Euro Parking Services - I was going to give up

NorbertVonTishenbaum

Johnersh said:

sorry i had misunderstood this to be an ANPR site. Sorry if that was incorrect.

Google location or car sat nav etc may assist in helping you to show that you were elsewhere prior to the parking period charged for.

Hi there, it is an ANPR site they say. There is a camera on a pole but no barriers or the ‘normal’ ANPR cameras on entry - just a camera on a pole. 

I went through all location services a few months ago but they’re just not specific enough. 

Coupon-mad

@Johnersh is a solicitor.

I don't know about @Gr1pr but they are a valued regular poster. 

I'm a retired service manager from various jobs and I'm the only individual lady 'consumer representative' on the Government Steering Group, working to change the law on private parking. I have been doing that since 2020 and have been doing this forum advice (and appearing in court more recently to argue against parking firms) for 15 years or more.

You are in safe hands with us.

But why not get your MP to write to Euro Parking Services and to the site landowner and to Will Hurley of the IPC, using the bespoke/fast-track 'MP complaints' route open to members of Parliament?

NorbertVonTishenbaum

Coupon-mad said:

@Johnersh is a solicitor.

I don't know about @Gr1pr but they are a valued regular poster. 

I'm a retired service manager from various jobs and I'm the only individual lady 'consumer representative' on the Government Steering Group, working to change the law on private parking. I have been doing that since 2020 and have been doing this forum advice (and appearing in court more recently to argue against parking firms) for 15 years or more.

You are in safe hands with us.

But why not get your MP to write to Euro Parking Services and to the site landowner and to Will Hurley of the IPC, using the bespoke/fast-track 'MP complaints' route open to members of Parliament?

Why not indeed!!! Thank you for taking the time to make that suggestion. 

I’ll get something put together and perhaps ask if you guys here can review it? 

Thank you for giving me (us) an insight into your backgrounds; it helps to understand what drives you. 

NorbertVonTishenbaum

Coupon-mad said:

@Johnersh is a solicitor.

I don't know about @Gr1pr but they are a valued regular poster. 

I'm a retired service manager from various jobs and I'm the only individual lady 'consumer representative' on the Government Steering Group, working to change the law on private parking. I have been doing that since 2020 and have been doing this forum advice (and appearing in court more recently to argue against parking firms) for 15 years or more.

You are in safe hands with us.

But why not get your MP to write to Euro Parking Services and to the site landowner and to Will Hurley of the IPC, using the bespoke/fast-track 'MP complaints' route open to members of Parliament?

Please let me know how the above reads.

Subject Line: Complaint: Extorting money from motorists

Dear Sir, 

RE:         Predatory, Vexatious, Spurious claims by Private Parking Companies and their representatives - specifically Euro Parking Services

I have attached to this email a copy of the parking charge notice delivered to my home address in October 2024. Please accept this as proof of identity so that you can determine that I am your Constituent. 

I appealed the parking charge notice in accordance with Euro Parking Services own independent appeals process using their online form. I did this well within the 14 day timeframe specified, and well before their stated deadline for the submission of an appeal of the same.  

I received no response to the appeal and now - four months after the event - Empira Ltd. has started sending vexatious letters to my home. I anticipate they will increase in number, frequency, and menacing tone. 

I know the name of the Landowner of the site named on the Parking Charge Notice, but I do not have any method of contacting him – the address is a Commercial site that has laid vacant for a number of years. 

You have at your disposal a fast track / bespoke “MP complaints” route available to you to raise matters with the parking Firms and their representatives (see the second bullet point below for their details). 

What I would like you to do

1)        I request that you supply me with the contact details of the Landowner so that I might ask him if there is anything he might do before this matter wastes valuable public resources and ends up in a County Court Hearing. 

2)        I would urge you to make contact with Euro Parking Services, the Landowner, Empira Ltd. and Will Hurley of the Independent Parking Community and impress upon them that the Parking Charge Notice should be cancelled, I should receive a letter confirming the cancellation from Euro Parking Services and Empira Ltd. and any other affiliated legal representatives, and express confirmation from them that nobody will pursue me further for the Parking Charge Notice.

Why I’d like you to have the Parking Charge Notice Cancelled

1)        This is a matter of public interest

The exaggerated claims and ‘market failures’ of the Private Parking Companies is subject to UK Government review. For instance, the industry CAP for charges stands at £100. I have been asked to pay £160. This is an exaggerated claim and such practice is widespread. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) published a Statutory Code of Practice in February 2022. The Code was temporarily withdrawn, but it is now live again after an initial Impact Assessment in July 2023. 

[RELEVANT LINK IN HERE FROM THE TEMPLATE DEFENCE ABOUT THE REVIEW]

2)        The Private Parking Companies, their appeals process, and the voluntary codes of conduct to which they ascribe confirm they operate on an independent basis. 

From Companies House public records, and from my record of documentation to date, there is the prospect for conflicts of interest to arise in the pursuit of claims and the management of the arrangements by the third parties. 

3)        I followed the Appeals Process as set out by Euro Parking Services and – as already confirmed – I received no response, and it appears they have not followed their appeals Process. 

4)        There are other matters I could raise about legal precedents, non-adherence to statutory legislation and the like, but these will likely prejudice my case, so I am not able to raise them at this stage. 

I look forward to hearing from you. 

In closing, I sincerely hope that you will be taking matters forward on this important matter of Private Parking Companies. Their regulation, and the establishment of a robust regulatory and compliance regime is of paramount importance: for the protection and wellbeing of consumers; to benefit efficient market operation in line with legislation such as (but not limited to) the Competition Act; to reduce the administrative burden and financial strain on an already stretched court system and – indeed – an already stretched public purse, and to put an end to what the Government at the time of review referred to as ‘extorting money from motorists’. 

Yours faithfully, 

Norbs.

Johnersh

Thank you for giving me (us) an insight into your backgrounds; it helps to understand what drives you. 
Well obviously if a certain parking company hadn't, ridiculously, issued a PCN I might not be here. If that now costs them and the industry commercially, they have only themselves to look at.

The original remit of the traffic warden was to keep traffic moving freely. The remit of most PPCs is to maximise revenue, so now we see no judgement, pragmatism or at times fairness and PCNs which inexorably increase in amount with 'enhancements'

Motivated yet?

NorbertVonTishenbaum

Johnersh said:

Thank you for giving me (us) an insight into your backgrounds; it helps to understand what drives you. 
Well obviously if a certain parking company hadn't, ridiculously, issued a PCN I might not be here. If that now costs them and the industry commercially, they have only themselves to look at.

The original remit of the traffic warden was to keep traffic moving freely. The remit of most PPCs is to maximise revenue, so now we see no judgement, pragmatism or at times fairness and PCNs which inexorably increase in amount with 'enhancements'

Motivated yet?

Commercial angle from a Landowner perspective - if you have the land and can generate an income from it....I can understand that perspective. How much income? I'm not sure, but at least it is generating some form of income. How much due diligence they do etc. I wouldn't know. 

Commercial angle from the PPC perspective - I can understand a commercial angle, but not a 'commercial' angle. The term seems to have a specific meaning in industries focused on profit at all costs, which is what I cannot abide. Usually, the 'all costs' bit is the one that sticks in my throat. My perspective is that it's usually genuine consumers and genuine employees who suffer. Perhaps genuine should be replaced by naive (and I'd include myself in that definition!!!). I come from an industry where the 'commercial' was all important. After 12-15 years of suffering and combating some of the blood sucking leeches I encountered, well....suffice to say it takes little to set me off (sometimes). 

You ask if I'm motivated yet. I am right there. I think I just need to channel some of that!

I had a look at some of the ownership structures of some of the companies involved, the way the structures have changed, and the dates of those changes. Nothing in my research will be new to many here, and certainly not to the MPs and authorities who are themselves aware of it, and have openly criticised named individuals and Companies. I was going to end this section with a description of how I feel about it, but I don't think I can put it into words....not just yet anyway!!!

Having re-read my complaint to my MP - pondering your motivation point, reviewing my true feelings about 'commerciality', and knowing the phraseology used in Hansard (and others) - I think I will re-write it. 

Umkomaas

What I would like you to do

1)        I request that you supply me with the contact details of the Landowner so that I might ask him if there is anything he might do before this matter wastes valuable public resources and ends up in a County Court Hearing. 

I don't think your MP will have any more knowledge on that front than you do. Here is some advice I publish from time to time which you might find useful. 

SOME IDEAS FOR DETERMINING WHO OWNS THE LAND 

1. Google searches

2. If a retail park, check on any signage which lists the on-site outlets

3. Ask retailers on the site if there is a managing agent

4. Ask retailers on the site to whom do they pay rent

5. Contact the local authority and ask who pays the non-domestic/business rate for the car park (some councils have a spreadsheet on their website)

6. Contact the local Valuation Office and ask if they know. They often have a website which might provide the information 

7. Contact The Land Registry and for around £3 they should be able to provide definitive detail

8. If you haven't already done so, give us the name of the car park/site/location, we may have seen other cases there. 

Johnersh

My note of caution in all of this is to ensure that court documents focus on the arguments specific to your claim and that good points aren't lost.

Many DJs just aren't going to be interested in MP debates or codes of practice that aren't yet in force, so whilst that can be in the document if one wishes, don't give it the same prominence as the very best defence arguments.

NorbertVonTishenbaum

Johnersh said:

My note of caution in all of this is to ensure that court documents focus on the arguments specific to your claim and that good points aren't lost.

Many DJs just aren't going to be interested in MP debates or codes of practice that aren't yet in force, so whilst that can be in the document if one wishes, don't give it the same prominence as the very best defence arguments.

Thank you and very important point for me to note. 

By way of update:

1) I have complained to my MP with a different version of the email to what I posted above. 

2) I have gone back to cross reference the PCN against the receipt I was given for the car. They're alleging 77 minutes of stay, whereas I have a receipt for part of that parking period, which demonstrates the times are off for some reason. Just decided to have a good and proper look at things and start considering how to structure my defence and WS. On this point, clearly, I will need to wait for the PoC before proceeding down a proper track, but this is useful preparation and I may as well mention these anomalies in the context of the evidence to hand. 

Coupon-mad

Has your MP been of any help, NorbertVonTishenbaum ?