Complicated PCN Case – Advice Needed and Appreciated

bigbigcat

Hi everyone,

I’ve read through the newbies thread, but I believe my situation is more complicated than usual, and I’m struggling to apply the advice from the thread to my case. I’d greatly appreciate any guidance you can offer.

Background:
There’s a car park near my previous residence where I used to park regularly. The parking operates on a weekly payment basis, and I always paid on time without any issues. However, during one particular week, I either forgot to pay or failed to complete the payment process. As a result, I ended up parking there for a few days without realising my mistake (from 29th September to 2nd October 2024).

Once I realised my error, I immediately made a payment for the following week through the app, as there was no option to backdate payments. I intended to follow up with the car park company to resolve the matter or pay the amount owed. However, during that time, I was extremely busy with moving house and a hectic work schedule, and unfortunately, I completely forgot to follow up.

I moved to a new address on 7th October, and before leaving my old place, I hadn’t received any letters from Civil Enforcement Ltd (CEL).

To complicate matters further, I had planned to transfer ownership of my car to my sister soon after the move. Because of this, I didn’t update the address on my V5C immediately after moving.

Yesterday, I visited my old address and discovered several letters from CEL.

Summary of the Situation
I’ve received a total of five letters from CEL, related to two separate cases:

• Case 1: Parking without payment for approximately 11 hours on 29th September 2024.
• Case 2: Parking without payment for approximately 1 hour on 1st October 2024.

Since I only retrieved these letters yesterday, the appeal period has passed, and the early payment discount (£60) is no longer available.

The current charges are as follows:

• Case 1: £140/£170
• Case 2: £100

I believe that the PCNs I received from CEL are compliant with the POPLA format and were issued within 14 days of the incidents. However, I am uncertain about the exact dates they were sent since I no longer reside at the old address.

I believe that I am at fault here, but it was an honest mistake. I also feel that the charges being imposed are somewhat excessive, especially considering the weekly parking fee is only £25.

My Questions

1. Is there anything I can do to appeal these charges or reduce the amount I need to pay?
2. I haven’t contacted the car park operator or CEL yet, and I haven’t disclosed who the driver was. What is the best course of action at this stage?

Thank you in advance for any advice!

Coupon-mad

You won't pay anything.

You could ignore them - then just defend any court claim - because there's no regulation of this industry and no genuinely independent appeal service, albeit you MUST at least contact CEL (NOT BY PHONE) to tell them that you moved on DATE to (new address) and that they must erase the old address from their records.

or

You could file a complaint (too late to appeal so use the other online door) and remind them how much you paid them weekly this year/last year and say you are sure they don't wish to alienate a repeat customer who used and trusted their system since YEAR.  Then cite the (joke) BPA & IPC 'code of practice' that applies to PCNs issued since Oct 2024.  Find the clause about the mandatory requirement to pause debt recovery and reissue PCNs 'at the original rate' when it can be shown that the motorist hasn't received those PCNs and had a chance to appeal.  Demand fresh PCNs.

Again, make sure your complaint also tells them to ERASE (vital word) the old address. 

Gr1pr

I believe that you meant the POFA format ( not Popla format. )

The dates they were sent was the dates of issue, presumed to have arrived 2 working days later. )

What you don't know are the dates they arrived through the letterbox, but thats not relevant due to the presumed delivery dates, nothing to see there I don't think 

The £100 default rate has been around for over 12 years, plus the Supreme Court agreed that £85 was not unconscionable, so no argument there 

There are objections to the additional £70 debt recovery fees 

Follow the advice by coupon mad above, because there is no quick fix. ( There were no realistic appeal grounds either. )

1). No

2) emailing a Data Rectification Notice to all parties, to their DPO, to correct the address for the service of papers 

bigbigcat

Thank you all for your replies and advice.

Based on what you've shared, I believe my best course of action would be:

1. Contact the car park to dispute the PCNs
   I plan to explain my situation, emphasising that I have been a loyal and repeat customer, and politely request them to reconsider or cancel the charges.

   However, I do have one concern: if they review the security footage and find that my stay exceeded the duration stated in the issued PCNs, could they issue additional PCNs retrospectively? For example, could they issue PCNs for dates like 30/09 and 02/10, which I am not currently being asked to pay for? Or would such claims be invalid since the 14-day issuance period has already passed?
   
   And in order to go down this route, does it mean I have to disclose myself to them as the driver and not as the registered keeper of the vehicle.

2. Reach out to Civil Enforcement about my address
   I would notify them that I have moved since the original PCNs were issued, request an update to my current address, and ask them to erase my old address from their system. Additionally, I would ask them to reissue the PCNs to my new address so I can handle them appropriately.

   Ideally, this would allow me to pay two PCNs at the discounted rate of £60 each. What are the chances that they might issue fresh PCNs with a new grace period? A total payment of £120 for two PCNs would be far more manageable than the current charges being demanded.

Thank you again for taking the time to help me with this. I truly appreciate your guidance and support!

Car1980

I think a complaint is futile because a) they don't give a fck and b) you're not parking there any more.

Email them that you have changed address and insist they erase your old details.

"I believe that I am at fault here, but it was an honest mistake. I also feel that the charges being imposed are somewhat excessive, especially considering the weekly parking fee is only £25."

You could of course send them a cheque for £25.00 with "in full and final settlement" written on the back (keep a photo of it) and the two PCN numbers. They'll probably send it back, but they would have to fight the temptation not to cash it and keep on sending threatograms hoping you'll pay the rest. 

Coupon-mad

bigbigcat said:

Thank you all for your replies and advice.

Based on what you've shared, I believe my best course of action would be:

1. Contact the car park to dispute the PCNs
   I plan to explain my situation, emphasising that I have been a loyal and repeat customer, and politely request them to reconsider or cancel the charges.

   However, I do have one concern: if they review the security footage and find that my stay exceeded the duration stated in the issued PCNs, could they issue additional PCNs retrospectively? For example, could they issue PCNs for dates like 30/09 and 02/10, which I am not currently being asked to pay for? Or would such claims be invalid since the 14-day issuance period has already passed?
   
   And in order to go down this route, does it mean I have to disclose myself to them as the driver and not as the registered keeper of the vehicle.

2. Reach out to Civil Enforcement about my address
   I would notify them that I have moved since the original PCNs were issued, request an update to my current address, and ask them to erase my old address from their system. Additionally, I would ask them to reissue the PCNs to my new address so I can handle them appropriately.

   Ideally, this would allow me to pay two PCNs at the discounted rate of £60 each. What are the chances that they might issue fresh PCNs with a new grace period? A total payment of £120 for two PCNs would be far more manageable than the current charges being demanded.

Thank you again for taking the time to help me with this. I truly appreciate your guidance and support!

Why do you think you have to pay? That's not why you want fresh PCNs. It's to appeal.

Stop blaming yourself and use my words about being a regular paying customer.