Unfair parking fine from Civil Enforcement Ltd

Robzob

At the beginning of May we parked in a private car park in Cleethorpes. Just over a month later I received a ‘Parking Charge Notice’ in the post, from Civil Enforcement Ltd, the reason being ‘Payment not made in accordance with terms displayed on signage’. I knew full well we’d bought a ticket and displayed it, and luckily still had it which was rare with it being over a month ago. I appealed this and sent a copy of the ticket. I knew full well we had left well before the ticket had expired too.

My appeal was rejected and referred to POPLA, still with no clarity why I’d been charged. A few weeks later I received an e-mail with ‘evidence’ from Civil Enforcement Ltd. This showed time stamped cctv photos showing my car driving into and out of the car park, which actually backed up my claim that I’d left within the allocated time. There was also a list from the ticket machine from a few hours of the day we’d parked there, which showed the reason they’d fined us. It looked as if the machine had the option to enter the full vehicle registration as it had a full keyboard, however we’d only entered the digits ’60’ from the registration. They’d easily identified this as my car however including the £2 fee we’d paid. Further down the list someone else had done the same thing so presumably received a PCN too. I imagine this is happening multiple times a day. I’ve never come across a machine asking for the full vehicle registration before.

Looking at signage I did meet all terms and conditions on the signage, which is what they’re now claiming I didn’t, and the reason I should pay the £100 fine. On the machine it simply stated ‘Enter reg number.’ and allowed us to enter two digits before issuing the ticket.

I appealed to POPLA and they’ve again rejected my appeal. They’ve clearly identified my car and the fact I’ve paid the correct parking charge, and left before the ticket expired. Civil Enforcement are clearly making a lot of money from this as it’s not at all clear, and not right they should be charging anyone who doesn’t enter the full vehicle registration. Surely the machine shouldn’t issue a ticket if a full registration isn’t entered, or it should be clear you need to enter the full registration?

Anyway they’re now expecting me to pay the £100 fine which I have no intention of doing. Does anyone have any advice on this?

Quentin

It's not s fine!

You are now in the ignoring stage.

Ignore everything except court correspondence.

If you do get a court claim then come back to the newbies FAQ thread for advice on how to defend a Claim

Coupon-mad

appealed to POPLA and they’ve again rejected my appeal

What a wasted appeal/what a shame. If the registered keeper had come here at the start and followed the forum advice, sent the template first appeal, CEL would have likely cancelled immediately. Or the keeper could have won at POPLA by saying the Notice posted was not capable of holding a keeper liable (because it wasn't). And pointing out that the driver had not been identified (because you would not have said!).

Sounds like you appealed as driver about 'what happened' which is the last thing to do. A shame but not the end of the World. You missed the chance to win at POPLA by not researching how to win. But we do also win and see off CEL when they try court claims too and you are here on this forum now, so you can win at that stage instead (or at least make a concerted effort).

Only mugs pay. No reason to do so, you don't risk a CCJ or anything as long as you do not ignore court papers/deadlines if you get a claim and defend. Even a lost, defended case gets no CCJ or effect on credit rating (as long as the Defendant then paid). CEL claims are quite weak, among the easier ones we see here. Worth fighting.

Come back if you get court papers or a Letter before Claim from CEL/Mr Schwartz. To see examples of cases well defended and discontinued by CEL after court papers, search this forum board for 'Schwatrz'.