unreasonable.

I had driven to the airport to drop off my sister-in-law and her baby daughter for their flight home, and parked in the airport car park. I then helped carry their luggage and saw them through check-in, thereby exceeding the 15 minutes of free parking. I therefore paid the required £2 parking fee at the machine in the airport. So as not to incur further charges, I then left the car park immediately, but pulled up on the road just outside in order to send a text message to my brother-in-law and my wife to let them know we had reached the airport safely and that their flight was on time. I stopped for 2-3 minutes max. in order to send the message, and then drove off. Whilst I was stopped, a van pulled up about 50 yards behind me - I assumed, until now, that this was just another member of the public doing the same as me, but now I realise it was the 'Mobile Enforcement' van taking pictures.

I understand that they do not want people loitering outside the car park to avoid paying for parking when picking up/dropping off passengers, but I HAD paid for parking and was now leaving the airport.

Although night time, I had stopped on a long, straight and wide stretch of road that is well lit, and I had my driving lights and hazard lights on. In no way was I causing an obstruction or hazard to others—in fact, in the 2-3 minutes I was there, the only vehicle that passed was the Mobile Enforcement van—nor was I trying to avoid the airport car park charges. It's infuriating to now receive a fine for £100 (£60 if paid within 14 days), for this ‘offence’.

Is there any merit in appealing the Parking Charge Notice on this basis? I could feasibly prove that I had just paid for parking by sending a copy of my bank statement, as I had paid on debit card. I could even somehow try to show them the contents/timing of the text message I sent. The pictures on the letter also clearly show the safe position that I had pulled over, and that I am driving in a direction away from the car park entrance rather than approaching it.

From what I have read so far, it would seem this would get me nowhere, as any such 'mitigating circumstances' are simply rejected when making an appeal.

There are a lot of people saying simply to ignore the notice letter, and to continue ignoring all subsequent (increasingly threatening) letters that they send. However, I am uneasy about doing this, having never been in a similar situation before. I've never had any driving penalties or parking tickets in my 17 years of driving – I realise that this particular charge differs to those enforced by the Police or the Council.

Part of me is willing just to pay up and forget about it (I’m very much a pacifist, and no matter how disproportionate the charge to the ‘offence’, I knowingly ‘did wrong’), but the other part wants to argue my case on the grounds that the charge is completely unreasonable and any rational person would agree with me. However, I feel sure that I would be arguing against unreasonable/unscrupulous people, and the whole thing would just cause me unnecessary stress and may end up costing me more in the long run.

I would appreciate any advice on the best course of action.

Thank you,

Locknation

Redx · 7 March 2015 at 4:25PM

a long but sadly pointless set of details

they observed a car stopped on the private roadway and have issued a PCN to the RK, despite it being not relevant land under POFA

any paid for parking was in the designated parking areas, it didnt give you carte blanche to "park" anywhere you like, even on a roadway (my point being the paid for parking has no relevance and will be dismissed)

these are not human beings who look at mitigation and decide to let you "off" , they are greedy blood sucking sharks running a business where they prey on people breaking rules and charge them extortionate charges (they just want you money- as much of it as possible)

RHA comes up regularly on here, as does JLA which is also run by VCS , so the advice is the same for either of them, just put RHA or doncaster or JLA or liverpool into the search box to find them, but ignore last years cases where it was the BPA and popla as they no longer deal with it

you can and should appeal, then when you have been through the motions and failed its a 6 year wait for the small claims statute to close

you should also do the research so you understand it

you could even ask PPAL at cowboys to deal with it, maybe they would win (for a fee)

the choice is yours, personally I would appeal, twice , then ignore, meaning they would have to go to court and win to get a penny

its your choice, but believe me what happened on the day is irrelevant as we tell everyone else on here regarding parking invoices, especially the AIRPORT ones

the NEWBIES sticky thread contains all the relevant advice, so please read it

Ralph-y · 7 March 2015 at 4:33PM

you need to have a good read of the 'newbie' thread

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4816822

this will answer all your questions

including if you should appeal or not....
There are a multitude of threads re stopping at airports, have a look at them because they are all infact the same ........

You will learn about things like

it is NOT a fine ....

how can you be charged by a car parking company for stopping ?

how much of a joke the trade body that VCS use and the even bigger joke that is the appeals kangaroo court that they use ....

How can they use mobile camera vans on roads when the rules say that they must only be in car parks?

How can the DVLA give out your details for a non parking event ?

that this is a civil matter and that it will probably never go to court .....

Read through and then ask again if needed

Ralph:cool:

locknation · 8 March 2015 at 8:48PM

Thanks Redx and Ralph_y for taking the time to reply.

Before posting my own thread I did read the newbie thread, but to be honest I found it pretty hard to follow - the formatting is an absolute mess with links leading off to all corners of the site. I posted my own thread because I was hoping others in the same situation could help by offering some simple advice in layman's terms - I've spent a lot of time reading already and I'm not trying to 'avoid' putting in the effort to research myself, quite the opposite. As this is the first time I've ever dealt with anything of this nature, the language and acronyms make it hard to follow - I'm sure you can appreciate this.

I intend to appeal the PCN as suggested, and will use the template in the newbies thread. I also intend to contact the landowner directly (Peel Holdings - not the Peel Centre I've seen referenced) in the hope they are more likely to see reason and may be able to get the PCN cancelled.

I have not been able to find an example of any such letter written to the landowners - on the basis that they may be more reasonable, am I safe to write to them presenting myself as the driver (I know not to do this in my appeal to VCS)? Should my complaint to the landowner be akin to the appeal to VCS, or should I be leaning toward the 'mitigating circusmances' outlined in my original post?

Your advice is appreciated.

Thank you

Northlakes · 8 March 2015 at 9:05PM

Just follow what the experts have said. The landowner is receiving a 'commission' on every false invoice issued so is in on the act. Your appeal, however reasonable, will fall on the deafest ears.
These people are like the friends who E-mail you from Nigeria whom you have never known and of the same evil intent.

Redx · 8 March 2015 at 9:06PM

I decided this weekend that all advice on airports would be in this thread with links

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5191690

I know its JLA but RHA are similar as its VCS again, although I dont think its PEEL HOLDINGS but could be wrong and am happy to be wrong

Peel Holdings also own the Peel Centre in stockport too, and no they wont give a monkeys about your landowner appeal, they will fob you off to VCS like they always do

if you look in that thread (or almost any airport thread) , its the same advice , although some like Luton and Birmingham are apcoa and therefore BPA and POPLA, whereas VCS and EXCEL are now IPC and IAS (JLA and RHA)

acronyms are explained in the NEWBIES sticky thread, with a glossary of terms

bear in mind if you want to play football , you learn the rules and acronyms and terms, same with learning to drive too , so if your car runs on LPG you find out what it is, google is also marvellous for finding stuff out, if used

if your NTK is to the RK, your landowner appeal is as keeper , not driver , thought that was obvious, could have been me driving your car for all they know

I doubt that the driver got a ticket (invoice)

you were quite right in posting your own thread, no problem there, they are free after all

there is a sticky that is SUCCESSFUL COMPLAINTS, there may be letters in there, although it does seem that nowadays everybody wants templates and nobody seems able to write a letter , strange as I learned at primary and grammar school, but , hey ho

hope that all helps, as should the thread I linked to and the advice within that thread and the links

just ignore anything to do with the BPA and popla when researching this airport topic , so anything in the last 3 to 6 months only

Umkomaas · 8 March 2015 at 9:10PM

This is an IPC PPC and you're unlikely to 'win' on paper with the PPC or the IAS.

You should go through the motions of appealing to the PPC, using the NEWBIES FAQ sticky, then, on their almost guaranteed automatic rejection, appeal to the IAS, working on the basis of submitting ALL your evidence in one go (they won't take supplementary appeal stuff afterwards) and on the basis that you are presenting this to a judge. Use the POPLA appeal examples ( NEWBIES sticky, post #3) as an initial guide.

But don't expect anything favourable from the IAS - so save your real efforts should this come to a court case in due course.

We can't guarantee anything in terms of how this will progress, but, as yet, 18 months on, we are not aware of any IPC PPC taking anything 'to court'.

Ultimately, having gone through above steps, 'ignore' may well be your friend!

Umkomaas · 8 March 2015 at 9:14PM

I know its JLA but RHA are similar as its VCS again, although I dont think its PEEL HOLDINGS but could be wrong and am happy to be wrong

I agree Redx! Any name in front of 'airport' is not relevant, although 'airport' is relevant, if 'not relevant land'!

Ralph-y · 8 March 2015 at 9:37PM

Umkomaas · 8 March 2015 at 9:50PM

Yep, OPs need to understand that there's no 'silver bullet'/easy 'out' for this stuff, without putting in the 'leg work' themselves.

The regulars aren't here, on a voluntary basis, to do all the work to enable OPs to avoid their charges. The invoices are theirs, not those of the regulars, and effort on the OP's part is needed, with guidance from regulars.

In most cases, this combination will see a successful conclusion!

locknation · 9 March 2015 at 12:10AM

Thanks All for your further comments. I have drafted an email reponse to appeal to VCS. I have used some aspects of the template in the newbies thread, and other parts from similar claims on other threads. There is no mention of the POFA 2012 on the PCN, so i have not referenced this in my appeal .Have I missed anything that would help my case, or is there anything I have included which I should not have done?

PCN No: ??????????

Dear Sir/Madam,

As the registered keeper of the vehicle (at the above serviceable postal address), I wish to appeal against the above-referenced PCN on the following grounds:

1) The amount demanded is a disguised penalty, not a genuine pre-estimate of loss
2) The Terms and Conditions were not seen so no contract was formed
3) Suspicion that neither a landowner contract nor legal standing is in existence that enables Vehicle Control Services Ltd (VCS) to form contracts with, nor charge, drivers
4) Use of non-compliant ANPR 'hidden camera van' system at the location of the alleged contravention, which is not a car park

To expand on the above points:

1) The amount demanded is a disguised penalty, not a genuine pre-estimate of loss

The first 15 minutes at Robin Hood Airport short-stay car park are free. This duration was exceeded by the driver by approximately 10 minutes (approx. 25 minute stay in total) and the required fee of £2 was paid at the ticket machine within the airport to cover this additional duration.

The alleged contravention occurred on the approach road after exiting the short-stay car park, but it is reasonable to assume—given that VCS patrol the short-stay car park too—that any costs incurred by VCS by the driver breaching the Terms & Conditions on the approach road would be similar to the costs incurred had the breach occurred within the car park. The duration of the alleged contravention was less than one minute (as is evidenced by the timing on the first (far left) and third (far right) images shown on the PCN). A charge for damages must be compensatory in nature rather than punitive, and parking charges cannot include business costs that would occur whether or not the alleged contravention took place. VCS are demanding payment of £100 (discounted to £60 if paid within 14 days). This parking charge is excessive and is being enforced as a penalty that clearly does not represent a genuine pre-estimate of loss, and it is therefore unfair as defined in the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999.

I demand to see a breakdown of the cost calculations relating to this charge, given that all of the costs must represent a loss resulting from the alleged breach at the time. If VCS cannot show a genuine pre-estimate of loss that amounts to the full £100 demanded, then they have breached the BPA Code of Practice, which renders this charge unenforceable.

2) The signs were not seen so no contract was formed

You state that “The Terms and Conditions to which the Driver agrees to be contractually bound upon entering the site are clearly placed at the entrance to the controlled area and in prominent places throughout”. However, as is clearly evidenced by the first image (far left) and the third image (far right) shown on the PCN, there are no such Terms and Conditions to be seen anywhere near the location of the alleged offence. A straight section of road some 150 metres in length can be seen in these images, yet no signs relating to the Terms and Conditions are apparent, so to state that they are “in prominent places throughout” is clearly false.

Furthermore, if a contract is to be formed, upon entering the site a driver must be
able to read, understand and agree to the terms and conditions, yet the driver could not stop in order to read the signs on entering the site, as in so doing they would be in breach of the terms. As such, there was no consideration nor acceptance flowing from both parties and no contract was formed with the driver who could not read any signs on entering the site and saw no pertinent signs in the location of the alleged contravention. Any such contract with myself or the driver is therefore denied.

3) Suspicion that neither a landowner contract nor legal standing is in existence that enables Vehicle Control Services Ltd (VCS) to form contracts with, nor charge, drivers

As VCS are not the owners of this land, and as such cannot form a contract with the driver, I request VCS to provide me with a full unredacted copy of their contract with the landowner that allows them to form such a contract. A witness statement as to the existence of such a contract is not sufficient. I believe there is no contract with the landowner that gives VCS the legal standing to levy these charges or pursue them in the courts in their own name as creditor. If VCS fail to demonstrate their legal standing, the charge should be rendered unenforceable.

4) Use of non-compliant ANPR 'hidden camera van' system at the location of the alleged contravention, which is not a car park

The BPA code of practice, which VCS adheres to, contains the following:

''21 Automatic number plate recognition (ANPR)

21.1 You may use ANPR camera technology to manage, control and enforce
parking in private car parks, as long as you do this in a reasonable, consistent and transparent manner. Your signs at the car park must tell drivers that you are using this technology and what you will use the data captured by ANPR cameras for.”

VCS will need to explain how the secret camera van (or “Mobile Traffic Enforcement Cameras”, as you refer to it on the PCN) was compliant with the BPA code of practise when the location of the alleged contravention is not a car park, it is a road. In this instance, by patrolling a road, ANPR is clearly not being used to ‘manage, control or enforce parking in private car parks'. In addition, as explained in point 3, above, the Terms and Conditions at the site entrance could not be read by the driver, nor were any such Terms and Conditions apparent at the location of the alleged contravention. Therefore, the secret camera van has not operated “in a reasonable, consistent and transparent manner”, as the driver had no prior knowledge of the use of such equipment.

In addition to this appeal, please be aware that I will also be making an official complaint in writing to the landowner. From a consumer’s point of view, the tag-line on your website ‘Increased turnover, increased revenue, increased security’ only serves to reinforce the notion that your business model is more akin to a protection racket than a fair and reasonable ‘Vehicle Control Service'. The landowner will be made fully aware of this matter, which I will forward to their CEO when I complain in writing, as they should be thoroughly ashamed of the way you treat consumers visiting their premises.

I have kept proof of submission of this appeal and look forward to your considered reply.

Yours faithfully,

DSA Doncaster Airport Parking Charge Notice from VCS

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