Gatwick parking charge… help!

Teeneysprout

hello all, apologies for the question as I am aware it’s been asked about extensively however I couldn’t find anything relating to my issue.
I parked at Gatwick south long stay for 12 days which was paid in advance. However I have just received a parking charge to keeper notice and am unsure as to what to do. I was not the driver at the time. When arriving at the carpark around 3am it was dark, we followed the other vehicles into the zone and parked with no issues. No notice was on the vehicle when we returned. However the notice receive through the post states ‘the vehicle was parked In a bay reserved for another purpose and liability for the same having been brought to the attention of the driver by clear signage in and around the site at the time of parking’. The photo enclosed shows my vehicle parked in a bay with a nearby sign stating staff parking zone and an arrow pointing forward. This sign was not visable when parking at 3am or when leaving the car park at midnight, the carpark was poorly lit. We saw no other signage stating staff parking, the only signs visable showed parking zone B and various bus stop numbers but that was it. Having paid over £100 to park in the first place this is a bitter pill to swallow. Any advice appreciated.

Coupon-mad

Obviously nobody pays these invoices so you won't be swallowing any bitter pills.

Also if you were not driving then you are not legally liable, as a matter of fact and law.

Is this letter from APCOA, or Times24?

Teeneysprout

Thanks for your reply. It’s from Times24

Coupon-mad

If you go online and view their images do any photos show the driver? Probably not but go check as that would make it easy to rebut.

Teeneysprout

no they don’t show the driver, they just show my vehicle parked and there is a sign that says staff parking with an arrow pointing away from my vehicle. They have included a photo of another sign which was not near my vehicle which says staff parking and details of a fine, however it wasn’t in view of where I parked and was small so it wouldn’t have been seen at 3am when we parked anyway. There are no marking on the bay itself that identify it as staff parking.

Gr1pr

DDefinitely won't mention the word fine

Just read the GROUP THREAD GATWICK HEATHROW MANCHESTER airport thread and appeal as keeper based on no keeper liability due to POFA2012 schedule 4 not applicable on airport land

No blabbing about who was driving or about what happened, just no keeper liability so they can do one

No revealing who was driving when they ask

Teeneysprout

Thank you that’s very helpful and much appreciated

James_Poisson

There is no "fine" it's just an invoice, and the long stay car parks from my recollection have absolutely no entrance signs that state you are entering a car park with any parking restrictions except to follow the zone allocation on the day.

The signs in the dark are dreadful, it isn't easy to see much at all apart from where the bus stops are, and in my recollection you certainly would not be able to see staff parking signs unless they are lit.

Was this the South terminal car park?

I imagine their photos of signage are either taken in broad daylight or are master copies which do not help their case, neither does the lack of entrance signs, you cannot enter into a hidden contract, and if they have a reserved staff paring area why is it attached to the B zone with no barriers. Times24 are just showing what a bunch of seedy scammers they are.

Don't fall for their shenanigans.

Teeneysprout

Thanks for that, yes it was Gatwick south. We usually fly Heathrow and will definitely not use Gatwick again. Upon entering there were no signs visible showing where to park so we simply followed the vehicles in front of us. I imagine others would have the same issue as us in this instance.
Also the photos taken of my vehicle were in daylight hours and almost a week after parking there. It was extremely dark, the driver had taken a photo of one of the nearby signs so they knew which bus stop to get off at, however the photo was completely blurred and ineligible dueto how dark it was at the time.
im hoping common sense will prevail.

Gr1pr

Sorry, but its nothing to do with common sense

The pcn may well be valid, based on an alleged breach of the parking contract on that private property

However

As long as the driver is not revealed, the law states that liability cannot be transferred from the driver to the keeper on no relevant land, so mainly airport land , so the keeper is appealing on that "technicality" alone ( nothing to do with the circumstances etc, dont get drawn in. )

Meaning, the keeper appeals based on, " not my problem, go swivel "

Teeneysprout

I found their appeal form confusing as well as to appeal on the grounds I wasn’t the driver and To transfer liability I needed to name the driver which I wasn’t going to do so I had to go with ‘other’ as the reason for appealing. They certainly don’t make things easy for you. My husband is of the opinion I should just pay but after already forking our £100 to park in the first place I’m reluctant to even consider it