Excel Parking Charge Notice - Peel Centre

JerseyWise

I am looking for some assistance with a PCN received from Excel for parking at the Peel Centre in Stockport without payment of a fee.
I have received the notice as the registered. I know I was not driving as the car is used by my wife and as I am working in Jersey I was not even in the country at the time (we are seperated). Whilst I know my wife would be the driver as she suffers from depression I have not asked her yet if she did nor did not pay and whether she perhaps entered the wrong registration number (this would not surprise me).
As the registered keeper I am not sure what I should do next. Beside the fact my wife does not work I can clearly see from some of the many threads that these demands should not be paid and I have no intention of paying. All I am unsure of is my next steps - POPLA appeal, appeal to Excel, notify them who the driver is?
Any help is greatly appreciated.

Coupon-mad

Have a look at the NEWBIES FAQS thread near the top of the forum where you clicked 'new thread' and submit the IPC form appeal, in your name as keeper.

Also add to the template (important!) that you are certain and can prove that you 'were not driving as the car is used by other drivers* and as I am working in Jersey I was not even in the country at the time'.




*do not name or imply who was driving.

JerseyWise

Thanks. i'll give that a go and let you know how I get on

JerseyWise

I submitted the suggested form with amendments as suggested by email and received the following automated response:

Dear Sir/Madam

This is an automated acknowledgement to your CORRESPONDENCE regarding a Parking Charge Notice.
We will be responding to you within the timeframe specified on the Notice you have received (this will be either 28 or 35 calendar days from today) subject to the points listed under Important Notes below. However, as stated on the reverse of the Notice you have received, we require the following information in advance to enable us to process the matter further. If you have not already done so, please forward the PCN reference number (and, ideally, the Vehicle Registration number).

Please also provide the following information:
1. As applicable, either the driver’s or the keeper’s name (including Title, Forename and Surname) and their full serviceable postal address.
2. If you are appealing on behalf of the driver or the keeper, you must include a written statement signed by the driver or keeper confirming that you are authorised to act on their behalf together with your name and full postal address.
3. Full details of the reason for your appeal/challenge and mitigating circumstances along with any supporting information/evidence.
If you have already provided all relevant information, then please accept our apologies and ignore this email, as we will be dealing with your appeal/challenge and notification of the outcome will be sent to you in the timeframe specified in the Notice you received.

Important Notes:
a) If you are appealing a PCN, which was affixed to your vehicle and you have not provided the information stated above, it may be necessary for us to contact the DVLA for details of the vehicle keeper in order that we can establish the identity of the driver.
b) In order to retain the option of the discounted payment amount (should your appeal be unsuccessful), your appeal must be received by the Central Payments Office no later than 14 days from the Issue Date of this Notice.
c) If your appeal has not been received within the timescales set out on the Notice, it will be deemed out of time and as such declined UNLESS there are exceptional mitigating circumstances AND only at the company’s discretion.
d) Excel Parking Services Ltd cannot accept any responsibility for any increase in the NOTICE CHARGE should YOU fail to provide us with the requested information within 7 (SEVEN) days from the date of this email.
e) If you have already received a response from us informing you that your appeal had been unsuccessful, we will NOT respond to any further correspondence from you. Our letter would have informed you that our decision was final. As such, please disregard the information/requests referred to in the previous paragraphs of this email.

What we do when we receive a serviceable appeal/challenge:
Upon receipt of the required information we will place the NOTICEon hold while the circumstances surrounding the issue of the NOTICE are investigated and the Management team review the contents of your email. Once a decision has been reached; a letter will be issued to the motorist at the identified postal address conveying the outcome of the appeal/challenge. We will advise you in writing of any further course of action you should take, as deemed necessary to support your appeal/challenge. Should we require longer to deal with the matter than the timeframes set on the Notice you have received we will write to inform you of this within the timescale specified along with a date/timeframe by which we expect to confirm our decision.

All email correspondence should be directed to: CPO@excelparking.co.uk

Thank you for your co-operation.
Central Payments Office Excel Parking Services Ltd

This communication is only for the use of the addressee. It may contain information which is legally privileged, confidential and exempt from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient you must not read, copy, distribute or disseminate this communication or any attachments to anyone other than the addressee or use the information it contains. If you receive this communication in error, please inform us by replying to this e-mail. No responsibility is accepted by Excel Parking Services Ltd. for personal e-mails, or e-mails unconnected with the firm's business.

Coupon-mad

Oh, and you should also email the Peel Centre to complain that the driver (who is a member of your family but suffers from depression and was merely looking for a nice day out shopping) may have put the VRN in wrong or may have been victim of the notorious machine faults at the Peel Centre* but you are sure the driver would have paid.

Email for the Peel Centre is here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/71561742#Comment_71561742

complain that this is putting you off ever returning. You MUST do this because Excel will not cancel. The appeal will NOT cause them to give up, but a complaint might do.


*see the parking Prankster's blogs about the 'QQ' ticket printed out instead of the VRN.




P.S. There is no need to copy out the standard acknowledgement from Excel they've used for years. We do this all the time and don't need to see that auto-response again. We assume you DID give your postal address in the appeal, as per the NEWBIES thread instructions?

JerseyWise

I know it's been a while since my original post. i wrote to Excel and the landlord as suggested. The landlord and they simply advised that the parking was managed by Excel.
I have now heard from Excel and they have dismissed the appeal, citing that there are numerous signs displayed and that they have checked for similar registration numbers and not found any.
With regards the DP element of the advised letter their response is that I have failed explain or meet the requirements for a 'Section 10 notice' as i have not outlined that the processing of my information 'causes unwarranted and substantial damage or distress'
I now have until 11th January to pay £60, or it goes up to £100 and I can appeal to IAS.
I must say given the forum comments to Excel Parking it does not surprise me that they have declined my appeal as there does not seem any incentive for them to do otherwise.
My concern is that if i take a stand they will start taking recovery action and then the debt spirals and i end up with judgements against my name. Whilst I do not live in the UK anymore my 'wife' and children do and i don't want any unnecessary distress for them.

Unless there are any other ideas for getting this cancelled i am unfortunately inclined to pay.

newbutold

My mother is currently 3 years in to ignoring an invoice from Excel at the Peel centre. They still occasional write to her chasing the "debt", she files these letters in the bin.

Topcat_147

Just a quick note. I've just joined this forum and the first bit of advice was not to mention comments about drivers. You may wish to re read your original post and do a bit of editing. You never know who is reading your post

Coupon-mad

newbutold wrote: »

My mother is currently 3 years in to ignoring an invoice from Excel at the Peel centre. They still occasional write to her chasing the "debt", she files these letters in the bin.

Oh dear. For the love of God tell her Excel are suing the pants off people, you are here on this forum, have you missed all the Excel/BW legal Court claim thread?

Not joking. Open your eyes and be ready to defend this before she throws a court claim in the bin and gets a default CCJ... I am not telling her to pay it, but defend it. Stop relying on ancient advice to ignore these.

Coupon-mad

My concern is that if i take a stand they will start taking recovery action and then the debt spirals and i end up with judgements against my name. Whilst I do not live in the UK anymore my 'wife' and children do and i don't want any unnecessary distress for them.

None of that will affect your family and you will not get a CCJ if you defend this and it does not 'escalate and spiral' or result in a CCJ as long as you don't ignore court papers.

I would simply reply giving them your Jersey address and telling them you are a permanent resident there and this is your 'address for service' of court papers. Say they are not authorised to process the data held of the UK address the car is currently kept, not for the purpose of sending any further letters, because you are not there and to do so or to share that address with any agent or third party would be to breach the DPA.

Tell them to bring it on and if they want to take you to court you will prove you were not the driver and cannot be 'assumed' to be the driver either. Explain that you will not be attempting the kangaroo court of the IAS so if they want to try a claim against you as an absentee keeper who was not the driver then they can pay your costs including flights and lost day's wages, as your wasted costs to attend for a vexatious and unreasonable claim against a person who they cannot hold liable.

Is Jersey outside of jurisdiction from English Courts? Not sure - it's late! If it is outside jurisdiction, point that out as well.

hoohoo

JerseyWise wrote: »

I know it's been a while since my original post. i wrote to Excel and the landlord as suggested. The landlord and they simply advised that the parking was managed by Excel.
I have now heard from Excel and they have dismissed the appeal, citing that there are numerous signs displayed and that they have checked for similar registration numbers and not found any.
With regards the DP element of the advised letter their response is that I have failed explain or meet the requirements for a 'Section 10 notice' as i have not outlined that the processing of my information 'causes unwarranted and substantial damage or distress'
I now have until 11th January to pay £60, or it goes up to £100 and I can appeal to IAS.
I must say given the forum comments to Excel Parking it does not surprise me that they have declined my appeal as there does not seem any incentive for them to do otherwise.
My concern is that if i take a stand they will start taking recovery action and then the debt spirals and i end up with judgements against my name. Whilst I do not live in the UK anymore my 'wife' and children do and i don't want any unnecessary distress for them.

Unless there are any other ideas for getting this cancelled i am unfortunately inclined to pay.

Excel do not use keeper liability so you can appeal to the IPC
giving proof you were not in the country. They will then be forced to either cancel, or expose themselves as incompetent.

Once you have given this proof, if they continue you can sue for £250 for a data protection breach.