Parkingeye Princess Royal Hospital / St Francis Social Club Haywards Heath

donglefan

I want to contest this ticket and have submitted an appeal to Parkingeye.  However if going all the way to court, I am not well enough to attend a court hearing in person.  What happens in such a situation - for example can it be dealt with as a 'desk' case by the judge, or could I 'attend' virtually either by video or phone?

Gr1pr

Any possible court case is either several months or possibly a couple of years away 

But to answer your specific questions,

It can be heard on papers ( but its rarely recommended as it could disadvantage you 

You can ask for a remote hearing, where you login from a laptop or similar, or possibly over the phone, but at least they would be in person, even if you are not physically present, so similar to when COVID hit a few years ago 

fisherjim

Before worrying about court why don't you give the regulars a bit more information on the incident, the appeal you sent and did you follow the advice in the Newbies thread on here?

What happened with "plan A"?

Unless the signage has vastly improved since 2022 that would be a winning point at POPLA:

donglefan

Thank you both for your kind help.

Regarding 'plan A' I did contact PALS, they said I needed to contact the Social Club, which I have done, but have not received a reply. I also raised a formal complaint with the NHS Trust about the situation, because they don't have enough parking at the hospital and there is an entrance from the hospital side of this car park which lures in patients who are desparate to park.    In this instance 'the driver' parked next to the pay machine, keyed in the reg plate, went to pay by card and there was no card slot or card reader, and the driver did not have any change on them, because had expected to be able to pay by card, as is the norm at the hospital. Therefore no payment was made, as it was rather a desperate situation to get to the hospital appointment, with no other spaces available, although there was lots of space in this area (now knows why) with only a couple of other cars there.  The driver did not realise this was not a part of the hospital parking system.  "St Francis" is historically part of the hospital area - it was the original psychiatric hospital on the site that predates the main hospital, so I would think the trust owns the land.

I have provided to Parkingeye, details of the hospital appointment for a third party, which was the reason for being at the location.  I also provided to Parkingeye details of my own health difficulties.

I asked about the situation on my local village facebook group and several people shared similar experiences. One wrote that his wife had been taken to court by Parkingeye for a ticket at the site and that the judge had thrown it out because of inadequacy of the contract with the landowner of the site.  I don't know how long ago that was, and have asked the NHS Trust about this, and they said they have a long wait for complaints, but have referred to their estates department and will reply in a few months.

In the circumstances, I'd welcome any advice.

GrannyKate

This is on the St Francis Social Club website;  It may be worth complaining to the secretary about the lack of clear signage at the entrance which you used. 

CAR PARKING

Car Parking at St Francis Social Club

Whilst we sympathise with the lack of parking for NHS staff and residents alike, the Club has recently spent a considerable amount of money on resurfacing our car park, which is specifically for the use of our members, guests and class participants whilst using the Club’s facilities. 

 

Our concern is that we have seen an increased number of vehicles taking up valuable spaces that are neither member's or users of the club facilities at the time.  This occasionally results in genuine users of the Club not being able to park in the Club car park which is not helpful or fair to our members. 

 

We have therefore taken the necessary decision to implement car parking controls in the form of CCTV withing the Club car park. Terminals are to be placed within the club and paid up members will only need to input their vehicle registration number once a year to be compliant. 

 

Guests will need to enter their registration details each visit using the fixed terminals, or using QR codes situated in various places around the premises. Regular class users can have their vehicle details input in the database by class instructors/leaders on mass. You will need to speak to your relevant class leader to do this. 

 

Please note that the Club will not receive any proceeds from the parking fines and that this initiative is to ensure that members and users of our facilities benefit from free on-site parking when using the Club. 

 

Should you have any questions relating to any of the above please email secretary@stfrancissocialclub.com 

donglefan

Thank you GrannyKate.  I emailed to the Social Club on 29th, without having received a reply.  It is a good point, as no one would fall into the trap if it were obvious.  
It appears that this part of their carpark only exists as a trap for hospital overspill.  It's not surfaced like their main carpark, and is almost empty. Why would there even be an entrance from the hospital side if they didn't want to lure unsuspecting patients. 

donglefan

Parkingeye rejected my appeal and has given me a code for POPLA, so I would welcome help and advice about composing this POPLA appeal.

fisherjim

No surprises that Parking Eye rejected that appeal it makes no money for them, having no cash for payment will just return a "the driver should have left the site" excuse.

Repeating that to POPLA won't work either, you need to look for deficiencies with the notice to keeper, signage etc etc was the driver identified on the appeal, have you read the newbies thread on here yet?

donglefan

Thank you fisherjim.  I have read the newbies thread and did not identify the driver in my appeal.  However, the notice is not a 'golden ticket' unfortunately.  If there is a benefit to posting a photo of the notice here, what should I conceal?
Part of my appeal was based on my health, which includes waiting for assessment for autism (but not only that.)  It means I can find things overwhelming in a stressful situation like that, but it made no difference to the appeal.
From what I recall the signage was not clear, but then I was in 'a bit of a state', and don't have a clear memory of it.
Do I need to go back and take photos of the signage?
The amount of money demanded seems unjustifiable and I wonder if that is a plausible appeal to POPLA now?
Based on advice from someone on facebook, a previous case was thrown out in court because there wasn't a proper contract from the landowner, but I won't find that out anytime soon, because the Health Board complaints team has a backlog of cases.

Gr1pr

Arguing against the default tariff imposed by parking eye wont work, that argument was raised against parking eye 9 years ago and the Supreme court in London decided that £85 was not unconscionable, meaning that arguing against the typical charge of between £70 and £100 hasn't worked since 

The case was the Barry Beavis case back in 2015 , he lost and paid, that Supreme court judgment killed off the argument that you wish to raise against the charge listed on the signs and on the PCN 

donglefan

Thank you Gr1pr.  I don't doubt your kind advice, but that is a shocking ruling, that smacks of privilege by the judge, thinking that sort of sum is other than a very high penalty, especially in a suburban/ semi-rural location like this.  For example, several years ago I overstayed the time I had paid for in a local council car park, and that cost me £15.