HX Car Park Management Ltd, Cartmel Racecourse, Cartmel

nweachus

Where should I go from Here?

We visited Cartmel Racecourse car park 23rd December 2020 to visit my wife's parents prior to lockdown commencing. We purchased a ticket for 4 hours, paying using my debit card and displaying the ticket within the car window. We left the car park after 3 hours.

It was a day for gloves and there were no covid19 cleaning facilities available at the machine. Unfortunately my wife may have been distracted when inputting the car registration number and, according to HX Car Park Management Ltd, was only successful with 2 of the digits. I have a personal plate which only consists of 5.

Even though they know I was driving and that I paid for the parking with my own debit card, they also admitted knowing exactly which vehicle it was, as it was quite obvious according to their paperwork.

The initial charge was £60, but after having my appeals rejected I am now being threatened with court action through Gladstone's Solicitors at a pre court cost of £160 or probable post court cost of £275.

At no point was I offered the 'keying error' option of £20, even though they are a member of The British Parking Association (BPA) and should do under their rules. They informed me they didn't have to.

Having contacted Cartmel Racecourse direct I was informed they were kicked off site due to too many complaints.

What are my options?

D_P_Dance

 I am now being threatened with court action through Gladstone's Solicitors at a pre court cost of £160 

They have added what appears to be an extra unlawful amount for debt collection. Judges have dismissed an entire claim because this. Read this and complain to your MP.

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 of the court can be shown''.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/16qovzulab1szem/G4QZ465V Excel v Wilkinson.pdf?dl=0

Redx

HX are actually IPC AOS members , not BPA AOS members , so download and read the IPC CoP in force last December

The initial parking charge daily tariff was £100 , not £60 , it was discounted by 40% for early payment , which wasn't done , so reverted back to £100 , as expected

The victim may well get a court claim pack from the CCBC in Northampton within 6 years , so read the newbies FAQ sticky thread near the top of the forum in announcements and try to implement plan A ( from the defendant victim )

Read the rest of the advice in the newbies FAQ sticky thread too

Fruitcake

HX are IPC members, not BPA, so they do not offer a discount for typos.

Read the guide to court written by baregepole that you will find in the second post of the NEWBIES.
This is a step by step guide from LBC to the court hearing.

Send an email stating that you although you deny the debt, are seeking debt advice and require them to put proceedings on hold for thirty days.

Send an SAR as per to the NEWBIES to HX.

Ask the landowner if they can make a retrospective instruction to cancel the charge as HX were contracted to them at the time of the alleged event.

It should not be possible for a motorist to enter the VRM of a vehicle that is not in the car park. The technology to prevent this has been around for years.
Remind HX that the IPC is committed to introducing typo-proof machines as stated by the in this tweet, and it is their "moral duty" to prevent this type of thing happening.
Complain to the IPC that their member has not complied with this commitment.

The International Parking Community (IPC) on Twitter: "@_TheIPC's mantra is that no motorist should be marginalised - or humiliated! (See news article below) @_TheIPC's award nominated "Get Your Reg Right" campaign urges the manufacture of #typoproof #parking payment systems as a moral duty. #mondaythoughts https://t.co/izGqyc1wO0 https://t.co/ztH9lbYpX2" / Twitter

nweachus

Redx said:

HX are actually IPC AOS members , not BPA AOS members , so download and read the IPC CoP in force last December

The initial parking charge daily tariff was £100 , not £60 , it was discounted by 40% for early payment , which wasn't done , so reverted back to £100 , as expected

The victim may well get a court claim pack from the CCBC in Northampton within 6 years , so read the newbies FAQ sticky thread near the top of the forum in announcements and try to implement plan A ( from the defendant victim )

Read the rest of the advice in the newbies FAQ sticky thread too

They informed me they were members of both organisations, but would only follow the IPC in this case. It still states BPA member on their website, but not in the BPA list of members!

Redx

The newbies FAQ sticky thread covers that difference and the difference in the logos

Most parking companies are corporate members of the BPA

What matters is the AOS list , and HX are only members of the IPC AOS list , so they choose to pay for and follow the IPC CoP 

It's like somebody having 2 bank accounts or insurance 
Policies , but only one has the salary going in and direct debits going out , say Barclays Bank , meaning that their Halifax account is irrelevant , or only one has a life insurance policy , the second being personal accident insurance

nweachus

Redx said:

The newbies FAQ sticky thread covers that difference and the difference in the logos

Most parking companies are corporate members of the BPA

What matters is the AOS list , and HX are only members of the IPC AOS list , so they choose to pay for and follow the IPC CoP 

It's like somebody having 2 bank accounts or insurance 
Policies , but only one has the salary going in and direct debits going out , say Barclays Bank , meaning that their Halifax account is irrelevant , or only one has a life insurance policy , the second being personal accident insurance

OK, gotcha. So do IPC have a 'keying error' charge, as I can't see one?

Redx

Download their IPC CoP that was in force at the time , to check for one

We know the BPA CoP has one , but HX are paying to follow the IPC CoP as paying IPC AOS members

This recent thread on pepipoo explains the situation for a different IPC member , Premier Park , but still talks about keying errors

http://www.pepipoo.com/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t139547.html

15.2 In the IPC CoP covers the 40% discount from the standard £100 daily tariff , the £60 you referred to earlier

Umkomaas

There has been an unhealthy number of HX Parking cases where the P&D machines in various locations have only recorded two digits. Too many to be coincidental in my view. 

in preparation for court proceedings being instigated, it will pay to do some serious advance digging on the forum using the forum search engine - which isn't intuitive for newbies, so if your efforts with that don't succeed, use Google, making sure you include 'MSE' in your search phrases. 

Redx

Plus we have seen quite a few racecourse parking charge notices recently too , maybe not at Cartmel , but definitely at racecourses

nweachus

Redx said:

Plus we have seen quite a few racecourse parking charge notices recently too , maybe not at Cartmel , but definitely at racecourses

Fortunately for others they no longer run Cartmel Racecourse car park!