NPM No Parking PCN

TellMeAboutIt

Hello all,

I am hoping to receive some advice here. I have read through the stickies and newbie starting threads, but to be honest I found them to be an overload of information and I am seeking some clarification on what steps I need to take. The situation is as follows:

The Keeper received 2 Parking Charge Notices from National Parking Management, both "contraventions" on 11th May three hours apart.

This is allegedly for parking in a No Parking zone.

This No Parking zone is a public access road leading to several housing estates. There are no lines or markings on the road and no obstruction was caused.

There is no signage upon entering the road informing people that it is a private road.

The Driver was visiting a family member who is a resident there, and they gave The Driver a visitors parking permit and informed The Driver that they could park there as there were no spaces in the car park. This permit is clearly visible on the dashboard in the "evidential" photographs attached to the PCN.

The family member checked the signage after The Registered Keeper received the PCN's and states that the management company have made the road a No Parking zone without informing residents - as previously you could park there with a permit.

No photographs of prohibitive signage were attached to the PCN. My family member sent a photograph of a sign approximately 30 metres from where The Driver was parked. On this sign I can see that it originally said "Vehicle must park fully within a..." (the rest has been blocked out with black marker pen, and covered with white sticky tape). Underneath they have added a sticker with "No Parking at any time" written on it. The sign is angled in such a way that it suggests that it displayed for the car park and not the road where The Driver was parked. The covered writing suggests that it was for the car park. Either way it is not legible from a moving vehicle at 30mph.

The 2 PCN's state that the vehicle was parked on two different roads. This is not the case, because firstly the car didn't move all day, and secondly the photographs of the car on both PCNs show it parked in the same location. The second PCN uses a zoomed in photograph but you can match unique cracks in the kerb and pavement with the position of the car, clearly proving it to be in the same location on both PCN's. Ergo, one of these PCN's is a complete fabrication and therefore perverting the course of justice or even fraudulent.

No parking tickets were left on the car. They obtained registered keepers details through the DVLA.

From my understanding of reading through other threads, is it correct that there are stated cases that No Parking does not constitute a contract, therefore with no contract to break they cannot be seen to have made a financial loss?

The registered keeper received the PCN's within the 2 week time frame. As far as I can make out they do comply with the POFA conditions.

11/05/19 - alleged breaches occurred
14/05/19 - 1st PCN issued
15/05/19 - 2nd PCN issued
12/06/19 - first Notice to keeper issued
13/06/19 - second notice to keeper issued
11/07/19 - Final reminder for PCN1. Charge increased from £100 to £160 (admin fee).
12/07/19 - Final reminder for PCN2. Charge increased from £100 to £160 (admin fee).
4 letters then received on various dates from ZZPS Limited to "resolve the unpaid fees".
4 letters then received from QDR Solicitors threatening County Court proceedings.

The registered keeper never acknowledged or made contact with any of these companies regarding any of these matters. At the time the registered keeper found them to be farcical and didn't want to give them credibility by acknowledging them. Having read the stickies the registered keeper should have appealed without prejudice.

The registered keeper was not the driver. The driver has never been identified to them.

Is it too late to request a SAR from the parking management company?
Is it too late to send the template letter appealing the PCN's?
What should my next steps be?

Thank you so much for reading this wall of text. I am happy to post photos to assist if it is safe to do so without them being able to identify me by cross-referencing the photos with the dates that I have posted.

The_Deep

Have you read this?

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

What does your relative's lease say about parking? Dose Primacy of Contract apply?

Nine times out of ten of these tickets are scams so consider complaining to your MP.

Parliament is well aware of the MO of these private parking companies, many of whom are former clampers, 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

It is never too late to request an SAR.

TellMeAboutIt

Thank you The Deep for your swift response. I have read that article it was very interesting, and where I got my information for "no offer - no contract" from. I will speak to my family member today about their lease, and I will request a SAR.

Do you think that there is enough evidence to fight these? Would it be worth getting them to drop it before it went to Court or wait out the process now?

The_Deep

Do you think that there is enough evidence to fight these?

As I have not seen the evidence, signs, contract, NTD, NTK, etc., I cannot answer. I know however that many of the signs fall short of ATA's COPs, and contracts are deficient.

TellMeAboutIt

Thank you. Is it safe for me to post photos here with the VRN blocked out?

Fruitcake

You can post images of the site and signage and images of redacted documents if you wish.
Upload them to a web hosting site such as postimages or dropbox etcetera, then paste the URL here but change http to hxxp.
Someone here will change them back to a live link.

It is better that all the regulars get to see them otherwise you will not get the collective knowledge or assistance you really want.

You should also edit your original post to remove information about who was driving. Only ever refer to The Driver and The Keeper, who are two different people.
One has protections in law that the other does not. Parking scammers read these fora.

Fruitcake

Just to add, there is nothing stopping the keeper from sending an appeal now. The scammers have made up timescales and will probably reject it, but if it ever got to court it could be shown that the keeper tried to be reasonable and resolve the matter without the need to court.

Do a search of this forum, set to show posts, looking for the key words forbidding signage.

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

Le_Kirk

Your link made live: -
[URL]hxxps://postimg.cc/gallery/eo8rzqte/[/URL]
Your link unlivened (is that a word) at your request

Coupon-mad

It's never too late for a SAR.

From my understanding of reading through other threads, is it correct that there are stated cases that No Parking does not constitute a contract, therefore with no contract to break they cannot be seen to have made a financial loss?

It is all about whether a contract was capable of being formed but NOTHING about whether they suffered loss or not.