Got a ticket whilst I was collecting my student parking permit

conrad0909

Hi there, It has now been 17 days since I was issued with this ticket.

Basically, It was my first day driving to college in my car as I had just passed my driving test. I had parked in the college car park and was going to go and collect my permit however I would of been late for my class so thought it would be okay just to delay it for a 1 hour and 20 mins.

After my lesson I went and got my permit and then went to my car to display it but I had already got a ticket.

My ticket is from F1rst PARKING.

The charge is for not displaying my permit, obviously.

I was wondering what is the best I can do in this situation?

Should I just ignore it, as they're private company and have no legal rights to take me to court, just ignore all the letters they send me?

Or will I be successful in appealing this ticket and how do I go about that?

Really appreciate any help I can get as this ticket is now £70 (stupidly didn't do anything about it in the first 14 days) and being a student this is a lot of money!

Jim_AFCB

You need to read the NEWBIES thread at the top of the forum. Read it carefully and take a little time to understand the issues involved.

They do have a legal right to take you to court if you do not pay or appeal, (so DO NOT ignore) however there are ways that you may well be able to kill this ticket.

Once you have read the Newbies thread, come back here with any further Qs

conrad0909

I had a read, so is this the template I should you use and email them, filling in the gaps?

Date


Dear Sirs

Re: PCN No. ....................

I challenge this 'PCN' as keeper of the car, on these main grounds:

a). The sum does not represent a genuine pre-estimate of loss, nor is it a core price term. It is extravagant and unconscionable when compared to local parking charges issued by the Council so cannot be justified.
b). As keeper I believe that the signs were not seen, the wording is ambiguous and the predominant purpose of your business model is to deter.
c). There is no evidence that you have any proprietary interest in the land.
d). Your 'Notice' fails to comply with the POFA 2012 and breaches various consumer contract/unfair terms Regulations.
e). There was no consideration nor acceptance flowing from both parties and any contract with myself, or the driver, is denied.

Your clients should be thoroughly ashamed of the shoddy way you treat consumers visiting their premises. Parking firms like yours fail to demonstrate even a basic understanding of customer service. The reputation of your business model appears to be more akin to a protection racket than 'parking management'. The public have no faith in the private parking industry and, as far as I have seen, your firm has not shown itself to be any different than the ex-clampers with whom you share a membership.

The purpose of this communication is:

1. Formal challenge
There will be no admissions as to who was driving and no assumptions can be drawn. As such, you must either rely on the POFA 2012 or cancel the charge. I suggest you uphold this challenge now or alternatively, send a rejection letter.

2. ''Drop hands'' offer
The extravagant 'parking charge' is baseless but I realise that you may have incurred nominal postage costs. Equally, I have incurred costs to date, for responding to your junk mail dressed up to impersonate a parking ticket. It is clear that my costs and yours, at this point, do not exceed £15. Therefore, this is a formal “drop hands” offer. I remind you of the duty to mitigate any loss, so withdraw the spurious charge within 35 days without further expense and I will not pursue you for my costs. If you persist then I will charge in full for my time at £18 per hour plus my out-of-pocket expenses and damages for harassment.

3. Notice of cancellation of contract
I hereby give notice of withdrawal from this alleged 'contract' which was never properly offered by you and certainly was not expressly agreed. This 'contract' is hereby cancelled and any obligations now end. If you offer - and if I decide to use - IAS or POPLA, then the contract ends immediately on the date of their decision (whatever the outcome) so my notice of cancellation still applies. The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation & Additional Payments) Regulations apply now to every consumer contract, save for a few exemptions, which parking contracts are not. Following the EU Consumer Rights Directive, express consent must be obtained for consumer contracts now - not implied consent. You have failed to meet these requirements and you did not serve the driver with the terms by durable medium.

By replying to the challenge you are acknowledging receipt and acceptance of points 2 and 3 above.

I have kept proof of submission of this challenge. I look forward to your considered reply within 35 days.

Yours faithfully,

Redx

if this was a windscreen ticket then you havent read the part in the NEWBIES sticky thread about wiating for the NTK (assuming the car is not hired, leased or a company vehicle)

but that template is used, and yes you fill in the gaps, like pcn number, date , name and address etc

they may well have legal rights to take you to court, you dont know if they have or havent as you have not seen any contract

neither have you said which region this was in either

conrad0909

OK thanks I had another read and I think I understand it a little better now.

So I should wait for this NTK, (Im guessing this a document which comes through the post?) and then I appeal using the template I posted?

conrad0909

also im in East Sussex

Redx

wait for NTK and appeal as keeper using the template letter (not revealing who was driving)

as its in england, you follow the procedures for england (dont assume the laws are the same in the 4 regions of the UK)

stator

Also write to the university parking department and ask them to contact the parking company and cancel your parking charge. Show them a copy of your permit and they might do it.