Parkingeye PCN on one of our leased company cars. Driver unidentified. Can we appeal?

easy

A vehicle which is leased by our company overstayed in a Parkingeye carpark at Morrisons Edgbaston recently (2 hrs 36 mins in a 2 hour car park). It is an £85 charge, discounted to £50 if paid in 14 days.

The leasing company has given our company head office details to parkingeye (and charged us a tenner for the privilege). Parkingeye have sent a PCN just in our company name.

As admin manager can I challenge the notice on the grounds that I don't know who was driving the vehicle on that day? - I haven't asked yet.

Whatever happens, I am going to remind all our staff that they become personally liable for such charges.

Fruitcake

Yes you can appeal but not on the grounds you have used above.

Please read the Sticky thread for NEWBIES then send the BPA template in blue from the keeper, in other words, from your company, not an individual. This assumes the company name is what appears on the vehicle V5 and the company address on the V5 is in England or Wales.

There is nothing stopping your drivers from appealing these scammers as the day to day keeper. They should never appeal as driver or reveal their identity. However, I think, but am not sure, it makes it more difficult for parking lie and the other parking scammers if the keeper is in fact a company.

Redx

you are best to read the section in that NEWBIES thread about leased vehicles, possibly adapting and sending the appeal template by edna basher

also read anything and everything on here that edna has said about hire vehicles and leased vehicles, that a company may not be liable , that the appeals are as keeper or as lessee (not driver) , that a company cannot be the driver , that there are mandatory paperwork requirements as far as the lease firm goes that PE should have sent with the NTK for POFA2012 to kick in

all sorts to read and digest , which is why edna basher is THE guru and you should read his stuff on here and over on pepipoo forums too (different christian name over there)

use a gmail account if signing up on pepipoo

not being the driver wont wash IF the PPC has followed POFA2012 to the letter

Edna_Basher

With leased vehicles, ParkingEye's Notices to Hirer never comply with Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 ("POFA") and so they will have already forfeited their right to hold your company liable as the vehicle's hirer.

Nonetheless, you still have to play along with ParkingEye's little "game":

1. Your company submits a letter of dispute (which can be done via ParkingEye's online "appeals" portal)
2. ParkingEye will (usually) reject this and will provide a POPLA Code with their standard 6 page letter of rejection
3. Your company then submits details of your dispute to POPLA (assistance will be available from this Forum)
4. ParkingEye will then (usually) leave it until 20-21 days after your submission to POPLA before advising POPLA that they do not wish to continue and have cancelled the charge. Occasionally they prolong the process by submitting an evidence pack for consideration by POPLA (you can cross that bridge in the unlikely event that the case gets that far).

Here's an example of a simple initial letter of dispute for a company to send to ParkingEye.


Dear Sir,

Formal Dispute: Parking Charge Notice [xxxxxx/xxxxxx], Vehicle Registration [AA11ABC]

We refer to the above Parking Charge Notice (“PCN”) issued by ParkingEye Ltd (“ParkingEye”) to our company [ABC Ltd] (“[ABC]”) in respect of an alleged contravention of the terms and conditions of parking at Morrisons, Edgbaston by the driver of the above-detailed vehicle on [Date of Incident]. We confirm that this vehicle is on long term lease to [ABC] and that [ABC] is its hirer for the purpose of Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (“POFA 2012”).

We write to formally dispute the validity of this PCN for the reasons detailed below.

• ParkingEye’s Notice to Hirer did not properly comply with the requirements of the POFA 2012 and consequently, it has forfeited any right to hold [ABC] liable;
• ParkingEye is not the landowner and do not have the standing to offer contracts to drivers nor to bring a claim in its own right and;
• the signage in the car park was not sufficiently prominent nor sufficiently clearly-worded to form a contract with the driver.

Please provide within timescales specified under the British Parking Association Ltd Code of Practice, written confirmation of ParkingEye’s acceptance that it cannot and does not hold [ABC] liable for this charge. Alternatively, should ParkingEye still believe that it has a valid claim against [ABC], please provide us with a unique POPLA reference so that we may escalate our dispute to POPLA.

Thank you for your cooperation and we look forward to receiving ParkingEye’s notification that this charge has been cancelled.

Yours faithfully,


[Insert squiggle as signature]


Fleet Management Department,
[ABC Ltd]

easy

Good afternoon all
I sent an appeal in accordance with Edna's instructions, and i have today received a letter from ParkingEye telling me that the appeal is unsuccessful, as expected.

I know I'm at risk of sounding like a numpty, but I would be grateful for any further advice regarding my submission to POPLA please.
I'll look very red-faced in front of my directors if the appeal doesn't come off, and the company has to pay the full penalty.

Thanks in anticipation.

Redx

check the templates in the NEWBIES sticky thread for a start

then check any RECENT (last 12 months only) lease/hirer threads where POPLA is mentioned, especiallly any where edna or coupon has commented

then post the draft on here with NO references or personal info, add them in later

Coupon-mad

NEWBIES thread post #3 has the POPLA templates in it. Start with a point about 'no hirer liability' though, based on Edna's wording from that first appeal.

Parking Eye can't hold a hirer liable but it is just a case of making sure POPLA see that, then add the usual other template POPLA appeal points underneath.

easy

Thanks Coupon-mad, I'll try to go through that in the morning.