Rugby St Cross Hospital - Car Parking Partnership (CPP) and ParkingEye

dangdoggy3

I am in the exact same situation as a previous poster: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6521967/rugby-st-cross-hospital-cpp-parkingeye

No notice received. Reminder received. Letter wording exactly the same as the previous posted, both front and back. I have also receieved another letter. In my situation the Driver was not the Registered Keeper.

Parking Charge Notice Reminder Front: https://i.ibb.co/Z6BszFVC/reminder-front.jpg
Parking Charge Notice Reminder Back: https://i.ibb.co/bMgpRMMd/reminder-back.jpg
Other letter Front: https://i.ibb.co/933WZ8zP/follow-up-front.jpg
Other letter Back: https://i.ibb.co/jPj4LCM1/follow-up-back.jpg

Reading the earlier thread I need to appeal to PALS which I guess is https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/hospitals/what-is-pals-patient-advice-and-liaison-service/?

Date of Event was 10 June 2026
Reminder was dated 22 June 2026
Other letter was dated 17 July 2026

No action has been taken regarding this matter so far

Coupon-mad

Why are you reading a 2024 thread? It's ancient! How about reading today's threads? You'd have found this:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6677535/parking-eye-pcn

Far more relevant and current.

In your case you ignored the Reminder which was a mistake, but it is interesting that CPP aka PEye are now sending reminders after just 7 days since the date of alleged 'ghost' PCNs that more than one person is reporting was never received.

I wonder if the PCNs are even being posted…after all, seven days is very premature for a reminder and would double their postage costs - in every case - which a cynic might say is highly unlikely to be happening given the number of PCNs CPP/PEye issue.

They used to send these Reminders 14 days later, which was more timely and far less pressurising.

"Reading the earlier thread I need to appeal to PALS"

Nope, no advice says to 'appeal' to PALS. You are complaining to PALS.

What were the circumstances? Why the PCN?

GrannyKate

Complain to  PALS@uhcw.nhs.uk as this is part of University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire. Explain your circumstances and remind them of their responsibilities under NHS Parking Guidance. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-patient-visitor-and-staff-car-parking-principles/nhs-patient-visitor-and-staff-car-parking-principles

dangdoggy3

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82081311#Comment_82081311

Thank you, I will do this

Coupon-mad

What were the circumstances? Why the PCN? We are on your side and I'm asking for good reason, so we can help you better.

dangdoggy3

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82081276#Comment_82081276

THREAD - It was the only/most recent one are the same car park. But yes, a few years old now!

PALS - I'll complain to PALS ;)

BACKGROUND - Reminder not ignored, I've just been out of the country. Driver (not RK) took minor to Urgent Care/out of hours for X-ray. Driver never been to this place before. Struggled to even find car park. Went into middle of 3 roads into hospital initially. Turned around as wasn't the entrance. Ended up going through a service/back entrance. Didn't see why signs. Struggled to even find the way out. Late night with minor. Tired. Not paying enough attention. All my parking issues seem to be taking sick minors medical treatment!

Coupon-mad

So that description is what you say to PALS, as your complaint. Insist they step in and ask the operator to cancel this PCN because it is unfair and because CPP only sent a late 'reminder' and no PCN, which is sharp practice.

dangdoggy3

Here is my PALS email:

Dear PALS,

I am writing to complain about a parking charge issued by ParkingEye/Car Parking Partnership (CPP) at St Cross Hospital, Rugby, and to insist that the Trust step in and ask the operator to cancel it.

The circumstances were these. On xx June 2026, the driver (who is not the registered keeper) took a sick minor to Urgent Care / out-of-hours for an X-ray, late at night. The driver had never been to the hospital before and found the site genuinely difficult to navigate – initially taking the wrong road in, turning around, and ultimately entering via a service/back entrance. The layout was so confusing that the driver was approached by a member of hospital staff who offered assistance, which speaks for itself about how unclear the site is to a first-time visitor arriving in these circumstances. In the dark, tired, and understandably focused on the unwell child, the driver did not see any signage and also struggled to find the way out.

I would ask the Trust to have regard to the NHS car parking guidance for NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts (updated March 2022, which superseded the 2015 NHS Patient, Visitor and Staff Car Parking Principles / HTM 07-03). That guidance makes clear that patients and visitors are the Trust's first priority, and it requires trusts to provide concessions for those most in need. Since 2015, carers have been included as an explicit group for whom concessions should be considered – a category that plainly covers someone bringing a child for urgent treatment. The guidance also expects that where car parking is contracted out, the operator acts reasonably and in accordance with these principles on the Trust's behalf. Penalising a carer attending in exactly these urgent, distressing circumstances – and one who was visibly struggling with the site layout to the point that staff stepped in – runs directly counter to that.

The operator's own conduct compounds the unfairness. No Parking Charge Notice was ever received. The first and only correspondence was a "Reminder," dated xx June 2026 – just twelve days after the event – followed by a further letter dated xx July 2026. Sending a "reminder" this quickly, with no evidence that any initial notice was ever issued, is sharp practice: it denies the keeper the proper notice process and applies unfair pressure to pay a charge that should never have been pursued.

I must therefore insist that the Trust step in and require the operator to cancel this charge. It is unfair in the circumstances, it is inconsistent with the NHS car parking guidance the Trust is expected to uphold, and the manner in which it has been pursued – a late "reminder" and no PCN – is sharp practice that the Trust should not allow to be carried out in its name.

I look forward to your response confirming that the charge has been cancelled.

Coupon-mad

Very good indeed.

You could add:

Further, I urge the Trust's Board to take formal note and discuss at the next Board Meeting, the news that The Competition and Markets Authority issued an open letter to private parking operators on July 16, 2026. The Regulator warned firms to clean up unfair practices which have come to the CMA's attention this year, including flawed and non-impartial appeals processes, hidden and potentially unlawful added costs dressed up as 'debt-recovery fees', and unjust parking charges, like this one.

dangdoggy3

Response received:

Thank you for contacting the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust regarding your parking enquiry. We are sorry to hear of the difficulties you experienced during your visit to the hospital site.

Please be advised that UHCW operates under a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract. The hospital car parks are managed by the PFI Service Provider, and day‑to‑day parking operations are delivered on their behalf by the Car Parking Partnership (CPP). These services are independent of the Trust, and there is no direct operational contact with UHCW.

Unfortunately, PALS does not have the authority to overturn, cancel, or amend any parking‑related decisions, including Parking Charge Notices (PCNs).
For this reason, we are unable to provide further information or offer advice regarding the concerns you have raised.

To ensure your enquiry reaches the team best placed to assist, please contact the Hospital’s Parking Service Provider directly using the details below. They will be able to review your case and respond to you:

Parking Contact Details

Visitor Parking
visitor.parking@uk.issworld.com

If you would prefer to speak to someone in person, you are welcome to visit the Security Office:

Security Office
Ground Floor, The Mall
University Hospital Coventry & Warwickshire
Clifford Bridge Road
Coventry
CV2 2DX

Other Useful Contacts

Car Parking Partnership (CPP)
0330 900 7777

Parking on Private Land Appeals (POPLA)
0330 159 6126

Thank you once again for contacting PALS. Please let us know if we can assist you with any other non‑parking related concerns.

Kind regards

Patient Advice and Liaison Service - Patient Experience

Quality Department

University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire NHS Trust

Clifford Bridge Road

Coventry

CV2 2DX

dangdoggy3

Reply sent to PALS:

Dear PALS,

Thank you for your response, and for providing the contact details for the parking service provider. I will take my complaint to ISS directly.

Before I do, I wish to be clear that I would like this matter registered and handled as a formal complaint under the NHS complaints procedure, not simply logged as a PALS enquiry. If PALS is not the correct route for that, please forward this to the Trust's complaints team and confirm to me that it has been done. I would expect the usual acknowledgement and a written response within the timescales set out under the NHS complaints regulations.

I ask for this because I do not accept that the matter is entirely outside the Trust's interest, for the following reasons.

The NHS car parking guidance for NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts is clear that patients and visitors are the Trust's first priority, and that where car parking is contracted out the operator is expected to act reasonably and in line with these principles on the Trust's behalf. A PFI arrangement does not remove that expectation. The charge in question was issued to a carer who had brought a sick child to Urgent Care late at night, had never visited the site before, found the layout so confusing that a member of your own staff approached to offer assistance, and saw no signage. That an operator acting in the Trust's name is pursuing a charge in those circumstances is precisely the kind of outcome the guidance is meant to prevent.

I would further urge the Trust's Board to take formal note of, and to discuss at its next Board meeting, the open letter the Competition and Markets Authority issued to private parking operators on 16 July 2026. In it the CMA put the sector on notice over unfair practices it has identified this year – including flawed and non-impartial appeals processes, potentially unfair terms used to recover unpaid charges, and unjust parking charges of exactly this kind – and warned operators to bring their practices into line with consumer law. The Trust should be concerned that an operator acting in its name, on its site, is issuing the very sort of charge the regulator has just cautioned against.

I would therefore ask that the Trust register this as a formal complaint, respond to it substantively, and pass my concerns to the PFI service provider, as the party the Trust does have a contractual relationship with. I will pursue the matter with ISS in parallel.

I reserve the right to raise this further, including with my local MP and, if the Trust's formal process does not resolve it fairly, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.