Parking eye hospital staff

blueye

Hi, I received a parking notice for parking in a public car park instead of the staff car parks, for which I have a permit for.
I called the facilities administrator to ask them to cancel it and was informed that they couldn't as I should have emailed them to let them know I had no option but to park in the public space as there were no staff spaces left. I obviously was unaware of this rule as if I had know I definitely would have done this. (I've asked many other staff who regularly have to park in the public car park and they are also unaware)
Anyway they said I could appeal the charge so I did and I have been refused by parking eye....they have said I can appeal to POPlA ....but if I do the charge will not be reduced and so will cost £70 (more than my pay for the day!)
Basically I'm asking if anyone has had a similar experience and had there appeal accepted I don't fancy paying anything but I'd rather pay £40 than £70 .......also the time stamps are wrong they have me leaving at 11:50 when I didn't finish my shift until 1pm? Does it matter to POPlA if the time stamps aren't correct? Thanks in advance...sorry for the long post! 😊

Fruitcake

Did you appeal to parking lie as driver or keeper? Hopefully it was the latter.

Please read the Sticky thread for NEWBIES then construct an appeal using all the relevant template appeal points available from post 3 of said NEWBIES.
Yes of course you should state that the timings were wrong. This will come under the template point about ANPR accuracy. If you have any proof that the time stamp must be wrong then you must use that.
Post your draft appeal here for checking before you submit it.
The mugs discount is for mugs.

Also complain like mad to your supervisor, union rep, administrator, MP, Mrs May, and Andrew Jones MP. Tell the last 3 that their response will affect how you vote at the next election.
Also highlight this scam to the local press that tickets are being issued because of incorrect times on the unfit for use ANPR system that the UK Government has banned local authorities from using.

blueye

The only proof I would have that the times are wrong would be a screenshot of my roster which states the start and finish times of my shift, do you think this would be acceptable?
There's no point complaining to the hospital, they already said they can't cancel it because I didn't follow the rules I'm supposed to telepathically know. Because every Nhs worker is clearly superhuman ��

blueye

And the appeal was as the driver.

Half_way

But before you start complaining, post it on here, as you need to say the right things.
Also take a look at the NHS parking principles, you mention parking eye. a few Nhs sites boasted that the parking eye system is free for then to use as parking eye keep the money from "fines" with pay and display charges going to the hospital. Compare that to the NHS parking principles.
What hospital is/was it?

Fruitcake

blueye wrote: »

And the appeal was as the driver.

Unfortunately that means you can't rely on "no keeper liability" as an appeal point then. You should still appeal using all the other template points, especially the long "inadequate signage" point. You should take your own pictures of the car park entrance and signs, especially if they could be missed if the driver approached from a particular direction or navigated the car park in such a way that the signs would/could not have been seen.
Font size, clarity of wording, size of the parking charge etcetera are all important as well as location of signs. Were any hidden behind bushes, or high up on poles, or facing inwards at the entrance? The latter is a common trick in my opinion.

Get your union rep involved if you have one, and get other colleagues to complain in support as well.

blueye

Okay, it was at Macclesfield hospital, the signage there is pretty good, lots of it. I've looked at the picture evidence again, the images have a time stamp of 08:40 arriving i started my shift at 8 and leaving at 11:52...I finished at 13:00.
The images aren't actually from a car park camera but a road between mixed staff/visitor parking and visitor parking with staff parking at the bottom, (orthopaedics) so they only have evidence of my driving up and down this road not actually parking but as I've already admitted that I parked in visitor parking would this even make a difference?
Sorry for being stupid but I'm not quite sure what to write in this appeal, do I admit I breached the contract by parking in visitor spaces due to no staff spaces being available and then go on to say the anpr cameras are not correct, or do I just appeal on the grounds that the cameras are not correct and admit nothing even though I have previously to parkingeye?

Fruitcake

Admit to nothing. Use their evidence to rubbish their claim. Use all the relevant appeal points from Post 3 of the NEWBIES adding that the scammers have not provided any proof that you parked, only that the images show your car driving along an internal road.

You challenge the times. It looks like their clock may have been out by an hour, possible due to the change from GMT to BST.
If you have proof that you started work at 8 then you should include this. It could be your roster, a witness statement from your boss, a redacted hospital document with your name and time, anything at all to show you were elsewhere and could not therefore have been driving the car at the time, therefore their time stamp is wrong.

You also need your own images of signs and car park layout to show how signs could have been missed, hidden behind bushes, high up on poles etcetera.

What was the reason for the scammers issuing the PCN? You need to compare that with the wording of signs. You also challenge them on, not the landowner, no standing to bring charges in their own name, and use the long Inadequate signage point plus your own pics to back up your statement.

In addition, get your union rep involved if you have one, and have another go at the hospital admin.

Get stuck into the PoPLA appeals template and show us your draft before you submit it.

Coupon-mad

Read these posts about Macc NHS cases:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/71833461#Comment_71833461

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/71716629#Comment_71716629

and read this post by Redx:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/71118783#Comment_71118783

I have been refused by parking eye....they have said I can appeal to POPlA ....but if I do the charge will not be reduced and so will cost £70 (more than my pay for the day!)

We win at POPLA and often drive PE away fairly easily but you have not helped yourself by admitting where you parked because one main argument in a large Hospital car park with lots of different areas, is that the operator can't show where the vehicle parked/which signs were in relation to it. Even so, this is only actually about thirty quid difference, so surely worth putting together a long POPLA appeal as others have done in loads of cases (search the forum for 'POPLA NHS' and you will find loads).