Parking Charge Notice in Scotland, foolishly appealed before reading advice

thetrainman20

Good afternoon all,


I've been doing some reading through the forum this afternoon and haven't been able to find anything which fits my circumstances.


I pulled into a (what I was unaware of at the time!) pay & display car park in Musselburgh, Scotland. I found out once I had pulled in that it was pay & display and by this time, the ANPR system had clocked my registration.


I secured my car and applied the handbrake so that I could review the prices and terms & conditions of the car park. I took my time doing this as I'm one of those weirdos who likes to read terms and conditions before agreeing to something. I took approximately 10 minutes to do this and decided that I did not want to pay to leave my car in this (empty!) car park that was not well maintained and decided to leave. I prepared the vehicle to move, checked blind spots etc and moved off and exited the car park. The total time from entering the plot to exiting was exactly 12 minutes.


A couple of weeks later, I received a Parking Charge Notice from Civil Enforcement Ltd, demanding payment for my incursion into their land(!!!)



Foolishly, I decided to appeal my parking charge notice BEFORE seeking online advice which I fear may have been to the detriment of my case. As you might expect, I recieved a clearly computer generated reply stating that my appeal was unsuccessful and that they have graciously extended the period in which I can pay the reduced rate.


I'm seeking advice on where to go from here? I did not use the car park, I did not leave the car and left once I decided that it did not suit my needs.


Sorry if this has gone on and on but I felt that including as much detail as I could in the first instance may speed things up.



Any help is muchly appreciated.


thetrainman20

KeithP

In you appeal to CEL, did you tell them who was driving?

If unsure, please post your appeal text here.

Redx

firstly, you should be aware that when relating a story you should only refer to the DRIVER and the KEEPER

what happened on the day happened to the DRIVER

the postal notice and rejection came to the KEEPER

did the KEEPER tell them who was driving ?

does the KEEPER reside in Scotland or elsewhere ? (you never said)

did CEL offer POPLA ? (you never said)

the scenario described is covered by clause #13 of the BPA CoP and is called a GRACE PERIOD , typically this could be say 10 minutes

its not "their land" , it is land monitored by CEL ANPR cameras, somebody else will be the landowner , so have you complained to said landowner ?

System

AFAIK, Civil Enforcement have only ever done court once in Scotland.

https://www.scotsman.com/news/english-parking-charge-firm-cleared-of-fraud-by-scots-court-1-4000569

You are not dealing with the most honest of parking companies - and that is a very low bar.

thetrainman20

Thanks for your replies.

Unfortunately, I think that I did say that I was driving the car. I didn't think it through as I was naturally up tight upon receiving the charge notice. All a leaning experience in any case.

I do believe that the land owner is the restaurant next door so I may contact them and proceed from there.

I did not get in touch with POPLA as, according to my research, they cannot operate in Scotland.

Thanks again for the replies.

Redx

you didnt answer all my questions


does the KEEPER reside in Scotland or elsewhere ? (you never said)

did CEL offer POPLA ? (you never said)

thetrainman20

Hi there,

Sorry, I'm replying on my phone so couldn't remember all the questions off the top of my head.

I am the keeper and I reside in Scotland. The alleged offence also took place in Scotland.

CE did not offer POPLA when they advised me my appeal was unsuccessful.

Thanks.

Redx

only a DRIVER is liable in Scotland so the big question is did you appeal as keeper or not

ideally, you complain to the landowner and get them to cancel it , that is your BEST OPTION

CEL have 5 years to take the driver to court , in your case the simple version of our MCOL scheme in E & W

if the keeper appealed as KEEPER, then there is no POFA2012 in Scotland so no keeper liability , hence why I was being pedantic

my point ? laws are different in Scotland on a number ot topics as you should know, so its important to know that when people ask where the keeper resides because you cannot assume that the law is the same throughout the UK, especially not since devolution

clause #28 of the BPA CoP covers your stay on site, which says

28.4 If a driver is parking with your permission, they must have the chance to read the terms and conditions before they enter into the contract with you. If, having had that opportunity, they decide not to park but choose to leave the car park, you must provide them with a reasonable grace period to leave, as they will not be bound by your parking contract.

thetrainman20

Many thanks for all your help!


I have written to the land owner and will reply here with any updates.


Thanks again

thetrainman20

Hello again,


Unfortunately the land owner states that they do not have the authority to over rule CE Ltd in this matter - something I find hard to believe but I've hit a brick wall with them in any case.


They've provided an email address for CE Ltd for me to send more correspondence - specifcally in relation to BPA CoP 28.4.


I just wanted to get a little advice to see if this is the best course of action to now take?


Thanks again

Umkomaas

Nothing more you can do. So just ignore everything that comes your way, other than the vanishingly unlikely issue of court papers (no need to lose any sleep, we've never seen a single ticket case taken further in Scotland).