CPM Parking Charge Notice

BHPRaider

I have received a Parking Charge Notice from CPM who claim I parked for 4 hours and 52mins (12:53 - 17:45) in a private car park where there is a 30 min grace period to pick up children.

The truth is that I picked up my youngest child and went home (he finishes nursery around 1pm). I then retuned later to pick up my eldest child and then returned home (he finishes around 6pm). Each time I parked for around 5/10 mins. I have a doorbell camera which will corroborate the timings for this, however this will only pick me up (and the children) but not my vehicle.

It says on the letter that I can appeal, do I use the truth in my appeal? Or should I stick to the standard template letter? I have contacted the nursery where my children go to ask them to get the notice cancelled as they are aware of the finishing times for the children.

Any advice will be gratefully received.

Coupon-mad

Don't use the template. Admit to driving, be up front with your timings and provide your Ring doorbell images as evidence.  

But tell them you object to having to do this - supplying images of you and your kids arriving home - as it is hugely intrusive and you never want to do this again. Unless they carry out the required human checks of the ANPR images every time (or add your car to a white list) this will be repeated and that is not good enough and you will in future require compensation for distress and data abuse.

As such, unless they confirm your car is now whitelisted, you will report UKCPM to the Information Commissioner and to the DVLA for abuse of data. And UKCPM will accept that each time they obtain DVLA data about this car they agree to pay you £100 compensation and will self-report each abuse to the ICO.

Stare that this is a case of ANPR failure by defaulting to first in last out images within the same day and demand that not only this abusive 'PCN' is cancelled but also that they explain how they will address the issue going forward, to stop this ever happening again, because parents with more than one child in different age groups obviously go in and out more than twice in a day.

Then report them to the ICO after you get their reply, even if the PCN is cancelled.  ICO data concern complaints are easy to do online - but only after complaining to the data controller of the company first.

And complain to the DVLA and object to your VRM data ever being given to UKCPM due to the set up at this location.  Tell the DVLA you want it flagged that you object to the DVLA processing data for UKCPM because there is no lawful reasonable cause (see the thread by @abedegno  to learn what's changed about the lawful basis for obtaining DVLA data and why you can object).

BHPRaider

Hi,

I sent this response with photos from my doorbell showing I returned home:
I object to having to supply images (including ones of my children) to prove I returned home in between the times you claim I was was parked up as it is hugely intrusive and I never want to have to do this again. However, I made 2 trips to {removed location] that day (not one long one which you are claiming). I have 2 children which finish Nursery at different times on a Friday. My youngest is collected before 1pm and my eldest is collected before 6pm. The fist photo you have provided is when I arrived to collect my youngest. File 1 shows me leaving my home at 12:41. File 2 shows me returning with my youngest at 13:10. The second photo you have provided is when I was leaving for the second time that day after collecting my eldest. File 3 shows me leaving my home at 17:30 and File 4 shows me returning with my eldest at 17:59. I regularly make multiple trips to the Nursery per day, sometimes 3 times with drop off, and then 2 different collection times and i find the threatening letters you are sending absolutely abhorrent when you it appears it's you that doesn't have a fully functioning ANPR Camera as it has somehow missed me leaving at around 13:00 on that day, but it has also missed me retuning at around 17:40 the same day. As this is an obvious case of ANPR failure and therefore i expect you to cancel this abusive PCN and also explain to me how you will address this issue going forward to stop this happening again to not only me but other parents? Please now whitelist my car from this site so I won't be sent anymore threatening letters and let me know this has been done or I will be forced to report you to the Information Commissioner and to the DVLA for abuse of data as I feel you had no lawful basis for obtaining my details.


I have just been sent the following email claiming my appeal has been unsuccessful, I am in utter disbelief as I sent photos which showed I returned home. please can you advise my next cause of action? :

Thank you for your appeal against the above Parking Charge Notice.

At UK CPM we consider all appeals on a case-by-case basis. We take each appeal very seriously and thoroughly investigate any evidence that has been provided. We appreciate your circumstances and understand this is not a situation anyone would like to find themselves in; however, these parking conditions have been put in place to ensure fair usage for all motorists and support the needs of our client. After careful consideration, it is unfortunate that I am writing to you today to advise that on this occasion, your appeal has been unsuccessful.

The decision to uphold your parking charge notice has been made on the following basis.

Whilst we note the comments and reason for appeal, we can confirm that the vehicle remained on site for 4 hours and 52 minutes with no payment or permit made to authorise your stay. We must advise that this car park is run by Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras which take a time and date stamped image of the vehicle on entry and exit, measuring the length of time the vehicle remained on site, this information is then cross-referenced with the data from the payment services & permit systems. Due to no payment or permit being found, we can confirm that this PCN has been issued correctly.

Please note. You now have 14 days from the date of this correspondence to make payment at the reduced fee of £60.00. If payment is not received within 14 days, the fee will increase to the full amount of £100.00.

You have now reached the end of our internal appeals procedure and therefore you now have two options; either pay or appeal to the Independent Appeals Service (IAS) - you cannot do both.

To make payment of the total amount due as shown above, please use one of the following payment options;

• Online: www.paymyticket.co.uk
• Telephone: 0345 463 4040 (24hr)
• Post: Payments & Collections, PO Box 3114, Lancing, BN15 5BR

Alternatively, if you do not agree with your internal appeal outcome and you wish to dispute the matter further, as you have complied with our internal appeals procedure you may use, and we will engage with, the IAS Standard Appeals Service providing you lodge an appeal to them within 21 days of this rejection.

The Independent Appeals Service (www.theIAS.org) provides an Alternative Dispute Resolution scheme for disputes of this type. If you decide to appeal to the IAS, you will need to visit their website and use your PCN reference and corresponding vehicle registration. All PCN's will be uploaded to the IAS website by the end of this working day.

If you appeal this charge further then you will lose the ability to pay at the reduced rate. In the event that your IAS appeal is unsuccessful, the full amount for the PCN will then be payable. If you lodge an appeal with the IAS and then subsequently pay the charge prior to that appeal being determined, then the appeal will be withdrawn, and you will not be given a further opportunity to contest the charge.

If you do not wish to dispute the matter further and payment is not received within 28 days of the date of this correspondence then additional charges may be incurred, for which you may be liable. If the charge continues to remain outstanding, the matter may be later referred for litigation in the County Court which could result in a County Court Judgment being made against you; this may impact on your ability to obtain credit in the future.

Kind Regards,

 

Appeals Department

UK Car Park Management Ltd

Trainerman

Well, as usual they are talking utter rubbish. That is what they do, trying to bamboozle you into paying. In this case, I would do the IAS appeal, even though they are a 'kangaroo court' It is a slight possibility that even they would throw this one out.

See what the real experts say, but even if IAS do not do their duty, I really think you would win this in Court, and maybe even be able to counter-claim.

The PPCs KNOW about the faults with ANPR anyway, and as long as you are strong and determined they may well give up before Court. Remember, there are lots of people here to help

Jenni_D

This is a clear case of double-dipping (the term we use on this forum, but one which all the PPCs are aware of) whereby the first-in/last-out ANPR photos are used but one or more intervening photos are conveniently overlooked. (The usual is that there are 3 photos, so they conveniently discard the one which would prevent them sending a PCN).

Send a SAR to the parking company to demand a copy of all data they hold on you or your vehicle, including copies of all photos. This should dig out the missing photo and gives you ammunition down the line.

IMO this case will never go to court ... if they don't cancel (if you raise an appeal with IAS then they may decide not to challenge it, so that would cancel the PCN) and it results in the usual deluge of debt recovery nonsense, I'd send them a letter/email putting them on notice that they've already been informed of the facts of the situation, so any further communication (other than notification of cancellation) will be deemed harassment and a claim may follow for both harassment and GDPR data abuse.

1505grandad

Just checking  -  do the doorbell files clearly show the VRM?

Coupon-mad

As above.

Do IAS appeal with your evidence. You have 21 days.

Do a complaint to UKCPM's DPO email and tell them you want a SAR that includes ALL the captures of your vehicle that day. Also tell the DPO you will be reporting them to the Information Commissioner for failing to carry out any human checks to find the ANPR 'orphan images' in the middle.

Jenni_D

1505grandad said:

Just checking  -  do the doorbell files clearly show the VRM?

OP already stated that they didn't (I think). The point though was that OP (likely) wouldn't drive to that location with their children, leave the car there all day, walk back to get child 1 and walk back home with child 1, walk back there later for child 2 then drive home. Especially if it's a discernible distance between the 2 points.

Common sense dictates that this is a double dip scenario ... but we all know that common sense isn't very common, especially in PPC-land. 🙄

BHPRaider

Jenni_D said:

1505grandad said:

Just checking  -  do the doorbell files clearly show the VRM?

OP already stated that they didn't (I think). The point though was that OP (likely) wouldn't drive to that location with their children, leave the car there all day, walk back to get child 1 and walk back home with child 1, walk back there later for child 2 then drive home. Especially if it's a discernible distance between the 2 points.

Common sense dictates that this is a double dip scenario ... but we all know that common sense isn't very common, especially in PPC-land. 🙄

Yep exactly this. No VRM shown on the doorbell but the Nursery is about a 10 min drive from my house so it would be impossible for me to get there and back without my car in the timings of the doorbell. I thought it would be a relatively easy appeal where they would see the images, recheck the ANPR images and drop the case, how wrong I was.

I have written to their DPO email and am waiting for the SAR to come through before I start the IAS appeal. If I don't hear back in a week or so I'll just start the IAS appeal anyway with the evidence I already have. I have also written to the College where the nursery is in to see if they have CCTV of the entrance and car park to see if they can provide footage of me leaving and returning so hopefully that comes back with what I need as well.

1505grandad

"OP already stated that they didn't (I think)."

Must admit I did not see anything about that  -  just wanted to make sure that the scammers had no wriggle room.

Fruitcake

Have you complained to the landowner and your MP about this scam?