HELP - parking fine at hospital I work at

Shadk

Dear MSE community,

I received a PCN whilst a new work place in Oxford's Churchill Hospital. I am a staff member and pay a monthly premium of £60 to park on site.

On 10th April and 11th April I received a windscreen PCN for parking in the car park but 'casuing an obstruction'. I must admit that whilst having looked for some time for a parking space and being unable to find one - I did indeed park outside of a bay along with 5-10 other cars which I have taken a picture off. I was closest to a fire entrance but again pictured myself NOT obstructing it. The ticket itself and none of the signage around the car park mentions them being members of the BPA or any other such regulatory body

30 days later I received the letter from Trethowan solicitors acting on behalf of the hospital.

I am going to make a formal complaint to the hospital car parking services and escalate to the head of facilities but is there anything else I should do with the letter from the solicitors.

I am aware of a colleague who recently lost his fight against a car parking ticket at the hospital although I'm not sure of the details of his case per se - can be easily found by googling 'chris darby parking oxford'

I'd be most grateful for any assistance

Redx

I think you will be going down that same path as the consultant where the solicitors issue an MCOL

if this is at LBC stage, you should be replying to that LBC

and as you say , you should also be complaining to the trust as well , to try to get it cancelled , plus complaining to your "MP" too , because the trust is failing the NHS guidelines as published over 2 years ago

Half_way

Are you aware of the NHS parking principles for staff, visitors and patients?
what parking company issued the tickets? before you make the formal complaint make sure you are aware of the above NHS parking principles, and post your initial complaint on here.
do it right and it will save you a huge amount of effort, get it wrong and you risk causing yourself even more problems.

fisherjim

It would appear from their website and what I can glean from Streetview they operate the car parking on their own terms without membership of any parking trade body.

They also think wrongly that they can "fine" motorists.

http://www.ouh.nhs.uk/hospitals/churchill/find-us/car.aspx

The surgeon you mention thought that he could go to court and use reasonable arguments and the judge would see sense, but it was not the case and though the judge was sympathetic the trust used the parking contract to trump his case.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/15/surgeon-couldnt-find-hospital-parking-space-fined-dumped-car/

I would think your only chance in court would be to find a loophole in the contract, or signage, applying reason as Mr. Darby found out isn't going to be fruitful.

The small claims court is a lottery, and this hospital seems to have a parking regime run by a nasty vindictive bunch out to prove a point.

Coupon-mad

I think you and your colleagues, including Chris Darby, should complain to your MP and to Marcus Jones MP, and Mrs May, and Andrew Jones MP.

It's the only way this scam will be stopped and the Government have pledged to act. Give them information to stop this; starting with the fact that they are disregarding clear Government policy already (the NHS Car Parking Principles were communicated to all NHS Trusts a couple of YEARS ago).

Shadk

Hi.


I wasn't aware of any government published guidelines - any idea where I can find them? In what way are they failing to adhere to the guidelines?


The ticket was issued by the hospital itself - doesn't seem to be a company as such - certainly not members of any governing bodies that I could appeal to.

Half_way

NHS patient, visitor and staff car parking principles here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-patient-visitor-and-staff-car-parking-principles/nhs-patient-visitor-and-staff-car-parking-principles

Some NHs trusts are members of the BPA ltd, and operate under their umbrella ( so to speak) in order to access registered keeper data from the DVLA the parking company ( or the hospital) must be a member of the BPA ltd, or IPC and adhere to the respective parking companies code of practice as well as offering POPLA or the IAS

Coupon-mad

fisherjim wrote: »

It would appear from their website and what I can glean from Streetview they operate the car parking on their own terms without membership of any parking trade body.

They also think wrongly that they can "fine" motorists.

http://www.ouh.nhs.uk/hospitals/churchill/find-us/car.aspx

The surgeon you mention thought that he could go to court and use reasonable arguments and the judge would see sense, but it was not the case and though the judge was sympathetic the trust used the parking contract to trump his case.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/15/surgeon-couldnt-find-hospital-parking-space-fined-dumped-car/

I would think your only chance in court would be to find a loophole in the contract, or signage, applying reason as Mr. Darby found out isn't going to be fruitful.

The small claims court is a lottery, and this hospital seems to have a parking regime run by a nasty vindictive bunch out to prove a point.

I agree with your summary, fisherjim.

So, instead of relying on winning in court (which seems less likely with that ridiculous case under their belt - I hope they are PROUD of it!) the recommended line of attack to lobby for change is MPs and the Government. The Hospital staff at this site, beleaguered by what should be 'unrecoverable penalty fines' at this location, should be rattling cages to win the war, if not the battles.

[Deleted User]

The Oxford case is fairly unique.

The hospital (a) looks after its own parking (unusual) ; (b) has a 31 page parking policy available to all to review (which includes prior notice of parking terms) ; (c) the insidious bit - by selling means tested permits per staff band, has on tap a database of staff names, addresses and a compelling case as to whom was driving; (d) has the option of bringing claims on both a contractual and trespass basis.

Whether or not they retain staff goodwill is another matter....

Shadk

Hi,

They were certainly given my details when I first obtained a parking permit. However, the solicitor letter actually states at the bottom that 'keeper details have been provided by the DVLA'

Are they able to do that without being members of any regulating organisation?

Redx

Trethowans act on behalf of a landowner, which they do on a few sites , so the landholder can apply for keeper details , yes

the usual site for this is a liverpool hospital, which is where we see most of them originate at