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Escalating parking fine, please help!
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EskimoJake
Posts: 3 Newbie

This story is a little long now but I've boiled it down to the bullet points below. I'm worried things have escalated too far now for anyone to be able to help but if anyone can assist or advise I'd be very grateful!!
- 11th October 2019, ~11:20 - I park in a Roaring Meg retail park in Stevenage. The car park is operated by EuroCarPark and is restricted to a 3 hour stay, controlled by CCTV and ANPR technology.
- ~14:10 - I return to my car to find someone has just pulled out of a neighbouring parking space and damaged my car before driving off without leaving contact details. This is reported to me by an eye witness who was stood by my vehicle. As such I have to ring the police, collect witness details and security camera details from the nearby shop. Upset by the damage to the car I leave the car park at 14:54, unaware of the time or that I have over run.
- End of October: I receive a letter from EuroCarParks stating I have overstayed my 3 hour window and please pay a £50 fine. I subsequently appeal explaining the above but unable to provide additional evidence at the time as police reports were not available and I didn't know what else to provide.
- 8th Nov 2019 - I receive an email saying my appeal was rejected as follows: Having carefully considered the evidence provided by you we have decided to reject your appeal for the following reasons:
- "The car park is operated by Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) – cameras capture an image of vehicles entering and leaving the car park and calculate their length of stay. Parking at the above site is limited to 180 minutes. On entry to private land it is the responsibility of the driver to check for signage and ensure that your vehicle has been correctly parked. As previously advised, the car park is camera controlled and therefore it is imperative that all extenuating circumstances are reported at the time of the event. Euro Car Parks have received no reports of any extenuating circumstances on the day in question and therefore I am unable to cancel the notice. Your vehicle was parked longer than 180 minutes, therefore the notice was issued correctly Prompt payment is now advisable."
- Unhappy with the response I intend to appeal further to POPLA to contest this but miss the small print that there is a 28 day limit to appeal. Time passes to January and when I try to appeal I'm told I can't so speak to EuroCarPark customer service for advice. They say I can try emailing customer service to register a complaint about the initial appeal decision, which I do. They reply as follows: "I can confirm that Euro Car Parks can only work with the information provided. No evidence was submitted with your appeal and we are not obliged to follow up with the appellant to ask for anything further. Our correspondence clearly states that you should provide any supporting documentation when making an appeal. Do you wish to provide any evidence of the circumstances that led to the overstay in the car park? If so, please submit by email."
- I subsequently reply with a letter from the police regarding the incident and photos of the damage, unsure of what else I can provide. Their response is as follows: "Please note your appeal was received on 01/11/19 and appeal made unsuccessful. Appeal response letter was sent by email. 02/01/20 Final notification letter was sent reminding of outstanding amount. As no payment been received by Euro Car Parks or appeal to Popla, this parking charge notice has progressed to Debt Recovery now."
- At the same time I receive the letter from Debt Recovery for a charge of £150 with the option to not pay and go to court essentially.
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Comments
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Have you read the newbies thread ?
It has all the information, steps and template letters you need.
Nothing "bespoke" about your situationEx forum ambassador
Long term forum member1 -
It is not a fine
What happened when you complained to the landowner/retail manager?
Did you reveal the driver's identity to the scammers/PoPLA?
A PoPLA decision is not binding on the motorist so there is no requirement in law to pay.
Have you complained to your MP about this unregulated scam yet?
Debt crawlers can be ignored. The NEWBIES explains why it is safe to do so.
I married my cousin. I had to...I don't have a sister.All my screwdrivers are cordless."You're Safety Is My Primary Concern Dear" - Laks2 -
Have you contacted the retail park about this???As principal they are jointly and severeraly liable for the actions of their agents, as there was an ongoing police incident you should tell the shopping centre of this and tell them that they need to call off their agents ( the parking company)This the place? http://www.roaringmeg.co.uk/contact-us.htmlplease post what you intend to say on here first, also it would be good manners to copy the retail park owners in on this thread to give them a right to reply.This is not a fine, however you should not ignore it - you should be fighting back.Neither the British Parking Association limited (BPA/BPA ltd), or the International parking community (IPC) are regulatory authorities, they are both private members trade associations private parking is un regulated, and both of them make up their own rules to suit their members as they go along ( so called codes of practice)As previously mentioned the retail park is jointly liable for the actions of its agents, if they withdraw permission, or indicate they do not want their agents ( the parking company) to proceed their agents must stop.If however they are happy to let their agents treat you like dirt, then they can be held liable for any costs you incurr in court as a result of the actions of the parking company, plus liability for harassment, and now there is even personal liability should there be a GDPR breachFrom the Plain Language Commission:
"The BPA has surely become one of the most socially dangerous organisations in the UK"2 -
Half_way said:Have you contacted the retail park about this???
"Dear Owners,
On 11th October my car was parked in the Roaring Meg retail park between approximately 11:20 and 14:54, thereby exceeding the 3 hour limit imposed by EuroCarParks. The reason for the delay was due to an on-going police incident - at 14:10 a neighbouring car drove into my car causing damage, however, they left without leaving insurance or contact details. It was therefore necessary to involve the police and collate witness details. I have explained these events to EuroCarParks after they issued charges for exceeding the 3 hour window but they continue to push ahead with these charges. Please can you liaise with EuroCarParks and ask them to desist in pursuing these claims."
Please feel free to adjust or expand on this if you think it is necessary, this is new territory for me. Thanks for taking the time to reply.0 -
I think I would turn that around a bit.
Start by saying you had a very pleasant time there, enjoyed the shopping, eating, drinking, etc.
Returned to your car to see damage to your car.
Police involved. CCTV images obtained from xyz shop. Witness statements gathered.
Unfortunately this all took time such that we were a little late leaving the car park.
We have now received a Parking Charge Notice from Euro Car Parks and are hoping that, due to the circumstances, you can arrange for this PCN to be cancelled.
Also be careful to use the word 'we'. It's 'we parked' and 'we left'. Never use 'I parked'.2 -
Don't mention who was driving if you haven't already. Say that your car was damaged after The Driver had parked it in XXXX car park. The police were called and as a result the subsequent investigation prevented the car from leaving. This was therefore outwith the control of the driver and was thus a frustration of contract.
You are disappointed that instead of ensuring the car park is properly manged to ensure motorists are able to park safely, your car has instead suffered damage.
A crime/incident number would help.
I married my cousin. I had to...I don't have a sister.All my screwdrivers are cordless."You're Safety Is My Primary Concern Dear" - Laks1 -
Fruitcake said:A crime/incident number would help.
Agree with that and everything else that has been advised re. complaining. Think about it - don't be overwhelmed - the occupants of the car did nothing wrong. Proceed with that thought at the forefront of your mind. Be really assertive in your approach to the retailer. Best to identify a named individual to email, ideally the CEO. 'Dear owners' sounds a bit limp to my mind.
1 -
It is not a fine, it is an invoice from an ex clamper.
From what you have told us, if the PPC are daft enough to take this to court they are likely to struggle. Personally, I would encourage them to do so as a judge might award you costs for their unreasonable behaviour in not cancelling the charge.
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You never know how far you can go until you go too far.1 -
Wow, I see you have found the "Increase font size button" TD1
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