London Aquatics Centre - Parking Eye - Urgent Defence

Kaziyyah

Hiya,

I received a claim for parking in a leisure centre car park from Parking Eye.

I do have a strong case as I did pay (proof shown on my wallet on my iphone). But upon getting the PCN I checked my actual bank statement and saw it did not go through. Possibly a fault with the system but anyway I think I have reasonable proof that I thought I had paid. I also have proof that I pay weekly as I attend the leisure centre weekly - again shows that I am a consistent and regular payer. 

I harassed the leisure centre to get it cancelled which they said they would do - so I did not complete the POPLA appeal. I then got the LBCCC and now the Claim. I am still chasing the leisure centre who have said they told Parking Eye to cancel but it is up to Parking Eye to correspond to that with me. 

Anyway I am now running out of time so I did the MCOL and am going to have to send a defence.


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These are my paragraphs I have added into my defence:

3. Referring to the POC: paragraph 1 is denied. The Defendant is
not indebted to the Claimant. Paragraph 2 is denied. The Defendant
does not accept that a contravention occurred on 16/06/2025, as
alleged. The Defendant is not liable and has seen no evidence of a breach of prominent terms. The quantum is hugely exaggerated and there were no damages incurred whatsoever.

3.1 The Defendant regularly parks in this car park while using the leisure centre and holds proof of payment for each visit. On the date in question, payment was made and accepted via the Defendant’s iPhone wallet. Any alleged non-payment is likely due to a fault in the car park’s payment system, which is also known to frequently fail to issue receipts. thereby preventing users from obtaining contemporaneous proof of payment.

Two questions:
1) Can you check my paragraphs and give me any corrections that may be needed please?

2) Should i respond to the part about not taking up the POPLA option?


Thank you!

Nellymoser

Ask the leisure centre to email you copy of the email they sent PE telling them to cancel your pcn. You can never rely on word of mouth when it comes to pcns.

I think you would have to respond to the POPLA comment in the PoC and you have a very good reason why you didn't use POPLA...but I'd wait for the experts to advise.

doubledotcom

I hope the driver has not been identified. The London Aquatics Centre sits within Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, which is governed by local byelaws made under s.164 Public Health Act 1875. Those byelaws expressly apply to “the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park” and include controls over vehicles/parking (e.g., a prohibition on leaving motor vehicles overnight without consent), i.e., statutory control.

Under Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, “relevant land” excludes any land where parking is already subject to statutory control (such as byelaws). Therefore, the Aquatics Centre car park is not “relevant land” for PoFA keeper liability. 

Le_Kirk

What is the date of issue of the claim form?

Kaziyyah

Le_Kirk said:

What is the date of issue of the claim form?

Date of issue is 6/10/2025

Kaziyyah

doubledotcom said:

I hope the driver has not been identified. The London Aquatics Centre sits within Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, which is governed by local byelaws made under s.164 Public Health Act 1875. Those byelaws expressly apply to “the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park” and include controls over vehicles/parking (e.g., a prohibition on leaving motor vehicles overnight without consent), i.e., statutory control.

Under Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, “relevant land” excludes any land where parking is already subject to statutory control (such as byelaws). Therefore, the Aquatics Centre car park is not “relevant land” for PoFA keeper liability. 

Thank you this is all helpful -
Honestly I cannot remember identifying myself as the driver. In my informal appeal I just wrote about paying at the machine etc but did not specify any driver.

Could you explain a bit more about relevant land and how this affects my case please?
Does it mean I cannot put these paragraphs in my defence:

7. The claim exceeds the current Code of Practice £100 maximum
parking charge without justification or explanation. Pursuant
to Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 ('POFA') it
also exceeds the ‘maximum sum’ recoverable; the explanatory notes
to s4 (5) and (6) state at para 221: ‘’The creditor may not make a
claim against the keeper [...] for more than the amount of the
unpaid parking related charges as they stood when the notice to
the driver was issued (para 4(5)).’
Schedule4 = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2012/9/schedule/4

8. The Claimant is put to proof of POFA and Code of Practice
compliance. It is denied that any DRA sums are due, nor interest
(the delay lies with the Claimant and interest should be
disallowed).

Le_Kirk

Kaziyyah said:

Le_Kirk said:

What is the date of issue of the claim form?

Date of issue is 6/10/2025

With an issue date of 06/10/25 and providing you complete(d) the AoS after 11/10/25 and before 25/10/25 your defence deadline date is 4.00 p.m. on 10/11/25

Kaziyyah

Le_Kirk said:

Kaziyyah said:

Le_Kirk said:

What is the date of issue of the claim form?

Date of issue is 6/10/2025

With an issue date of 06/10/25 and providing you complete(d) the AoS after 11/10/25 and before 25/10/25 your defence deadline date is 4.00 p.m. on 10/11/25

Yes that is correct.

doubledotcom

If the driver has been identified, inadvertently or otherwise, then they don't need to rely on PoFA to pursue you as the driver. They can only pursue the driver and if the driver is not identified, they could not pursue you as the Keeper. 

Car1980

Take any reference to POFA out of your defence as they are not making a claim referencing it.

Ignore POPLA - of absolutely no relevance.

Umkomaas

Can you confirm that this is PE pursuing you direct, rather than having DCB Legal involved?