Hirer Notification - Excel Parking

paulh1983

Afternoon all, 

Received a Hirer Notification PCN late last month for parking at my local gym on my lease vehicle - agreement with the gym (PureGym) is you can park in the car park if you enter your details onto the tablet inside the gym and you get 2hours.   Tablet is rubbish, always crashes, often out of action with a scrap of paper knocking about...I know I entered my details as it's part of my routine (enter, reg into tablet, bag into locker, fill up water - I'm that person who has the same routine.   

Contacted the site management team for the car park, made the points above about the issues with the tablet previously and knowing I will have entered my details but impossible to prove a negative right?  They came back saying tablet was working, need to appeal etc. 

Done my reading on this and was preparing an appeal based on the Edna Basher templates but then got myself a bit confused. 

There was none of the following with the PCN ((a)a statement signed by or on behalf of the vehicle-hire firm to the effect that at the material time the vehicle was hired to a named person under a hire agreement; (b)a copy of the hire agreement; and, (c)a copy of a statement of liability signed by the hirer under that hire agreement.) so that was to the crux of my appeal.  However seen a few posts saying that Excel as member of IPC is pointless appealing at any stage and just ignore until court.

But this seems to suggest it should be appealed - https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/67815901#Comment_67815901

The PCN states that "A NTK has previously been served on the Registered Keeper of the vehicle, who in turn has named you as the hirer at the time of the contravention".

Also confused by timings.  The 28-day deadline for appeal is 26th November yet for the above bold points POFA states "The creditor may not exercise the right under paragraph 4 to recover from the keeper any unpaid parking charges specified in the notice to keeper if, within the period of 28 days beginning with the day after that on which that notice was given, the creditor is given—" which in theory means Excel have until the 27th November to send me copies of statement from the lease firm, copy of the agreement and copy of the statement of liability.  

Sorry, just very confused. I've gone through the Newbie Thread again and again trying to make sense of it but each time I get more confused.
 

Fruitcake

In my opinion, all PCNs should be appealed. If it gets to court you will be able to show that you tried to narrow the issue.

Appeal as hirer/lessee using the edna basher letter, as near to the appeal deadline as possible. This is to ensure that Excel won't be able to provide the documents required by paras 13 and 14 of the PoFA, and therefore can't hold the hirer liable, as long as the driver's identity is never revealed.

I also believe an IAS appeal should be made. If you are lucky, you will be on of the 4 - 5% of motorists who win. If not, it will be useful to show the government how useless the unregulated and non-independent IAS appeal system is.

paulh1983

Thank you so much.

Coupon-mad

Definitely appeal to hook it fully in your direction. You cannot ignore and risk the sharp practice of Excel going back to the lease/hire firm because they'll panic and pay the thing.

paulh1983

Update

Appealed via the Excel online form using the Edna Basher template - unfortunately I can't put my hands on the actual submission (saved it in Word before submitting but have since had some IT issues that might mean it's lost) and the response from Excel is just a confirmation of submission rather than a copy of what you have.

Yesterday received the below responses, spaced 5 minutes apart.  First one is clearly an error with the 'good will gesture' not adjusted in the final two paragraphs [£60/£100 on the first and £40/£80 on the second.  The second e-mail advised to disregard the first but just adding for context.

First response



Second response 


Laughable that second paragraph states I provided no information was given be me, and then proceeds to list the points I provided...

Plan of action from here is to put in a Subject Access Request to just build evidence that I did submit the information and then just go through the appeal process again (which appears to be what it's suggesting). Then when the likely rejection comes just appeal to the IAS.  Again, evidence building.

ChirpyChicken

No your wasting your time
just appeal as the driver
anything else is pointless

paulh1983

Ok, thanks.  Confused now as thought it's best to not reveal driver identity.

paulh1983

Update

Opted to go through the appeal again, submitted it on 17th December:

-------

To whom it may concern, 

I refer to the above-detailed Parking Charge Notice (“PCN”) issued to me by Excel Parking as a Notice to Hirer and to the subsequent response to my initial appeal (attached). 

I note the error in sending the original e-mail response which was followed up with a second e-mail. 

With regards the second amended appeal, it states in the second paragraph “We have received correspondence from you concerning the above Charge Notice. However, no information has given in your correspondence, and we are unable to process this accordingly.” 

The letter then continues to list the points I raised in the appeal – how is it possible that I’ve not given any information yet you’re able to respond to said information?  This and the original response sent in error are a classic example of the errors littered throughout your attempts at unlawful extraction of money. 

Your 3rd paragraph states that “You state that our Notice is not compliant with Protection of Freedoms Act (POFA) 2012 on the Notice issued to you: however we have not cited POFA 2012 nor stated that you are liable for the charge as the vehicle keeper.  The Notice to Hirer was transferred to yourself after documentation was received naming yourself as the hirer of the vehicle.” 

The above does not even read correctly (again, see the point regards errors!) but need I remind you that POFA 2012 is not for you to decide to cite or not.  It is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and therefore law, it cannot be ignored. 

I specifically refer you to Paragraphs 13 and 14 of POFA 12 which deals with hire agreements. 

POFA 2012 Schedule 4 Paragraph 13 (2) states as follows: 

“The creditor may not exercise the right under paragraph 4 to recover from the keeper any unpaid parking charges specified in the notice to keeper if, within the period of 28 days beginning with the day after that on which that notice was given, the creditor is given— 

(a)a statement signed by or on behalf of the vehicle-hire firm to the effect that at the material time the vehicle was hired to a named person under a hire agreement; 

(b)a copy of the hire agreement; and 

(c)a copy of a statement of liability signed by the hirer under that hire agreement.” 

AND 

Paragraph 14(2) and (3) of POFA 2012 state: 

“The conditions are that— 

(a)the creditor has within the relevant period given the hirer a notice in accordance with sub-paragraph (5) (a “notice to hirer”), together with a copy of the documents mentioned in paragraph 13(2) and the notice to keeper; 

(b)a period of 21 days beginning with the day on which the notice to hirer was given has elapsed; and 

(c)the vehicle was not a stolen vehicle at the beginning of the period of parking to which the unpaid parking charges relate. 

(3)In sub-paragraph (2)(a) “the relevant period” is the period of 21 days beginning with the day after that on which the documents required by paragraph 13(2) are given to the creditor.” 

 

These conditions were clearly not met.    

These documents were required to be sent to me within 21 days after receiving them from the lease company. 

These documents were required to be sent to me no later than 49 days after the Notice to Keeper was sent to the hire company. 

I have no date of when you sent the Notice to Keeper was sent to the lease company, however you state that  you sent such in the second paragraph of the Parking Charge Notice “A Notice to Keeper has previously been served on the Registered Keeper of the vehicle who, in turn, has named you as the hirer at the time of the contravention”.   

The date of the Parking Charge Notice is 29/10/2025 so the date Notice to Keeper was sent to the lease company can have occurred no later. It is 50 days from 29/10/2025 to today (17/12/2025) and I have received no such documentation.  You have therefore not met the requirements of POFA 2012, again I remind you which is an Act of Parliament and therefore law! 

I am not obliged to disclose the identify of the driver and this does not affect my liability on this matter.   

You have not complied with paragraphs 13 (2) and 14 (2) of POFA 2012, you cannot rely on the provisions of the Act and hold me liable as keeper. 

I require official confirmation that the Parking Charge Notice has been erased. 

ChirpyChicken

So you didn't take the advice 

paulh1983

23rd December, received the following response from Excel

-----

We refer to your appeal in respect of the above Charge Notice (CN) received on 17/12/2025.

Having considered the points you have raised and reviewed our records, we are unable to accept your appeal.

Our main reason(s) for this decision are as follows:

The signs at the car park make it clear that a valid payment must be made for all vehicles which park/enter the carpark, giving clear notice that the land is private property and that a Charge of £100 will be levied if vehicles park outside of the Terms and Conditions displayed; signs also state that when a payment is made, the full and accurate vehicle registration number of the vehicle parked must be entered. The above detailed vehicle parked without a valid payment of the parking tariff for the vehicle on site and you became liable for the Charge advertised.

In your appeal it is unclear who the driver was when your vehicle was seen to be parked in the car park. It is

important we highlight that we will continue to pursue this matter on the reasonable assumption that you were the driver of the vehicle on the date in question until information/evidence to the contrary is provided.

You state that our Notice is not compliant with the Protection Of Freedoms Act (POFA) 2012 on the Notice issued to you; however we have not cited POFA 2012 nor stated that you are liable for the Charge as the vehicle keeper.

We must advise that we have received a document signed by yourself from the hire company advising you were the hirer of the vehicle at the time in question and therefore you will be held responsible for the above charge notice.

We maintain that the signs on this site meet the requirements set by the International Parking Community (IPC) Code of Practice. The signs are large, prominent and legible, so that any reasonable user of the car park would be aware of their existence and nature, and would have a fair opportunity to read them if he or she wished to do so. It can never be a defence to a claim in contract law to say, "I did not read the terms", so long as the existence of those terms is reasonably advertised.

We have fully reviewed this case and we are satisfied that the Charge Notice was correctly issued. We are unable to accept the mitigating circumstances raised in your representations, your appeal is therefore rejected and the charge will stand; photographic evidence which supports this can be viewed at www.myparkingcharge.co.uk

What you should do next - Either:

1. Pay the Charge Notice (CN): In order to settle the Charge, the payment of £40 to reach us by 06/01/2026 or £80 to reach us by 20/01/2026 must be made. Failure to pay this charge within the stated times, may result in Debt Recovery Action being taken and further costs up to an additional £70 being incurred. Payments can be made online at www.myparkingcharge.co.uk by following the links for "Pay Now", or over the phone by calling 0845 226 9138 by using a valid Credit or Debit Card.

OR:

2. Appeal to the Independent Appeals Services (IAS): If you believe this decision is incorrect, you are entitled to

appeal to the IAS. In order to appeal, the IAS will need the following information (which is also contained in the

subject header of this correspondence).

Appeals must be submitted to the IAS within 28 days of the date of this correspondence. Please visit www.theias.org for full details on how to submit an appeal online.

It is important you note that if you do make an appeal to the IAS, the reduced charge offered above will no longer apply. You should also be aware that if a payment is made prior to an appeal being made to, or adjudicated by, the IAS AND this is accepted as Full and Final settlement against the CN, the appeal will automatically be dismissed and the matter will be deemed closed. Should you appeal to the IAS and it is unsuccessful, the full amount outstanding (£80.00) will become payable within 14 days of the date the IAS decision is notified to you. Failure to pay this sum in the 14 day period will result in debt recovery costs of up to £70.00 being added to the outstanding balance.

It is important we also highlight that no further appeals will be accepted at this office; any such appeal must be

made to the IAS.

Please also note that further costs may be incurred should it be necessary for us to subsequently recover any

outstanding charge using further debt recovery and/or court action.

Yours sincerely

Appeals Administration Team

CENTRAL PROCESSING OFFICE

---

Also had confirmation from the leasing company that they sent a version of the hire agreement to Excel on 18th October 2025.

Response from Excel doesn't seem to suggest they've even read what I put, which is to be expected.  IAS appeal route, again no doubt which way it'll go but it builds up evidence if/when it reaches court.

paulh1983

ChirpyChicken said:

So you didn't take the advice 

Both fruitcake and coupon_mad advised earlier in the thread to appeal.

Fruitcake also said about never revealing driver identity and following with an IAS appeal if needed.

I appreciate, massively, all time, input and advice given. But I was left confused by your response to appeal as driver, which surely reveals the driver identity.