Premier Parking Solutions ticket - advice needed

devoncrazylegs

Hi everyone.

Need some advice if possible?

My girlfriend and I parked in Exeter town centre last Monday 14th March. We paid for 2 hours and went into town. On return (well within the 2 hour time-frame) we discovered a bright red ticket stuck to the side of her car. After initial confusion it would seem they gave us this ticket as this space was a 'reserved' space for South West Water. This was not clear when we parked in the space and is only clear by a small 'reserved' sign on the wall. There were plenty of other spaces in the car park when we parked so it wasn't a case of parking in that space due to lack of other space.

I have already emailed them from an ambiguous email address appealing this but I have not provided any names, address or anything that could link it back to myself or my girlfriend at this time. I understand even contacting them may have lost me some ground already but I was unaware of this at the time. I explained that we bought a valid ticket for the car park and therefore they have no grounds to offer a penalty.. I also provided a picture of our parking ticket. I still have this in my possession.

Here is the first email I sent them:

Dear Sir/Madam,

You issued me with a parking ticket Monday 14/03/2016 and believe the ticket was unfairly issued and I will be appealing it for the following reasons.

I actually purchased a ticket for this car park and returned to the car within the 2 hour window that we had paid for. Please find a screenshot of the ticket attached to this email. The reason for the ticket is 'unauthorised parking' which we are unclear as to what this actually meant. There were plenty of empty spaces in the car park and we were parked well within the allocated space.

Also, regardless of what the charge is for, the fee is completely disproportionate to the offence. According to the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations, parking charges on private land must not exceed the cost to the landowner during the period the motorist is parked there. In my case, the £60 / £100 charge you are requesting far exceeds the cost to the landowner, charged at £1 per hour. I find this fee to be completely ridiculous, considering I had purchased a valid ticket and breached no time limit.

This is my only method of correspondence so please contact me though this emai; address.

Yours sincerely,

They have since responded saying they need the drivers name and address and will not be able to proceed further without this. I responded with this template I found on here and again have not provided any name or address.

Dear Premier Parking Solutions,

Re PCN number: 1067260

I am not ignoring your charge for a purported parking infraction. As this is purely a charge (not a statutory penalty) issued under a purported contract and the driver has not been identified, I require the following information so that I can make an informed decision:

1. Who is the party that contracted with your company for the provision of their services? I require their contact details.
2. What is the full legal identity of the landowner?
3. As you are not the landowner please provide a contemporaneous and unredacted copy of your contract with the landholder that demonstrate that you have their authority to both issue parking charges and litigate in your own name.
4. Is your charge based on damages for breach of contract? Answer yes or no.
5. If the charge is based on damages for breach of contract please provide your justification of this sum.
6. Is your charge based on a contractually agreed sum for the provision of parking? Answer yes or no.
7. If the charge is based on a contractually agreed sum for the provision of parking please provide a valid VAT invoice for this 'service'.
8. Please provide a copy of the signs that purportedly were on site which you contend formed a contract with the driver on that occasion.

If you believe you have a cause of action, send a Letter before Claim within the next 21 days and I will take advice and will respond. I am still unclear as to what this ticket has been issued for as you can see I purchased a valid ticket and returned before the end of my paid timeframe.

In my opinion, there is a better alternative than legal proceedings, namely that we utilise the services of a completely independent ADR service suited to parking charges. This does not include the IAS appeal service - which lacks any transparency and possibly any independence from the IPC - unlike the alternative offered by the British Parking Association, POPLA, which is transparent and has been shown to be independent.

Do not send debt collector letters and do not add any costs or surcharges. I will not respond to those, so to involve another firm would be a failure to mitigate your alleged loss. In any case, the addition of any debt collector 'costs' is not my liability because the POFA 2012 can only potentially hold a registered keeper liable if certain provisions have been met and even then, the 'amount of the parking charge' is the only amount pursuable.

Yours faithfully,

I understand I should have referenced these forums before responding but hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Is anyone able to offer any advice here as to my next move?

Thanks

Ralph-y

HI and welcome to the forum .......

have a read through the newbies thread

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4816822

it will explain much .....

and point out where you have gone wrong so far

The delightful company you have the pleasure of dealing with are part of the BPA, and as such can be taken to and beaten at POPLA

conformation will be along soon ...... but I suspect that you will have to complain to the BPA that they have not offered you a POPLA code when you appealed.......

and

demanded you name the keeper .....

tut tut tut ......

have a good read and wait for further comformation ....

good luck

Ralph:cool:

devoncrazylegs

Thanks for your reply!

I checked the list on the BPA and they weren't on there but I see on their website they say they are in their 'Why choose us' section.

I had a read through that newbie thread and found it quite over-whelming so that's why I started a thread. Apologies. I'll have a read again.

Thanks

Redx

post #1 , read the bit about appealing as KEEPER using the blue text template around day #25 , with pcn number, name of keeper , address of keeper

this is what SHOULD have been done , this is what should stilll be done if you have not inadvertently appealed as driver with name and address

stop being hasty , try to be smart, spend more time reading and re-reading that NEWBIES thread, until you understand it , properly, use a laptop, not a phone or a tablet

all the stuff you have done up to now was useless and stupid, so start being smart and follow the best free advice on the net, from the newbies sticky thread

devoncrazylegs

As stated in my original post, I have not given ANY personal details and simply used the words 'I' in my correspondence (the two emails posted in #1).

And also as stated, I know I acted hastily but I also stated this in post #1. I discovered this afterwards. This is why I am now asking for what my next move should be.

I will read through that thread. Can I follow up with that BPA member template now to get a POPLA code? I have not given any information away.

Redx

I know what you stated, but I was being thorough

if you have not given any details away in your hasty emails so far, as you have stated above, then stop paddling , retreat , regroup and send the blue text template around day 25 , with the keeppers name, address , pcn number and VRN on it

do nothing else in the meantime, unless you can get a landowner cancellation

devoncrazylegs

Ok. thankyou for your help.

So, just to clarify, as this ticket was issued on the 14th March, 2016 I need to wait until the 8th April and then send that template with all relevant information?

Thanks

Redx

if that date is about 25 days after the incident , yes , I will let you work it out though

MR.A

Hi devoncrazylegs,

PPS switched to IPC on 1/3/16 but many of their signs still say that they are BPA members. Not sure whether this can be argued as an incorrect contract but you won't be able to appeal to POPLA it'll be IAS and they're DEFINITELY not independent! Sorry to break the news to you.

Perhaps one of the experienced members can advise whether a contract is formed if they display the incorrect trade body on their signage. Might be to your advantage.

Redx

MR.A wrote: »

Hi devoncrazylegs,

PPS switched to IPC on 1/3/16 but many of their signs still say that they are BPA members. Not sure whether this can be argued as an incorrect contract but you won't be able to appeal to POPLA it'll be IAS and they're DEFINITELY not independent! Sorry to break the news to you.

Perhaps one of the experienced members can advise whether a contract is formed if they display the incorrect trade body on their signage. Might be to your advantage.

mmmmmmmmmmmm, in that case the OP needs to follow the IPC advice, followed by the IAS advice , in that NEWBIES sticky thread, sending the IPC template around day 18

Coupon-mad

devoncrazylegs wrote: »

I have already emailed them from an ambiguous email address appealing this but I have not provided any names, address or anything that could link it back to myself or my girlfriend at this time.

No idea why anyone (even without research) would think there is any point in emailing an 'appeal' with no name on it...odd. How on earth do you think a PPC can deal with it? They can't. They'd still get the keeper's data from the DVLA so that was a waste of time. Also I didn't think you could email an appeal to PPS? That's not an option is it, on the PCN? I think you can submit one online on a webpage but thats not an email.

So pretend that never happened and start again with the IPC version appeal from the NEWBIES thread and you could add 'Please explain why your signage alleged BPA AOS membership and as such, I expect you to send me a POPLA code accordingly.' Submit that (the template IPC appeal plus that extra question at the end) on their webpage I think they mention on the PCN.