UKPC Parking Charge Notice Received - Need Help

killwish_noob

Hello All,

Got a UKPC parking charge notice letter to home yesterday for overstaying 11 minutes in a retail car park. They have provided the timing from entry and exit (supposedly) and it seems they don't care about the time you take to find a parking spot and do all other stuff like taking baby pram out and keeping bags etc.

I have gone through the newbie thread and forum, it's not surprising to see so many people have been facing the unfair private parking notices.
As per the suggestion, I did manage to find the landowner/investment agency and intend to write to them before appealing on UKPC website. I tried searching for some template or examples of letter written to landowners, but was unable to find any in the forum. Can anyone help please?

My confusion arises whether to mention my own circumstances as driver in the letter or be generic without mentioning I was the driver. NOTE - This is for the letter to landowner. I understand not to disclose the driver's identity to UKPC in appeal.

Thanks in advance.

Le_Kirk

Did you shop in the retail park?  If so, complain to the retail park management or one of the shops that you went into, tell them you, your friends and family cannot afford to shop there any more if every visit comes with a £100 surcharge.  What were the conditions of the parking area?  Was it P&D or free to customers or did you have to input your VRM into a terminal?
There no templates because it always sounds better coming from the heart but if you want some guidance that worked read the Successful complaints thread.  Use the Royal "We" when writing to the retail park or just, the car was parked at...........

KeithP

killwish_noob said:

My confusion arises whether to mention my own circumstances as driver in the letter or be generic without mentioning I was the driver. NOTE - This is for the letter to landowner. I understand not to disclose the driver's identity to UKPC in appeal.

Keep in mind that it is entirely possible that the landowner may pass you letter straight to the parking company. Not what you want to happen, but that will surely influence how you write that letter to the landowner.

killwish_noob

Le_Kirk said:

Did you shop in the retail park?  If so, complain to the retail park management or one of the shops that you went into, tell them you, your friends and family cannot afford to shop there any more if every visit comes with a £100 surcharge.  What were the conditions of the parking area?  Was it P&D or free to customers or did you have to input your VRM into a terminal?
There no templates because it always sounds better coming from the heart but if you want some guidance that worked read the Successful complaints thread.  Use the Royal "We" when writing to the retail park or just, the car was parked at...........

Thanks for your response. It was free parking for 3 hours. We browsed in the retail park shops and went nearby for eating and were back before 3 hours. The process of getting into car with a baby, pram and bags and driving out of the parking itself takes 10-15 mins. 
Will use the "we" word as suggested. 

LDast

No one who comes here for advice pays a penny to the intellectually malnourished UKPC. Follow the advice in the Newbies/FAQ thread and, one way or another, you will win this.

Continue with Plan A as advised above.  Don't miss the deadline for the Plan B appeal and when that is rejected, the Plan C POPLA appeal. If/when that is rejected, you move on to Plan D which is where you will certainly win.

killwish_noob

I have drafted the below response to the retail park management team trying to aavoid implicating myself or anyone as driver. Does anyone see any loopholes which may be used against at a later stage.

Hi Retail Park Management Team,

I am writing as registered keeper of the vehicle **** ***, in reference to the Notice to Keeper (ref: * *** *** ***) issued by UKPC on Date. On Saturday Date, a visit was made to the XYZ Retail Park, with the intention of spending the afternoon shopping in the stores located there.

We have been visiting this retail park for many years without any issues, often making it a nice afternoon out by having a good long browse around the shops.

Yesterday Date, to my absolute shock and dismay, received a parking charge letter from UKPC in the post, charging £60 (£100 after 14 days) for an overstay at the car park by 11 minutes i.e. almost the grace period. The shopping trip on Date in the XYZ Retail Park was hampered by an unwell and crying baby who needed to be breastfed and attended which means that it took a lot longer than might otherwise have been the case.

Also, there was a condition of right toes swelling and pain due to chilblains with Raynaud’s syndrome which impacted the walking speed and return to car. Even then, everyone including baby managed to reach the car within the permitted 3-hour parking time. And it does take couple of minutes to stow the pram, get the baby in car seat and coming out of the parking lot. During the entry to the car park, the car has to be in queue for some time to get to the right parking spot, which falls before the parking time starts.

The exit of the car park, as you would know is an approach road to junction where the car had to slow down and stop for walking people and other cars to pass. That itself takes about a few minutes to exit. How can 1 minute above the 10-minute grace period be calculated in such scenarios? Therefore, this parking charge has been unfairly issued, without any details of how, where the photos were taken.

The parking charges are ridiculously unnecessary for that car park, especially when there was no loss to the property or no financial loss has been incurred as a result of this incident. Hence, the sum UKPC are seeking amounts to a punitive and unenforceable penalty.There were lots of unoccupied places available for others to park so the supposedly 10 minutes additional presence did not prevent or block the parking of other cars.

This is absolutely disgusting; many of the people who shop at this retail park like us have hard earned money and like to shop there from time to time. To be then hit with a £60 fine for being a loyal customer and spending what little money we have in the stores there is totally outrageous and a real stab in the back.

And if this charge must be paid, then people like us will not be shopping at this retail park again. The stress of being timed and feeling rushed does not make for and enjoyable shopping experience.

I hope you can in good conscience help by getting this charge cancelled and now informed for future if all are to shop there again.

Yours sincerely,

Gr1pr

Its not a fine, its a private parking charge notice 

Its not £60 , it's £100

Complaining about the £100 charge is not unconscionable, even though you think it is 
The Supreme court in London in 2015 decided that its not unconscionable at a figure of £85 , so proving that its a punitive penalty, never mind unenforceable, is a very high bar to overcome 

I appreciate that this is a complaint, but I am not convinced that those arguments above should be in there, or should be reworded in a better relevant manner 

Coupon-mad

Just complain without this bit:

The exit of the car park, as you would know is an approach road to junction where the car had to slow down and stop for walking people and other cars to pass. That itself takes about a few minutes to exit. How can 1 minute above the 10-minute grace period be calculated in such scenarios? Therefore, this parking charge has been unfairly issued, without any details of how, where the photos were taken.

The parking charges are ridiculously unnecessary for that car park, especially when there was no loss to the property or no financial loss has been incurred as a result of this incident. Hence, the sum UKPC are seeking amounts to a punitive and unenforceable penalty.There were lots of unoccupied places available for others to park so the supposedly 10 minutes additional presence did not prevent or block the parking of other cars.