ECP Heathrow North - EV Bays - DEFENCE STAGE

fivestarsamz

Hello. Posting for a colleague. Any advice would be appreciated.

• PCN from Euro Car Parks received. The colleague appealed which was rejected and ignored since. Since it was a while ago, he can't remember what he said in the appeal, so I am not sure if he disclosed who the driver was.
• I had a look at Google Maps, and it looks like there is a max stay limit of 90 minutes for EV cars. The vehicle was on the land for 103 minutes, so I believe that was the main reason why the PCN was issued.
• The vehicle in question is an Electric Vehicle.
• The POC mentions the reason as "Your Vehicle Was Parked in AN Electric Vehicle Charging Bay."
• It also does not look like that the land is within the bylaws according to the Heathrow map.

AOS was done on 12/06/2026. I am now writing up the defence to submit. Any pointers for paragraphs 2 and 3?

ChirpyChicken

It will get discontinued in due course 😁

fivestarsamz

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82037387#Comment_82037387

Yes DCBlegal, i am not worried about them. but Still wanted to put a strong defence anyway

Coupon-mad

Is it an EV?

If yes, then the allegation (as pleaded) has no legs! I'd put that into para 3.

Umkomaas

As the vehicle is an EV, there was every right to park it in an EV charging bay. So what’s ECP’s problem? This is the basis of their Particulars of Claim - ‘Parked in AN Electric Vehicle Charging Bay’. No mention of ‘overstay’ or any other ‘contravention’, so defend on the basis that no signage (the contract) prohibited EVs from parking in an EV charging bay, it would be a nonsense if it was anything other.

They will discontinue, but meantime, follow court requirements for defending the claim, and ride it out!

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6377263/dcb-legal-record-of-private-parking-court-claim-discontinuations

fivestarsamz

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82037543#Comment_82037543

Yes it is an EV.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82037581#Comment_82037581

Thank you!

How is this?

3. Liability is denied. The Particulars of Claim (‘POC’) state that the alleged breach was that my “vehicle was parked in an Electric Vehicle Charging bay." The vehicle concerned, registration XXXX XXX, is a Hyundai Kona Electric and is therefore an electric vehicle. The Claimant has not explained how parking an Electric Vehicle (EV) in a bay designated for electric vehicles constitutes a breach of any contractual term. No breach occurred as there was no signage prohibiting electric vehicles from parking in an electric vehicle charging bay. An EV can only use the charging point by parking in the designated EV bay.

Coupon-mad

Yep that'll do.

yarpsnehpets

As a side note, it's always worth examining what the charging company advertise on their website in respect to the specific location.

You'd be amazed how many times the parking operators supposed 'terms' contradict the charging companies advertised services.

born_again

As the vehicle is an EV, there was every right to park it in an EV charging bay.

A charging bay is not a parking space. It is a dedicated space to charge the car. Same as if you parked your car at a petrol pump & went off for 103 mins.

yarpsnehpets

You be hard pressed to persuade a County Court Judge that you were filling up with fuel for 103 mins.

However, charging a vehicle is different since charging clearly takes quite a period of time by comparison.

Also, if the alleged terms of the car park are 90 mins max stay then one has to ask if the charging company allows clients to charge their vehicles for longer than that period.

Further, charging bays are often leased by the charging company meaning that they may not technically be part of the car park.

I guess that the 'elephant in the room' question is; was the vehicle charging during that time? If the vehicle wasn't 'charging' then was it simply 'parked'?

Le_Kirk

With an issue date of 02/06/26 and having completed the AoS in a timely manner your defence deadline date is 4.00 p.m. on 06/07/26