Euro Car Parks - PCN NTK and Final Notification Letter - Chichester Gate Leisure Park

Birkyboy

This morning I opened 2 letters from ECP, a PCN NTK and a final notification letter.

For ease, I have attached the 2 letters (both sides) below.

I have missed the chance to appeal, by not opening the letters in time.

Date of parking event was 14 Nov 25 and date PCN issued was 20 Nov 25.
Final notification date 20 Dec 25.

Chichester Gate Leisure Car Park allows up to 3 hours free parking, which can be extended by another 2 hours free, if you are visiting one of the nominated retailers there, including Cineworld. The driver did visit Cineworld, but failed to register the VRN, which is what must be done to gain the additional 2 hours free parking.

Driver has proof of purchase for Cineworld on the date of parking.
Driver also has proof of purchase for second retailer - MacDonalds (which has a drive through).

Grounds of appeal would have been such:
3 hours of parking are free (plus 2 when registering VRN).
The car was photographed entering and leaving for a period 3 hours and 12 mins.
BCA mandates a minimum of 10 mins grace (as I understand it), plus reasonable time to enter / leave, read signage, pay parking etc.
Driver also used drive through MacDonalds and was not parked for an additional period of xx minutes within the total 3 hrs and 12 mins (proof of purchase, although doesn't prove was not parked when purchasing MacD)

I believe the PCN to be unreasonable, given the time periods stated above.

Grateful for any advice, including whether I should bother to write to them and try and appeal (late).

Keep up the good work, you guys are the real Robin Hood and his Merry Folk....

ChirpyChicken

The system will allow an appeal 

Jame4ters

You’ve left your vehicle registration number showing on the last image  

Birkyboy

Jame4ters said:

You’ve left your vehicle registration number showing on the last image  

Thank you! Have now amended that.

Birkyboy

ChirpyChicken said:

The system will allow an appeal 

Thank you for this information. I have appealed using the standard template on the newbies thread. I was hoping to add the additional information about the driver's 12 minute overstay and the time to find a parking space etc, but the allowed characters on the appeal page was very restrictive. 

Coupon-mad

OK save that for POPLA or just ignore ECP now completely and kill it instead at claim stage. DCB Legal always discontinue and nobody attends a hearing or pays anything.

Claim form stage is a cinch: no risk and ten times easier than POPLA. Defending these ECP cases always sees them off.

You just have to trust us that ignoring debt crawlers then defending a claim is the recommended route. Or trust Martin Lewis, if you are unsure that we are right...

...Just click on the words underneath the little red 'MSE link' in the small 'Parking Ticket Appeals' banner at the top of this page which leads to the MSE Guide to fight PCNs.

Same info is shown in both this forum and in that Guide, as regards the debt recovery letters being a futile stage and ignoring these demands being risk-free as long as you don't miss or ignore a Court Claim (easy to defend). Consistent advice here is easy to find and not just from random strangers.

The MSE Guide is official 'Martin Lewis backed' advice. Try POPLA if you want but don't expect to win. Certainly no paying!

Birkyboy

Coupon-mad said:

OK save that for POPLA or just ignore ECP now completely and kill it instead at claim stage. DCB Legal always discontinue and nobody attends a hearing or pays anything.

Claim form stage is a cinch: no risk and ten times easier than POPLA. Defending these ECP cases always sees them off.

You just have to trust us that ignoring debt crawlers then defending a claim is the recommended route. Or trust Martin Lewis, if you are unsure that we are right...

...Just click on the words underneath the little red 'MSE link' in the small 'Parking Ticket Appeals' banner at the top of this page which leads to the MSE Guide to fight PCNs.

Same info is shown in both this forum and in that Guide, as regards the debt recovery letters being a futile stage and ignoring these demands being risk-free as long as you don't miss or ignore a Court Claim (easy to defend). Consistent advice here is easy to find and not just from random strangers.

The MSE Guide is official 'Martin Lewis backed' advice. Try POPLA if you want but don't expect to win. Certainly no paying!

Thank you Coupon Mad. I won't be paying! I'll try the POPLA route if I get the chance (not sure if my late appeal will be accepted as a valid appeal). 

I will be ignoring the debt crawlers and defending the claim as you suggest.

Keep up up the good work. We trust you!

ChirpyChicken

It will be accepted
Their system wont allow it otherwise. Its how it works. They allow longer then others.

Birkyboy

Update. All sorted!

Well, I wasn't expecting this letter. My appeal to ECP was successful. Detail of their reply posted below. Scary threatening last para was in bold…. 😮

'The car park in question is on private land and upon entering such land, vehicles are subject to the terms and conditions of parking as shown on the signage. This signage quite clearly states that if your vehicle is in breach of the terms and conditions of the car park then a PCN will be issued.

On entry to private land it is the responsibility of the driver to check for signage and ensure that your vehicle has been correctly parked. Any vehicles found not adhering to the signage will be issued with a PCN.

Please be advised that there are a number of signs around the car park indicating the restrictions of the site and it is the responsibility of the driver to read them when parking.

The car park is operated by Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) – cameras capture an image of vehicles entering and leaving the car park and calculate their length of stay. Parking at the above site is limited to 3 hours. Your vehicle was parked longer than 3 hours, therefore the notice was issued correctly.

I’m pleased to inform that your appeal has been successful on this occasion only and the notice has been cancelled as a gesture of goodwill.

However any further Parking Charge Notice issued for the same reasons may not be cancelled. It is the driver’s responsibility to check the signage and adhere to the terms and conditions of the signage onsite. '

I would have happily taken it all the way, given I was parked for 3 hrs and 12 mins. It took me ages to find the space obviously…plus 10 mins grace.

Coupon-mad

Nice result and well done!