Parallel Parking Ltd - ECP Coventry

velaskez

Hello all,

after coming back from my Christmas holiday I received two PCN's from Parallel Parking Ltd. (£100) each for parking in Euro Car Parts parking. The PCNs arrived on the 20th of December 2019, one for contravention on 24/11, one for 28/11. Both PCNs are issued based on CCTV footage. On the dates of contraventions, the signage was not clear. After coming back in January I went there again to talk to ECP management and it seems like ECP acknowledge the problem and have constructed barriers and huge signs to make sure that none of their clients parks there. Well - a little too late.

After reading the Newbies thread I appealed through the company website using the template provided, stating I was not the driver and will not be identifying one, adding a line about failing to meet requirements of POFA2012 (underlined). That was sent on the 10th of January at 6AM.

I dispute your 'parking charge', as the keeper of the vehicle. I deny any liability or contractual agreement, and I will be making a formal complaint about your predatory conduct to your client landowner and my MP.
I have no liability on this matter as you have failed to meet the requirements of Schedule 4 of The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 namely, but not limited to, failing to deliver the notice within the prescribed relevant period of 14 days, contrary to section 9 (4) of the Act. You cannot, therefore, transfer liability from the driver at the time to me.
There is no legal requirement to identify the driver at the time, and I will not be doing so. There will be no admissions as to who was driving, and no assumptions can be drawn. Since your PCN is a vague template, I require ALL photos taken and an explanation of the allegation and your evidence, i.e.:
- If the allegation concerns a PDT machine, the data supplied in response to this appeal must include the record of payments made - showing partial VRNs - and an explanation of the reason for the PCN, because your Notice does not explain it.
- If the allegation involves an alleged overstay of minutes, your evidence must include the actual grace period agreed by the landowner. If you fail to evidence the actual grace period that applies at this site or suggests that only one period applies, this will be disregarded as an attempt to mislead. In the absence of evidence, it will be reasonably taken to be a minimum of twenty minutes (ten on arrival and ten after parking time) in accordance with the official BPA article by Kelvin Reynolds about 'observation periods' on arrival being additional and separate to a 'grace period' at the end.
- In all cases, you must include an actual close-up photograph of the sign you contend was at the location on the material date.
Formal note:
Should you later pursue this charge by way of litigation, note that service of any legal documents by email is expressly disallowed and you are not entitled to assume that the data in this dispute/appeal remains the current address for service in the future.

Yours faithfully,

And of course, I sent two of these, as I received two NTKs. Almost immediately, (9:03 and 9:05) I received two rejected appeals with the following wording:

Thank you for your patients whilst our appeals team have been busy reviewing the evidence and the comments that you have made in
your appeal received on 10/01/2020 regarding the above detailed Parking Charge Notice.
We are not claiming POFA this PCN was issued to you NON POFA

On the day in question you failed to adhere to the terms and conditions displayed around the site.
From all the evidence gathered, i can confirm that the PCN was correctly issued, therefore we unable to cancel the Parking Charge Notice.
We are acting on behalf of our client, whom state that if a vehicle is breaching the terms and conditions of the site, a parking contravention
is being committed.
I am sure you can appreciate our team have to treat all customers who breach the terms and conditions of our sites fairly and consistently
and, as such, we have PCN’s issued in order to ensure customers adhere to them.
Whilst we are in no way implying that you have deliberately and willingly breached our terms and conditions, there are those who use our
facilities that do, and ensuring we have a consistent approach is crucial to the management of our sites. You are also responsible for
ensuring you park adhere to the terms and conditions.
We are instructed by the land owner to manage this land. These spaces belong to another business, not Euro Car Parts. Signage
is clearly displayed in bright bold colours on the buildings warning drivers that parking is for 'authorised parking only'. If you did
not agree with the terms and conditions that leave you liable, you should not of entered the land.

We have now extended the discounted payment period until 24/01/2020 to allow you time to pay. Please now make payment of £60.
We must advise you that once the discounted payment period passes it will not be offered again.
We have now reached the end of our internal appeals procedure, this decision is final there will be no further correspondence regarding this
appeal. You now have the following options;
1. Pay the parking charge of £60 by 24/01/2020 , You can pay by credit/debit card by calling 03330230115 or online at
alternatively send payment to the address above with your PCN number and registration number.
2.
If you believe this decision is incorrect, you are entitled to appeal to the independent appeals service (IAS). In order to appeal, you will need
your parking charge number, your vehicle registration and the date the charge was originally issued. Appeals must be submitted to the IAS
within 21 days of the date of this letter. Please be advised if you choose to appeal to the independent appeals service and your appeal is
unsuccessful then you will lose the right to pay at the reduced rate.Please visit for full details.
3) If you choose to do nothing, we will seek to recover the monies owed to us by proceeding with court action against you where video
footage will be provided to the courts of your stay on the site.


From what I read going IAS is not advised or rather pointless. So just wanted to be clear on this - now do I have to sit tight and wait for Claims Court papers?
Did I miss any steps in that battle?

Fruitcake

Where IPC members are concerned, there is no fair second appeals process, so ignore anything and everything for the next six years unless the keeper receives real court papers.

You have done everything right so far, and if the scammers do try court, you should win using advice from here.

Do complain to the landowner and your MP about this unregulated scam.

Check your post and spam/junk email regularly. If you move, give the scammers your new address for service.

velaskez

Hello again,
I have been served a Letter Before Claim from Gladstones Solicitors. The letter seems to be a proper letter with a reference number starting with 1 and 30 day response time. 

To recap, the car was parked in Cyan Park car park in front of Euro Car Parts, Parallel Parking Ltd. sent NTK based on ANPR way too late (over 5 weeks) to make the keeper liable. In response to my appeal Parallel Parking said that the NTK was issued NON POFA. -> can it be issued as NON POFA?
FYI The driver was never identified. 

Could you please look over the LBC response?

Gladstone Solicitors,

I have received your Letter Before Claim in the post on the XXXXXXX but dated XXXXXXX. As Solicitors you will be familiar with the requirements of the Practice Direction (PD) and the Protocol which applies thereafter. As you surely know the Protocol is to assist parties to settle the issue between them without the need to start proceedings and to support efficient management by the court and parties of proceedings that cannot be voided. In order for this to happen it is expected that the Letter Before Claim is compliant with the requirements of the PD pre-action conduct (paragraphs 6(a) and 6(c) and the new pre -action protocol for debt claims paragraphs 3.1(a)-(d), 5.1 and 5.2. I therefore formally request all the information and documentation that your client is required to provide. This will include the following;

·         If I am being pursued as the driver or keeper of the vehicle

·         To provide concise details of the claim which should include the basis on which the claim is made and a summary of the facts

·         A copy of the contract with the landowner where they have been granted authority to bring the claim

·         To clarify if your client is relying on schedule 4 of POFA 2012

·         Any details of the signage at the time of the alleged offence including the location and signage that has been added following this date

·         Any photographic evidence that is alleged to support this claim

·         Further details of the claim including where the vehicle was parked and how the monies being claimed has been calculated

·         Copies of any previous communication sent by your client to me

·         A detailed summary of how the amount being claimed by your client has been calculated including the sum of £60 for the time and resources they claim they have spent.

I am unable to form any defence or response to your letter until I am in receipt of the requested information. Should your client fail to produce the requested information I will apply to the courts for an immediate stay in accordance with Paragraph 15(b) of the PD until this information has been provided. As you state in your standard letter which lacks clarity, please refer to Paragraph 2.1(c) of the PAP which obliges the parties to act reasonably and proportionately.

Should this matter proceed to a court hearing I will present this letter as evidence of my formal request and any response I receive from you in direct relation to my request.

I require a formal written response within 14 days of the date on this letter. I look forward to receiving this response.

D_P_Dance

Have they added an extra £60?  If so read this

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6014081/abuse-of-process-district-judge-tells-bwlegal

and report them to the SRA

https://www.sra.org.uk/

Nine times out of ten these tickets are scams, so consider complaining to your MP, it can cause the scammer extra costs and work, and has been known to get the charge cancelled.

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, when life gets back to normal, it will become impossible for those scammers who are left to continue their vile trade, 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.

velaskez

Indeed they have added £60 extra on top of the original fee. I will read the above. Could you also advise me on the best method to reply to LBC? The letter I have received points to Gladstones website where I would need to create an online login to access a Reply Form. 
Would it be better to send a regular letter as a response? 

D_P_Dance

 Could you also advise me on the best method to reply to LBC? 

Please read the newbiesstickies and other thread on here and peppipoo, all is answered therein.

velaskez

I had gotten a response to my response to their LBC from Gladstones Solicitors that reads as follows. They say they don't rely on POFA and can still pursue me as a keeper. Can they? What should be the course of action now? I am not planning to pay.

Thank you for your correspondence, our reply to which is set out below.

 

 

1. Our Client requested the registered keeper details of vehicle registration xxxxxxxxxx on 13/01/2020 and were provided with your name & address of xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx on 30/01/2020. As you have failed to nominate the driver our Client will continue to pursue you. If you nominate the driver by providing us with their full name and address prior to a claim being issued our Client will pursue them, not you.

 

1. On 18/12/2019 vehicle registration   xxxxxxx was parked at Cyan Park when issued a parking charge for unauthorised parking. The signs displayed at the site clearly state ‘authorised parking only’. In order for a vehicle to be authorised they must be a staff member and have their vehicles added to a “permission” list. As you were not a staff member and your vehicle was not registered on the permission list, you incurred the parking charge.

 

Given the content of the signs around the site, the onus was on you to ensure your vehicle was parked in a manner that didn’t incur a parking charge yet you did not.

 

1. We will not provide a copy of our client’s contract with the landowner at this stage. Our client’s position is that the contract entered into is between itself and the motorist to which it acts as the Principal. Any other contract is therefore superfluous when considering liability. In the event that a Court Order specifies that a document to this effect must be provided, our client will comply. 

 

1. Our Client is not relying on the Protection of Freedoms Act.

 

1. Please find attached copy of signs in situ.

 

1. Please refer to the evidence bundle enclosed.

1. The parking charge due is £100, however if paid within fourteen days from issuing, you were given the opportunity to pay it at £60. The reduced amount of £60 was offered at the time your appeal was rejected too. Though the parking charge was not paid the parking charge went back to its original amount of £100. The additional £60 claimed by our Client is approved by their accredited trade association as follows;

 

Please see the International Parking Community ('IPC') Code of Conduct, v6 Amended 14th June 2017 (page 33) which states;

“Parking charges must not exceed £100 unless agreed in advance with the IPC. Where there is a prospect of additional charges, reference should be made to this where appropriate on the signage and/or other documentation.  

Where a Parking Charge becomes overdue a reasonable sum may be added. This sum must not exceed £60 (inclusive of VAT where applicable) unless Court Proceedings have been initiated.”  

D_P_Dance

 They say they don't rely on POFA and can still pursue me as a keeper. 

They will have to prove that, OTBOP,  tou were the driver.  They cannot rely on Eliot v Loake.  The IPC code of practice has no validity in law, read this,

Excel v Wilkinson

At the Bradford County Court, District Judge Claire Jackson (now HHJ Jackson, a Specialist Civil Circuit Judge) decided to hear a 'test case' a few months ago, where £60 had been added to a parking charge despite Judges up and down the country repeatedly disallowing that sum and warning parking firms not to waste court time with such spurious claims.   That case was Excel v Wilkinson: G4QZ465V, heard in July 2020 and leave to appeal was refused and that route was not pursued.  The Judge concluded that such claims are proceedings with 'an improper collateral purpose'.   This Judge - and others who have since copied her words and struck dozens of cases out in late 2020 and into 2021 - went into significant detail and concluded that parking operators (such as this Claimant) are seeking to circumvent CPR 27.14 as well as breaching the Consumer Rights Act 2015.   DJ Hickinbottom has recently struck more cases out in that court area, stating: ''I find that striking out this claim is the only appropriate manner in which the disapproval

 Have you complained to your MP?

velaskez

D_P_Dance said:

 They say they don't rely on POFA and can still pursue me as a keeper. 

They will have to prove that, OTBOP,  tou were the driver.  They cannot rely on Eliot v Loake.  The IPC code of practice has no validity in law, read this,

Thanks, I thought so - anybody can write a code, but it has to be in line with the law. So I am guessing - now I shall wait for the court papers. 

Fruitcake

Have you specifically complained to the ECP manager and/or CEO asking them to cancel the charge? A landowner cancellation is always the best option.

Yes, await a court claim. Meanwhile get yourself up to speed by reading the guide to court by bargepole you will find in the second post of the NEWBIES as well as the template defence in the sticky thread.

Get pics of the site and signage as well as the changes that have since been made by ECP. Have a look on Google streetview to see if the entrance and signs are available from before the changes were made.

Send an SAR to the scammers as per the NEWBIES.

When the claim arrives, post the issue date, and make sure you don't do the AoS within the first five days to ensure you get the maximum time to create a defence.

Coupon-mad

To be clear, by ECP we mean Euro Car Parts, not a parking firm of a similar name!