UKCPS ticket for leaving retail park

paul2louise

Wessjc wrote: »

Thank you for posting about your experience on this site. I have never used this site before and I only found it after Googling about Castle Marina Retail Park Parking Charges when I received a Parking Charge Notice on 27th December 2015 for doing exactly the same thing. I drive a company car so my options may be slightly different.
I have no intention of paying this unfair and unacceptable charge and your posts and those who have contributed to it so far will help me formulate my arguments and take the next step.

I havent heard back from the email i sent to lasalle the owners yet. Not sure if i had the right contact details. If anyone has any joy with this i would love to hear. I hope you have success with this unfair fight

nancy03

I'm interested in the outcome, did either of you pay the ticket? I'm also in the same boat and considering my options.

Coupon-mad

nancy03 wrote: »

I'm interested in the outcome, did either of you pay the ticket? I'm also in the same boat and considering my options.

Your options (which do not involve paying) are as shown in the 'NEWBIES READ THESE FAQS FIRST' thread. Top of this forum.

Get there by clicking 'GO' on the FORUM JUMP on the right of every page including this one, takes you to the top threads in one jump.

Wessjc

Quick update from me, the ticket I got was for a company vehicle so I am required to inform my employers as they are the registered keepers. Our Fleet Manager said pretty much the same thing that all the contributors here have, DO NOT PAY! The comment he had about the 'seen leaving site" was that they are entitled to regulate your parking but they are not entitled regulate your movements, and I think he has a very good point. He also advised me not to respond to UKCPS until they contacted the company. At the end of the day, this is an inovice query and it will be treated as such.

The facts are that I did park in Castle Marina and I did leave the site. However, I returned to the site 1 hour after leaving and I continued to shop in the retail park. I did not overstay the stated 3 hours and had I not received the ticket, I would have spent a considerable amount of money at Curry's and Ultimate Outdoors (both residents of the park and both businesses that I am now, regrettably, unable to do business with!). I guess it's Amazon and Cotswold Outdoor from now on ;-)

Yesterday, I received the Notice to Keeper that UKCPS sent to my employer and I have responded with the initial letter provided in the Newbies post. I will let you know what they say when I receive the reply. I presume that they will simply continue to make threats of court action but as of this moment, a day in court is something that I'm happy to go through. I'm not paying.

Wessjc

Paul2louise, I will update when I receive the response from UKCPS but a quick check on the Castle Marina Retail Park website shows the copyright as Savills and provides contact information to their Nottingham office for commercial rentals on the park.

Umkomaas

UKCPS are mildly litigious, but tend to 'specialise' in parking in a disabled bay without a blue badge. Since the Ibbotson case, I'm not aware of any 'leaving the site' case that has darkened the door of any county court.

Here's a bit of reading which covers many 'leaving the site' legal/contractual issues.

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=16231)

Coupon-mad

Wessjc, why did you not appeal when we told you to? There was no need to let your employers get involved at all. Post #41 told you where to find how and when to appeal and it was four weeks ago, you should have acted then. The NEWBIES thread tells you about when to appeal when it's a company car and it was following that PCN, not now.

He also advised me not to respond to UKCPS until they contacted the company. At the end of the day, this is an inovice query and it will be treated as such.

He is right and they will name you as driver now, but you have missed the chance to appeal as driver.

Wessjc

The reason for not getting the sending the letter sooner is academic now, I can't change that. Should I just pay the charge and be done with it?

Coupon-mad

No we almost never advise just to pay. Most cases never go to small claims, as Umkomaas says, UKCPS are only mildly litigious (= rare court claims and defendable - most cases never go that far).

If the owner company has named you as driver then you should hear from UKCPS, especially as you say 'I have responded with the initial letter provided in the Newbies post. I will let you know what they say when I receive the reply'.

So let us know but I can predict UKCPS will tell you that you were too late and had your chance to appeal when you had the PCN.

Still doesn't mean we tell you to pay!

Wessjc

Our company Fleet Manager advised me not to respond to the PCN until they received the Notice to Keeper. As I drive a company car, I am under certain contractual obligations to keep them informed of this kind of thing, so not involving them could hurt me more than anything UKCPS could throw at me. After I sent UKCPS the first appeal letter from the Newbies post (yes, later than I should have done, I know that now but hey, I'm a Newbie - that's what we do and that's why you have a Newbies post;-)) I also gave a copy to my MD. He loved it because he hates PCN's so if nothing else, a big thank you to the originator for that. This means that at the moment, I do have the full support of the registered keeper.
In the mean time, I contacted the owners of the Castle Marina Retail Park website to ask for the contact details of the owners of the site. The website clearly states "3 hours free parking" but makes no mention of any additional terms and conditions. A simple addition of text that costs the owners nothing but would have, at least for me, been enough to inform me of the "leaving the site" restriction.
It turns out that the Managing Agent is Savills, based in Manchester. The Director responded to me today and explained the reasons why the "leaving the site" conditions had been instigated. From a purely business perspective, I do have some sympathy for his position, but had I been reasonably informed of the condition at the time, I would not have parked on the site and I would not have received the charge.
I do not have a resolution yet but he asked me to send him a copy of the PCN and of the appeal I sent to UKCPS and I am grateful to him for taking the time to reply to me. He also asked for the details of any other customers of the retail park who are also unhappy to have received a PCN on this site. I will not post his details on a forum but please feel free to message me if you have also been caught out at Castle Marina and would like to complain to him.