Help please - Formal Demand Letter from CPM

Amaka123

Hi,
Hoping someone can help me, I've read all the sticky threads but want to be sure I'm doing the right thing.

I found a parking fine ticket on my windscreen back in December last year for parking on what I didn't realise was a private road. I have since found out that the first part of the road isn't a private road but further up it is. There are no sign signs to say - "this road is now a private road" however further up the road there are signs on walls which say "no parking at any time". I didn't go this far up the road (and even if I did I doubt I'd have noticed them as the text is very small). I parked up before I had driven far enough up the road to see the signage.

Anyway I ignored the windscreen fine as thought that was what was recommended but have since received a Formal Demand letter which has spooked me a bit and did my research online and found this forum advice.

The company I got the letter from is CPM which is a member of IPC so I plan to send the below letter which you provide the template for. However the letter I received shows a photo of my car and a separate photo of the signage so are points 3 and 4 still relevant? Should I be using a different letter template?

Thanks in advance


Dear UK Car Park Management

Re PCN number:

I am the keeper of the vehicle and am aware of your purported 'parking charge'. The driver will not be identified. I require the following information so that I can make an informed decision:

1. Who is the party that contracted with your company and are they the landowner?
2. Is your charge based on damages for breach of contract? Answer yes or no.
3. Please provide photos of the signs that you say were on site, which you contend formed a contract with the driver.
4. Please provide all photographs taken of this vehicle.
5. Please provide proof that the timing of any camera or timer used was synchronised with all other cameras and/or systems & machines.

Do not send debt collector letters and do not add any costs, which would be a thinly-veiled attempt at 'double recovery'. I will not respond to debt collectors and to involve a third party would be a failure to mitigate your costs as well as deliberate and knowing misuse of my data.

Should you obtain the registered keeper's data from the DVLA without reasonable cause (e.g. if you do not fully comply with the IPC Code of Practice in terms of signage at this site, as seems likely based on my research) please take this as formal notice that I reserve the right to sue your company and the landowner/principal, for a sum not less than £250 for any Data Protection Act breach. Your aggressive business practice and unwarranted threat of court for the ordinary matter of a driver using my car without causing any obstruction nor offence, has caused significant distress to me. I do not give you consent to process data relating to me or this vehicle.

I deny liability for any sum at all and you must consider this letter a Section 10 Notice under the DPA. You are required to respond within 21 days. I have kept proof of submission of this appeal and look forward to your reply.

Yours faithfully,

Umkomaas

have since found out that the first part of the road isn't a private road but further up it is. There are no sign signs to say - "this road is now a private road" however further up the road there are signs on walls which say "no parking at any time". I didn't go this far up the road (and even if I did I doubt I'd have noticed them as the text is very small). I parked up before I had driven far enough up the road to see the signage.

You need to get in touch with the local authority to determine where the public highway and the private road starts/ends.

Go take photos of the signage now, again, around the borderline.

None of this is likely to get rid of this immediately, but you need contemporaneous evidence should this progress further.

Amaka123

I took photos of my car at the time as I was baffled as to why I got the ticket. I spoke to a local business based there and they told me the private road started at the point at which I parked (he only knew this as had a number of tickets from them himself and had gone to the trouble of finding out).

I will go and take more photos of the signage further up the road.

Amaka123

I have also found this letter template, is this what I should be using? Sorry I'm just confused about what letter to use.

Dear Sir or Madam,
!
Ticket number: [insert ticket number]
Vehicle registration number: [insert vehicle registration number]
!
You issued me with a parking ticket on [insert date] but I believe it was [select from unfairly / unlawfully / illegally] issued. [if asked] I decline your invitation to name the driver, which is not required of me as the keeper of the vehicle. I will not be paying your demand for payment for the following [select from reason / reasons]:
!
[Important: fill in the sections below and delete any bullets that don’t apply]
!
• The alleged contravention did not occur
Quite simply, the parking attendant got it wrong and the vehicle was not parked inappropriately at the time the ticket was issued. This is due to the fact [insert reason here]. Please see attached evidence, [explain your evidence here & include and refer to documentary evidence if you have any], as proof of my claim.
!
• There was insufficient signage
The car park in question has no clear signage to explain what the relevant parking restrictions are. This means no contract can be formed with the landowner and all tickets are issued illegally. Please see attached evidence, [explain your evidence here & include and refer to documentary evidence if you have any], I have gathered as proof.
!
• The vehicle was not parked on the land in question
You issued a ticket for supposedly breaking your parking restrictions yet the vehicle was actually parked [insert where you parked] meaning you had no authority to issue a ticket. Please see attached evidence, [explain your evidence here & include and refer to documentary evidence if you have any], as proof.
!
• Mitigating circumstances
There are mitigating circumstances to explain why the vehicle was parked where it was and the charge be waived for this reason. Please see attached evidence, [explain your evidence here & include and refer to documentary evidence if you have any], as proof of claim.
• The charge is disproportionate and not a genuine pre-estimate of loss
The amount you have charged is not based upon any genuine pre-estimate of loss to your company or the landowner.

In my case, the [insert figure] charge you are asking for far exceeds the cost to the landowner of [insert details of the parking costs eg if the fee is £100 but I only overstayed 15 minutes]. I therefore feel the amount you are asking for is excessive.
!
• [If appealing against a notice to keeper] The notice to keeper is incorrect
The Notice to Keeper failed to meet the obligations of Schedule 4 of the POFA Act 2012. [eg if the Notice to Keeper arrived late (after 15 days following the alleged parking office, or after 56 days following the issue of a parking charge notice on your windscreen].
!
!
• [Enter any further reasons of your own to support your claim and include as much detail as you can].
!
If you choose to pursue me please be aware that I will not enter into any correspondence and this will be the only letter you will receive from me until you answer the specific points raised in my letter.
!
Yours faithfully,

KeithP

No, do not use that one. Use the first one you posted - without change.
It will be recognised as coming from this forum - that's if they even read it.

Frankly, it makes little difference what you send them.
Your appeal will almost certainly be rejected.

You are over-thinking this stage.

Amaka123

Ok I will send the first template letter. Thank you.

pappa_golf

Amaka123 wrote: »

I took photos of my car at the time as I was baffled as to why I got the ticket. I spoke to a local business based there and they told me the private road started at the point at which I parked (he only knew this as had a number of tickets from them himself and had gone to the trouble of finding out).

I will go and take more photos of the signage further up the road.

no , check the info out yourself , do not believe a 3rd party

Amaka123

I am going to contact the council about the boundary and take more photos of signage etc
I will not rely on a third party.

Amaka123

I have had a letter today rejecting my appeal.

I believe the next step is to appeal to the IAS. Can anyone point me in the right direction as to where I can get help with this, what I need to do or say etc.

I've looked but can't find anything. Sorry.

Thanks in advance

Umkomaas

You do not want to appeal to the IAS. Read the NEWBIES FAQ sticky, post #3 about why we recommend you go nowhere near them.

What was the outcome of your approach to the council re the boundary between private and public land?

Amaka123

The council were a bit vague but they said the road changes to a private road from the junction. I was parked opposite the junction, maybe a little bit before it, on the opposite side. Bit hard to explain but if I am on the private road it's only just on it and I don't see how I was expected to know this. Cars are parked where I was every single day (I work near by) and I've never seen any of them get a ticket.

I will read the thread you suggested. Thanks