Parked in own bay with leased car UKCPM Fine. Failed IAS

michelaporte

Hi There,
I've read the newbies Parking thread but some of the cases on there doesn't really apply to me due to my circumstances and how far i'm into the appeal.

Start from the beginning.

1.
My partner and i share a vehicle and we have allocated parking bays for our 2 bed room house.
We were involved in a car accident to which our windscreen was smashed.
The insurance company collected the car and leased us a courtesy car ( forgot to take the permit out).

2.
Our vehicle gets collected and we forgot to take out the permit for our bay and we got leased a courtesy car

3.
A few hours later, we get a PCN (Sticker on windscreen) from UKCPM stating that we don't have our permit up. With sheer panic ( + the stress we're under as we were hit by an uninsured driver) we rush to the repair centre, pick up our permit.

4.
I appeal directly to UKCPM stating that yes we didn't have our permit up, but we do have a good explanation. The accident brought stress to my partner and i and we wasn't thinking straight, but we are lawfully parked in our bays dedicated to our house. Can you please cancel this PCN please.

5.
UKCPM denied this request and told us we HAVE to pay or go to the IAS

6.
I go to the IAS and make my statement (And yes i did say i am/was the driver of the vehicle unfortunately) . I send an email confirmation from the Vehicle Repair Shop stating our car in their workshop, i sent a picture of the smashed windscreen with our permit on it, and i send the pick up documents where our car was picked up by a company.
Here is a snipper of my appeal:

Hi
I would like to appeal to this PCN again due to the fact that it was my vehicle parked in my space

i did state that we had an accident where the PERMIT was destroyed (Picture attached). We were and still are distressed as a motorbike hit our car and my partner and i were still in shock.
We were issued a courtesy car by the insurer FV19*** which was parked in my lawfully owned parking space.

I have attached evidence of the lease car agreement + an email from the company that leased us the car

UKCPM have no excuse to reject this PCN to the freeholder of the house whos parking @ Bay44 belongs to. When contracting to enforce parking charges at a residential site, they have a duty to pay regard to the lawful rights of those living there and to ascertain what arrangements already exist under the freeholder agreements.
The agreement to my property which houses MY parking bay states the residence (Myself and my partner) has the right to exclusive use of the parking space.
I have the right to peaceful enjoyment of this space, PCM have breached this right by trespassing and incorrectly issuing a Parking Charge Notice.
I pay to DJC manager who contract UKPCM to patrol the areas of unlawful cars parked in residential spaces. In my case, it was MY car (courtesy) parked in MY bay which i have legal rights to.
Furthermore, this has caused more stress to myself and my partner since the accidents , and now under even more stress from UKCPM

Please cancel this Parking Charge Notice otherwise i will be force to file a complaint and take legal action for trespass and harassment at UKCPM on my parking spot.

We work hard to afford a house in London, we shouldn't have to pay for lawfully parking in our own parking bay too. 
Thank you,

I also state that we pay to DJC Management (The company that we pay a yearly fee to to address issues and upkeep our residential area) and the bay is ours.

7.
UKCPM further deny my appeal and ask me to make a appellants' response to which mine was:

I hear that CPM are contracted by DJC Management in Dartford to patrol the area.
The main 'mission' and 'end goal' is to penalise cars who are not permitted to park there.
To my defence, we had just been in an accident which had jaded our decision making and had put us under extreme stress.
The other mitigating factor is, with all due respect to UKCPM doing their job, i politely asked to cancel the Parking Charge Notice purely because, the principle of it was my car (leased to me) parked on my legally owned parking space.
We should not have to pay for lawfully parking in our own space.

8.
On Friday, the IAS made their decision and denied it.
Here is their response:

The adjudicator made their decision on 02/08/2019 13:05:27.

The Appellant should understand that the Adjudicator is not in a position to give legal advice to either of the parties but they are entitled to seek their own independent legal advice. The Adjudicator's role is to consider whether or not the parking charge has a basis in law and was properly issued in the circumstances of each individual case. In all Appeals the Adjudicator is bound by the relevant law applicable at the time and is only able to consider legal challenges and not factual mistakes nor extenuating or mitigating circumstances. Throughout this appeal the Operator has had the opportunity consider all points raised and could have conceded the appeal at any stage. The Adjudicator who deals with this Appeal is legally qualified and each case is dealt with according to their understanding of the law as it applies and the legal principles involved. A decision by an Adjudicator is not legally binding on an Appellant who is entitled to seek their own legal advice if they so wish.

I am satisfied from the Landowner Authority document provided that the Appellant was parked in an area where the Operator has authority to issue Parking Charge Notices and to take the necessary steps to enforce them.

Images, including a site map have been provided to me by the Operator which shows the signage displayed on this site. After viewing those images I am satisfied that the signage is sufficient to have brought to the attention of the Appellant the terms and conditions that apply to parking on this site. 

The terms and conditions of parking at this location are such that drivers must display a valid permit in their vehicle which entitles them to park there. In the photographs provided to me it is clear that no such permit was displayed and in any event this is accepted by the Appellant. Whilst I sympathise with the circumstances described by the Appellant, it is the driver's responsibility to ensure that a valid permit was clearly displayed in the vehicle at all times and that it conformed with the terms and conditions of the Operator's signage displayed at this site. The fact that the Appellant has a right to park in the space by virtue of the ownership of a property to which the space is assigned does not exempt the Appellant from the displayed terms and conditions. If the Appellant was unable to display his permit, the correct course of action would have been for the Appellant to contact the Operator to explain the situation or refrain from parking. By choosing to park without displaying a valid permit, the Appellant breached the displayed terms and conditions and as such I am satisfied that the PCN was correctly issued on this occasion.

I have considered all the issues raised by both parties in this Appeal and I am satisfied that the Operator has established that the Parking Charge Notice was properly issued in accordance with the law and therefore this Appeal is dismissed.
You should contact the operator within 14 days to make payment of the charge. 

And today, i am writing this thread
Im so confused and have no idea what i should do.

TLDR;
Had an accident, forgot to take permit out, got a lease car, got a PCN from UKCPM, appeal 3 times and denied (Through IAS). I said i was the driver in my appeal, now they;re asking me to pay £120

Thanks a lot for any help given here,
Michel

Redx

Keep complaining to the management company to get the PCN cancelled

Do nothing until you get a court claim from the CCBC in Northampton, then come back to this thread

Cpm have 6 years to issue a court claim

Check what your lease says about parking, or does not say

Quentin

Appeals to IAS are futile

Now you wait and see if you get a court claim

See #4 in the FAQ on the debt collection stage you are now in

Ignore everything except a lbcca or court correspondence

Post#2 in the FAQ advises on Court claims

michelaporte

I have contacted the fleet manager @ the Lease Car company asking them not to pay if/should they receive any fines through the post (As advise from the Newbie thread)
Do i need to contact them and keep them updated too?

This is what i said to them via Email:



10:24 AM (1 minute ago)
to customerservice_varc

Hi,
We leased the car FV19*** from 31/5/19 - 18/6/19 under the names of

Driver 1
+
Driver 2

We got a PCN charge for parking in our own bay and it's currently under dispute. Please do not pay anything to the company (UK CarPark Management) if/should you receive a fine for this vehicle. This is currently under dispute and being handled accordingly with our lawyers.
Thank you

michelaporte

@Redx

Will check the parking restriction from the lease company now

Im just scared in case i get an admin fee from the lease car company

KeithP

It is most important that you never use the word 'fine' when talking or writing to any leasing company.

Their T&Cs will probably cover fines, but may not cover parking charges.

Again... stop using the words fine or fines.

Redx

michelaporte wrote: »

@Redx

Will check the parking restriction from the lease company now

Im just scared in case i get an admin fee from the lease car company

I never said anything about the parking restriction from the lease company

I meant check your housing lease or tenancy contract and see what it states about parking, or does not say, you signed it so you should know what it says about parking and permits

The parking company are complaining about the permit not being shown, they are correct, whereas you are stating that it's a mistake and they should cancel, but they have refused to cancel, hence stalemate

This is why you should get the MA for the property to get it cancelled, they signed the contract with cpm, so should have the power to cancel

If the hire company have named the hirer under POFA, they are out of it and should not issue an admin fee unless the hire contract allow them to do so

Calling this a fine makes it worse because fines will be mentioned in the hire document

It is not a fine

The_Deep

Read these

https://parking-prankster.blogspot.com/2016/11/residential-parking.html

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

Nearly all of these so-called claims for breach of contract are thrown out of court. depending on the wording of the lease/AST.

Does yours give you primacy of contract over the meaningless T&C of the scammer? Is so, why do you need their permission to park in your own space? They are interfering with your legal right to peaceful enjoyment of your property, possibly an offence under the Landlord and Tenant Acts.

If the parking space is demised to you they have also committed a trespass. Read this

https://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/topic/324523-ukpc-liable-for-trespass-success/

michelaporte

Thanks 'The Deep'
I will check my contract now and see what they say.
I've also contacted the management company complaining about this and they are going to get in touch with UKCPM
So i should have an update soon!
I will keep this post updated. Thank you so much for all the replies!

Fruitcake

michelaporte wrote: »

@Redx

Will check the parking restriction from the lease company now

Im just scared in case i get an admin fee from the lease car company

Just tell the lease Co you are dealing with this. They shouldn't get anything at all since you have already appealed, but as you are dealing with it, make sure they understand they cannot be held liable for the scamvoice.

Your lease/AST has primacy of contract over anything a third party scammer says, so that should be your main focus at the moment.

Don't forget to complain to your MP about this unregulated scam.