Writing to Landowners Dos/Don'ts

ScrinsonFlipFlop

The vehicle for which I am the registered keeper received a PCN after a valid ticket fell face-down from the windscreen. A S Parking (an IPC operator) suppose that payment of £100 is due to them as a consequence of this. It has been 14 days since this occurred, so I have a while until an NtK is issued.

I am of the opinion that this charge is excessive, especially considering parking was paid for fairly and that the car park was quiet both when the car was parked and upon departing.

I am strongly considering complaining to the Landowner, however even after reading through the stickies etc. I am a little unclear as to how I should word my complaint/if I should continue to wait until the NtK comes through, so that no one can prove I was ever in receipt of the NtD.

I'm also quite interested to know more about the relationship between a Landowner and Parking Enforcement Company, and how a Landowner can just cancel a charge if it deems it appropriate. (Or perhaps I have completely misunderstood)

Other than complaining, I will be taking the advice and waiting until a NtK is received, after which I will write my appeal in accordance with the template provided. ... or should I just pay?

Coupon-mad

should I just pay?

Not at all, even when rejected inevitably, when you do appeal.

The landowner can cancel a PCN if the contract they signed allows them to. It would be madness for a landowner to allow the PPC (their agent!) to sue - for example - a legit business visitor of the landowner's managing director when they come for a meeting and *it just so happens* that a PPC employee (naming no names, no PPCs) shakes the car, to dislodge the little flimsy ticket. Think about it...

AS Parking issue PCNs for the fluttering ticket scam all the time. Google shows you the Parking Prankster has blogged reports about AS Parking operating like this repeatedly, so it seems their West Country landowners either don't care, or get a slice of the ill gotten gains when idiots and hapless victims give up and pay up. Fluttering tickets are very lucrative for scum parking firms.

Clearly in any complaint, you would be talking about the fact the ticket was displayed and that TripAdvisor shows this appears to be a common scam their agent is operating, etc.

The ticket didn't turn over due to anything you did, or the wind...come on!

MistyZ

Don't pay!

I was sceptical about writing to the landowner. I asked myself why an international company (they manage the land) would give a fig about what to them must seem like a piddling amount of money being extorted from a nobody. But lo and behold, they cancelled the parking charge. I guess the reason they can cancel is because they do indeed own or manage the land and employ the parking company, they're a higher authority, therefore.

As to how to word the complaint, go with your gut and your brain. I took inspiration / guidance from Coupon_Mad's example (there's a link to it in the Newbies' thread I think) but wasn't quite as forceful because I knew I couldn't carry it off while still keeping a ring of sincerity. It's important to be very definite though, no point whatsoever in apologising for anything or sounding deferential. You only need to hang around here for a while to realise that parking charges are a form of mugging.

ImNoExpert

I say don't pay, at all (as most others will say here), but it is your choice at the end of the day.

Do you know who the landowner is? Which car park was it?

AS Parking will likely send you an NTK, and if you appeal they will likely reject it (as many IPC members do), then pass your details to Debt Recovery Plus (DRP) who will try it on with an increased amount, but you can fully ignore DRP letters, be it 1, 2 or 10. Then that will likely be it from AS Parking, but do keep all letters as they may try a County Court Claim, which you can fight back against and win.

I got an AS Parking PCN over two years ago, and to date I heard nothing after the DRP stage.