PCN issued outside of contract terms

PipKers

Hi everyone.

Firstly thank you to all contributors to this forum, the amount of quality information and guidance is second to none and is very much appreciated. However, I have a question which I have been unable to find an answer to following many hours of reading and searching and I would appreciate some guidance if possible please.

My Niece received a PCN from Link parking on 6th February 2023 for failing to display a valid parking permit whilst parked in her allocated space at the address she has lived at with her partner for the past 18 months. We noted that several other vehicles had received PCN's that evening.

I immediately asked her to take photographs and video footage of the signage and subsequently contacted the management company to make further enquiries. For the record the signage was totally inadequate and it was evident that 3 of the 4 signs at the premises had fallen off the walls they were attached to with the main sign not prominent on entry.

We queried with the management company as to why all of a sudden PCN's were being issued at the premises. What follows is the correspondence received from them which is self explanatory;

Hi ****** 

Re. parking enforcement at YMCA Lofts 

********* Ltd took over as managing agents of YMCA Lofts on 01/02/23.  During my initial contact with all previously instructed contractors I was informed that the outgoing agent ******* had failed to give notice to the existing contractors of the impending change.  It’s disappointing because as a professional courtesy it’s standard practice for the outgoing agent to inform all contractors in writing that a new management company will be taking the site and to provide contact details for the new agent, date of the change etc. 

Any existing contract/service agreement between *** and LinkParking ended at midnight on 31/01/23.  I received a response from Link Parking earlier this month where they confirmed *** hadn’t informed them of a site management change and also confirmed verbally the existing agreement was with *** and therefore expired as of 01/02/23. 

I signed a service agreement with Link Parking on 09/02/23 (please see attached).  They were instructed to start actual site checks as of 20/02/23 to allow residents time to order permits.  Link Parking confirmed they would honour any existing permits residents have in their vehicles.  I posted numerous reminder notices around the ground floor lobby of YMCA Lofts on 15/02/23 (see attached notice and photos for evidence). 

Any tickets issued between 01/02/23 and 09/02/23 are not valid because there wasn’t any service agreement in place at that time. 

Kind regards

******* 

It is therefore evident that Link Parking had no contract in place to be operating at the premises on the date the PCN was issued. On receipt of the first letter from Link my sister responded pointing out the above information and informed them that they were not authorised to be operating at the premises, therefore no further correspondence would be entered into. This was not acknowledged by Link and a second demanding letter followed in due course which we ignored.

My Niece has now received a letter of claim from BW Legal to which they have added their £60 "costs" and threatens court action etc if no response or payment is received within 30 days.

This brings me on to the purpose of this post. In view of the fact that Link parking had no contract in place on the date they issued these PCN's surely they were acting illegally? They had no right to even be on the premises on 6th February never mind issuing fake demands for alleged parking violations! So my main question is would anybody here have any knowledge of a situation like this with regard to what laws/regulations they have violated?

I appreciate that we could get the PCN quashed by the management company but I would really like to get one over on them by whatever means possible and make them pay for this. Their tactics and principles are disgusting at the best of times but this is another level. I would also like to stick one to BW Legal as well for chasing an illegal "debt".

We would be extremely grateful for any advice on this matter please and thank you in advance for anything you may be able to offer

Pip

Fruitcake

Plan A is always a complaint to the landowner or managing agent and the motorist's MP.

Is she a tenant or a leaseholder, or a property owner?

What does your niece's lease/AST/property rental/ownership agreement say about parking companies/parking charges/permits/court etcetera? What it doesn't say is equally important.

Does it include a "Right to quiet enjoyment"?

Your niece's rights to live at the property have primacy of contract over anything an unregulated private parking company has to say.

Around day 25 of the issue date of the LoC, your niece should send a hold instruction to BW Legal stating that whilst she denies the debt she is seeking debt advice and therefore requires the case to be put on hold for 30 days as per court pre-action protocol.

PipKers

Thank you fruitcake for your very prompt response.

However, my main question here is how best to take this forward considering Link parking had no authority in the first instance to issue the PCN, they had no contract in place to be operating at the premises! Therefore all of the usual caveats don't apply, this is more about what laws/regulations they have contravened by issuing the PCN in a location they had no legal right whatsoever to be operating in.

Thank you again

Coupon-mad

Report them to the DVLA (with your evidence) and when you get the usual template knock-back, just reply again and insist it is escalated because you are going to publicise it in the press and you will also tell the DLUHC if the DVLA continue to fob off this complaint.

Tell them you are not going to futilely complain to the IPC first, so stop trying to corral you down that rabbit hole because ATA status currently means pretty much nothing, due to the lax way the DVLA have seemingly allowed the Trade Bodies to do whatever they want since David Dunford (the only DVLA person ever seen to have a proper grip on the rogue industry) moved on to better things than having weekly meetings with self-styled parking 'professionals'.

Then send a copy of your DVLA complaint email to BW Legal with the attached evidence, and tell them to cease and desist, and if they file a claim, you will counterclaim for damages, due to Link obtaining DVLA data without reasonable cause.

PipKers

Thank you coupon mad, would you be aware if Link have broken any laws or breached any IPC regulations or is a complaint to the IPC a waste of time?

Thank you

Coupon-mad

A complaint to the IPC is (in my experience) utterly futile which is why my suggested emails (plural) to the DVLA says you won't be corralled down that rabbit-hole. 

PipKers

Hi, sorry for the delay in commenting.

I wonder if you (coupon mad) would mind looking over this complaint to the DVLA for me please. Thank you

Dear sirs,

I am writing to you in respect of serious code of practice breaches by Link Parking Ltd, the details of which are as follows.

I am a former resident of xxxxx in Barry and as part of my tenancy agreement I was allocated a parking bay in the property's car park. On 6th February this year my vehicle was issued with a PCN from link parking whilst parked in my allocated bay. I was a little surprised at this because I had parked in my allocated spot since taking up the tenancy without any prior problem.

I took up the matter with the management company, xxxxxxxx who undertook overall management for the property on 1st February. They informed me that they had been in discussion with Link Parking and had signed a new contract for link parking to commence parking enforcement at the premises on 9th February 2023 which was to be delayed until 20th February in order to allow residents to obtain the necessary permits. I am attaching a copy of the new contract and a copy of the notice posted around the flats informing us of the changes.

Upon further investigation I discovered that Link Parking had a contract in force with the previous management company, xxx, which expired on 1st February 2023. Therefore at the time Link Parking issued the PCN they had no legal right to patrol these premises as there was no contract in place for them to do so. This is further evidenced by the complete lack of signage at the premises. I am enclosing photographs taken on 6th February which evidently show that previous parking enforcement signs had been removed or had simply fallen off the walls and had not been replaced.  It is therefore clearly evident that Link Parking were therefore acting illegally on 6th February by issuing this PCN.

Furthermore it is clearly evident that Link Parking have obtained data from yourselves in respect of this PCN without reasonable cause. These breaches of the IAS code of practice by Link Parking also breach the KADOE contract to obtain data from yourselves.

For the record, my failure to pay this illegally issued PCN has now resulted in the threat of court action by BW Legal who are acting on behalf of Link Parking so you can understand how strongly I feel about this matter. A separate serious complaint is being prepared to the solicitors regulatory authority in respect of this.

I trust that you will treat this complaint seriously as failure to do so will result in me referring the issue to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman along with my MP.

I can also inform you that I have approached the press in respect of this matter and BBC Watchdog have expressed a keen interest in obtaining further information.

I look forward to a satisfactory response in due course

Coupon-mad

Very good. Are you attaching evidence?

1505grandad

"These breaches of the IAS code of practice..."  -  should this be IPC (International Parking Community)?

TheSecretSocialist

An additional point you might want to consider. The parking firm are in breach of GDPR, as they have 1) obtained your personally identifiable information fraudulently, and 2) failed to protect that information by sharing it with a third party (BW legal) without cause. 

It might be worth a complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office (about both the Parking firm and DVLA) as well as DVLA.

PipKers

Thank you all for your replies, much appreciated.

Great point about the breach of GDPR, didn't even occur to me, thank you. I will re-word the complaint to incorporate this. I will also alter the IAS to the IPC.

I will post the rewritten complaint once done along with copies of the contract etc, thank you all again for your time