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Euro Car Parks Shell PCN
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parkingadvice1212
Posts: 176 Forumite
Hi all,
Several months ago the driver of my car at the time went to pick my partner up from Gatwick airport only to find the short stay car park was closed and the police moved them on from waiting in the drop-off area. Due to the flight being delayed they went to the nearby Shell petrol station and waited next to the pumps in the car for around 1 hour.
A few weeks later I got a PCN in the post from Euro Car Parks, apparently there was a 20 minute maximum stay. The driver didn't see any signs for this or they wouldn't have parked there, checking on google earth it seems like there is an actual car park in the petrol station that does have big signs saying 20 minutes maximum stay. HOWEVER the car park and these signs were closed off for building works so the driver didn't see them or go in the car park bit.
I appealed straight away telling them:
1) I'm the registered keeper of the vehicle but don't admit to driving it at the time
2) The driver wasn't in the car park, due to it being closed off
3) The signs for the maximum stay weren't visible to the driver, due to the car park being closed off
They responded by email some time later telling me that I still have to pay and they sent me a picture of a (small) sign at the entrance to the petrol station that also has information about the maximum stay, the driver didn't see this as it wasn't very clear.
Due to being very busy at the time I only remembered about the parking charge when they sent me another letter (the same as the first one from what I can tell) and the time for POPLA appeal expired, the code isn't valid any more.
What should I do from here on?
Many thanks.
Several months ago the driver of my car at the time went to pick my partner up from Gatwick airport only to find the short stay car park was closed and the police moved them on from waiting in the drop-off area. Due to the flight being delayed they went to the nearby Shell petrol station and waited next to the pumps in the car for around 1 hour.
A few weeks later I got a PCN in the post from Euro Car Parks, apparently there was a 20 minute maximum stay. The driver didn't see any signs for this or they wouldn't have parked there, checking on google earth it seems like there is an actual car park in the petrol station that does have big signs saying 20 minutes maximum stay. HOWEVER the car park and these signs were closed off for building works so the driver didn't see them or go in the car park bit.
I appealed straight away telling them:
1) I'm the registered keeper of the vehicle but don't admit to driving it at the time
2) The driver wasn't in the car park, due to it being closed off
3) The signs for the maximum stay weren't visible to the driver, due to the car park being closed off
They responded by email some time later telling me that I still have to pay and they sent me a picture of a (small) sign at the entrance to the petrol station that also has information about the maximum stay, the driver didn't see this as it wasn't very clear.
Due to being very busy at the time I only remembered about the parking charge when they sent me another letter (the same as the first one from what I can tell) and the time for POPLA appeal expired, the code isn't valid any more.
What should I do from here on?
Many thanks.
0
Comments
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parkingadvice1212 wrote: »What should I do from here on?
Nothing.
Ignore any debt collectors' letters but post again on this thread if you ever get a Letter of Claim or official court papers.
Meanwhile you might like to read the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread to find out more about the game you are now caught up in.0 -
This is an entirely unregulated industry which is scamming the public with inflated claims for minor breaches of contracts for alleged parking offences, aided and abetted by a handful of low-rent solicitors.
Parking Eye, CPM, Smart, and another company have already been named and shamed, as has Gladstones Solicitors, and BW Legal, (these two law firms take hundreds of these cases to court each year). They lose most of them, and have been reported to the regulatory authority by an M.P. for unprofessional conduct
Hospital car parks and residential complex tickets have been especially mentioned.
The problem has become so rampant that MPs have agreed to enact a Bill to regulate these scammers. Watch the video of the Second Reading in the HofC recently.
http://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/2f0384f2-eba5-4fff-ab07-cf24b6a22918?in=12:49:41
and complain in the most robust terms to your MP. With a fair wind they will be out of business by Christmas.You never know how far you can go until you go too far.0
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