CPM parking Charge notice dilemma

mellybee100

Hi There
I have a dilema.

In June I parked at a car park managed by CPM. I entered the car park at 10.48am, got a ticket for 2 hours, and unavoidably overstayed until 13.33pm.

I left thinking no more of it as what could I do, and then received a Parking Charge Notice through the post. It said the reason the fine was issued was due to 'Failure to Pay for the Duration of the Stay'.

Knowing what these independent parking firms are like and doing some research online I decided I was going to ignore the fine as I had paid for a ticket but I'd paid for 2 hours not 3 and I didn't think £60 fine was justifiable.

Now having been sent another letter increasing the amount to £100 I'm wondering if I should just pay the fine!

Questions I have are
What exactly does 'Failure to Pay for the Duration of Stay' mean? Does it mean they think I didn't get a ticket at all or does it mean they know I didn't pay for the 'entire' duration of my stay? Must they have proof of my ticket?
I'm also wondering what other evidence they might have. On the letter they show a photo of my car entering and leaving the carpark so how would they know that I overran my time?
One blog suggested you should just pay the difference of the ticket that you purchased and the amount outstanding i.e. an additional £1 as 2 hours was £2 and 3 hours was £3.

In retrospect I should have appealed it as soon as I received it but I was avoiding engaging with them at all and appeals can only happen within the first 21 days so it's too late for that now anyway.!
Any advice much appreciated.

Le_Kirk

1. Read the NEWBIE sticky where you will find the advice you need.
2. Ignore is not an option and hasn't been since 2012
3. Failed to pay for duration of stay means you paid for two hours and stayed for three
4. After (1) use the template appeal you will find in BLUE and send that to the PPC

waamo

I'm curious. If you had done research and decided to ignore it why are you thinking of paying because it's "gone up"?

If you were considering paying it wouldn't it make more sense to pay the lower figure?

I'm not criticising in any way, just curious why Newbies constantly ask if they should pay because it's theoretically gone up?

B789

mellybee100 wrote: »

It said the reason the fine was issued

I'll hazard a guess that nowhere on your PCN does it mention the word "FINE".

Read up on the Newbies thread what this is all about. You have been INVOICED for breaking the terme & conditions of the contract you entered into with the PPC when you put your coins into the slot of the Pay & Display machine.

Read the Newbies thread and gen up on what to do next.

I parked at a car park

Oh, and to prevent further injury due to shooting oneself in the foot, only ever refer to either "THE DRIVER" or "THE KEEPER" of the vehicle. Don't use the words "I", "Me", "My", "He" or "She". :doh:

One blog suggested you should just pay the difference of the ticket that you purchased and the amount outstanding

You should avoid reading those blogs. This is the best forum for getting advice on how to deal with invoices for parking on private land. Might be worth checking out Parking Prankster, Pepipoo or BMPA.

Coupon-mad

I left thinking no more of it as what could I do,

In my opinion, you don't have to show your personal data to scammers. But we don't condone not paying a reasonable fee to park and have never posted or suggested anything like that.

You can keep your car on your own or someone's driveway (or in a car park to which you are invited) with the numberplates missing and you can cover your car too as many people do in the Winter.  All perfectly legal.

Nothing wrong with that, the entire industry is an 'outrageous scam' (Hansard) and you are entitled to protect yourself from this because the Government hasn't protected the people against it. They made it worse and so did the Supreme Court,

The Supreme Court should hang their heads in shame for not curtailing the rogue industry's penalties when given the chance.

beamerguy

Coupon-mad wrote: »

Nothing wrong with that, the entire industry is an 'outrageous scam' (Hansard) and you are entitled to protect yourself from this because the Government hasn't protected the people against it.

They made it worse and so did the Supreme Court,

I'm with that, everyone should do that in ANPR car parks

"and you are entitled to protect yourself from this because the Government hasn't protected the people against it"


A perfect solution to the vanishing vehicle

THE SUPREME COURT ...... are not forward thinking because
they opened the door to all these fake claims and swamped
the county courts.

I mean, would you tell the whole street to dump all
their rubbish in your neighbours front garden.

That's what the Supreme Court did ???

UNREAL STUPIDITY

mellybee100

Thanks very much to those who have responded and pointed me in the right direction, much appreciated.

Waamo - it's not necessarily that I'm thinking of paying because the amount is going up, but more the fact that I'm not hugely comfortable with receiving threatening letters suggesting that I could be taken to court for not paying an ever increasing charge, and I don't know if I'd just be better off paying the £60, £100 etc just not to have the stress, but then that's why these parking companies are so successful I guess. Some people are just better dealing with these kinds of situations than others.

I've looked through the Newbie thread (which isn't instantly obvious btw when first signing up) and there's lots of excellent information in here.

I'll send an appeal letter now. My only concern is that the deadline for the second 'parking charge notice' has passed so I'm wondering if it's too late to be sending that letter?

Thanks again.

waamo

It's worth sending for a couple of reasons. Firstly you are setting out your stall. You are telling them you are not a soft target who is just going to roll over.

When it comes to court they much prefer a soft target. You will be immediately flagged as a hard target.

Secondly the template is well known. The ppc know exactly where you found it and know you are getting help from here. Again the target is marked as that little bit harder.

Coupon-mad

I'll send an appeal letter now. My only concern is that the deadline for the second 'parking charge notice' has passed so I'm wondering if it's too late to be sending that letter?

How does it matter with UKCPM, an IPC firm? You know about IPC firms, and the lack of any appeals system that if fair to consumer, because it's said clearly in the NEWBIES thread, and discussed on every IPC and UKCPM thread. Read some!

How can there be any concern about when to send an 'appeal' that won't *work* anyway, that is merely intended to send a message?

mellybee100

So, I've received a letter from CPM informing me that they are unable to process my appeal as it was submitted outside of the required 21-day period, but that the IAS provides an alternative Dispute Resolution scheme and that they will engage with this should the appeal be lodged within 21 days of the rejection letter.

Is there any guidance on this site what to do in this situation or do I use the same template as initially sent to CPM?
Thanks!

Redx

read the IAS guidance in that NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread you were pointed at 3 weeks ago (so plenty of time for you to have thoroughly read it by now)

then come back and tell us what the next stages for you are, and when, once you understand this sc@m industry you are caught up in