ParkingEye fine advice (wrong number plate)

RTC87

Hi all, hoping to get a little advice!

I parked on a ParkingEye carpark in Worcester as I meet a colleague there and travel down south to a meeting. I pay on returning to the carpark before leaving usually by the machine on site. 

On the occasion in question I used the PaybyPhone app to pay for parking, having not used it for a number of years I completely forgot it was linked to my old number plate. I then received a fine and have tried to appeal, providing them with the online receipt of payment and explaining how I used my old number plate. I even supplied an old receipt for my previous car to demonstrate that was infact the car I'd parked on that very carpark with in the past. 

To my surprise they have replied saying I still need to pay the £60 fine, zero explanation of why they rejected my appeal and no option of further comms, just threats of legal action if not paid within 14-days. 

Do I have a case here to push this further?

It was literally human error that I didn't think my old number plate was still linked. To make matters worse, I await another fine from them as the week after I did the exact same thing, just haven't had the letter yet. 

Trainerman

By even the BPAs own standards, that should be no more than a £20 major keying error. Personally, I would not like to even pay that.

Coupon-mad

If POPLA is offered you will win because you just need to point out that PE failed to offer the £20 in the BPA CoP.

Fruitcake

It is not a fine.

What happened when you complained to the landowner?

Have you complained to your MP yet?

Did you receive a PoPLA code with your appeal rejection? If not, complain to the BPA.

Giving you 14 days doesn't sound right following an initial appeal. That is more common when a reminder has been sent.

Complain to the BPA that the driver made a major keying error, but ParkingEye failed to offer the reduced rate of £20, which is a breach of the BPA's CoP.

D_P_Dance

PE's signs are pants IMO,  read this and complain to your MP.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5972164/parking-eye-signs-oxford-road-reading/p1

RTC87

Coupon-mad said:

If POPLA is offered you will win because you just need to point out that PE failed to offer the £20 in the BOA CoP.

Fruitcake said:

It is not a fine.

What happened when you complained to the landowner?

Have you complained to your MP yet?

Did you receive a PoPLA code with your appeal rejection? If not, complain to the BPA.

Giving you 14 days doesn't sound right following an initial appeal. That is more common when a reminder has been sent.

Complain to the BPA that the driver made a major keying error, but ParkingEye failed to offer the reduced rate of £20, which is a breach of the BPA's CoP.

Trainerman said:

By even the BPAs own standards, that should be no more than a £20 major keying error. Personally, I would not like to even pay that.

Thanks for your responses. So their original letter had been delayed in reaching my as I'd recently moved house and the V5 document for my car hadn't been updated. So it actually reached me 3 months after the offence and only paying off the fine within 14-days before further action in taken. 

I did notice on the back of the letter, it says if an appeal is rejected you you will given a reference number to to POPLA but this wasn't supplied and POPLA weren't mentioned in the appeal rejection letter, they just threatened to take me to court if not paid within 14 days.

I didn't approach the land owner based on not using any of their services. I am just parking my car on a holiday inn carpark and then traveling down south for a meeting. 

As a next step I will complain to BPA on the basis of not being offered a fair appeal via POPLA, does that sound right?

Coupon-mad

Ah, no PE don't have to provide a POPLA Code if you appealed late (but they COULD).

I would complain to the BPA that they failed to offer the mandatory £20 for a major keying error.

RTC87

Coupon-mad said:

Ah, no PE don't have to provide a POPLA Code if you appealed late (but they COULD).

I would complain to the BPA that they failed to offer the mandatory £20 for a major keying error.

Just an update on this for anyone else who may be interested/similar situation. 

I complained to the BPA regarding not being given a POPLA number or offered the £20 reduced rate for keying error, no response as of yet. 

At the same time I appealed again to Parking Eye requesting a POPLA reference which they then provided. I appealed to POPLA with all the details and payment receipt, within 24 hours I received an email back stating Parking Eye had withdrawn their claim and the fine was being cancelled. 

Demonstrates to me how these companies try and prey on the fear and lack of knowledge people may have. I appealed directly to Parking Eye 3 times, on none of the occasions would they even give me a reason to why they rejected the appeal, instead just replying "we standby our decision". As soon as the case is escalated they drop it immediately. 

I will also be writing to my MP about this and at one point I was so close to just paying the fine to save the aggro which is what these companies trade on!

Thanks for the help provided in the thread.

Fruitcake

Well done, and thanks for letting us know. Just one minor point; they are invoices, not fines or offences. Using the F word gives them an air of legitimacy that they do not have.

Coupon-mad

And the Government is regulating them from now onwards, so this is a good news thread!  We like the changes and the PPCs are going to have to step up and treat people more fairly.