Civil Enforcement PCN NTK - advice about complaining and appealing

Scared-of-Heights

I have read the Newbies FAQ thread and am seeking further advice.

I am in receipt of a PCN NTK (based on ANPR, no windscreen ticket) from Civil Enforcement Ltd.  The letter template appears to match the POFA compliant one uploaded in the NTK pictures thread. 

The letter arrived at my address on day 15 after the "incident date".  Is this important?

I note on the FAQ thread it says "If they are a firm which alleges 'keeper liability' under the POFA 2012 (which they don't have to!) the a postal PCN must arrive by day 14 if there was no windscreen ticket."

I have tried to complain in person to the manager of the venue (run by an office provider called Bizspace).  He said there is nothing he can do, but gave me the email address of his boss (but said I'd get the same answer from him). 

I am seeking advice about whether to complain by email to his boss, and if so how much information to include or not (concern over prejudicing any future appeals or court procedures etc).

Any and all advice greatly appreciated!  Many thanks.

Scared-of-Heights

Here is the (redacted) PCN in question:

Scared-of-Heights

Here is a draft of the complaint I am considering sending to the operator of the premises.  This also contains more information about the context.

I would be extremely grateful for any suggestions or advice on this (is this sensible to send, does it include to much information or go to far or not far enough, etc?).

===============================

Dear Mr [REDACTED],

I am writing to ask that you please instruct your parking contractor “Civil Enforcement Ltd” to cancel the parking charges against the vehicles detailed below.

If you are not the best person to help with this or there is someone else at Bizspace that manages the contract with them, please would you let me know and provide their contact details, and pass on this request to them.

I am in receipt of a parking charge letter from your private parking enforcement company demanding payment of £100, and I write to you as the keeper of the vehicle (the driver is not identified) in relation to a visit to Bizspace Linford Forum in Milton Keynes on 17/04/24 as clients of one of your tenants, Dr [REDACTED] of [REDACTED] Psychology, who runs a clinic at the premises in question. 

Confirmation of this appointment and of the legitimate use of the car park for same, can be provided on request from myself or Dr [REDACTED].  Clients go to see Dr [REDACTED] to seek help with stressful situations.  To have additional psychological distress heaped on them, by receiving unwarranted correspondence demanding payment of large sums of money, as a result of such a visit is clearly very concerning.

I understand, from a conversation with the manager on location at Bizspace Linford Forum in Milton Keynes on 02/05/24, that a new parking enforcement system was recently installed.  This was not in effect at previous visits to Dr [REDACTED]'s clinic.  I have now reviewed the new signage and found it to be insufficient in both size and location to reasonably gain the attention of a driver, and since the reception desk seems to be habitually unmanned there is nobody there to advise a visitor what to do in respect of parking.  In fact, visitors tend to bypass the empty, unmanned reception desk completely upon entering the building, therefore missing the opportunity to register for a parking permit.  I mention these facts only to demonstrate how clients and visitors would easily and genuinely not understand the newly changed parking arrangements.

I would like to believe, given Bizspace’s stated values (per your website) of Integrity (“We act responsibly, taking personal accountability for our actions and our role in the team’s success. We’re always honest, demonstrating respect toward others and maintaining professionalism in everything we do.”), Adaptability (“we value flexibility in the way we work with colleagues and respond to our customer’s needs.”) and Humility, that the new parking arrangements have been put in place to protect the car park from misuse, and not to entrap and fleece genuine clients of your tenants.

Therefore, I hope that you will action my request for cancellation of these charges.

If cancellation is not forthcoming, and the parking contractor continues to pursue and harass me, please be advised that I will:

• Contact your customer Dr [REDACTED] to complain and advise that I and my acquaintances will no longer be able to consider the use of her clinic because of the distress caused by Bizspace over this matter.
• Contact my local MP to complain about Bizspace use of unscrupulous parking companies, reminding them of the recent debate in parliament from which I quote from Hansard:  “'we need to crack down on these rogue companies. They are an absolute disgrace to this country. Ordinary motorists and ordinary residents should not have to put up with this''.
• Contact the Local Authority to complain about the use of unscrupulous parking companies and the distress cause by receiving unwarranted requests for payments.
• Contact the Landowner to complain about the use of unscrupulous parking companies and the distress cause by receiving unwarranted requests for payments.
• Provide warning to potential customers about the unscrupulous parking companies operating in contradiction of Bizspace’s stated values of Integrity, Adaptability and Humility, via appropriate channels such as Trustpilot etc.

Vehicle details for parking charge cancellation (both 17/04/24):

• [REDACTED] (ref [REDACTED]).
• [REDACTED] (ref unknown, leased vehicle).

Thanks for your consideration in this matter and I look forward to hearing back from you.

Mr [REDACTED]

Gr1pr

The postal notice was posted 9 days after the incident date and is presumed to have arrived 2 working days later ( the postal issues since the pandemic affect all of us, so no milage in the POFA timescales IMHO. )

The NTK PCN letter appears to comply with POFA, so the keeper may well be liable 

Plan A is definitely your best option here 

Scared-of-Heights

Gr1pr said:

The postal notice was posted 9 days after the incident date and is presumed to have arrived 2 working days later ( they postal issues since the pandemic affect all of us, so no milage in the POFA timescales IMHO. )

The NTK PCN letter appears to comply with POFA, so the keeper may well be liable 

Plan A is definitely your best option here 

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply.  As I said at the start, I have tried complaining to the manager of the premises - with no luck, and I am considering writing to his boss as drafted above - any thoughts on what I've prepped for that?

Coupon-mad

Looks good but remove this (below) as private land is nothing to do with Councils:

• Contact the Local Authority to complain about the use of unscrupulous parking companies and the distress cause by receiving unwarranted requests for payments.

Scared-of-Heights

Coupon-mad said:

Looks good but remove this (below) as private land is nothing to do with Councils:

• Contact the Local Authority to complain about the use of unscrupulous parking companies and the distress cause by receiving unwarranted requests for payments.

Thank you so much for taking the time to have a look and reply.

I'm not even expecting a reply to my email so presumably next step is to appeal using CE's online form?

I note the FAQ thread includes this template appeal text.  

"I dispute your 'parking charge', as the keeper of the vehicle. I deny any liability or contractual agreement and I will be making a complaint about your predatory conduct to your client landowner.

There will be no admissions as to who was driving and no assumptions can be drawn. Since your PCN is a vague template, I require an explanation of the allegation and your evidence. You must include a close up actual photograph of the sign you contend was at the location on the material date as well as your images of the vehicle."

Would you advise adding anything to this (about the lack of sufficient signage etc) or is it not worth the bother at this stage?

Gr1pr

Save your ammunition for Popla 

I doubt that Parking companies read many appeals, or skim read them, it's a roboclaim system, shake the tree and see what falls, a numbers game 

LDast

Why don't you just aim as high as possible up the management food chain in your Plan A to start with?

Scared-of-Heights

LDast said:

Why don't you just aim as high as possible up the management food chain in your Plan A to start with?

Thanks for taking an interest.

A reasonable question, the answer is simply that I haven't managed to get or find contact details for a CEO or similar of the organisation.  If you have any suggestions, I'd be glad to hear them,

KeithP

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