UKCPM PCN Hitchin Arcade - Reclaiming false allegation

Krok414

Any advice on reclaiming a Parking Charge?

I parked in the above car park and later received a Parking Charge Notice alleging that I had overstayed the time paid-for.

Like a fool I paid the £60 Parking Charge and would have written it off to be more careful in future.

However a couple of weeks later I found the parking receipt, so went back to check, and it shows quite clearly according to their displayed terms and conditions that I had paid the correct amount on the day!

Subsequently I’ve written to UK Car Park Management to complain but of course had no response.

What are my chances of getting my £60 charge back?

Possibly avenues are:

1. Request a charge-back through my card company

2. Complain direct to the landowner on whose behalf UKCPM operates the site

3. Complain to my MP

4. Complain to DVLA / ICO as the legal basis on which they obtained my details appears invalid

Any advice on how to proceed?

Thanks.

Half_way

Chances are very low with the parking company, once you paid then its seen as game over, plus its not unheard of for the to come back for more

 You may have some leverage with the landowner, however you absolutely must hammer it home to them that they are liable for the actions of their agents .

If you paid the correct amount then is their another catch such as having to enter your reg number on a machine?

were you parked in a bay designated for red cars, yet your car was magenta? likewise the space is only for blue cars, and you have a cyan coloured car?

 were you parked with your tyre valves at a position other than 12 O'clock?

failure to display a current tax disc?

Krok414

In this car park you have to enter your Reg No. into the machine, it is shown on the ticket together with time issued. Their PCN includes photos of you entering and leaving said car park and the times. I have subsequently taken photos of their terms and conditions posted in the car park and all taken together corroborates that I paid the correct amount.

Their PCN could be possibly viewed as obtaining money by deception!

Thanks.

Coupon-mad

Get your MP to write to them AND TO THE IPC to complain on your behalf.

Parking is very high profile this year with the new law and statutory Code coming in soon.

MPs do this all the time; it's one of the most common issues in many constituency mailbags, so said MPs in the HoC in 2018 when debating the statutory Code plans and denouncing the 'outrageous scam' of the private parking industry. 

Krok414

Coupon-mad thanks for the prompt regarding IPC.  I've now read their Code of Practice and it's useful to know.

For example, UKCPM have clearly breached section 15.4

15 Parking Charges
15.4 Parking operators must ensure that they only issue Parking Charges in accordance with their advertised terms on any site.

There is also a section on dealing with complaints

Schedule 4 – Compliance and Complaints
Operators Internal Complaints Procedure

Having already sent a formal written complaint to UKCPM, I will wait to see whether they follow this proceedure (they have 14 working days to respond (10 days plus 2 days either direction for post time)). At least, assuming they will adhere to it, it involves them in a bit of work! 

Umkomaas

Krok414 said:

In this car park you have to enter your Reg No. into the machine, it is shown on the ticket together with time issued. Their PCN includes photos of you entering and leaving said car park and the times. I have subsequently taken photos of their terms and conditions posted in the car park and all taken together corroborates that I paid the correct amount.

Their PCN could be possibly viewed as obtaining money by deception!

Thanks.

If you still have the ticket, check that your complete and correct VRM is shown on it - often it needs one keypad key to be depressed first to 'wake up' the machine, which motorists do with the first digit of their VRM, but only the digits thereafter are recorded. There are many cases here where the machine only records and shows 2 or 3 digits only. The other issue can be around a '0' (zero) in the VRM where the motorist has pressed the letter 'O' instead, or vice versa. We've seen all the above trigger a PCN. 

B789

You can still ask your credit card company to put a chargeback on the payment as you are disputing it.

Krok414

Just thought I would provide an update on this case...

I raised a chargeback on my credit card, through my bank, against UKPCM ...

after waiting patiently for more than 70 days for a response, the bank has finally responded : parking charges are excluded from the chargeback scheme!

So next step will be Small Claims procedure.

Coupon-mad

How exactly are parking charge notices specifically excluded (as opposed to
parking fees?).

I parked in the above car park and later received a Parking Charge Notice alleging that I had overstayed the time paid-for.

Like a fool I paid the £60 Parking Charge and would have written it off to be more careful in future.

However a couple of weeks later I found the parking receipt, so went back to check, and it shows quite clearly according to their displayed terms and conditions that I had paid the correct amount on the day!

Send UKCPM a LBC and tell them to get off their office pool table and refund your money by DATE or you will file a claim plus costs and interest at 8%.

Half_way

And what has the landowner said after you also reminded them they are jointly liable for the actions of their agents?

Don't jump into a LBC with the ppc until you have well and truly dragged the landowner into this, to the point where it will be cheaper for the landowner to pay you the money back then to deal with this

UncleThomasCobley

Ask your credit card provider for the terms in their contract with you that specifically excludes "parking charges" from their charge back. Remind them that this is not a penalty charge from any authority but a speculative invoice from an unregulated private company.