Couldn't validate vehicle reg. Parking charge.

Nastynick74

I recently parked in a small car park late on night to get some food. It was an area I haven't been to before. The only business open was a pizza place where I ate. I didn't see the signs for restricted parking time as it was dark.

On receiving the parking charge notice for exceeding my stay, I revisited the premises in daylight and took note of the signs.

To avoid a parking charge I had to register my vehicle registration with the business I was visiting. Only thing was, the pizza place did not have a machine to validate my extended stay.

I began the appeals process with Civil Enforcement but there was nowhere for me to type my case. So I entered as much as I could in the field for vehicle reg along with the reg plate, and submitted it.

I have just logged in to Civil Enforcement to check the status of my appeal and there is no record of it and they now say I am past the point at which I can appeal the charge.

Any advice on what to do next would be most welcome.

Gr1pr

60 minutes free parking for customers, 84 minutes on site, an overstay, hence why they issued a pcn

it seems to be a pizza takeaway business on that small shopping centre area, along with a few other businesses

Incident date 17th April, 20 days ago, so not too late to appeal it, the deadline is 28 days or so from the issue date , which was 24th April

Coupon-mad

However, you don't have to do anything and you are best ignoring it IMHO.

Open all letters & don't move house without telling CEL.

Come back if they try a small claim.

That's it.

James_Poisson

It's a takeaway Pizza they won't have a terminal to extend your stay it isn't an eat in restaurant and CEL will be raking it in with people sitting around after dark scoffing in their cars, I suspect that's what happened here?

If they are denying they received your appeal you could do as @Gr1pr suggests and send in the template appeal from here it won't work obviously. But it will hook in a POPLA code and you can try to see it off with evidence taken in the dark of unlit signage and lack of a terminal in the business you visited along with the usual stuff. Remember any photos need date stamp in them and should be to your advantage.

Or do as @Coupon-mad suggests and ignore and let them go through all the bluffing it's your choice.

Car1980

Well you could argue that plenty of takeaway pizza places have seats or a shelf for eating. And 20 minutes would be enough of a time allowance, not a full hour. So it's regarded as a place you could legitimately spend 60 minutes in.

Anyway, contract wise I can't see how one can be enforced if performance is impossible. They would argue you should have left if there was no tablet, but leaving in the event of the promised table being absent isn't actually part of the contract. You'd be looking at frustration of contract / doctrine of impossibility etc.

But practically, I'd just ignore. Most CE cases go to DCB Legal, who make court claims and then discontinue them once you've submitted a defence online.

Nastynick74

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81990970#Comment_81990970

There are indeed seating and a "breakfast bar" type platform to eat in. I didn't see the signs for restricted parking duration, along with the queue to get served and then eat my food. Yes I could've been all done and dusted within 60 mins, if I had known that was all the free parking I would get. Had I known prior that I had to validate my parking in the pizza place to avoid charges, I would've done that even if I was staying less than an hour to be on the safe side.

CE have my details now and I will ignore it for the time being.

Do DCB Legal allow you to submit online defences? Or do they only give you the option to pay the fine and not state your case?

Car1980

Whoever eventually makes a claim (if they ever do), which could be DCB Legal or Civil Enforcement, will do it through MoneyClaim Online and you just submit the template defence on the website.

The further you are from Liverpool, the more chance you'll be dealing with DCB Legal.

You'll probably get DCBL debt collection junkmail either way, which you can ignore.

Come back for advice if you receive a letter headed Letter Before Claim.

I wonder what the contractual relationship between the pizza place and CE actually is? What obliges them to even have a tablet?

Either way, it might be worth going back to the pizza place to see what the deal is. They'll probably won't be helpful if you "complain", but a friendly chat might uncover some information. And the more customers of theirs get "fined" the more incentive they might have to complain to the landowner that it's ruining their business.

Nellymoser

Do read the NEWBIES thread, top of page 1. Learn what letters to ignore and the ones you reply to.

POST 4 - Debt Collectors Letters

POST 2 - SMALL Claim

Nastynick74

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81994065#Comment_81994065

I went into the pizza place after receiving the charge. I asked them if they had a device to validate parking, and they said they didn't, nor could I see one in plain view.

Coupon-mad

You don't have a fine and will never have to pay this invoice. Do come back for help if you get a Letter of / before Claim from CEL or from a law firm) but this is all covered already in post 2 of NEWBIES PLEASE READ THESE FAQS FIRST.

Nastynick74

So for now I'll ignore it. The issue I have is, I was driving a vehicle owned by my boss. So the original letter was sent to him. I gave my details to CE to stop him getting further correspondence.

So they have my details. I'll open but ignore all future letters regarding this situation until I receive the LBC letter. Then I will refer to the guidance in the Newbies guide.