MyParkingCharge (Excel Parking) - Scotland

Johan_Viktor

Hi All,

(Johan Viktor is not my real name but a pseudonym, in case there's any concern)

Sorry to be a pain but thought I'd make a post to request some assistance.

My vehicle was issued with a "PCN" as Excel conveniently call it when parked in Dundee, visiting a retail unit (which had customer parking bays!)

The vehicle was issued with a ticket for "Not displaying a permit" - despite the signs not clearly stating how to obtain a permit!

I (foolishly, I know!) appealed the charge using the myparkingcharge website providing evidence that I was at the unit I stated the entire time, having not left and detailing that I was in fact the driver. Unsurprisingly, this "appeal" got rejected and I'm now still allegedly on the hook for £100 (£60 reduced fee.)

I live in Scotland, and the vehicle is kept in Scotland. As such, my question to you wise folks is that having made the foolish mistake of naming myself as the driver, should I just pay the £60 to avoid any further action, or should I sit it out?

Thanks!

Redx

your choice , the smart money was on ignoring as there is no keeper liability in scotland

but a driver is fair game , especially those who blab

get the landowner to cancel it, thats your best option

Guys_Dad

It's a calculated risk. You no longer have the protection of "I am the keeper. Good luck in finding the driver" so it is simply this. Have you any decent evidence to show that the charge is unwarranted.

Explain more about the permit business, please. Are permits issued only to authorised vehicles and were you, therefore, technically trespassing? Should the business you were visiting have pre-issued you with a customer permit? Are the signs clearly inadequate?

It comes down to (a) will they take you to court and (b) can you mount a decent enough defence to win there?

If that;s a YES followed by a NO, then mitigate your losses

The_Deep

This is an entirely unregulated industry which is scamming the public with inflated claims for minor breaches of contracts for alleged parking offences, aided and abetted by a handful of low-rent solicitors.

Parking Eye, CPM, Smart, and another company have already been named and shamed, as has Gladstones Solicitors, and BW Legal, (these two law firms take hundreds of these cases to court each year). They lose most of them, and have been reported to the regulatory authority by an M.P. for unprofessional conduct

Hospital car parks and residential complex tickets have been especially mentioned.

The problem has become so rampant that MPs have agreed to enact a Bill to regulate these scammers. Watch the video of the Second Reading in the HofC recently.

http://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/2f0384f2-eba5-4fff-ab07-cf24b6a22918?in=12:49:41

and complain in the most robust terms to your MP. With a fair wind they will be out of business by Christmas.

Johan_Viktor

Guys_Dad wrote: »

Explain more about the permit business, please. Are permits issued only to authorised vehicles and were you, therefore, technically trespassing? Should the business you were visiting have pre-issued you with a customer permit? Are the signs clearly inadequate?

The permit business: On the business park where the vehicle was parked, there are signs that show the following (picture link below (obfuscated due to being unable to post links - if someone could embed the image in this thread it would be greatly appreciated!), with site number obscured):

1) The number to call is obscured so the full number can't be seen!
2) There is no information as to how to obtain a permit, simply that one must be displayed.

i[dot]imgur[dot]com/0wnSxvN.jpg

Thanks!

Redx

live link

https://i.imgur.com/0wnSxvN.jpg

KeithP

https://i.imgur.com/0wnSxvN.jpg

Disappointing to see that one of the nails fixing that notice to the wall completely obliterates one digit of the helpline phone number. :rotfl:

That sign shows that if any contract has been agreed by the motorist, it is with VCS - Vehicle Control Services Limited.

You mention Excel in your opening post.
Although a sister company, it is a completely separate legal entity.

We've seen this confusion before.

Umkomaas

That's a VCS sign, not an Excel one. While they are sister companies, they are separate business entities.

Any purported contract is with VCS; Excel are strangers to that contract and have no locus to sue.

Ignore anything further unless they make a mad attempt at a court case where you'll have a pretty formidable defence point.

Coupon-mad

my question to you wise folks is that having made the foolish mistake of naming myself as the driver, should I just pay the £60 to avoid any further action,

No.

A sign from VCS creates no contract with Excel. You have a defence right there, and it's not a technicality.

Johan_Viktor

Great! Just one final point;

Emails that have been arriving have been from "Excel Parking Services Ltd"
Correspondence attached to the emails have the header & footer "Vehicle Control Services Ltd"

Interesting email tactic!

This, combined with the obscurement of the sign (even shown on VCS's photographic proof) should be a reasonable enough case even in the unlikely case it gets taken to court?

Umkomaas

This, combined with the obscurement of the sign (even shown on VCS's photographic proof) should be a reasonable enough case even in the unlikely case it gets taken to court?

We've never dealt with a Sheriff Court case here, so impossible to say. Even in England/Wales where the forum has dealt with hundreds, we would likely say they're decent points of defence, but the Judge will decide.

We have to say that occasionally we get rogue decisions. Known locally as 'Judge bingo'.