VCS private car park ticket 24/03/25 (operator out of contract)

QuizzicalMarmot

Hi all,

Hoping you guys can help me with my ticketing issue here - I've read the newbie thread and I think the standard advice here is to hold tight, do nothing, and wait for an eventual LBC before doing anything further.  However there is the odd situation here that the parking company (Excel/VCS) had had their contract terminated over a month before my ticket, and I'm not sure how to proceed!

First a brief timeline:

18/01/25 - Landowner terminates their contract with Excel Parking

20/02/25 - I get a ticket on my windscreen from VCS

05/03/25 - I receive a NTK at my home address

07/03/25 - I appeal the decision (probably fumbled this bit, wish I'd checked here first...)

17/03/25 - (Last monday) My appeal is rejected

Some details on the last bit there - I don't think I made a smart appeal, I led with the "being out of contract" information but they just ignored it completely.  I told them that in any case I had permission from the land owner to park but they misrepresented my defense as "just because you live nearby, you don't have permission to park here" - which just isn't the case.  I was also told that I had confirmed I was the driver (which may or may not have been the case, but they asserted I had confirmed as much).  And of course it finished with a "you've had your shot, this office won't handle any further appeals" shutdown.

Their next steps are IAS (which from all accounts here, seems like a waste of time), but it seems mad to me that this hasn't been knocked on the head quickly and decisively.  I can't see how they have a leg to stand on and am frankly amazed they even bothered to ticket me, let alone reject the appeal, yet here we are.

I've also asked the landowner to cancel the charge, even though in theory they can't because they're out of contract... if they are asserting they do have a standing agreement, they would have to respect the landowner's cancellation, right?

Should I attempt to contact them and reassert their failure to comply with 14.1 of the Code of Practice - if only to show reasonableness on my part for an eventual court defense?  Go straight to Trading Standards with that?  Or am I doomed to have years of receiving debt recovery letters and needing to keep an eye out for a court hearing?  Really I just want to get the whole thing sorted out so I don't have to keep looking over my shoulder for years, and as tempting as it is, I refuse to pay up given all of the above.

Many thanks in advance.

QuizzicalMarmot

Some other salient info here - it's a private office car park.  We rent office space in the building served by the car park.  Our landlord for the office is the landowner for both the building and the car park.  We're on good terms with her and have had ongoing permission to park there for the best part of a decade.

Excel also had a raid on the car park last year resulting in lots of tickets getting issued to staff and then cancelled, it doesn't seem immediately relevant here but I can dredge up the details if needed.

The_Slithy_Tove

Do you have proof that Excel or VSC did not have a contract to "manage" the parking on the relevant date? Was the contract actually terminated on18/01, or was it notice served?

If there really was no contract at the time, then a strong complaint to the DVLA is in order for allowing them to access your data without due cause. This is also a DPA breach by Excel (aided and abetted by DVLA). You could sue them for this, and certainly use it as a counterclaim if they ever tried to take it to court.

QuizzicalMarmot

I have written confirmation from the landowner that they "have issued the termination to Excel Parking Services on 18th Jan  2025."  I don't know the exact details of the contract they have/had with them, so there may be some notice involved.  Equally I cannot be totally sure that the attempt to serve notice wasn't in some way contested or improperly handled leading to it not technically applying.

These are the kind of things I'm worried about and not sure how to resolve - the fact Excel didn't fold immediately means they either have good reason to think they could still manage the site, are spectacularly incompetent, or are just being audacious with their grift, and I honestly can't be sure which.

Although I'm on good terms with the land owner and I do think they want to do right by me, they're somewhat slow to respond and I can't make too many demands on their time.  Still, getting absolute certainty on the above is definitely part of the next steps, thank you!

Fruitcake

Quite often a contract will have a clause saying it can be terminated by either party giving X days/weeks/months notice. You need to ask the landowner what the contract actually said, and ideally get a copy of it.

Coupon-mad

I'd maybe try IAS just to find out when Excel say their notice period lasts until. That will help you later in court, if you download & save a copy of the IAS evidence submitted by Excel. Otherwise it disappears and you can't access it later.

These dates don't make sense unless the first 'ticket' was in fact a hybrid 'Privacy Notice' which PPCs are NOT supposed to be using any more because they mimic a Notice to Driver:

20/02/25 - I get a ticket on my windscreen from VCS

05/03/25 - I receive a NTK at my home address

Please show us both of those, including the envelope thingy the 'ticket' was in. Does it mimic a NTD?

QuizzicalMarmot

Yes, the first "ticket" was a privacy notice printed on paper with a blue trim, and the 20/02/25 date (but no other identifying data, nor a ticket code that could be acted on).  It looked exactly like the first pic in this thread: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6216394/myparkingcharge-ticket-your-help-please.  It wasn't in a ticket, it was just loose (and soaked through, as it was raining all day).

On the back it had tickboxes for VCS and Excel, and had the VCS box ticket.

The NTK arrived through the post to my home address, identifying my car and linking me to the Excel parking page.

I can get pics of both of these later.

Johnersh

I suspect that the PPC was able to issue PCNs as probably within a notice period. Of interest is whether the contract may still permit legal action past the date of expiry. Everything is in the wording of the contract...

QuizzicalMarmot

Coupon-mad said:

Please show us both of those, including the envelope thingy the 'ticket' was in. Does it mimic a NTD?

Hi, finally got chance to sort this out.  Frustratingly I appear to misplaced the original Privacy Notice, but they were kind enough to provide photographic evidence on their own site, which I've downloaded for safe-keeping.  I've attached a cropped version showing that it is indeed as described, tucked into my windscreen without any envelope:

Also attached is the NTK (identifying details redacted):

Finally, a couple of other minor updates.  The landowner got back to me and confirmed that they'd had legal tussles trying to get the contract terminated, but were awaiting formal confirmation of it in writing soon, which could change things.  This might explain why they felt entitled to issue notices after the termination date, and in any case I don't know the exact details of the notice period yet (have asked).

I also noticed that my car park has multiple sets of signage, and the one directly alongside the bay is very badly faded indeed to the point of illegibility.  It also references parking for a company that has long-since moved out:

There is clearer signage in the same car park, but as this is literally adjacent to the bay I'm in, might constitute another avenue of defence.

I currently have until the 17th to submit an appeal to the IAS, so my current plan is to sit tight for a few weeks and hope the landowner can conclusively quash it all in that time, or at least give me more ammo as they negotiate with the parking services - and then possibly submit a low-expectations appeal to the IAS if not.  Many thanks to everyone who's posted here, I really appreciate it.

Coupon-mad

IAS appeals have to be started by day 21 I think?

Include the signage photo in your IAS appeal and the proof that VCS have been told to quit in January.

QuizzicalMarmot

Coupon-mad said:

IAS appeals have to be started by day 21 I think?

Include the signage photo in your IAS appeal and the proof that VCS have been told to quit in January.

The appeal reply I got said "Appeals must be submitted to the IAS within 28 days of the date of this correspondence." and is dated 17/03/2025 so I think I'm good there (the 14th, not the 17th though, my bad - I'll probably do it on the 7th to be safe all the same)

Thanks again for your help.