Parking Eye

pamlova

I received a parking fine from PE for apparently not paying for my parking at one of their sites in Loughborough. In fact I believed I had paid through PayByPhone and have evidence of text messages. Therefore I disputed the fine and appealed through Parking Eye. My appeal was rejected. I never went to POPLA and I ended up in court. My reasoning was that I presumed I had paid and had text evidence of messages sent, therefore I may have been liable for the parking fee of £2.00 (paid for 2 hours) but not the fine of £65.

In their reply to my appeal, Parking Eye said "We can confirm that payment was not received as they (sic) defendant did not correctly enter the duration in which they wished to remain on site, as they only entered '2'. The defendant was required to specify whether they were paying for 2 minutes or 2 hours, and without this information the payment could not be processed." They continue to say "Furthermore, as the defendant did not receive a confirmation which stated that the payment had been successful, it is unreasonable to presume that payment had been made." Conversely as I never received a text to say the payment hadn't ben received, I presumed it had been. The signage on site does not say whether the time required should be in minutes or hours, however, all indications and times in tariffs are stated in hours, which is why I entered '2' as in hours.

In court the magistrate didn't seem to understand why I was disputing that I owed a £65 fine. When I showed him the copy of the text message, he asked me what all the numbers meant. I tried to explain that they represented the location, duration and CVV number as requested by the text. When he eventually understood, he then told me that I needed to remember that there was no human receiving the text and that a machine could not distinguish whether I was paying for minutes or hours! I pointed out that all signage on site indicates times in hours and tariffs are stated in hours, which is why I entered '2' as in hours. I further pointed out that Parking Eye should indicate whether they needed the time in minutes or hours to avoid any misunderstanding.

He maintained that because I never received an acknowledgement text of receipt of payment from PayByPhone, I should've known the money hadn't been sent through. In addition, he said that I should have checked my bank account to see if the money had gone through at the time! He also admonished me for not submitting a witness statement to the court prior to the hearing. When I mentioned that I had nothing new to add to the information that had already been submitted by Parking Eye and presumed I would be able to present my case before him on the day, he became quite rude towards me. He said that in future I need to read all documentation carefully so I know what to do. In summing up, he also used words that I had not used, saying Ms Anderson in her defence said...!

I was then fined with an additional £135 for court fees etc. as it was his contention that when I received the fine for £65, I should have paid it as I hadn't paid for parking.

I truly feel this is unacceptable and would love to appeal to the decision made by the courts but have been advised by the magistrate that this is a costly business.

Does anybody have any suggestions?

Thanks
Pam

Coupon-mad

Hi Pam,

There was no magistrate (he was a Judge) and you must pay this to ParkingEye in full - NOT BY INSTALMENTS - within 30 days of judgment.

You lost and your description shows us that you have no grounds to appeal.

The Judge was right and your defence was doomed. You came here too late, as posters here would not have forgotten to file & serve the VITAL Witness Statement & evidence which the court hearing date letter told you that you had to do.

You can't just ignore court directions and not read the letter properly and rock up to ambush the Claimant on the day with 'evidence'; no wonder the Judge was against you.

There was no fine and no additional £135 in play either but it sounds like you didn't prepare this well and assumed you could just rock up with your phone to show the text. It doesn't work like that and badly prepared people who lose, often also report that they got clobbered with costs because they also failed to prepare to argue properly against those, except for the actual court fees (which were about £50, not over £100!).

Sadly, my suggestion is to ring up P/Eye and pay them the full judgment and chalk it up to experience. Next time, come here first and prepare well.

The_Deep

You lost and your description shows us that you have no grounds to appeal.

I disagree. As a former Consul I have had some experience in these matters wrt disciplinary hearings of seamen. IMO the judge made an incorrect decision. If you can afford the cost OP, I would appeal.

Also, Parking Eye signs are a disgrace. I doubt that many judges would agree that they are capable of forming a contract, read this

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5972164/parking-eye-signs-oxford-road-reading

and enlist the support of your MP as nine times out of ten these tickets are scams.

Parliament is well aware of the MO of these private parking companies, and on 15th March 2019 a Bill was enacted to curb the excesses of these shysters. Codes of Practice are being drawn up, an independent appeals service will be set up, and access to the DVLA's date base more rigorously policed, persistent offenders denied access to the DVLA database and unable to operate.

Hopefully life will become impossible for the worst of these scammers, but until this is done you should still complain to your MP, citing the new legislation.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2019/8/contents/enacted

Just as the clampers were finally closed down, so hopefully will many of these Private Parking Companies. .

as they heve obviously trying to scam you.

Quentin

The fee for an appeal is well in excess of £1000!

How is your experience with seamen's discipline hearings relevant to a ccj?

OP, Everyone is entitled to ask for permission to appeal, but do weigh the costs v the sound advice from CM in #2 above

And please don't consider asking for an appeal till you have had proper legal advice (don't seize on the consuls disagreement with cm as an indicator of any likely success!)

The_Deep

don't seize on the consuls disagreement with cm

Up to you, but thirty five years actual experience of getting people out of scrapes beats that of someone who does this as a hobby imo.

Coupon-mad

I have over 35 years experience of banking, mortgages and school admin, Sir Deep!

:rotfl:

The_Deep

But how many people have you got out of prison? How many bailbondsmen have you paid, how many battered wives have you found refuge for, how many corpses have repatriated? I could tell you stories which would make your hair curl CM.

fisherjim

Coupon-mad wrote: »

I have over 35 years experience of banking, mortgages and school admin, Sir Deep!

:rotfl:

The_Deep wrote: »

But how many people have you got out of prison? How many bailbondsmen have you paid, how many battered wives have you found refuge for, how many corpses have repatriated? I could tell you stories which would make your hair curl CM.

Sitting on the fence here, I'm impressed with both candidates!:T:rotfl:

The_Deep

You would be even more impressed if you had been on board when I was piped aboard a British destroyer in the Gulf of Mexico after touching down on a heaving flight deck from a Lynx helicopter.

KeithP

Crikey... a helicopter pilot too.

Is there no end to your skills?

The_Deep

No just an underpaid overworked Diplomat.