Penalty Notice Received While Practising in Station Car Park

ShadowNode123

Hi all, I’m a learner driver and have my driving test coming up soon. My instructor suggested practising forward and reverse bay parking, and said a quiet station car park would be ideal.

On 1st July around 9:18 pm, my partner (who holds a full licence) drove us to [XXX] Station car park. Once inside, we switched seats, put on L plates, and I practised for about 1.5 hours. We left around 11 pm with my partner driving back and the L plates removed.

Today (17th July), we received a Penalty Notice for using a private car park without valid payment or permit. It has the pictures of entry and exit of the car with Reg number. We genuinely didn’t know we had to pay as we never left the car or parked in the usual sense, we were just practising and then left.

What’s more worrying is that we practised again on 2nd July and 12th July in the same way, so I fear more penalties may be on the way.

Any advice would be really appreciated!

DE_612183

1. read the newbies thread and respond accordingly
2. do not say who was the driver - looks like it's multiple drivers anyway

which PPC? which car park?

ShadowNode123

DE_612183 said:

1. read the newbies thread and respond accordingly
2. do not say who was the driver - looks like it's multiple drivers anyway

which PPC? which car park?

Hi, it is APCOA

James_Poisson

You need to realise that private car parks are bandit country covered by greedy parking companies looking for cash, but also they are private land earmarked to provide parking for genuine customers where a fee may be payable basically for any time a vehicle is on site.

These rules should be spelled out in no nonsense terms and conditions and a driver is deemed to have accepted these after a short period on site.

However this does not mean that a third party greedy company can just get away with anything they like, and the reality is that the parking company like it when people break their rules it's a way of making money with a few threatening letters.

APCOA are pretty useless and benign read the newbies thread and do not divulge the name of the driver, in future use a car park with no PPC or read the T&Cs thoroughly first. 

doubledotcom

Is it a "Penalty Notice" (PN) or a "Parking Charge Notice" (PCN)?

Coupon-mad

ShadowNode123 said:

DE_612183 said:

1. read the newbies thread and respond accordingly
2. do not say who was the driver - looks like it's multiple drivers anyway

which PPC? which car park?

Hi, it is APCOA

And you searched the forum first, read a few APCOA threads and laughed?

  

Car1980

You did not park, so no contract was breached.

https://contestorlegal.co.uk/unparalleled-legal-victory-defining-the-true-meaning-of-parking/

using a private car park without valid payment or permit

It's almost certain that the T&Cs and tariffs would have been for parking. There would have been no mention on their signs that payment must be made for "using a car park". Obviously people circulate for some time trying to find a space in busy periods.

And their secondary "without a permit" is nonsense. The onus is on them to make restrictions clear, so they should have stated that use of the land for learner drivers to practice was not permitted. It certainly wouldn't have said "a permit must be obtained for learner drivers to practice" 

saajan_12

As others will detail, you can stop this charge given there was no contract formed for the excessive amount quoted. However for future reference, you do now know that its still private land which you shouldn't use for your own purposes. 

ShadowNode123

James_Poisson said:

You need to realise that private car parks are bandit country covered by greedy parking companies looking for cash, but also they are private land earmarked to provide parking for genuine customers where a fee may be payable basically for any time a vehicle is on site.

These rules should be spelled out in no nonsense terms and conditions and a driver is deemed to have accepted these after a short period on site.

However this does not mean that a third party greedy company can just get away with anything they like, and the reality is that the parking company like it when people break their rules it's a way of making money with a few threatening letters.

APCOA are pretty useless and benign read the newbies thread and do not divulge the name of the driver, in future use a car park with no PPC or read the T&Cs thoroughly first. 

I acknowledge my mistake and accept that I should have read the sign which states there is only a 20-minute grace period. I wrongly assumed that since I wasn’t parking but only practising bay parking, payment wasn’t required. The issue is that I received the first PN on 17th July for a contravention that occurred on 1st July. Between 1st and 12th July, I practised in the car park three times, and I have now received a second PN today. I’m expecting a third one as well. The good news is that I had my driving test today and I passed. However, receiving these PNs are causing me a lot of stress.

Gr1pr

Regardless of the stress, just appeal each one as keeper using the railway station template,  no keeper liability 

Keep it simple,  follow the same path as all the other railway ones , like the following thread 

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6619329/apcoa-railway-appeal-rejected#latest

And no blabbing about who was driving,  especially not to APCOA 

The good news is,  that it will teach you to study signage,  and to never assume 

Good luck with your driving future,  but be alert for these places to avoid 

QrizB

ShadowNode123 said:

The good news is that I had my driving test today and I passed. 

Congratulations on passing your test!