Ghost Ticketing and Dodgy Photos as Evidence- do I have a case?

PARKINGQUEEN123

Hi all,

A few months ago I got a nice little letter in the post from a private parking company (members of the IPC) saying that a vehicle (of which I am the keeper) was parked out of a marked bay in a free residential car park. They claimed a PCN had been stuck to it at the time and as the driver had failed to respond, missed the chance to pay the reduced fine. There was no evidence of a ticket having being stuck to the windscreen and as I result I believe my vehicle was 'ghost-ticketed' (stuck on for sake of a photograph and removed, so the driver would not have an opportunity to pay the reduced charge).

I replied as suggested for companies registered with the IPC in the sticky notes here and one of my questions was requesting photographic evidence of the PCN and it being stuck to the windscreen. They replied saying that I was outside of the appeal date (I was abroad when the letter was sent to me and then had a stay in hospital) but they did indeed send the photographs that I requested. I have a problem with these photographs for three reasons.

1) There is a photograph of the hand written PCN itself (with watermarked date and time in the corner). However, the vehicle registration number they have written down is incorrect. There is an incorrect letter in it. Therefore, my vehicle never had attached to it a PCN with the correct vehicle reg on it. They must have therefore found my details through the VRN from their photograph, NOT the PCN itself. Does this hold any weight?

2) As I believe my vehicle was ghost ticketed I asked for a photograph of my car with the ticket affixed to it. They have sent me a photograph of my car with a completely indistinguishable small which square in the corner of the windscreen that is not identifiable whatsoever. It could literally be anything.

3) The signage that was apparently 'clearly visible from the site of parking' was actually about 20m away from where the vehicle was apparently parked and tiny writing. They have a provided a photograph of this sign close up, but it is not visible from where my vehicle was apparently parked.

As I've missed the date of appeals due to being abroad/hospital stay, I'm a little unsure of what to do next with the above information. Can anyone help me?

Thanks so much in advance,

Parking Queen

Umkomaas

Nothing much you can do, other than to wait to see if they issue court proceedings.

Are you a resident of the estate? What is your status - tenant, leaseholder, freeholder? What do your legal documents say about your right to park?

Importantly, which parking company?