Change from pay-on-exit to pay-on-entry.

mallster

 An NCP car has changed its payment policy from pay on exit to pay on entry. I have been caught out by this and I suspect many others have to. Is it possible to request from the parking company how many PCN's were issued per month for that particular car park ie a few months before and after the change in payment procedure.

Thank-you for any advice

Coupon-mad

No, it's not.   They are not subject to FOI.

What you do is read the NEWBIES thread and win at POPLA by pointing out the lack of sigs at the entrance, etc. and not saying who was driving.  

fisherjim

In addition you should consider the requirements of the BPA COP specifically:

19.10 Where there is a change in the terms and conditions that materially affects the motorist then you must make these terms and conditions clear on your signage. Where such changes impose liability where none previously existed then you must consider a transition to allow regular visitors to the site to adjust and familiarise themselves with the changes. Best practice would be the installation of additional/temporary signage at the entrance and throughout the site making it clear that new terms and conditions apply. This will ensure such that regular visitors who may be familiar with the previous terms become aware of the new ones.

If you have been "caught out" it would suggest this has not been done.

mallster

Fisherjim, many, many thanks, that is incredibly helpful and useful

Coupon-mad

You need to continue your query here (the unnecessary new thread must be left to die) and change your draft defence to be in the third person.

You see no 'me. my, or I' in the template, for good reason, so don't write in the first person in your point #3 of your defence.. Get the writing style right.

KeithP

The new thread you have started today seems to indicate that you have received a County Court Claim Form.

If that's the case, please tell us the Issue Date on that form and if you have filed an Acknowledgment of Service, please tell us exactly when that happened.

mallster

Many thanks for the advice given so far, combined as suggested.  (I thought was OK to start new one as thought this one would just die...)

mallster

If possible could any of you offer advice on my defence which is due in a matter of days. My defence revolves around car-park that was pay on exit for many, many years became pay-on-entry. The only obvious,new sign was won informing the driver that "entry and exit was recorded by cameras." Thus explaining the disappearance of the machine that had previouslyissued entry tickets.

Many thanks in advance for any pointers.

1.       The Defendant denies that the Claimant is entitled to relief in the sum claimed, or at all.  It is denied that a contract was entered into - by conduct or otherwise - whereby it was ‘agreed’ to pay a ‘parking charge’ and it is denied that this Claimant (understood to have a bare licence as managers) has standing to sue, nor to form contracts in their own name at the location.

 

The facts as known to the Defendant:

 

2.       It is admitted that the Defendant was the registered keeper of the vehicle in question but liability is denied.

 

Since the opening more than 15 years ago of **** ******* which adjoins the car park, I have worked there once a month, virtually every month, as a locum optometrist, using this car park each time.
In all this time it has been a pay-on-exit car park. On entry, a ticket was issued, (I have an example of one). Once parking was completed the ticket was put into the ticket machine to read the barcode, the machine would inform you of the fee to be paid, which could be paid by card or cash. During this time, as is often the case in NCP car parks, an “Early Bird Discount” has been available if entry was before 9.00am.

The cost of a full day’s parking would often vary, as would the Early Bird discount. It has changed twice since the date in question.

On **/**/**, I entered the car park. The obvious new signs I noticed signs announced “Parking from £1” and  “Our cameras record your number plate on entry and exit.” There was no longer a machine that issued a ticket on arrival. I assumed this was an environmental decision to cut down on waste, with entry and exit logged electronically. I parked as usual, and at the end of the day went to the payment machine. By this time it was dark and the machine is poorly illuminated. On the machine’s LED display it informed me to enter my vehicle registration. I did so, an amount of £1 was displayed, at that point I used my debit card to pay contactlessly as I had done since contactless payment became available years previously, I took my receipt and left.

Some time later I received a Parking Charge Notice. I assumed there had been an error with the machine and I was relieved I had kept my receipt (which I still have). I appealed against the PCN firstly to NCP and then POPLA. After this the total fine imposed was now standing at £160.

The reason for the PCN was because after more than 15 years the car park had apparently suddenly become pay-on-entry. What I should have done was park, go to the machine, enter my details, state how long I intended to park, then pay the fee. There was, and is still no signage informing the driver the car park is pay-on-entry.

This clearly contravenes 18.10 of the British Parking Association Code of Practice which states:

18.10 Where there is a change in the terms and conditions that materially affects the motorist then you must make these terms and conditions clear on your signage. Where such changes impose liability where none previously existed then you must consider a transition to allow regular visitors to the site to adjust and familiarise themselves with the changes.

Best practice would be the installation of additional/temporary signage at the entrance and throughout the site making it clear that new terms and conditions apply. This will ensure such that regular visitors who may be familiar with the previous terms become aware of the new ones.

As soon as I did what I have done for more than 15 years: parked and paid at the end of the day, I was liable for a fine. I contest this is unfair and a deliberate attempt to trick previous users.

The “cameras logging entry and exit” sign is obvious and this explains to the user why the machine issuing entry tickets has gone. Signage informing the user of a fundamental change in longstanding payment policy, terms and conditions and that the user must now pay on entry, should be at least as large and obvious. There are no such signs.

 

mallster

County Court Claim form was issued 15/15/20.

Acknowledgment of service was submitted on 23/12/2020 at 16:57:13

Acknowledgment of service was received on 29/12/2020 at 01:17:11

(Keith, I can't figure out how to edit the title and 1st post of my other thread to allow it to die ??)

KeithP

mallster said:

County Court Claim form was issued 15/15/20.

Acknowledgment of service was submitted on 23/12/2020 at 16:57:13

Acknowledgment of service was received on 29/12/2020 at 01:17:11

I am going to assume the Issue Date on your County Court Claim Form is 15th December 2020.

With a Claim Issue Date of 15th December, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 18th January 2021 to file your Defence.

That's a week away. Plenty of time to produce a Defence, but please don't leave it to the last minute.

To create a Defence, and then file a Defence by email, look at the second post in the NEWBIES thread.

Don't miss the deadline for filing a Defence.

mallster

Many thanks for your reply. (I can't believe I put form issue as 15/15/20, sorry, yes is 15/12/20)

Above is my defence. When added to the rest of the template do you think it adequate, taking into account the 3rd person advice Coupon-Mad gave on the other thread?

(Unfortunately I am still unable to edit the title and first post of my other thread to allow it to die. I looked into it, the settings cog you mention only appears after a member has posted a certain number of posts apparently. I do not have it as yet.)