Norfolk Parking Enforcement Ltd (NPE) charge notice

Sturg

Hi, I am totally new to this, so please forgive me if I seem a little naive. I have read through the Newbies section and tried to make sense of it-but still struggling. This is my scenario:

I parked in Norwich on Unthank Rd, in front of Hurns the Chemist, on 6th May. The reason I parked here was to take my 1 year old son, to the nearby GP surgery. He was very unwell with what I thought was chicken pox. I went to the GP, got a little delayed (as sometimes happens in GPs), came out with a prescription, went back into the chemist, queued, got prescription for my son, and left in my car. On 12th May I receive a 'Parking Charge Notice', with a picture of when I arrived (timed and dated) and when I left (timed and dated). I had been 55 minutes, 25 mins longer than the allowed 30 mins. I was not aware of this. I then, (stupidly I feel now), sent a letter of appeal, clearly stating that I was driving, my address, my reason for going and that the reason I was more than 30 mins, was due to my unwell little boy and the need for him to see a doctor. On 2nd June, I received another letter from NPE rejecting my appeal, with POPLA verification code. I have checked this and it appears to be valid, but I needed to appeal by yesterday (We have just returned from holiday and I forgot about the blinking thing!). My query now-should I just ignore all correspondence which are bound to come my way-or is it a question of missing the boat and I need to pay up. I feel vexed that I should pay, when I feel I had a valid reason to be at the chemist/GPs, but they do have clear signage which states you cannot stay longer than 30 mins. I have basically admitted I was wrong in my initial appeal letter. Reading through all the other threads I guess I shouldn't have done that - Doh! Any sound advice on what I should do now would be really appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Umkomaas

You are under no obligation to pay what is little more than a speculative invoice. Only a judge can place that obligation on you.

Your opportunity to appeal has been lost with POPLA, so you have two choices:

1. Pay, which you're not obliged to, and no one here would suggest you do, or
2. Ignore everything that comes your way from debt collectors (don't be worried about these, they can only send you letters). The only things not to ignore are a Letter Before Action from the PPC (or the landowner - unlikely) or stamped court papers. The PPC has up to six years to pursue legally, before being statute barred.

Do you know who the landowner is who contracted the PPC? You could try a complaint to them and ask them to intervene, especially given the circumstances surrounding your parking event.

Sturg

Thanks for the response and advice. I think I will sit it out and see what happens.

I don't know who the landowner is. It is parking in front of a row of shops and in particular the chemist. The signage just says it is parking for local businesses. Perhaps I should just write to the chemist? But doubt they actually own the land...

Umkomaas

Sturg wrote: »

Thanks for the response and advice. I think I will sit it out and see what happens.

I don't know who the landowner is. It is parking in front of a row of shops and in particular the chemist. The signage just says it is parking for local businesses. Perhaps I should just write to the chemist? But doubt they actually own the land...

But they might know who does. They also might know how others (and there will have been) have dealt with the PPC. You never know until you ask!

nigelbb

Personally I would attempt to appeal to POPLA. On 9th July the European Union Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Directive will come into force giving consumers up to 12 months access to ADR e.g. POPLA. It's only the PPCs who restrict the time limit within which appeals can be made. If this case were ever to come to court then you would be seen as reasonable in trying to use ADR rather than court & conversely NPE would demonstrate that the are being unreasonable by refusing access to ADR.

Grimble

Since this will be a CCTV camera and not a ANPR camera complain to the BPA.

Umkomaas

Grimble wrote: »

Since this will be a CCTV camera and not a ANPR camera complain to the BPA.

I suspect it may even be man on a bike with a smart phone camera!

Sturg

Thanks again everyone. Excellent advice. I will write to the Chemist approaching them on who owns the land. I will also appeal to POPLA, even though I am a couple of days late. Presume I follow one of the suggested template style letters?? I am not sure whether to do this or to just explain all the circumstances like I did before (i.e being delayed waiting for the GP to be free with a sick 1 year old etc etc), or whether they simply don't care about the actual reasons why I unintentionally overstayed the 30 min time limit. Really grateful all-so thanks again. Ps, think it was CCTV camera, as the shot looks like it like was taken from high up, perhaps roof of the chemist. I walked past today but couldn't see a camera anywhere.

Norwichpark

My advice is write to the chemist and cc the GP into the letter - Hurn Chemist have a log in to NPE's web site and actually receive 10% of the money from the ticket if you pay. The system also lets them cancel the ticket - all this information is on the our services page of NPE's website. If you cc the GP into the letter, the chemist, who work closely with the surgery will want to be seen to be doing the right thing if your story is genuine and will almost without a doubt cancel the ticket.

You should submit a POPLA appeal in any case - they do accept late submissions so do use this route. POPLA upheld 50% of cases against NPE last year and even if you lose, you are still under no obligation to give NPE a penny. The great thing is that whilst it is free for you, POPLA costs NPE £27 so make sure you use the code whatever. Whilst you can trawl forums which will help, you can also look at the last annual report from POPLA and model your appeal on a successful case and look up the BPA operators Code of Practice (all online) and refer specifically to each and every section where NPE have not adhered, in your appeal to POPLA.
With an hour's research you will almost certainly win at the POPLA stage. Not sure what hourly rate you make but it's probably worth it for you. Even if POPLA find in favour of NPE, do not let them fool you into thinking you are then under any obligation to concede to this con artist, you are not.

The_Deep

The worse that could happen is that they could make a claim against you in a small claims court. However, to get their money they would have to climb many mountains, standing, signage, evidential quality, loss, to name some, you hold all the cards in this game.

Sturg

NorwichPark-thanks for the advice to CC in the GP. I had thought about contacting the GP-asking for a letter of proof of my time of appointment and when I was actually seen, but held back as I didn't want to add to their workload. I did have a prescription for my son and sent a photo of this, and the made up medicine (with Hurn's sticker with my son's name and date of issue) when I originally appealed-NPE rejected it. But I can see that with just a CC to the GP, and main letter going to the Chemist it may nudge at their conscience!
I will try and do some research this eve re the POPLA appeal. It is hard to juggle research and a 1 year old but it's the principle that is important to me, as much as the money. They should accept genuine reasons for being 'contravening' their parking rules.