Excel Parking Charge

turtlefeet23

Had this email reply to my complaint to who I assumed was the landowner:

"Thanks for the email. 

I am truly sorry to hear that you have had this experience with Excel. We have tried everything within our powers to try to stop them and to reason with them but they know exactly what they are doing. It is privately owned and sadly it is with a separate landlord to ours so we do not know ourselves who owns it. 

I completely agree with you in the sense that it is predatory behaviour. I have attempted to reason with them, I have had local MPs involved and I have even reported them to several trading authorities, all of which has fallen short of any action form Excel. They simply do not care.

I wish I could be of more help and I wish more than anything we could get these tickets overturned but they are a company that does not do reasoning. It is having a huge impact on the business and we are continuing to work on options to help our customers going forward. All I can ask is that you can appreciate that it is not us that is acting in this way and despite the situation you find yourselves in with Excel you would still visit us. If you are, I would strongly advise parking in the *****opposite.

Sorry I can’t be of much more help."

Is there anything I can do with this? I assume not but worth an ask...

Coupon-mad

turtlefeet23 said:

I'm currently fighting a parking charge from Excel Parking as I had payed late for a parking session (still stayed for less than the length of the session I payed for) and they did not accept that as an excuse. Before discovering this site I did the "usual" process of appealing to Excel and then to the IAS (both declined even with proof of payment and photographic evidence of unclear signage - as you'd expect). A couple days ago I received a "Demand for Payment" letter with a greatly increased charge due to "Debt Collection Costs" (No debt collectors have contacted me) with the threats of court action if I didn't pay.

Yesterday I wrote an email complaint to the landowner in hopes that they can provide assistance.

UPDATE:

Had this email reply to my complaint to who I assumed was the landowner:

"Thanks for the email. 

I am truly sorry to hear that you have had this experience with Excel. We have tried everything within our powers to try to stop them and to reason with them but they know exactly what they are doing. It is privately owned and sadly it is with a separate landlord to ours so we do not know ourselves who owns it. 

I completely agree with you in the sense that it is predatory behaviour. I have attempted to reason with them, I have had local MPs involved and I have even reported them to several trading authorities, all of which has fallen short of any action form Excel. They simply do not care.

I wish I could be of more help and I wish more than anything we could get these tickets overturned but they are a company that does not do reasoning. It is having a huge impact on the business and we are continuing to work on options to help our customers going forward. All I can ask is that you can appreciate that it is not us that is acting in this way and despite the situation you find yourselves in with Excel you would still visit us. If you are, I would strongly advise parking in the *****opposite.

Sorry I can’t be of much more help."

Is there anything I can do with this? I assume not but worth an ask...

Yes!  Use it as evidence in your case but also:

Use it to change the law.

You have one chance.

Send you that whole email trail with headers to show dates & times (but you may want to cover the full email addresses) to the DLUHC by email this week.

turtlefeet23

Hi again all,

I have just today received a "Final Demand" letter that gives me a deadline of 12/10/2023 to pay the fine, but today is 14/10/23 meaning that I received the letter after the deadline to pay.

Can I use this against the PCN in my case? I'm assuming so but wanted to see if there's anything specific I can do.

Cheers!

KeithP

Who has sent that 'final demand'?

turtlefeet23

It was Excel Parking again. Looked the same as the previous NTK & Demand for Payment

Coupon-mad

Ignore them until LBC stage.

Snakes_Belly

I am not an expert on POFA however I have had my own battle with Excel and have helped others with theirs in the past.

A couple of things I would mention about the contravention which could mean that you have input a wrong digit when inputing the VRN. It could also mean that their technology is not working properly. This reason for contravention is used frequently in NTK's by Excel as there are issues with the matching up of the ANPR images and the VRN's that are input by the drivers. 

There are some car parks that allow motorists 24 hours to make payment. Toll roads and bridges also do this. 

If the time of the transgression is after your payment was made this is not an afterthought. What was the cause of the late payment? Could you not get a signal or get change? Sometimes payments are declined by Excel's merchant and not by the payer's bank. They have a facility for delaying payments which should only be used in circumstances where the product/service cannot be immediately fulfilled. 

You have paid which means you have complied the consideration element of the contract.

If this does go to court (which it may) I would defend on a number of points not POFA alone.       

I would not worry too much about taking on Excel. They do a lot of sabre rattling but when it comes down to the hearing they send some ill prepared rep with a generic war and peace witness statement that was probably only sent the night before. That is if they have sent one at all.  

turtlefeet23

Hi again all,

Many thanks for the continued advice on this.

I have received a LBC from Excel Parking. I know that I do not need to fill in the reply forms but I am unsure whether there is something more I can do to help my case after receiving this letter. I have seen this comment (https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/64350585/#Comment_64350585) from coupon-mad and am putting together a response email but was wondering if there's anything not in this comment that I should be aware of.

And regarding the email, if there's any essential things to note in my response or any resources/templates I can use then that would be fantastic as I'm a bit nervous whilst trying to put this together.

Thank you!

Le_Kirk

The NEWBIE sticky is quite clear on how to deal with a LBC/LOC/LBCCC; here is an excerpt from the sticky.

Just respond robustly - PLEASE NOTE THIS IS THE ADVICE TO RESPOND TO A LETTER OF / BEFORE CLAIM, THIS IS NOT WHAT TO DO IF YOU ACTUALLY HAVE A CLAIM FORM
(that's also easy - no CCJ risk asking as you act quickly - but actual Court Claims are dealt with lower down in this post).
Search the forum for robust LBC response and change to find 'NEWEST' results.

turtlefeet23

Hi all,

Below is a response put together for my recently received LBC. Please do tear it apart and give it as much criticism as possible so I can refine it. 

Many thanks!

Dear Sir or Madam

 

Without prejudice

 

In reference to a “Letter before Claim” or “LBC” reference (XXXXX) dated 17th of October, but not received until the 21st of October, informing me of a 30-day window in which to take action.

This already tells me the kind of unscrupulous people I'm dealing with and suggest that you date your letters closer to their actual posting date. Lest it be seen as trying to manipulate a system and additionally cause unwarranted stress, fear and anxiety over alleged debts.

I fully and robustly deny any debt alleged in regard to the above references, however I am currently seeking debt advice and demand that the case must be put on hold for not less than 30 days under the PAP for debt claims 2017.

Given that the driver of the vehicle is alleged to have failed to make payment for the duration of the stay at the aforementioned car park, despite myself providing you with information to the contrary showing that the duration of stay of the vehicle within the car park was entirely covered by the purchased tariff (of which you deny was obtained), you have continued to suggest that I (as the registered keeper) may be liable for such a “Parking Charge” – as stated this debt is denied and I will supply a full and thorough defence in any court.

I also intend to challenge the legitimacy and fairness of the inflated “Parking Charge” of £170 which has been wholly proven in the courts to be an abuse of process and an unfair and unjust addition without any grounds nor reasoning to its purpose.

I note that you are relying on pursuance of the alleged debt to the “Registered Keeper” of the vehicle. I wish to remind you of Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (section 9, subsection 4) which states:

“(4)The notice must be given by—

(a)handing it to the keeper, or leaving it at a current address for service for the keeper, within the relevant period; or

(b)sending it by post to a current address for service for the keeper so that it is delivered to that address within the relevant period.”

and Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (section 9, subsection 5) which states:

“The relevant period for the purposes of sub-paragraph (4) is the period of 14 days beginning with the day after that on which the specified period of parking ended.”

I draw your attention to the original “Notice to Keeper” (reference XXXXXX) delivered to myself on the 15th July 2023. In this letter are the particulars “Issue Date (printed)” as the 11th July 2023 and “Contravention Date” as the 27th June 2023.

As per the above, the letter has been printed on the 14th day following the alleged contravention and as such, is not compliant with the “relevant period” and as such I received the letter on the 18th day from the date of the alleged contravention.

The letter is believed to have been posted 2nd Class to my address so could not have arrived sooner than the 14 day cut-off.

The PCN has clearly failed to comply with the strict requirements of Schedule 4 of POFA and consequently Excel Parking Services Limited has forfeited any right to claim unpaid parking charges from the registered keeper of the vehicle XXXXXXX.

I wish to refer you to a recent court case in which Excel Parking Services Limited LOST based on this very above stated fact.
https://www.contestorlegal.co.uk/blog-3/summary-judgement-and-cost-of-600nbspgranted-against-excel-parking-services-limited-represented-by-elms-legal-ltd-for-issuing-a-notice-to-keeper-outside-the-relevant-period-8tb6w

Here is an additional case with the same outcome:
https://www.contestorlegal.co.uk/blog-3/excel-parking-service-limited-nbspfaces-defeat-in-manchester-county-court

 

A subject access request has been issued separately to your data protection department.

I would appreciate your acknowledgement of this correspondence.

 

Yours faithfully,

XXXXXX