Parking Eye have sent a Letter Before Court Claim, but I've done nothing wrong

JSimpson95

I stayed at Camberley Travelodge at the start of November last year, I’ve stayed at this hotel a few times and I fully understood the free parking on site which requires guests to key their reg plate in when they check in, I did this as I did every time I stayed. 

A few weeks later I received a letter from ParkingEye saying I was unlawfully parked there and owed them £100 for the crime. I appealed this and they rejected it. I then appealed to POPLA with all the evidence I was a paying guest at the hotel, including my booking confirmation. POPLA also rejected my appeal, despite indisputable evidence that I was a hotel guest. 

I then later phoned this hotel to ask if someone on the team could speak to ParkingEye and explain that I was a guest at this hotel. 

Today I received a letter before county court claim from ParkingEye. It's been 6 months of back and forth, Parking Eye have halved and even quartered the charge on a few occasions to try get me to pay it, which suggests to me that I'm probably in the right. 

I've spoken to a local advice service who have tried to get in touch with Parking Eye for me, but they have been ignored.

Any help or advice would be massively appreciated.

D_P_Dance

ParkingEye's sign are, imo, unfit for purppose and several judges agree and have dismissed their claims because og it, read this

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5972164/parking-eye-signs-oxford-road-reading

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.

Le_Kirk

You need to read the NEWBIE sticky, second post as it takes you from letter before claim through to the court hearing.  You really need to get at the hotel and TELL them that they must get this PCN  cancelled - don't believe them when they say they cannot.  If they will not, then ask them for dates when they cannot appear in court as you will be calling them as a witness to the fact that you did input your VRM into their faulty machine.

KeithP

What is the Issue Date on your County Court Claim Form?

Redx

Seems to be a letter before claim , not an actual claim , yet

Coupon-mad

If it's a LBCCC then this is a final (pre-court) chance to 'appeal' with P/Eye.  The NEWBIES thread post #2 tells posters that specific thing and gives you the email to use.  The litigation team HAS NOT yet heard your dispute.  The landowner can certainly tell them to cancel at this stage but do email the Enforcement Team yourself, this is all covered in the sticky thread already about LBCCCs from P/Eye.

nspears

Hi Everyone,
I stayed for a wedding in the Ramada Hotel Solihull on 27th July 2019.  We had visited several times to deal with the wedding planner etc. so were fully aware of the parking restrictions.  I think what has happened is that because we were wedding guests and used our vehicle to transport bridesmaids to the nearby wedding service, it appeared to them on  the camera as us having a 'short stay'  they didn't realise that we were hotel guests entitled to out 24 hours of parking.  In reality we checked in, entered our reg in the touchscreen in reception, popped out about an hour later to the wedding service.  Returned about an hour after that then stayed all night for the wedding reception as hotel overnight guests.  Parking eye have issued a pcn for the time we entered initially and then left to take the bridesmaids to the wedding.  (About an hour in total)  

Thinking it straight forward we appealed to POPLA with proof of our stay at the hotel.  POPLA declined our appeal and we now face a court hearing and not sure what will happen and how to tackle the case?  Even on the POPLA decision he states that we were clearly hotel guest but that he 'felt we had not tried our very best to comply with the instructions'??  Not entirely sure what that means at all??   I will attach correspondence.  

Once our POPLA was declined we contacted the hotel who have since tried in vain to cancel all charges but because POPLA upheld the pcn their hands are tied??

Any advice on whether people think we will win at court and how to tackle the court hearing would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks all x

Umkomaas

@nspears - are you taking over @JSimpson95's thread. I expect they won't be too happy about being shoved out of the picture. 

Fruitcake

nspears said:

Hi Everyone,
I stayed for a wedding in the Ramada Hotel Solihull on 27th July 2019.  We had visited several times to deal with the wedding planner etc. so were fully aware of the parking restrictions.  I think what has happened is that because we were wedding guests and used our vehicle to transport bridesmaids to the nearby wedding service, it appeared to them on  the camera as us having a 'short stay'  they didn't realise that we were hotel guests entitled to out 24 hours of parking.  In reality we checked in, entered our reg in the touchscreen in reception, popped out about an hour later to the wedding service.  Returned about an hour after that then stayed all night for the wedding reception as hotel overnight guests.  Parking eye have issued a pcn for the time we entered initially and then left to take the bridesmaids to the wedding.  (About an hour in total)  

Thinking it straight forward we appealed to POPLA with proof of our stay at the hotel.  POPLA declined our appeal and we now face a court hearing and not sure what will happen and how to tackle the case?  Even on the POPLA decision he states that we were clearly hotel guest but that he 'felt we had not tried our very best to comply with the instructions'??  Not entirely sure what that means at all??   I will attach correspondence.  

Once our POPLA was declined we contacted the hotel who have since tried in vain to cancel all charges but because POPLA upheld the pcn their hands are tied??

Any advice on whether people think we will win at court and how to tackle the court hearing would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks all x

This is not your thread. Please delete your post and start your own thread if you still need further help after reading the sticky thread for NEWBIES that asks you to read it before posting.

Ralph-y

hi, and welcome to the forum ........

there will be plenty for you to read up on ...

go to the newbies thread/discussion

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4816822/newbies-private-parking-ticket-old-or-new-read-these-faqs-first-thankyou

dealing with more that one enquiry per thread/ descussion
 only leads to confusion

then visit the start page

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=163&order=desc

where you will find the 'new thread button  ' 'new discussion'


Oh ... and using a phone to browse the site can cause problems.. so please try a laptop/PC


other useful info



HOW TO USE THE FORUM SEARCH FUNCTION:

Use the 'red' search button at the top of this page (and most other pages)   Put your key word(s) in.
Using advanced will give more options. Do not  read any threads more than a year or so old as they may well have outdated info.


NEWBIES - HOW TO UPLOAD LINKS TO PHOTOS/SCANS TO MSE

To upload a photo/scan link, you first need to host it on a free photo hosting site (like Dropbox, Imurg or Tinypic), copy the URL, paste it here, but change the http to hxxp and we'll do the conversion. Newbies can't directly upload links to photos/scans until they've a few posts under their belt.

Ralph