UKCPM PCN - Valid Resident Permit Retrieved During Attendant's Visit

bluelightdude443

Update: UKCPM cancelled the PCN - thank you!

Just wanted to come back and thank everyone who helped with this one.

UKCPM have now upheld the appeal and cancelled the Parking Charge Notice.

For anyone following the backstory, this was the residents’ car park case where a valid resident permit existed, but it had been left inside the resident’s flat and was being retrieved. The UKCPM operative was told before the PCN was completed that the vehicle was authorised and that the permit was being brought out immediately. The permit was then displayed, and my phone evidence showed it displayed before the stated PCN issue time.

The appeal was submitted with evidence including the valid permit, timestamped photographs, witness statements, the resident’s same-day email to UKCPM’s permits department, and details of the health-related delay in the extreme heat.

Separately, the housing association complaint at Stage 1 was not upheld. The HA's response was essentially that UKCPM operates independently and that the HA could not investigate the operative’s conduct or the issuing/cancellation of the PCN. I was not happy with that, so the complaint has now been escalated to Stage 2.

For Stage 2, I added further information about the HA's contractor oversight, the impact of the parking scheme on residents, visitors, carers and vulnerable people, and the recent CMA open letter (Thank you @LoneStarState) to private parking operators about consideration periods, appeal handling and consumer fairness. I also referred to the HA’s own published article where they previously reviewed UKCPM parking enforcement after concerns were raised about vulnerable residents, carer permits and visitor permits, but it was not properly implemented.

The good news is that this now seems to have gone higher up internally inside the HA, with the Head of Estates looking into it. Hopefully something useful comes out of that, not just for this case but for residents, carers and genuine visitors who seem to be getting caught up in a scheme that should be protecting residents rather than causing stress for the people actually entitled to be there.

Thanks again to everyone who gave advice. The points about being firm, denying liability, providing witness evidence, relying on the valid permit, and pushing the housing association on contractor oversight were all really helpful. I'll update here again should any positive outcome be produced from the stage 2 complaint.

LoneStarState

Great news! Too much of a thorn in their side for sure and the legal ramifications of harassing you in the current landscape with the CMA breathing down on the industry.

I was quietly confident this might be the outcome. Did the appeal response make any form of apology to you and an assurance not to do this again?

Depending on how long your partner plans to live there it might still be worth the separate complaint to UKPC getting an actual apology and an assurance that such conduct will not happen again to help futureproof against any more predatory behaviour by the operative. Poor responses can be escalated to the IPC/DVLA and ultimately CMA. Obviously no obligation on your part given the time it takes and the fact the HA complaint is progressing separately.

Half_way

The principal (Housing association) is jointly and generally liable for the actions of its agents, the parking company