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Unfair Private Land Ticket/Fine
VoxPops
Posts: 1 Newbie
Hi,
I have only just come across this forum, so thought I would post my Parking Charge Notice here to see if anyone has experienced something similar and how they went about resolving their experience.
I'll get straight to it ...
Back in April 2016, I had decided to meet some people at a Country Park. Keen to make the most of the weather, I decided to go along with my partner. I had never been to the area, so was reliant on my in-built Car Sat Nav. As a side note, the Country Park was not recognised by the Sat Nav.
At the time of entering the car park, I was unsure if I was at the right car park. There was no clear entrance sign, no clear bay markings and I could not see any ticket machines. In fact, the land looked like a small overflow farm land with just one white transit van present.
As I was unfamiliar with the area, and unsure if I was at the right car park, I headed over to the Information Centre in the distance as I thought I could double check where I was and if I needed a ticket. The Information Centre was closed and upon arrival, I searched for any ticket machine. Turns out the ticket machine was partially covered in branches and hidden behind the white transit van. The time between arriving at the car park and the time in which I purchased a ticket, was between 10-15 minutes. I then purchased a ticket for an hour.
As I was leaving the Country Park, I walked past a woman with her Dog. Upon arriving back at the car, several other cars had turned up. One in particular who had parked in such a way that made it really difficult for me to leave the car park. As a result, I went back to see if the woman I just saw was responsible for the said car. As she was not, I had to slowly maneuver my way out. This resulted in me exceeding my time on the ticket by 10-15 minutes again.
I thought nothing of it as I had purchased a ticket set at £1 per hour. Nevertheless, I received a Parking Charge Notice through the post with an image of my vehicle from the Automatic Number Plate Recognition Cameras. Whilst the Car Operators claim to have sent the letter within 28 days, I cannot verify this as the letter was sent via standard Royal Mail and I was away from my address for 8 weeks+. Nevertheless, as soon as I found out about the letter, I called the land operator, who was not interested in hearing my explanation and rejected my offer of £10 (the additional £1 to cover the additional 30 minutes and £9 to cover any admin charges accrued). The land operator stated that I need to pay the fine of £90. She also refused to reveal my 10-digit POPLA Verification code so I was unable to make an appeal. The only advice she gave was if I had an issue, I needed to take it up with the land owner. I asked who the land owner was, and she declined to provide such details citing Data Protection. I have tried contacting the Council and the Park itself, both of whom have refused to reveal any details.
By now, the case was passed to the first Solicitors. When I emailed them, to discuss the matter, I received an automated response saying that they will respond within 28 days. On the 27th day, they responded saying that as the case was with them for more than 14 days without contact from me, that they have passed my case onto another Solicitors. By now, the fine had increased from £90 to £193.
I have tried to speak with the Solicitors but they refuse to answer any of my queries. They fail to acknowledge; that the ticket machine/signage was not clearly visible, bay markings were poorly set out, I was obstructed in trying to leave the Car Park and I attempted to make a payment initially but it was rejected.
Has anyone been in this situation before where they not only feel they have an unfair ticket (bearing in mind I purchased a ticket so it was not as if I tried to avoid paying for a ticket) but also the land operators have refused to release a 10-digit POPLA Verification code in order to make an appeal.
Out of curiosity, given that the hourly rate was £1 per hour and that I exceeded my ticket time by 2 x 15 minutes, do you think that a voluntary offer of £10 would be a fair offer? I was tryinf to show that I was not trying to avoid paying but to resolve the issue at its earliest point possible.
If anyone could share any positive experiences/outcomes on this matter, I would be greatly appreciative.
Regards
VoxPops
I have only just come across this forum, so thought I would post my Parking Charge Notice here to see if anyone has experienced something similar and how they went about resolving their experience.
I'll get straight to it ...
Back in April 2016, I had decided to meet some people at a Country Park. Keen to make the most of the weather, I decided to go along with my partner. I had never been to the area, so was reliant on my in-built Car Sat Nav. As a side note, the Country Park was not recognised by the Sat Nav.
At the time of entering the car park, I was unsure if I was at the right car park. There was no clear entrance sign, no clear bay markings and I could not see any ticket machines. In fact, the land looked like a small overflow farm land with just one white transit van present.
As I was unfamiliar with the area, and unsure if I was at the right car park, I headed over to the Information Centre in the distance as I thought I could double check where I was and if I needed a ticket. The Information Centre was closed and upon arrival, I searched for any ticket machine. Turns out the ticket machine was partially covered in branches and hidden behind the white transit van. The time between arriving at the car park and the time in which I purchased a ticket, was between 10-15 minutes. I then purchased a ticket for an hour.
As I was leaving the Country Park, I walked past a woman with her Dog. Upon arriving back at the car, several other cars had turned up. One in particular who had parked in such a way that made it really difficult for me to leave the car park. As a result, I went back to see if the woman I just saw was responsible for the said car. As she was not, I had to slowly maneuver my way out. This resulted in me exceeding my time on the ticket by 10-15 minutes again.
I thought nothing of it as I had purchased a ticket set at £1 per hour. Nevertheless, I received a Parking Charge Notice through the post with an image of my vehicle from the Automatic Number Plate Recognition Cameras. Whilst the Car Operators claim to have sent the letter within 28 days, I cannot verify this as the letter was sent via standard Royal Mail and I was away from my address for 8 weeks+. Nevertheless, as soon as I found out about the letter, I called the land operator, who was not interested in hearing my explanation and rejected my offer of £10 (the additional £1 to cover the additional 30 minutes and £9 to cover any admin charges accrued). The land operator stated that I need to pay the fine of £90. She also refused to reveal my 10-digit POPLA Verification code so I was unable to make an appeal. The only advice she gave was if I had an issue, I needed to take it up with the land owner. I asked who the land owner was, and she declined to provide such details citing Data Protection. I have tried contacting the Council and the Park itself, both of whom have refused to reveal any details.
By now, the case was passed to the first Solicitors. When I emailed them, to discuss the matter, I received an automated response saying that they will respond within 28 days. On the 27th day, they responded saying that as the case was with them for more than 14 days without contact from me, that they have passed my case onto another Solicitors. By now, the fine had increased from £90 to £193.
I have tried to speak with the Solicitors but they refuse to answer any of my queries. They fail to acknowledge; that the ticket machine/signage was not clearly visible, bay markings were poorly set out, I was obstructed in trying to leave the Car Park and I attempted to make a payment initially but it was rejected.
Has anyone been in this situation before where they not only feel they have an unfair ticket (bearing in mind I purchased a ticket so it was not as if I tried to avoid paying for a ticket) but also the land operators have refused to release a 10-digit POPLA Verification code in order to make an appeal.
Out of curiosity, given that the hourly rate was £1 per hour and that I exceeded my ticket time by 2 x 15 minutes, do you think that a voluntary offer of £10 would be a fair offer? I was tryinf to show that I was not trying to avoid paying but to resolve the issue at its earliest point possible.
If anyone could share any positive experiences/outcomes on this matter, I would be greatly appreciative.
Regards
VoxPops
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