PCN in hotel car park for picking up

shefmarkh

Hello,

A friend of mine stayed at a local hotel on 15 July 2023 to 18 July 2023. On the evening of 15 July I drove into the car to pick him up to take him tp my house and he got the train back. The next day, 16 July 2023,  I again picked him up from the same car park in the morning.

Today I have received a PCN ("Parking Charge Notice") for parking between 15 July 2023 at 7 pm until 16 July 2023 at 11 am. I was not parked there at all, I only drove in twice to pick my friend up as detailed above.

The notice is from "Total Car Parks". I contacted the hotel and they said its nothing to do with them and I need to liase with Total Car Parks

I can't prove the car was at home during this time. I could get a statement from my friend stating I picked him up. Would this be sufficient to appeal the ticket or I would need to do something else?

Thanks,

Mark

Coupon-mad

Perfectly sufficient. Tell TCP that this is what the DLUHC call a 'Double Dip' (ANPR error of counting two visits as one, by erroneously ignoring the middle 'orphan images' that no human has bothered to check for).

Demand it's cancelled and don't be too polite.  No 'Hi' or 'thankyou' or 'kind regards'.

B789

shefmarkh said:

The notice is from "Total Car Parks". I contacted the hotel and they said its nothing to do with them and I need to liase with Total Car Parks

I can't prove the car was at home during this time. I could get a statement from my friend stating I picked him up. Would this be sufficient to appeal the ticket or I would need to do something else?

Does the hotel own the car park? If the hotel has contracted the vermin to manage their car park, then they absolutely can order their agent to cancel it. Who did you ask at the hotel? How far up the management food chain did you go?

If the hotel does own the car park, you will need to remind them that they are jointly and severally liable for the actions of their agents. As TCP has not done their due diligence and manually checked their ANPR data, they have breached your GDPR by requesting your details from the DVLA and are jointly liable for that breach which you intend to make a claim for should they not, as the Organ Grinder, get their Monkey, TCP, to cancel the PCN.

Complain to your MP also. Read the Newbies/FAQ thread to see how this is likely to progress should the above not be the case.

LoneStarState

you say you can't prove the car was at home but all you need is to prove the car was not at the hotel.  Witness statement should be a slam dunk but double check also:
Does your phone have location tracking on as this would also help.
Whether your friend has location tracking to further corroborate their witness statement and your movement. 
Any visits to shops and/or other witnesses?

Do as the other posters above have recommended regardless, there was no reason for this notice to be issued in the first place.

shefmarkh

B789 said:

shefmarkh said:

The notice is from "Total Car Parks". I contacted the hotel and they said its nothing to do with them and I need to liase with Total Car Parks

I can't prove the car was at home during this time. I could get a statement from my friend stating I picked him up. Would this be sufficient to appeal the ticket or I would need to do something else?

Does the hotel own the car park? If the hotel has contracted the vermin to manage their car park, then they absolutely can order their agent to cancel it. Who did you ask at the hotel? How far up the management food chain did you go?

If the hotel does own the car park, you will need to remind them that they are jointly and severally liable for the actions of their agents. As TCP has not done their due diligence and manually checked their ANPR data, they have breached your GDPR by requesting your details from the DVLA and are jointly liable for that breach which you intend to make a claim for should they not, as the Organ Grinder, get their Monkey, TCP, to cancel the PCN.

Complain to your MP also. Read the Newbies/FAQ thread to see how this is likely to progress should the above not be the case.

The regional general manager is who told me it’s not their problem. It’s a Best Western.

How could I find out if they own the car park?

Coupon-mad

You don't need to. Just do what I said and TCP will cancel.

B789

shefmarkh said:

The regional general manager is who told me it’s not their problem. It’s a Best Western.

How could I find out if they own the car park?

Is the hotel part of a complex with other businesses sharing the car park? If not, then they are most likely the landowners. If not, Google it or just ask them.

If you want to have some fun with them, send the Data Protection Officer (dpo@bwhhotelgroup.co.uk) for Best Western GB and CC the regional general manager the following (or escalate up their management food chain) the following:

Letter before County Court Claim

Dear Sir,

This letter is a formal letter of claim to the data controller of Best Western Hotel Group. As the data controller, you should be aware of the following and should pass this letter on to your legal advisers.

Article 12 of the UK GDPR legally requires data controllers to store and process personal data accurately: clearly, any data controller issuing an invoice, because it has wrongly recorded that the driver was parked in breach of the alleged contract between the driver and the landowner (or, as in this case, an agent of the landowner), is processing my personal data unlawfully.  As the contractor of your agent, Total Car Parks Ltd., you are jointly and severally liable for the actions of your agents. Your regional general manager does not appear to be aware of this liability and therefore I am now issuing this LBCCC.

The precedents for claiming damages and compensation for such unlawful processing are the decisions of the Court of Appeal in Zeta Jones & Douglas v Hello! Magazine [2003] EWHC 786 and Halliday v Creation Consumer Finance Ltd (CCF) [2013] EWCA Civ 333, both being binding on all County Courts in England and Wales.  In the latter claim, Mr Halliday was awarded compensation of £750 at what the Court regarded was the lowest level of award, and although this was a claim under Section 13 of the Data Protection Act 1998, similar provisions - amended to take account of a decision by the EU Grand Chamber that the 1998 Act did not properly implement EU law into UK domestic legislation - replaced the old Section 13 provisions with Article 12 of the UK GDPR and Section 168 of the Data Protection Act 2018.

In short, as the data controller, you now have 21 days' notice (the pre-action protocol only requires 14 days) of my intention to seek £100 nominal damages and compensation under Article 84 of the UK GDPR and Section 168 of the Data Protection Act 2018 for unlawful processing of my personal data. I will not file a claim with the County Court if you confirm in writing that all references to the alleged debt from your agents, Total Car Parks Ltd., have been deleted and cancelled within 14 days from the date of this letter.

Yours faithfully,

Anyone who is fairly confident can claim as a litigant-in-person in Part 27 proceedings in the County Court (commonly but wrongly described as "the Small Claims Court").  Each party is responsible for their own legal costs whether they win or lose and the claim for £100 can be issued online for a fee of £35 at moneyclaimonline.gov.uk which also gives useful advice if you want to have a look at what is involved.  Your claim will automatically be listed as being for a total of £135, i.e. the successful party gets their Court fees back.

shefmarkh

"If you want to have some fun with them"

Not really, just want them to cancel the PCN. Once they have though, if they did indeed violate my GDPR rights I might be inclined to report them to the relevant authority.

"You don't need to. Just do what I said and TCP will cancel."

I have a signed statement from said friend and his booking confirmation for this hotel. Also have bank statements and Apple Pay statements showing I was elsewhere that evening (which friends statement also confirms).

Someone on another forum also suggested I request they manually check their images to verify that there are additional images their automated algorithm has ignored. What do you think of that suggestion?

Coupon-mad

That's exactly the same as what I advised except I used the proper term 'orphan images'.

shefmarkh

Coupon-mad said:

That's exactly the same as what I advised except I used the proper term 'orphan images'.

ok thanks! Will use that term

B789

shefmarkh said:

Not really, just want them to cancel the PCN. Once they have though, if they did indeed violate my GDPR rights I might be inclined to report them to the relevant authority.

"You don't need to. Just do what I said and TCP will cancel."

I have a signed statement from said friend and his booking confirmation for this hotel. Also have bank statements and Apple Pay statements showing I was elsewhere that evening (which friends statement also confirms).

Someone on another forum also suggested I request they manually check their images to verify that there are additional images their automated algorithm has ignored. What do you think of that suggestion?

After receiving some advice on here, you now ask what we think about a "suggestion" from a different forum. What was wrong with the advice you have received above?

Coupon-mad said:

Perfectly sufficient. Tell TCP that this is what the DLUHC call a 'Double Dip' (ANPR error of counting two visits as one, by erroneously ignoring the middle 'orphan images' that no human has bothered to check for).

Demand it's cancelled and don't be too polite.  No 'Hi' or 'thankyou' or 'kind regards'.

Here is the best advice you will receive. Just do it!