Parking Bay Size.

chesterxiii

HI, I received a parking charge notice at Broughton Retail Park in Flintshire because I was not parked wholly within the bay ( there where at least 50 free spaces as the park was coming towards the end of opening time).
Is there a defence against this because the parking bays are smaller than the recommended minimum dimensions which are 4.8 metres x 2.4 metres . The one I parked in was 2.27 metres wide.
Also I did appeal within 14 days but the company (Park Watch) didn't respond at all apart from a return email saying..



Thank you for your email. I can confirm that your appeal has been received and you will receive a response within 35 days. Please provide any evidence you have to support your appeal, such as a valid disabled badge, evidence of purchases and proof of delivery. Please note, you must include your parking charge notice reference number and vehicle registration mark in order for us to process your appeal.
Your PCN, and the associated charges will be placed on hold until a decision has been made and communicated to you.
*Important information*;
We endeavour to review and respond to appeals within 10 days. Your appeal response will not be sent from this mailbox, it is the appellant's responsibility to ensure their mailbox/junk box is checked daily to ensure you have the opportunity to pay at the reduced rate within 14 days if your appeal is rejected. After 14 days the charge will revert back to the original amount.
Please note; POPLA verification codes are live for 28 days only.

After this email, nothing had been sent to me until 14th October saying the payment is overdue. The cost was originally £100 or £60 if paid within 14 days but now that option isn't there. From the wording on the letter, it looks like they haven't read my email, as they contacted DVLA to find my address and have given me 28 days to pay as they don't know the name and address of the driver, both of which I provided in the appeal I sent.
Any help would be much appreciated.
Regards Chesterxiii.

pappa_golf

the sizes you have quoted are goverment recomendations for counsil type parking , not the private parking industry ,

you can complain to the BPA about lack of code , but the BPA will back there members up

Umkomaas

Have you had a POPLA 10-digit verification code? What is the deadline date for the appeal?

The_Deep

Have you seen this?


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-39037547m

pappa_golf

what date did you appeal , and what date did you reciece the second letter

Coupon-mad

From the wording on the letter, it looks like they haven't read my email, as they contacted DVLA to find my address and have given me 28 days to pay as they don't know the name and address of the driver, both of which I provided in the appeal I sent.

Ouch...why on earth did you do that?

chesterxiii

Coupon-mad wrote: »

Ouch...why on earth did you do that?

Because, I only found this advice on here yesterday. I didn’t think of looking on the MSE site. I did a few google searches but this didn’t come up unfortunately.

pappa_golf

what date did you appeal , and what date did you recieve the second letter

chesterxiii

pappa_golf wrote: »

what date did you appeal , and what date did you reciece the second letter

I appealled on the 4th September which was acknowledged by an email from them and the NTK from them is dated 13th October and doesn’t mention my appeal, just that the payment for £100 is overdue. I have looked at the BPA code of practise and it says...
22.8 You must acknowledge or reply to the challenge within 14 days of receiving it. If at first you only acknowledge the challenge, or your reply does not fully resolve it, normally we would expect you to seek the additional information you require from the motorist and accept or reject the challenge in writing not more than 35 days after the information required to resolve it has been received from the motorist. It is acknowledged that in exceptional circumstances, an investigation into a challenge may take longer than 35 days after such information has been received and in these instances the motorist must be advised accordingly and given a date by which they can expect a resolution. If this date cannot be achieved then the motorist must be written to again and a revised resolution date agreed. We may require you to demonstrate that you are keeping to these timesparking charge with their challenge or appeal.addressed envelope with the challenge or appeal, for you to use to send your decision.on the grounds that the vehicle was stolen or on hire or lease at the time the unauthorised parking took place. If the rental or lease customer’s details have been provided to you by the hire or lease company, you should pursue your claim instead with their customer.•This includes providing a template ‘notice of appeal’ form or a link to the appropriate website for lodging an appeal and a valid 10-digit verifcation code. Even if the verifcation code is automatically printed on an enclosed appeal form, it must still be in a prominent position on the frst page of the rejection letter.•the charge before restarting the collection process. We recommend that you allow at least 35 days from the date you rejected the challenge.and the action you take to resolve them. You must keep a full audit trail of all actions, which can be manual or generated by a processing system. You must allow us access to this when we are investigating a complaint.
Could this mean they have not conformed to the BPA code of practise rules?

Coupon-mad

Yes, so email them and ask for your POPLA code and/or go straight to a complaint to the BPA. Emails are in the NEWBIES thread, might be post #9 of the sticky or thereabouts.

pappa_golf

forget that trash , just contact the BPA as they have not sent you a POPLa code , and if they say they have , then they are harassing you whilst a live appeal could be made ,

expect very little from the BPA , however to pacify you , they may tell defence systems/parkwatch to drop it