One Parking Solution - Disabled bay without a blue badge, genuine oversight but worth an appeal?

Bobthethird

Hi

My wife has been issued a private parking fine for inadvertently parking in a disabled bay at a local co-op store. She was there for 3min and 8secs according to their records.

She fully accepts it was wrong to park in the bay but genuinely didn't realise as the bay is the same size as all the others, is the one next to all the "normal" parking bays its quite a small car park so maneuvering is tight and the only marking is on the ground not at eye level so is there grounds to appeal as it was a genuine error as £100 for 3min of parking (albeit in the incorrect bay!) seems quite steep.

Any advice gratefully accepted!

Gr1pr

The keeper could appeal it,  but OPS will reject the appeal,  so I don't see the pcn being cancelled,  if that is the point of the appeal . Private Parking companies want people to make mistakes,  appeals are based on legal points 

A judge in court may be more sympathetic 

But wait for other replies on this thread, in case there is a point worth using 

Half_way

Thats a terrible disabled bay/disabled bay markings.

 Bay 1 (LH) is fine if the passenger needs extra space, and bay , the driver. Anything the other way round and your stuffed.

 Odds on this is badly laid out car park is a honey pot for the PPCs and you can not blame the driver for this

Coupon-mad

It's also covert surveillance from a building. That's potentially illegal and excessive but nobody stops this industry. There is no proper 'appeal' service with an IPC firm. Do not waste your time.

Ignore OPS unless you get a claim form.

Obviously that means you must tell them if you move house but that's common sense as the keeper must open every letter.

Bobthethird

Thank you for the advice it is much appreciated 

So just so I've got it right ignore any correspondence from OPS & see if they go for a CCJ then when this arrives contest it on the basis of inappropriate signage, confusing layout, covert camera surveillance?

Hopefully this won't end up in front of a judge but just in case would it be worth writing to OPS stating the above issues prior to a CCJ or do you think it's best to keep my powder dry till needed?

Thanks again 

Half_way

they cant not "go for a ccj" there are lots of steps before that. 
have you complained to the co op?
if not pay your complaint on here first

Gr1pr

Bobthethird said:

Thank you for the advice it is much appreciated 

So just so I've got it right ignore any correspondence from OPS & see if they go for a CCJ then when this arrives contest it on the basis of inappropriate signage, confusing layout, covert camera surveillance?

Hopefully this won't end up in front of a judge but just in case would it be worth writing to OPS stating the above issues prior to a CCJ or do you think it's best to keep my powder dry till needed?

Thanks again 

They cannot " go for a ccj " it doesn't work that way 

They can issue a court claim against you using MCOL,  entirely different scenario, which even if you lost you pay in full, no CCJ 

Bobthethird

Half_way said:

they cant not "go for a ccj" there are lots of steps before that. 
have you complained to the co op?
if not pay your complaint on here first

Thanks for the advice I did go into the Co-Op to ask about it and they said they just rent the store and the parking is down to the landlord so they had no control over it. They did say I wasn't the first person to raise a concern though. Is it worth a complaint to the Co-Op head office, suspect they'll pass the buck saying the parking isn't down to them?

Bobthethird

Gr1pr said:

Bobthethird said:

Thank you for the advice it is much appreciated 

So just so I've got it right ignore any correspondence from OPS & see if they go for a CCJ then when this arrives contest it on the basis of inappropriate signage, confusing layout, covert camera surveillance?

Hopefully this won't end up in front of a judge but just in case would it be worth writing to OPS stating the above issues prior to a CCJ or do you think it's best to keep my powder dry till needed?

Thanks again 

They cannot " go for a ccj " it doesn't work that way 

They can issue a court claim against you using MCOL,  entirely different scenario, which even if you lost you pay in full, no CCJ 

Hi

Sorry yes I worded that badly, I meant that they would likely start debt collection proceedings and would threaten court action and the consequence of a CCJ but appreciate if we lose in the small claims court and pay in full no CCJ would be incurred.

If we get to the point they issue an MCOL I assume I could come back here for advice on how to respond to it please?

Bobthethird

Coupon-mad said:

It's also covert surveillance from a building. That's potentially illegal and excessive but nobody stops this industry. There is no proper 'appeal' service with an IPC firm. Do not waste your time.

Ignore OPS unless you get a claim form.

Obviously that means you must tell them if you move house but that's common sense as the keeper must open every letter.

Thanks for the point about covert surveillance they can clearly zoom in very closely from this camera as well which seems rather intrusive...

Although the signs pm site state CCTV/ANPR/Mobile parking patrols are in operation at all times does this justify the use of the cameras and remove it as a reason for appeal?

Castle

If the vehicle drives into the "space", rather than reversing in, then, they're going to need a manual check to check the front windscreen.