Received private parking ticket while parked on public highway

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Hi,
I have today received a private parking ticket from Devon Parking Agency whilst parked on a public highway. My understanding was that private parking tickets can only be issued in respect of parking on private land - am I wrong about this?

Should I still follow the normal advice for challenging private parking tickets? Even if they had no authority to issue a ticket in the circumstances?

enfield_freddy

is this not Devon County Counsil?


can you scan and host the ticket , or give more info , for example , who do you pay the "fine" to? what is the name , address , phone or email?


edit is it this lot:


pay your ticket by phone on 0345 155 1075
write to Parking Services, Devon County Council, County Hall, PO Box 811, Exeter EX1 9WA, using the payment slip at the bottom of your Penalty Charge Notice
pay in person at Devon County Council offices at County Hall, Exeter (Mon to Fri, 9am to 4pm)


if different , please say what it is

Redacted

No, it's not Devon County Council. They wouldn't be the relevant council anyway, as we have a city Council.

The payment must be made either online at https://www.devonparkingagency.co.uk or by calling 0843 289 1657. This differs to the details published on my local council's website. No address is given on the notice, and it's called a parking charge notice not a penalty charge notice.

It says appeals should be submitted to appeals@devonparkingagency.co.uk. It has the BPA logo on it but also says if your appeal is unsuccessful you can appeal to an independent appeal service (IAS) rather than saying you can appeal to the Ombudsman Services Ltd.

enfield_freddy

well they don't seem to be listed


http://www.theipc.info/aos-members


http://www.britishparking.co.uk/approved-operators




are you sure there is a BPA logo ?


if so is it


http://www.etparking.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/aoslogo.gif




or


http://www.ccscollect.co.uk/images/ila-british-parking-association.jpg

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It's almost identical to the second link, except it just says British Parking Association, not member of the British Parking Association. My gut says scam but I'm not 100% sure. I'm thinking I should call the Council in the morning.

enfield_freddy

the second photo is to show that they are corporate members of the BPA , just like my local counsil and yours will be. this does not give them the right to issue private tickets


the round logo indicates that they are a member of the BPA ATA


IF you are adamant that this is not a counsil ticket and there is no reference to counsil parking offences , then I would say to ignore it, the reason being , that all companies that issue PRIVATE parking charges , must be a member of an approved ATA in order to access the DVLA database,


so , do not ring or write and see if they follow this thru.


I would also suggest asking on the counsil ticket section at pepipoo http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?act=idx




they will however want to see a scan of the ticket with your info blanked out

Parkie

Interestingly (or not!) their website says
"We also work with government or council officials to enforce parking regulations on public roads or parking areas"
and
"Clamping and PCN's can both be used for contravening the conditions of parking" under a picture of a Penalty Charge Notice NtD

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It's definitely not from the Council - they're not cited on the ticket anywhere. I don't have a scanner, so I don't think I can get a blanked out copy uploaded.

I have just read the terms and conditions from their website though, and found this paragraph to be telling:
6.2. Enforcement Legality
All PCNs or Enforcement Payments issued by DPA are requests ONLY and do not hold a legal requirement to be paid. Any payment by the Client(s) are at the Client(s) discretion.
Devon Parking Agencies website ensures the Client(s) should read all Terms and Conditions provided before using any service provided by DPA including, but not limited to, the payment gateway used to pay any PCN or Enforcement Action. If Client(s) do not read the Terms and Conditions before using any DPA service, DPA cannot take any responsibility for loss of monies because of this. Monies paid by any other method provided by DPA are also covered by these terms of service. The PCN or Parking Charge Notice issued by DPA is NOT a Penalty Charge Notice issued by a council nor a notice issued by the police and does NOT hold the same legal enforcement standards. The Client(s) agree that any payment to Devon Parking Agency is classed as a donation to the company instead of a legal required payment.

I'll definitely be calling the Council tomorrow.

Thanks for your help.

enfield_freddy

yup looks like a scam , and a BPA corporate member at that ,


can you not photo it with your phone , copy to MS paint and black out your name and reg number , and upload to tinipics etc ,




edit: come back if you get any mail thru the post , as they must have got your info from somewhere , and somewhere is in deep *hit

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Parkie wrote: »

Interestingly (or not!) their website says
"We also work with government or council officials to enforce parking regulations on public roads or parking areas"
and
"Clamping and PCN's can both be used for contravening the conditions of parking" under a picture of a Penalty Charge Notice NtD

Thanks Parkie. I'm going to call the Council tomorrow, but having just read through their full T&C's, I think they may be self-appointing themselves to help the Council -

4. Parking Charge Notices (PCNs)
Devon Parking Agency issue Parking Charge Notices, these although similar are NOT Penalty Charge Notices (see 6.2 for relevant details). Throughout these Terms and Conditions the Parking Charge Notices will be referred too as 'The PCN' or 'PCN' or 'PCNs'. PCNs are issued by CEOs of Devon Parking Agency upon vehicles which are witnessed for a period of time OVER 5 minutes (Can be exact to 5 minutes and 1 second) to be parked in contravention of the advertised conditions on property we own, lease or have been contracted to patrol OR to be parked unlawfully against 'The Highway Code, Waiting and parking section (238 to 252)' on any street, land or area being patrolled by a CEO of Devon Parking Agency.

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enfield_freddy wrote: »

yup looks like a scam , and a BPA corporate member at that ,


can you not photo it with your phone , copy to MS paint and black out your name and reg number , and upload to tinipics etc ,

Can I do that on a tablet? Sorry to sound dumb.