Parking firm only accepting appeals once waived rights

dilby

Hi all - 14 months ago I received a PCN as registered keeper from Alliance Parking. I tried to appeal but their appeals process - as it still seems to now - only allows appeals from the driver. Their online appeal form requires. you to enter the name of the driver and the first line of their appeals page reads 'You cannot submit an appeal if you were not the driver of the vehicle'. As we know I have the right to withhold this information, plus it also goes against their trade body (IPC) code of practice.

You also cannot send a letter as they state 'Sending a letter by post will not bypass our policy of restricting appeals to driver submissions only, with the exception of where the vehicle had been stolen or cloned; evidence to this effect must be provided.' 

I complained to the IPC at the time who failed to act, and I also complained to my local MP who took it up with the IPC who threatened legal action against me for defamation without providing any real defence of my statement above and being overall extremely unhelpful. I also complained to the DVLA but had not response. I have records of all of this communication. I also wrote my own letter to Alliance Parking stating why i could not appeal, why i would not be revealing the details of the driver and lodged a complaint. I never heard back - until now.

I've received a 'final demand' to pay or else they will commence county court proceedings.

Does anyone feel helpful enough to help point me in the direction of the best next move?

Many thanks

Fruitcake

Did the keeper complain to the landowner? That is always Plan A

Other than that, patiently await a court claim or six years from the date of the alleged event, whichever comes first.

You could repeat your complaints to the PPC and IPC if you enjoy banging your head against a brick wall, otherwise there is little else you can do.

My experience of complaining to the IPC is that all they do is forward the complaint to the PPC, then close it without doing it.

You could complain to your MP that the IPC and DVLA failed to respond.

Jenni_D

You could have appealed online and in the driver name field put Driver Not Identified  

Grizebeck

Can you please send me a photo of the letter where you were threatened either on here or by private message please

Fruitcake

Grizebeck can be trusted if you want to keep this off forum.

Boat_to_Bolivia

Fruitcake said:

Grizebeck can be trusted if you want to keep this off forum.

@Grizebeck is wanting to help you OP .

I've read so much on here, it's a huge learning curve and I am still trying to get my head round it all, but I am determined to get up to speed.

The experts here do an excellent job and my hat is well and truly off to them...trust them, they will help you.

Not_A_Hope

Is it Alliance Parking that has sent you a ‘final demand’ or is it a debt collector who can be ignored or maybe even a solicitor now acting on their behalf. The one to watch out for is a formal letter before claim requiring a response within 30 days which will probably be followed by a County Court Claim which you can then defend.

Grizebeck

Not_A_Hope said:

Is it Alliance Parking that has sent you a ‘final demand’ or is it a debt collector who can be ignored or maybe even a solicitor now acting on their behalf. The one to watch out for is a formal letter before claim requiring a response within 30 days which will probably be followed by a County Court Claim which you can then defend.

They do their own "legal work"

Coupon-mad

Grizebeck said:

Can you please send me a photo of the letter where you were (allegedly) threatened either on here or by private message please

I want to see that too, please.

Urgently. Great timing! I am happy to show it to the Government next week if the OP is happy.

Alliance Parking are influential on the IPC Board so you/your MP were doomed to get nowhere with a complaint.

We know that they deny registered keepers any right to appeal, by saying "we aren't holding you liable just yet but will do when we've added a false £70 'penalty', and you will then be too late to appeal and we'll sue you":

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/78777070#Comment_78777070

Actual reply from the IPC, is shown there.  

So one can reasonably infer that this is what that Trade Body think of consumers.

As the victim in that case rightly says:

 "So - the driver can appeal. The keeper can't. But the keeper is liable if no appeal is received from the driver. In that instance, the keeper still can't appeal."

Sadly that victim got scared close to court claim stage and never came back.  It is people caving and paying the more rogue elements of this industry that enables such aggression.

Please can we see the email that allegedly included legal threats against you?

If you send me a pm I can also put you in touch with a TV researcher who is interested in cases like yours.

dilby

Apologies everyone for the late reply; I've got a newborn in the house so everything's a bit manic! I really do appreciate the help. Responses below:

Fruitcake said:

Did the keeper complain to the landowner? That is always Plan A

Other than that, patiently await a court claim or six years from the date of the alleged event, whichever comes first.

You could repeat your complaints to the PPC and IPC if you enjoy banging your head against a brick wall, otherwise there is little else you can do.

My experience of complaining to the IPC is that all they do is forward the complaint to the PPC, then close it without doing it.

You could complain to your MP that the IPC and DVLA failed to respond.

It's been a while so I can't remember exactly what advice I read at the time but I must have missed that; I complained to the owner of the restaurant the driver was at, but they were not help.

I did complain to the MP that the IPC had failed to respond, but not the DVLA as I did that a little later.

Jenni_D said:

You could have appealed online and in the driver name field put Driver Not Identified  

Ha yes I did consider this although they state if the driver is not identified the appeal will be ignored and not accepted as an appeal.

Grizebeck said:

Can you please send me a photo of the letter where you were threatened either on here or by private message please

Sure, will do after I post this

Grizebeck said:

Not_A_Hope said:

Is it Alliance Parking that has sent you a ‘final demand’ or is it a debt collector who can be ignored or maybe even a solicitor now acting on their behalf. The one to watch out for is a formal letter before claim requiring a response within 30 days which will probably be followed by a County Court Claim which you can then defend.

They do their own "legal work"

Correct, it's from Alliance themselves, no mention of 30 days.

Coupon-mad said:

Grizebeck said:

Can you please send me a photo of the letter where you were (allegedly) threatened either on here or by private message please

I want to see that too, please.

Urgently. Great timing! I am happy to show it to the Government next week if the OP is happy.

Alliance Parking are influential on the IPC Board so you/your MP were doomed to get nowhere with a complaint.

We know that they deny registered keepers any right to appeal, by saying "we aren't holding you liable just yet but will do when we've added a false £70 'penalty', and you will then be too late to appeal and we'll sue you":

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/78777070#Comment_78777070

Actual reply from the IPC, is shown there.  

So one can reasonably infer that this is what that Trade Body think of consumers.

As the victim in that case rightly says:

 "So - the driver can appeal. The keeper can't. But the keeper is liable if no appeal is received from the driver. In that instance, the keeper still can't appeal."

Sadly that victim got scared close to court claim stage and never came back.  It is people caving and paying the more rogue elements of this industry that enables such aggression.

Please can we see the email that allegedly included legal threats against you?

If you send me a pm I can also put you in touch with a TV researcher who is interested in cases like yours.

What a scam. I'm curious how they get away with it because surely it's a massive loophole out of paying POPLA fees?
I do understand not wanting to go to court, for me though it's less about any 'fear' but rather the headache of all the forms and red tape which for my mind favour those who do it regularly, and not the average person on the street.

I will message both you and Grizebeck. Thank you all so far.

Grizebeck

Thanks got it