ParkingEye Parking Charge Notice - Woodfields Retail Park Bury

Thrifty-One

Hello everyone. I’ve done some homework by reading the newbies sticky thread (alongside a few other useful websites) with great interest but I still feel very anxious about appealing a parking charge notice (PCN) from ParkingEye (PE). I hope the following bullet points will help to explain my situation. Any advice to help my appeal would be much appreciated. Thank you so much in advance for your kindness.

1. Car park: Woodfields Retail Park, Bury
2. Date of Event: 20/08/2017
3. Date PCN Issued: 24/08/2017
4. Date PCN received by me: 29/08/2017 (28/08 was a Bank Holiday)
5. Parking charge amount: £85.00 (or £50.00 if paid by 07/09/2017)
6. 3 hour maximum stay was exceeded by 39 minutes
7. I am the registered keeper but I was not the driver on 20/08/2017 which I can prove (I have a receipt which shows my debit card number plus the date and time of my purchase from somewhere 15 miles away during the time in question)
8. I understand that the driver and passenger (an elderly relative) made cash and card purchases at three stores at the retail park but they did not save their receipts
9. As I have never been to the car park (I live almost 20 miles away), I intend to visit it as soon as possible to observe and take photographs of the parking signage on entrance and throughout; I suspect from a LegalBeagles discussion thread last November (about a successful appeal at the same car park) that signage is not as prominent as PE claims in their PCN, especially their terms and conditions; certainly from a street level view of the car park on Google Earth, they are not clear and, depending on the route taken, they can be missed entirely
10. Whilst I am there, I intend to politely ask managers at the aforementioned stores for their assistance in cancelling the PCN; if possible, I will take the passenger (witness) with me; unfortunately, the driver is currently unwell and I believe that the stress of worrying about a £50.00 or £85.00 charge is contributing to their malaise
11. Also, I intend to send an email to Rochelle Bailey (cc Chris Grigg) at The British Land Company plc to kindly request that she arrange for the PCN to be cancelled by PE

If I’m not mistaken, I believe the advice for “newbies” in my situation is to use the “Template appeal for BPA members” in blue text, namely: “Dear Sirs, Re: PCN No..., I challenge this ‘PCN’ as keeper of the car. I believe that your signs fail the test of ‘large lettering’ and prominence…”

(a) Do I need to customise it or can I simply copy and paste all of it word for word into the PE online appeal page (but with my PCN no. and name and address, of course)?
(b) Is an alternative proof of purchase, eg a credit card or reward card statement, likely to improve my chances of a successful appeal considerably or need I not worry about it?
(c) Do I not submit photographic evidence of poor signage at this stage but instead save it in case my appeal is rejected?

Many thanks once again

Redx

yes use the blue text , all of it

a) all of it , copied and pasted into their appeal box online , choosing KEEPER (never choose driver)

b) proofs of purchase ALWAYS help , but do not infer who was driving , so AN OCCUPANT OF THE VEHICLE

c) nope, keep your powder dry for popla , only proofs of purchases at this stage

and yes , try to get it cancelled before the initial appeal, but dont miss the 28 day deadline for appealing , this is most important

and do not reveal who was driving , to ANYBODY

ps:- if they adhered to POFA2012 (which they seem to have done), your whereabouts are not relevant, as keeper you can be held liable , even if you were on MARS at the time

Umkomaas

If you attach redacted copies of the bank/cc statements showing expenditure on site on the day, PE will very often cancel the PCN. They have a hidden level of about £30 minimum spend.

So just add a final paragraph to the initial appeal template to state that the occupants of the car were genuine customers, spending money in store A, store B (etc) and here are copies of statements to prove genuine patronage.

State that the occupants report that it was a particularly busy day in the stores and queuing to pay made a slight overstay inevitable, which you presume the retailers preferred that this happen rather than customers exit the stores without purchase purely to meet PE's parking limits.

Thrifty-One

Thank you Redx for your swift and considered response to all my questions! You're a star ⭐️

Thrifty-One

Thank you also Umkomaas for your swift and equally considered advice. Sadly, I doubt I'll be able to obtain any proof of purchases from the "occupants". This has all been too much for them and it's certainly not doing me any good either. I suspect proof of purchases would have been my best hope of cancelling this PCN quickly and relatively painlessly. I'll add the bit you suggested about queuing to my appeal. Thanks for that too 😊

Edna_Basher

If your elderly relative has any disability, the Equality Act 2010 would come into play.

A few months ago, the Woodfields Retail Park management were very helpful in getting a PE parking charge cancelled on the basis that there were two disabled passengers in our car at the time and they were entitled to additional time under the EA 2010. In our case, the overstay was 26 minutes beyond the 3 hour limit.

Although the passengers had a Blue Badge (a copy of which we provided to the management), this is not necessarily essential in EA 2010 cases.

Umkomaas

Sadly, I doubt I'll be able to obtain any proof of purchases from the "occupants".

Will they not send you the relevant bank/cc statements covering the purchases they made on the day? These will be just as acceptable as actual receipts. This is likely to be the easiest way forward, as a basic appeal (even with the added bit about queues) is only likely to elicit a POPLA code. Then you'll need to formulate a further appeal to POPLA.

Also take the advice of Edna Basher in complaining to the landowners (they seem to be receptive to polite request for intervention) - they can kill this dead for you.

The earlier and more final you can get rid of PE, the better. They are the most litigious parking operator in the country, and you want to avoid this case slipping courtwards!

Thrifty-One

Thank you, Edna Basher, for your interesting and possibly pertinent point about disabilities and the Equality Act 2010. I hope your experience wasn't too distressing. I will certainly look into this, if I can get hold of the "occupants". I am actually quite worried about them at the moment

Thrifty-One

Thank you again, Umkomaas, for your valued advice. As I've just mentioned to Edna Basher, I actually cannot contact the "occupants" at the moment and I am really quite worried about them because one was complaining of severe chest pains last night as a result of worrying about this whole thing. I'm not feeling great either, having stayed awake all night reading up on private PCN's...and I've never even been to that car park!

I fully understand what you're saying about proof of purchase being the easiest way forward as well as Edna Basher's advice re the Equality Act 2010 but I can only hope for a swift change in luck very soon otherwise it's the basic appeal route for me on my lonesome as well as a reluctant recon' trip to the infamous car park

Thrifty-One

Umkomaas (and anyone else who might be able to advise), can I ask what is your opinion, if any, of paying £19.00 to Private Parking Appeals to handle my appeal? They have a sponsored page on parkingcowboys.co.uk.

Umkomaas

I suggest you do some further research on them both here and on PePiPoo before making any decision.

All the advice we give you here is free.