UKPS parking ticket - I was only there for a few mins to check my smoking engine!

whitenight30

I pulled into a private car park of a business that was shut at the time (2am in the morning) to check on my engine as I could smell smoke coming through my car vents.

I pulled into the empty car park, popped the bonnet and checked to see some smoke coming from my engine bay.

Shortly after that, I left. I could not have been in there any more than 10 mins MAXIMUM.

Fast forward a week later, and I receive a letter on the 16th (who's issued date says 15th btw - could this be a cause for any sort of appeal?) saying I had violated the terms and conditions of the car park.

To confirm, it is a Parking Charge Notice (PCN) by UKPS.

I would like to know, could I contest this parking fine?

I have read through some pages by MSE and parkingcowboys. I feel I may be able to contest this based on "mitigating circumstances" as I literally only pulled in to check on my smoking engine and not to park.

But I would really appreciate some advice on this please as this is my first time ever having to deal with any sort of fine!

Thank you so much in advance

Fruitcake

It is not a fine.

From memory, there is more than one PPC with the initials UKPS in their name. Please tell us which one issued the charge.

Plan A is normally a complaint from the keeper to the landowner, but may not work if the site was closed for business. Unless driving on a red route, always stop on a road if safe to do so, not drive onto private property.

Plan B is to appeal using the template in blue text from the sticky Announcement for NEWBIES. Add a one liner that the driver stopped due to safety reasons, which is not parking as determined in the Jopson v Homeguard case.

Check if the NTK is or is not PoFA compliant. If it is not, then add that to your appeal. If you are unsure, redact all personal information then post both sides here for checking. 

Grizebeck

Ignore UKPS. They will decline any appeal 

Coupon-mad

Yep, ignore them but never, ever drive into a private car park if having vehicle issues. Always pull over at the kerb ON STREET (public highway) as long as it is not a red route.

whitenight30

Fruitcake said:

It is not a fine.

From memory, there is more than one PPC with the initials UKPS in their name. Please tell us which one issued the charge.

Plan A is normally a complaint from the keeper to the landowner, but may not work if the site was closed for business. Unless driving on a red route, always stop on a road if safe to do so, not drive onto private property.

Plan B is to appeal using the template in blue text from the sticky Announcement for NEWBIES. Add a one liner that the driver stopped due to safety reasons, which is not parking as determined in the Jopson v Homeguard case.

Check if the NTK is or is not PoFA compliant. If it is not, then add that to your appeal. If you are unsure, redact all personal information then post both sides here for checking. 

Firstly, thank you for your reply. The company I am referring to when I say UKPS is company no. 07017567 on the gov company search website.

Secondly, when you say landowner, are you referring to the business whose car park it was? If so, I went into the establishment last Friday to enquire about the charge. I was told by the cashier that the employees themselves have had these charges too, and had to appeal saying they worked there to get the fine rescinded. He said I should just say the same and I should probably be fine, but I am not content with lying and especially when the process with UKPS is unknown to me. Other than that though, it seemed the establishment/landowner was unable to help.

Re plan B, thank you for the point about the "Jopson v Homeguard" case! I will definitely include this point if I am to write to UKPS. However, I have seen in some places that submitting a complaint to the PCN issuers legitimises it, and therefore just straight up ignoring them is sometimes the correct play. What are your thoughts on this for my situation?

Re whether the NTK is PoFA compliant, I read through the page by parkingcowboys (I can't add links). I believe the only thing that is missing from the NTK to make it PoFA is the period the car was parked. It says when the incident happened, but it doesn't say how long the car was in the car park. I believe this therefore could make it non-PoFA compliant then? I tried to attach the pictures but I was told I need to be around longer to attach links 



Many thanks for your advice

whitenight30

whitenight30 said:

Fruitcake said:

It is not a fine.

From memory, there is more than one PPC with the initials UKPS in their name. Please tell us which one issued the charge.

Plan A is normally a complaint from the keeper to the landowner, but may not work if the site was closed for business. Unless driving on a red route, always stop on a road if safe to do so, not drive onto private property.

Plan B is to appeal using the template in blue text from the sticky Announcement for NEWBIES. Add a one liner that the driver stopped due to safety reasons, which is not parking as determined in the Jopson v Homeguard case.

Check if the NTK is or is not PoFA compliant. If it is not, then add that to your appeal. If you are unsure, redact all personal information then post both sides here for checking. 

Firstly, thank you for your reply. The company I am referring to when I say UKPS is company no. 07017567 on the gov company search website.

Secondly, when you say landowner, are you referring to the business whose car park it was? If so, I went into the establishment last Friday to enquire about the charge. I was told by the cashier that the employees themselves have had these charges too, and had to appeal saying they worked there to get the fine rescinded. He said I should just say the same and I should probably be fine, but I am not content with lying and especially when the process with UKPS is unknown to me. Other than that though, it seemed the establishment/landowner was unable to help.

Re plan B, thank you for the point about the "Jopson v Homeguard" case! I will definitely include this point if I am to write to UKPS. However, I have seen in some places that submitting a complaint to the PCN issuers legitimises it, and therefore just straight up ignoring them is sometimes the correct play. What are your thoughts on this for my situation?

Re whether the NTK is PoFA compliant, I read through the page by parkingcowboys (I can't add links). I believe the only thing that is missing from the NTK to make it PoFA is the period the car was parked. It says when the incident happened, but it doesn't say how long the car was in the car park. I believe this therefore could make it non-PoFA compliant then? I tried to attach the pictures but I was told I need to be around longer to attach links 



Many thanks for your advice

Sorry, it turns out i was able to attach pictures, but i had some URLs in my initial reply and I forgot to edit the second to last sentence

Grizebeck

No Just ignore ukps

Coupon-mad

Ignore them.

But many thanks for posting the new image of another UKPS NTK which is different from the one linked here (but both are non-compliant with the POFA):

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6483542/a-thread-of-pictures-of-parking-firm-ntks/p1

Different wording. Still nowhere near complying with paragraph 9 of Schedule 4.

whitenight30

Thank you guys 

Not_A_Hope

As your PCN is not POFA compliant this is a potentially winning point if they ever decide to take it to court in the next 6 years. Make sure you never identify the driver in any possible correspondence or telephone conversation. Jopson v Homeguard is another winning defence. You can ignore UKPS and any debt collectors but make sure you respond to any Letter of Claim giving you 30 days notice or any County Court claim. You don’t want a default CCJ. If you change your address in the next 6 years let UKPS know your new address for service and to erase your former address. Another sneaky tactic the industry uses is to send claims to old addresses. 

whitenight30

Hi All,

New update, I received this letter a few days from a debt recovery company who are now chasing me up for payment.

I would really appreciate any advice on how to handle this - do I just keep ignoring?

Many thanks again.