Premier Park PCN for wrong VRN

Orange55

I received a parking charge notice (PCN) from Premier Park on the 15 August 2018 for not having a valid ticket on 8 August 2018 at the Pierhead car park in Exmouth. I appealed the PCN as I did have a parking ticket for the period of parking referred to. However I had not entered my full Vehicle Registration Number (VRN) but only the last 3 digits. I had misread the signs and mistakenly followed the rules used in line with other parking in the area.

I considered the charge to be unreasonable and so I checked on the money savings expert site for advice on how to fight a PCN. Since then I have been following the advice on the Newbies thread. Progress has been as follows:

I appealed the PCN on 18 August 2018 submitting a copy of my parking ticket, this was rejected although they did offer a reduced charge of £30 but as I had paid for my parking I did not accept it but appealed to POPLA. They also rejected my appeal on 17 October 2018, but in the information I requested from them regarding my appeal I noted that they asked Premier Park to consider mitigating circumstances citing the guidance from the BPA suggesting that its members are not in the business of “mistake punishment”. Premier Park rejected this request.

On the 19 October 2018 PP wrote requesting payment following POPLA’s rejection of my appeal. As I did not pay they referred it to PP Legal and I received debt collection letters in April and May 2019 and by then the PCN charge had increased to £170. I ignored these letters and so on the 9 July 2018 PP referred the matter to BW Legal. I received one chasing letter from BW legal also dated 9 July. By this stage the charge had reverted to £100 but with £60 of legal costs added. On 25 July 2019 I received a Letter of Claim saying that they had been instructed by PP to issue a claim against me in the County Court. In line with the guidance I submitted a SAR request to PP (dated 7 August 2019) and also wrote to BW Legal ( dated 12 August 2019) informing them of the position. On 19 August 2019 I received a letter from BW Legal stating that my file had been placed on hold until they heard further from PP. I received the SAR submission from PP on 9 September.

On 18 December 2019 I had a letter from BW Legal ( well actually 5 copies of the 29 page letter and attachments in 5 separate envelopes!) stating that they had provided all the information requested which now concluded the outstanding queries and if they didn’t hear from me in 7 days I would face

• Further collections activity
• Further legal action

I did not reply and on 31 December 2019 I received another copy of this letter.

I am now not sure what to do next. Should I send a holding letter or should I submit my defence or wait to see if I receive another Letter of Claim. I also asked BW legal in my letter to the explain the £60 legal costs added to the charge but this information has not been forthcoming .

Any advice or help with my defence would be appreciated

My defence is as follows:

1. I dispute the claim in full
2. A ticket was purchased by the defendant for the full period of parking. The ticket was for 2 hours from 14.52 and the defendant’s car left the car park at 15.59. The ticket was provided as proof by the defendant and it was clear that the defendant had paid in good faith but had in error entered only the last 3 digits of the VRN in line with other parking in the town.
3. It is clear from the photographic evidence that the ticket relates to the defendant’s car despite the VRN not being entered in full.
4. It is also clear that there was no intent to defraud the claimant who has suffered no financial loss
5. During the appeal POPLA suggested that the claimant consider mitigating circumstances in line with the BPA extract below and hence withdraw the charge

“Sometimes errors occur when there is a clear intention by the motorist to pay for their parking period but a simple keying error does not record a payment having been made against the correct vehicle and a PCN is issued. This is causing a significant amount of negative publicity for the private parking sector”

“ the BPA considers that it’s members are involved in parking management and not “ mistake punishment” and consequently the BPA has an expectation that operators will have processes in place to keep the numbers of PCNs issued, where motorists have made a keying error, to an absolute minimum. Furthermore we would expect that if such PCNs are issued and subsequently appealed, operators must have procedures in place to investigate and if it found that the motorist paid for their parking to cancel the PCN

Despite this request from POPLA the claimant refused to withdraw the charge.

6. The defendant therefore considers that the claimant is not using the VCN equipment in a reasonable and appropriate manner

7. To pursue a PCN when the defendant has clearly paid supported by photographic and ticket evidence by stating that this is not a valid ticket and not considering mitigating circumstances suggests that the claimant is treating this as mistake punishment and not parking management and it is therefore unreasonable.

Redx

That is a Witness statement , not a defence

A defence contains legal arguments and legal points

A defence is not submitted until say one month after the issue date of an MCOL claim from the CCBC in Northampton , so do you have a court claim or not ??

If you do have a court claim , post the issue date below , then construct a defence , not a WS

What is a vcn ?

The latest BPA CoP considers the keying error to be major , with a charge of no more than £20

Orange55

Sorry vcn should read automatic number recognition equipment. As explained I’ve only had a letter before court not an actual court claim but understood from the newbie thread that I should submit my reasons for fighting the pcn at this point perhaps my description of defence is incorrect but should I be putting my case to PP at this stage, if not do I just continue to ignore their correspondence until I get a court letter

Redx

reply to them (do not use their financial forms) and reiterate that a ticket was bought , here is the proof , no money is owed and you deny the alleged debt etc, add a copy of the ticket (yes reiterate your case)

dont expect them to have a light bulb moment

keep your powder dry and ammunition ready for a court claim

prepare a DEFENCE to the court claim , and I mean DEFENCE , not what you put above, the above is your account of why you are not liable , a WS

read the recent thread by basher52 to see what a proper defence looks like , plus read the 2 examples by member Bargepole too


Defence is a legal term , so as this is a legal matter try to use correct terms so you dont confuse yourself or advisors

Orange55

Ok, understood, thanks very much for your help.