Parking Eye parking fine - Radisson Blu Durham

vwass07

Advice please.

I received a parking charge notice from Parking Eye on the 10th October, referring to parking on the 5th October. They originally accused me of not displaying a ticket at all and entering the car park at 9:35 and departing at 14:49 (5 hours 14 minutes). Luckily I still had the ticket so without doing any research I just clicked on the appeal from their site and sent off a scan of the ticket for 5 hours coverage.

This morning I have received a letter of unsuccessful appeal due to there being insufficient time paid for the date of parking. Yes I was 14 minutes over (prob due to packing etc, and 3 minutes before I even got the ticket) and it quite clearly states in the original notice ' the maximum free stay authorised is 0 hours 15 minutes). I've got in touch with the Radisson this afternoon who are going to try to get them to reconsider, but should I start the appeal with POPLA in the meantime? Apparently as a gesture of goodwill they have extended the discount period for a further 14 days from the date of this correspondence(!) (dated 30th October and received this morning 5th November). #60 if I pay now or #100 if I wait. Think the amount is totally out of proportion. If I paid for 3 days in the car park the cost is only #15 so 60 for 14 minutes????!! A bit miffed is an understatement. I work next door to the car park and only used it as a last resort as all the other car parks were full.

salmosalaris

What is the entry time on the PCN ?
What is the time on your ticket ?

Redx

yesterday the Supreme Court ruled in their favour and decided its a reasonable amount

read the Newbies sticky thread and appeal it to popla

the "parking time" is less than "time on site" and there is a 10 minute grace period to leave the site (clause 13), never mind the entering the site, parking up time and getting the paid for ticket

so plenty of appeal points, so start drafting your popla appeal in case the retailer doesnt get the charge dropped

Northlakes

Check with the Durham City planners if PE have express consent for the signage at the car park.

This can be also be checked online.

At Morrison's the PE signs are quite large and are greater than 57 cms x 57 cms 0.3 sq metres. Anything greater than this requires consent.
Whereas the new signs at Aldi are far smaller and probably don't require consent.

Failure to have this consent (if required) is not only unlawful but against the BPA code of conduct.
These rules only apply if the car park is visible from the public highway so it doesn't fit all cases.

vwass07

Thanks everyone

PCN entry time 9:35:01
Time of ticket 9:38

Any idea where I can check about the signage? Would this apply the the whole sign inclusive of parking charges. If so it's definitely bigger than 57 cms.

Guys_Dad

Their notice will refer to PARKING, not time on site. This is your key defence point. The ticket time is when you actually parked as you were not able to leave the car till the ticket was displayed.

Northlakes

Looking on 'Streetview' the PE signs are the standard PE ones and in other cases these have required consent.
It's usual that PE don't bother about minor legalities.

It's just another argument in your POPLA appeal.

salmosalaris

And your other major appeal point is that you entered into a straightforward commercial contract with PE , not the mumbo jumbo agree to leave deterrent contract as per Moloney, theCoA and SC . Your case is easily distinguished from Beavis .
Up to you
I'll happily draft you a POPLA appeal but don't blame me if it loses !
These are new times

vwass07

Just been back to car park to take some photos of the boards, unfortunately the car park isn't visible from the side road and only round the back of the hotel so I don't think I can pursue down the signage route. It quite clearly states in big capital letters that Up to 15 mins is FREE so I don't figure out how they can charge for a time less than this? Has me baffled how they can overturn the appeal.

Just been looking on the internet and I have seen a company called

appealparkingticket.co.uk

Any idea if they are any good, they say that if it is unsuccessful they will pay. Prepared to pay £16 if they can help.

Thanks

Redx

generally speaking, the one people tend to mention is PPA via the parking cowboys website, which has regulars from here running it and costs £18 if they take on your case

I wouldnt try any others myself (like the one you mention), but its your choice

on here, we recommend you do this yourself

remember that the signage has to comply with the CoP of the AOS involved (BPA or IPC)

most signage does not comply, so its not about what you determine, but if it complies in colours , font sizes etc

vwass07

I have now had a response from POPLA to let me know that they have now received Parking Eye Ltd’s case file. I have e-mailed Parking Eye and received a copy this morning.

I now have seven days from the date of this correspondence to provide comments on this file.

I have had a look through and the following has been submitted by PE:

Date/Time in 5/110/15 09:35:01
Date/Time out 5/10/15 14:49:29
Time Allowed 0 hours 15 minutes 0 seconds
Time In Car Park 5 hours 14 minutes 28 seconds
Time Paid For 5 hours

This clearly is within my favour as 15 minutes is allowable, however, they then go on to say:

'By parking, waiting or otherwise remaining within this private car park, you agree to comply with these terms and conditions and are authorised to park, only if you follow these terms and conditions"
"If you fail to comply, you accept liability to pay the fee for unauthorised parking"

ParkingEye operates a grace period on all sites, which gives the motorist time to enter a car park, park, and establish whether or not they wish to be bound by the terms and conditions of parking. These grace periods are sufficient for this purpose'.

This indicates that the 15 minute grace period is only allowable for the first 15 minutes of entering the car park, yet within all the signage that they have used as evidence against me I can't see anything that states this, I would assume that it should say 'First 15 minutes is free', but it clearly states on the signage 'Up to 15 minutes free'. The small print on the sign is illegible on their submitted scanned images.

I requested that the Radisson send an e-mail which they did, but this has not been submitted with their evidence. I have spoken to the Radisson this morning, who have stated that they did send the e-mail off but on querying it further they believe that it is the FIRST 15 minutes. They can send me an e-mail to shows confirm that this was sent to PE and I was within the allowable time, this can help as evidence for my appeal to POPLA but this is obviously why it has been dismissed by PE. Due to this does anyone advise me pressing this any further or finally just giving in and paying the fine.

Any suggestions? Thanks