Sanity check & next steps for parking ‘overstay’

qwerty_bertie · 21 September at 1:48PM

Just need a sanity check that this is worth pursuing.

Background, had a day out, paid for 2 hours parking at a machine in the car park, 3 weeks later (although dated earlier - see photo), got this parking charge saying that because there are 11 minutes between me entering and leaving the car park, they want another £60!

Now I’ve followed the advice in the main thread and sent the appeal template, received a reply the other day which [unsurprisingly] deems the charge to be valid - I can copy the whole of that reply if necessary, but it mentions I can also appeal to the IAS.

So my questions:

Is it pointless to appeal to the IAS? I’m planning to anyway, you never know!

Assuming the appeal fails, what then, ignore all requests for payment and wait for court action?

My argument:
1) With the location of the entry / exit cameras and layout of the car park, it seems perfectly feasible that it would have taken me a few minutes to get from the entrance, find a space, faff about with my daughter, pay (I think I was going to pay by app but couldn’t get a signal and had to raid everywhere in the car for cash change). Then on return to the car, load everything in.
2) If they want paying for all time on site, shouldn’t they have entry / exit barriers?

I’d like to get photos of the parking signs, to see if they actually specify “All time on site” rather than time parked, but it’s well out of my way.

Thanks in advance for any advice, anecdotes, etc, I’ll try to reply to any Qs or help.

Image: https://us-noi.v-cdn.net/6031891/uploads/editor/hd/28ejv7e3znce.jpeg

kryten3000 · 21 September at 2:05PM

No one should even think about paying "not so" Smart. They recently jumped from the BPA to the IPC, probably because they were losing so many POPLA appeals and now they have the IAS in their corner who will almost certainly dismiss any appeal.

The grace period at the end of a parking session is a MINIMUM 10 minutes and this appears to be 11 minutes, hardly a material breach of the terms.

This will likely go - IAS rejection, Debt recovery (ignore), Letter of Claim (from DCB Legal), Claim, Defence, Mediation, Discontinuation.

DCB Legal get £££ from the motorists who simply pay at the debt recovery or claim stages, so when you make it "too hard" they run away.

Car1980 · 21 September at 2:22PM

Waste of time. Your grounds for going to IAS are mitigating circumstances, which has zero chance. I'd go so far as to say that could damage any chance at court if for some unknown reason they go to a hearing for the first time ever, because it'll just come across as an admission.