Euro Car Parks PCN received late

Bertie129

Hello, I received a PCN 'notice to keeper' from Euro Car Parks for an overstay at a retail store. The overstay was about 50 minutes. I was not the driver.

Tried contacting the retailer as the driver was a genuine customer at this store, providing proof of money spent at the shop, but the retailer has referred me back to Euro Car Parks.

As for the PCN, it is dated the 10th day after the parking event, but the letter was not delivered until day 15. I took a dated photo of the PCN on the day it arrived as it seemed very late.

Is the late delivery of the PCN (and photographic evidence of this) valid grounds to win at POPLA? How likely is an appeal to win?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Bertie129

By the way the car park has a £2 charge for a 2 hour stay, which the driver paid.

B789

Bertie129 said:

Hello, I received a PCN 'notice to keeper' from Euro Car Parks for an overstay at a retail store. The overstay was about 50 minutes. I was not the driver.

Tried contacting the retailer as the driver was a genuine customer at this store, providing proof of money spent at the shop, but the retailer has referred me back to Euro Car Parks.

As for the PCN, it is dated the 10th day after the parking event, but the letter was not delivered until day 15. I took a dated photo of the PCN on the day it arrived as it seemed very late.

Is the late delivery of the PCN (and photographic evidence of this) valid grounds to win at POPLA? How likely is an appeal to win?

Without telling us the actual dates, it is difficult to check. The NtK is "deemed" to have been delivered 2 working days after the date on it.

Coupon-mad

Highly unlikely that point would win at POPLA because you can't prove the date it was delivered (your photo doesn't show that).

However, no-one here pays Euro Car Parks. They are benign and can be ignored. Or if the £100 is in small print on the sign, that can win at POPLA, as you will see, if you skim-read the latest posts on the POPLA DECISIONS sticky thread (i.e. glancing at each page and going backwards to spot ECP decisions. There were several in 2022).

Bertie129

Thank you, that's good to know and thanks for putting my mind at rest. I did consider just paying!

Let's say the parking event happened on the 2nd, the PCN is dated the 12th, and the letter was actually received on the 17th. So received on day 15.

I can't prove the letter arrived on that day but did take a photo, but neither can they prove they actually sent it on the 12th. I guess no harm in mentioning this in my appeal?

However, checking street view it does look like the charge amount is in small print on the signage since I can't actually see it, so that's a good point to go with, thanks.

Coupon-mad

There's no point mentioning the date it arrived.

B789

Bertie129 said:

Thank you, that's good to know and thanks for putting my mind at rest. I did consider just paying!

Let's say the parking event happened on the 2nd, the PCN is dated the 12th, and the letter was actually received on the 17th. So received on day 15.

I can't prove the letter arrived on that day but did take a photo, but neither can they prove they actually sent it on the 12th. I guess no harm in mentioning this in my appeal?

However, checking street view it does look like the charge amount is in small print on the signage since I can't actually see it, so that's a good point to go with, thanks.

Why are you being so secretive about the date? Are you paranoid about something?

Trying to figure it out without knowing which month and year, we have no idea which actual day of the week you are referring to. However, use your imagination and figure it out based on what I wrote in my previous post.

The NtK is "deemed" to have been delivered on the second "working" day of the NtK date. What you have postulated above, thanks to your paranoia, is impossible to work out because if the second day after the NtK date is a Saturday, Sunday or a bank holiday, they are obviously not "working" days. If "working" days is causing confusion, substitute "business" days instead.

In your ambiguous example, if it was May, June, July or August this year, based on the dates, the NtK will have been "deemed" to have been delivered before day 14.

So, if you have now figured it out, if the NtK arrived after day 14 since the parking event, it is not PoFA compliant and the RK cannot be liable. However, far too many victims manage to shoot themselves in the foot by either directly or inadvertently disclosing the identity of the driver which makes the PoFA point, mute.

Bertie129

B789 said:

Why are you being so secretive about the date? Are you paranoid about something?

Like many here I regard myself as at risk of being pursued in court by a company in a notoriously litigious industry, hell bent on parting me from my money, so yes, I was careful not to post any identifiable information - well spotted

I messed up my example dates due to haste, but POFA states that notice must be given within 14 calendar days, and I am capable of counting those - it was delivered on day 15. However, it seems this is not really worth pursuing so I thank you for your time and comments. 

Bertie129

Coupon-mad said:

There's no point mentioning the date it arrived.

Thanks for your help!

B789

the actual date it is delivered has no bearing on anything. It is the "deemed" date of delivery that counts. However, I would suggest that the tin foil hat is removed forthwith. The men in black are not scouring the interweb in their hordes searching for defendants to screw over because they posted something of little relevance on a forum.