Private parking ticket - Gemini parking solutions

greenandgold

Hello

I have read a few posts including the NEWBIES thread regarding private parking companies and wanted to get your advice. My apologies if this has been asked before, but I haven’t had any success finding an answer.

Last month I was issued with a notice to keeper penalty charge from Gemini parking solutions (by post) for failing to pay for the duration of my stay at chase farm hospital. The NTK arrived after 11 days and offered the usual reduced charge if £60 if paid within 14 days and £100 thereafter.

If I’m honest, it was during the major snow fall, I had just come from another hospital appointment which had overrun, so I was running late (even more so due to the snow) and was more focussed on driving safely/not falling over in the snow on my walk between the car and the hospital entrance, so hadn’t taken a closer look at the signage, which on first glance hadn’t been especially clear.

I tried to appeal the PCN with the template provided on the newbies thread, but unfortunately this was rejected as the 28 days had passed. Is there any way of beating this, or should I just accept that I made a mistake and cough up the £100 fine?

Is it worth contacting PALS/ the facilities management at the hospital, or am I completely beyond this point?

Either way, advice on the next steps would be very much appreciated.

Thanks

Umkomaas

Is it worth contacting PALS/ the facilities management at the hospital

Absolutely.

or am I completely beyond this point?

Absolutely not.

Either way, advice on the next steps would be very much appreciated.

You have already articulated two of the steps open to you. The third is to ignore everything they might now throw at you, other than a LBA or MCOL (see NEWBIES FAQ sticky, post #5 for acronyms). Come back on this thread if you get either.

pogofish

A PALS complaint should always be your first stop for a hospital ticket, as soon as possible after getting it.

The_Deep

But read this first

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-patient-visitor-and-staff-car-parking-principles/nhs-patient-visitor-and-staff-car-parking-principles

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.

greenandgold

Ok, so just to confirm; I should contact PALS/ the facilities manager at Chase Farm (and local MP, as advised by The Deep).

- should I also be complaining to the DVLA & BPA about them not sending a POPLA code?

I should also:

- Ignore any debt recovery letters (or alternatively use the Template letter from Daisy) – though I get the impression you are in favour of completely ignoring them.

- Sit tight until I get a Letter Before Action or Money Claim Online

- And then when I get an LBA (from the PPC/Solicitor acting on behalf of the PPC – rather than the Debt recovery company), I should return to this thread before sending any acknowledgement of the LBA,

Also as Gemini have rejected the appeal and completely ignored my POPLA request, should I contact them again to ask for a POPLA code or do I wait for an LBA before I do this?

Sorry for all the questions – I feel like I’m drowning in info, so just want to make sure I understood.

Thanks

Coupon-mad

Is there any way of beating this, or should I just accept that I made a mistake and cough up the £100 fine?

LOL, it's Gemini! A joke. Not a single person here would pay them 10p, let alone £100.

Why did you appeal late...or didn't you? Was your appeal within 28 days of receiving the NTK and did the NTK say you had 28 days from receipt, or from the date on it?

greenandgold

Coupon-mad wrote: »

Why did you appeal late...or didn't you? Was your appeal within 28 days of receiving the NTK and did the NTK say you had 28 days from receipt, or from the date on it?

Thanks Coupon-mad, unfortunately said hospital apt was with an orthopaedic surgeon and I have subsequently had my surgery, so if I'm honest I've not been as on top of this as much as I would have liked and only just discovered all the helpful advice on MSE.

The letter says:
A discounted charge of £60 applies if this PCN is paid within 14 days of the date it was issued. If you choose not to pay this amount, the full value of £100 will be due.

It later goes on to say..
If after 28 days we have not received full payment or driver details, under Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedom Act 2012, we have the right, subject to the requirements of the Act, to recover the parking charge amount that remains unpaid from the keeper of the vehicle.

Thanks

Coupon-mad

pogofish wrote: »

A PALS complaint should always be your first stop for a hospital ticket, as soon as possible after getting it.

Let us know how you get on with the robust, insistent complaint to PALS, then.

greenandgold

Hello,

So, I have emailed every email address I could get my hands on:
- Barnet & Chase Farm PALS
- Barnet & Chase Farm Corporate Complaints Manager
- NHS Customer Contact Centre
- Facilities Manager for Chase Farm
- Chase Farms CEO
- MP for Barnet

The facilities manager and complaints manager have responded and asked to confirm if:
a. Any payment was made on the day
b. Whether I have appealed to Gemini within 14 days
c. If yes to b. what the grounds for appeal were.

As I appealed after the 28 day period and didn't pay for parking, isn't this going to work against me?

Any advice or suggestions on what to say would be much appreciated, as I'm anticipating a debt recovery letter at any moment.

Thank you

Quentin

Debt recovery letters are irrelevant and can be ignored

greenandgold

Quentin wrote: »

Debt recovery letters are irrelevant and can be ignored

Oh of course. However surely if I can get the hospitals facilities manager and complaints manager (and PALS/my MP etc if they reply) on side, then I they could potentially help me nip this at the bud now.

So I just wonder if there's any advice on how I should respond to them? If I tell them outright that I didn't pay for parking in the first place and appealed after 28 days I cant see that working in my favour.

Thanks