Ex-Pat in USA, ParkingEye PCN received after appeal time

Esmillie

Hi all at MSE,

I have looked at the newbies page on this thread and read a few examples by searching parkingeye but am confused still.

I am from the UK originally and now live in the USA. I visited home in May and hired a car from Europcar. Whilst there I overstayed in a free car park; I was aware of the risk but got delayed as I was meeting up with people I hadn't seen in a year. We were in the free 2hr car park for 4hrs - my guilt here makes me think I should pay the £85. Notices were issued in June but as I was doing some contract work in NY I did not receive them until late August when I returned home to Virginia.

Below is a timeline of notices received and observations, any advice would be appreciated.

20th May - overstayed in ParkingEye managed car park (riverside retail park in Chelmsford) it was term time so not busy.
1st June - letter to Europcar who passed on my details to ParkingEye
8th June - ParkingEye PCN issued to USA
16th June - Europcar invoice issued to USA (admin fee of £36 automatically removed from my bank account)
12th August - PE final notice issued to USA
25th August - first two letters received/opened (returned from NY)
29th August - recieved final notice letter - this letter reference the Beavis case with no knowledge of my receiving letters or if I was trying to appeal

I noticed the final notice has a maltapost Plc stamp - not sure if this is relevant.

So I'm past the initial appeal process date and reduction date. I haven't contacted them yet as I wanted advice. I have checked the Europcar t&cs and although they didn't notify before removing funds it does imply they can in the t&cs.

So my question is pay up, appeal for reduction, or ignore?

Thanks for your help.

Redx

the t and c`s wont mention parking charge notices or invoices , only fines and penalties and suchlike , so you want to complain and get a refund , or a chargeback from your card co

it is NOT a "FINE" nor is it a "PENALTY" either , merely an INVOICE which wont be mentioned

PE cannot issue a "fine" or a "penalty" to anyone over here, not even the queen

you are out of jurisdiction of the english courts so can ignore PE

if you havent appealed within the 28 days from the pcn , then its too late to appeal, so again you can ignore PE or any debt collectors

hoohoo

I rented a car from Eurocar recently. The T&Cs allow them to charge an admin fee for parking FINES but not for parking CHARGES. You should therefore request a refund on this basis.

Coupon-mad

20th May - overstayed in ParkingEye managed car park (riverside retail park in Chelmsford)

Ouch, the car park in the Beavis case!

At least you are out of jurisdiction but I would suggest you must acknowledge these letters, state you were 'the hirer' and point out you are out of jurisdiction for the UK Courts so they should mitigate their loss and cancel the charge. Proof of spending should be attached but without saying which of you was driving. The reason for saying you were the hirer takes it fully away from Europcar and the fact you are responding, shows PE they are writing to a real person - if you ignore them completely, they might try bothering Europcar again who might pay it!

Either use the PE appeals page 'contact us' or email:

info@parkingeye.co.uk

..and NEVER use a ParkingEye car park in the UK. Take your business elsewhere in future, next time you are in the UK. Not joking! AVOID!

If you get a chance, place a stinking review on the retail park's Facebook page (not naming the driver, saying 'we' are horrified that 'we' got a massive parking charge demand from ParkingEye and we are astonished that you have not yet cancelled this contract after seeing poor Mr Beavis dragged through the courts for daring to shop at Staples and being held up by their faulty machine!

Oh, and if you have any bank statements showing purchases at the retail park, attach them to your ParkingEye response to give them a reason to cancel it quicker. And use those statements too, to complain to the retailers you used (Head Office contact us email).

Best to get it cancelled, confirmed by ParkingEye, then prove to Europcar it was cancelled - I think they then refund the £36 'admin fee'.

Fruitcake

The only thing you have to do , as already advised, is to get your money back from the hire company. If you paid by credit it charge you should notify the car provider that this is an unauthorised charge and you want it back.
You should also be able to show Europcar that private parking charges are NOT covered by their Ts and Cs because they are not mentioned.
Basically they hve committed fraud by deducting money that you do not owe, or were not made aware of when you hired the car.
The BVRLA guidelines tell them this so they are not following their own trade association's requirements.

Parking Lie can't take you to court so why on earth would you think about paying this scam charge? Do NOT pay them. Do not contact hem. They know they can't do anything but are hoping you are a mug and will pay up anyway.

Coupon-mad

They need to contact PE because PE may well try to take Europcar to court. If she is silent they will assume Europcar have lied about the hirer, she needs to come out as the hirer, fighting robustly, to remove Europcar from the equation and try to get the PCN cancelled.

Then claim the admin fee refund, as a final thing.

Esmillie

Thank you for the quick responses everyone. Very helpful. I shall contact PE and see what happens about getting it cancelled.

Coupon-mad

Remember you are the 'hirer'.

And do dig out any bank statements because they will cancel when people have spent over £30, in most cases. This could be quite easy but it is important not to let them have the excuse to contact Europcar again, hence IMHO, you do need to raise your head above the parapet.

Fruitcake

Europcar are BVRLA members. Even if this was a real parking fine, (which it is not) they have breached the BVRLA Code of Conduct, (Page 16) End of Rental Charges: -

Some charges may arise after the rental agreement has been closed -
parking or speeding fines and their related administration fees, for example.
In such cases the customer must be provided with supporting evidence and made aware of the amount before their nominated method of payment is charged.

(My bold highlights.)

CoC dated 31st March 2015.

Esmillie

Happy New Year, this is an older thread with a new update for those interested. I contacted ParkingEye at end of August stating I hadn't received letters until after appeal time and that I was out of jurisdiction being resident in the US, I asked them to desist communication. I had no acknowledgement of my response.

Today, 28th January, I received my forwarded post including a letter from DRP dated 6th January, once again well after their time limit to respond. It is I believe their standard letter asking for £145 within 14 days or else they are 'instructed to report back to ParkingEye Ltd with a recommendation to refer your case to our client's solicitor, to consider court proceedings against you.'

From further searching in this wealth of information I note the advice is to ignore the DRP as they cannot litigate. After 4 months without hearing anything I thought this was all done with!

twhitehousescat

with a recommendation to refer your case to our client's solicitor, to consider court proceedings against you.'


and your location / country is?