G24 PCN Appeal Rejection

anon862

Hello, 

A PCN for £100 was sent by post from G24 on 25th August 2020 for spending 196 minutes in a free car park that had a 180 minute limit. Time stamped photographs of the car were taken upon entry and exit. However, the signage states ‘180 minutes of free parking’ not time on site. (The driver spent the whole time at a cafe within the car park but they have not been of any help.)

Although many forums tell people to ignore the charge, it seems unwise to risk bailiffs, court summons and bad credit score.

I appealed to G24 on the grounds that no breach of contract occurred as the parking contract only began when parked and not at the point of entry and allowances for consideration and grace periods were made. This was rejected with a seemingly automated reply that failed to address any of my arguments. I tried to continue my appeal requesting evidence of the time of parking to which they responded with the the exact same message as before. 

I have not appealed to the IAS because I have read it’s a futile pursuit so now I’m stuck on what to do. 

Would be very grateful to receive any advice on how this should be handled going forward and what the best option(s) is please? If any other information is needed, please ask, I am happy to provide.  

Many thanks,

A 

anon862

anon862 said:

Hello, 

A PCN for £100 was sent by post from G24 on 25th August 2020 for spending 196 minutes in a free car park that had a 180 minute limit. Time stamped photographs of the car were taken upon entry and exit. However, the signage states ‘180 minutes of free parking’ not time on site. (The driver spent the whole time at a cafe within the car park but they have not been of any help.)

Although many forums tell people to ignore the charge, it seems unwise to risk bailiffs, court summons and bad credit score.

I appealed to G24 on the grounds that no breach of contract occurred as the parking contract only began when parked and not at the point of entry and allowances for consideration and grace periods were made. This was rejected with a seemingly automated reply that failed to address any of my arguments. I tried to continue my appeal requesting evidence of the time of parking to which they responded with the the exact same message as before. 

I have not appealed to the IAS because I have read it’s a futile pursuit so now I’m stuck on what to do. 

Would be very grateful to receive any advice on how this should be handled going forward and what the best option(s) is please? If any other information is needed, please ask, I am happy to provide.  

Many thanks,

A 

Sorry, I meant to say ‘allowances for consideration and grace periods were not made’. 

Le_Kirk

Ignore has not been an option for over 8 years!  You would be pushing it at 16 minutes for consideration and grace periods!  The CoPs of both IPC and BPA are limiting motorists to about 5 minutes either side of entering, parking and exiting.  It is a waiting game now for G24 to issue letter of/before claim and then court papers.  The NEWBIE sticky has all the help and advice you need.  You can of course ignore debt collector letters (of which there will be plenty)  Just keep them safe to use as evidence of unreasonable behaviour.

Redx

So to be clear , 2 reasonable working options exist , neither involve the IAS

1) a landowner cancellation ,this remains on the table , regardless !!

2) civil court within 6 years

What there isn't is a magic bullet of get out of jail free card

Neither G24 nor the IAS will cancel it !!

The main reason you have posted is hoping for an easy way out !! There isn't one

anon862

Thank you for your reply, I appreciate you taking the time. I should say I’m very sorry, I have done what feels like a lot of research but have managed to miss the newbie thread - thank you for bringing it to my attention. 

Just to note, although it’s probably a moot point now but yes, I did I read the IPC CoP which specified a 10 minute grace period to be given at the end of parking, so at a peak entry time of 12:30 the driver would have reasonably taken 6 minutes+ to wait for a vacant space, park and then read the signs to agree to/initiate the contract. 

Redx

We agree , so that story is the witness statement for the judge , if it ever gets that far , because grace periods are what may decide it , plus no landowner authority , poor and inadequate signage , POFA , the CRA etc too

anon862

Redx said:

So to be clear , 2 reasonable working options exist , neither involve the IAS

1) a landowner cancellation ,this remains on the table , regardless !!

2) civil court within 6 years

What there isn't is a magic bullet of get out of jail free card

Neither G24 nor the IAS will cancel it !!

The main reason you have posted is hoping for an easy way out !! There isn't one

Hi, thank you for your response. Yes, I spoke with the cafe owner who agreed they would try but clearly had never encountered this and didn’t know what he could do or say (the car park is situated in a row of small shops, it’s not a retail park). I have also just attempted to contact a former boss who is among the shops there but this is a long shot. 

Sorry if you have found my post irritating or wasteful of your time, that was not my intention. I am just out of my depth and was seeking advice. 

Redx

I have no problem with you posting for advice or being out of your depth , most Newbies are !! , but I was pointing out there is no easy fix so you won't expect an easy answer

We get newbies posting on here everyday looking for an easy answer , there usually isn't one , but sometimes there are good ideas or procedures to follow

You need to find the person who contracted with G24 , get them to cancel it , do not assume that it is the cafe , many shops are rented or leased , not owned by the retailer. It is more likely that you haven't contacted the landowner , yet !

So therein lies the answer , the easy fix !  This is where you concentrate your efforts , there is your advice and answer

Or a judge , in Court

anon862

Hello, 

I hope this isn't considered spam, just at dead end and in need of some advice please. I have searched for the landowner of the car park with no joy so I haven't been able to complain.

I have read the newbie thread and variations of it and honestly, if this case went to court, I still wouldn't have a clue of how to defend this position or have any confidence using legal jargon. While I am aware there is a template I don't think "false admin costs" is relevant to my case. If you know of any other templates of better ways for me to make sense of this please let me know. I absolutely know the witness defence is valid and no violation of the contract ever occurred but would never know how this should be communicated in a formal written defence or if a judge would recognise it's validity.

I have looked at the charge which was issued on 28th August (appealed approx 10 days later) and it is still at the discounted price of £60 rather than £100, which I think is odd but maybe I should cut my losses?

go-on-then

No you should not.
Have you checked the PCN against POFA ? 

Coupon-mad

This is your own thread so you can use it to ask what you want - you can't spam your own thread!  So this is perfectly OK and the right place to ask (what we hate is when people start a new thread with every different question!).

While I am aware there is a te4mplate I don't think "false admin costs" is relevant to my case.

But it will be if G24 sue, because all IPC firms add 'debt recovery' false sums.  They rarely do and you are nowhere near that stage.

I have looked at the charge which was issued on 28th August (appealed approx 10 days later) and it is still at the discounted price of £60 rather than £100, which I think is odd but maybe I should cut my losses?

No.  You are missing the point.  Why would ANYONE pay a private parking charge unless a Judge tells them to (rare)?