HELP. Incoming PCN.

helpd2159

I visited a GP surgery where the car park appears to be split between GP parking and private apartment parking. There were a a couple standing boards with lots of text, one of them in front of the bay I parked, but no clear markings on the bays themselves showing which spaces belonged to the GP and which were private/residential.

I stopped briefly in a bay and went straight into the GP surgery to ask reception which bays were theirs. I was gone for 30 seconds or less. When I came back out, a man had got out of an unmarked car and was taking photos of my car on his phone. It seems he was hiding in plain sight waiting for an opportunity because I did a scan of any walking parking attendants before I went in. When he saw me, he quickly tried to leave. I asked what he was doing and he said I couldn’t park there because there was a sign. I tried to ask him which bays are private… you can't tell and I went to ask.

The sign he pointed to was very crowded and did not clearly show which bays were private or GP bays. I took photos of the signage, the bay, his car, and number plate.

Has anyone dealt with this kind of private parking situation? If a parking charge comes through, what would be the best way to challenge it? Should I email the parking company before they send me a PCN…

helpd2159

Pics of the car park and sign posted.

James_Poisson

No you do not contact the company before anything happens, private parking is based on unregulated terms and conditions where they catch you out and try to con money out of you, which parking company are you talking about?

They would be on sticky ground if you were there for 30 seconds pondering the terms and conditions, and it appears like maybe the person that caught you was either an un identified employee in and un marked vehicle which is against the Joint COP or a self ticketing operation.

Wait for a NTK to arrive but don't get stressed about it it's just a speculative invoice.

helpd2159

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82057197#Comment_82057197

@James_Poisson Thanks for your reply. Yes, it was an unmarked, regular car with normal baby on board and other stickers. I took a picture of it and of the guy as he was getting back into the car, i'm close enough where you can tell I was just talking to him and he turned away. Yes, I was there for 30 seconds or less but when he took the pictures I wasn't in the car as I had ran in to confirm with the GP which bays were theirs and ran back out.

The name the of the company is Parking and Property Management. I also posted their sign and the carpark pics to the thread.

Coupon-mad

"I stopped briefly in a bay and went straight into the GP surgery to ask reception which bays were theirs. I was gone for 30 seconds or less. When I came back out, a man had got out of an unmarked car and was taking photos of my car on his phone.

It seems he was hiding in plain sight waiting for an opportunity because I did a scan of any walking parking attendants before I went in. When he saw me, he quickly tried to leave.

I asked what he was doing and he said I couldn’t park there because there was a sign. I tried to ask him which bays are private… you can't tell."

Lurking in unmarked cars is what clampers used to do to catch out drivers.

Things are arguably far worse nowadays. This covert conduct is happening more now, because the Joint Code of Practice allows (plainly unfair) 'instant ticketing' with a 'zero consideration period' for a driver to see or read any terms.

That's impossible in contract law.

But this industry don't give a flying fig.

Hopefully the MHCLG will remove ALL zero consideration periods from the statutory code because this is what that disingenuous scam clause leads to.

You will get a postal PCN.

No chance that they'd win in front of a judge but there is no independent appeal to resolve it before litigation so the answer is to ignore it, if the landowner won't cancel it.

Was he wearing uniform or a lanyard or shoulder badge? Or just some bloke after a bounty? Show us your photo of him but with his face blacked over.

helpd2159

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82057287#Comment_82057287

Hey @Coupon-mad - Thanks for the response. So you suggest I find the landowner and reach out to them? I'm not sure how I would even track them down. It's good to know they won't win in front of a judge, just a bit annoying that I may even have to go through this whole process, I know it can be dragged out over years.

He was wearing a white t-shirt, black trousers, and trainers, I didn't notice any lanyard or shoulder badge. If he had another sign or badge on him, I can't be certain. Pics of him and his car attached but not sure if they are much help as he was just trying to get away as quick as he could and was in no mood to hear anything. The photo is actually a live photo which i can play on my phone and hear his engine is still running. He himself didn't park up properly, it's like he quickly drove up near the car, ran out to take a picture and ran back in his car to go and park it up near the entrance where it must have been hiding before.

Coupon-mad

Yep that's not a uniformed ticketer.

That's a random person paid a 'bounty' (from paid PCNs) for lurking and taking instant photos.

The MHCLG needs to stop this.

This conduct is worse than wheelclamping ever was because:

• no contract can be formed in zero minutes;
• there's no fair opportunity to find out which bays are covered by which terms and no consideration period to move the car;
• this industry uses aggressive multiple threatograms at £160 or £170 a pop (an illegal sum because the added £60 / £70 goes behind the settled Supreme Court case of Beavis) and sends your data to all sorts of nasty DRAs, and
• this all hangs over people for 6 years and has potential to ruin their credit if a Claim Form is sent to an old address several years later, or if overwhelmed people don't know how to defend.

Coupon-mad

Show us the PCN when it arrives please.

I'd like to see the number of seconds between photos.

helpd2159

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82057355#Comment_82057355

I definitely will. Thank you!

1505grandad

"But this industry don't give a flying fig."

As we all know neither does the DVLA who are the go-to entity to start all these well known scams.