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HUNDREDS OF car parks across Britain could descend into a free-for-all after the effective shutdown of one of Britain’s biggest parking companies. UK Parking Control (UKPC) has been stripped of its power to enforce parking tickets after being caught doctoring evidence against drivers.

 

The company has been suspended from the list of operators that have access to the government’s central list of vehicle owners. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) took the action when it became the latest organisation to launch an investigation of the firm over allegations of fraudulently issued tickets.

UKPC claims to operate more than 2,000 car parks across Britain for hospital trusts, supermarkets and housing associations. Earlier this month The Sunday Times revealed that wardens working for the company had falsified time-stamps to make it appear that drivers had overstayed in car parks. They then issued their vehicles with tickets.

The ruse was exposed when victims set up a campaign group to highlight cases of fraud and the company confessed that wardens had exploited a loophole in its software to alter time-stamps.

The National Fraud Intelligence Bureau is also looking into one case of doctored tickets involving UKPC.

Could this be used as a defence with all tickets due to the fact a pc can have its time changed at a click of a button anyways? Hopefully this could go some ways in getting ANPR banned by PPC operators ....

Could this be used as a defence with all tickets due to the fact a pc can have its time changed at a click of a button anyways? Hopefully this could go some ways in getting ANPR banned by PPC operators ....

Some companies can set up their PC's so you cannot change the time clock. Some Insurers do this to stop backdating of insurance. If there is any situation where you have to backdate due to a genuine error, You need an authorisation and it has to go to someone in IT to enable it.

Companies can resolve this issue, if they want to stop their staff mucking around.

This was also raised in the final POPLA report which is HERE

The report itself is very well written although the author takes a mild dig at Pranky

I gather that POPLA is now closing down.

It's work is being taken over by some private ombudsman service

I gather that POPLA is now closing down.

It's work is being taken over by some private ombudsman service

You gather correctly.

http://www.popla.org.uk/update.htm

Do I understand correctly that they won't be able to gain registered keepers details from dvla?

If so, it's free parking in many supermarkets' car park in Hounslow area.

You can disable changing the time on PCs which most people wouldn't know how to change. But believe me it is still very easy to do.

Now that this fraud has been identified

Is it now about time DVLA be stopped selling our personal data to any so called respectable registered organisation.

Im concerned about "Parking free for all" headlines

All this plays into the judges hands that want to rule against bevis using "Public Interests" as a reason

"free for all"? hang on, we are talking about parking in free car parks so what has changed other than 1 company wont be able to follow up on their pretend parking tickets so easily. As about 75% of people cough up anyway it will affect their income stream but they arent disappearing yet and I bet if they do fold they will phoenix anyway and the corporations that hired them will just assign the contract to the newco without questioning the ethics of this. I hope I am wrong but wait and see.

Press release from the BPA

he BPA has completed its investigation into allegations of evidence tampering by employees at parking operator, UK Parking Control and the company has been disciplined in accordance with our Scheme of Sanctions. The DVLA, which is carrying out its own audit, has been kept informed throughout the process. This follows concerns raised regarding the practice of offering financial incentives to parking attendants/wardens.

http://www.britishparking.co.uk/News/ukpc-disciplined-by-bpa-after-photo-tampering-allegations

What's the betting UKPC jump ship to the IPC as soon as possible (rhetorical question)

not jumping ship, just migrating back to its natural habitat with the other liars cheats and thieves.

Some companies can set up their PC's so you cannot change the time clock. Some Insurers do this to stop backdating of insurance. If there is any situation where you have to backdate due to a genuine error, You need an authorisation and it has to go to someone in IT to enable it.

 

Companies can resolve this issue, if they want to stop their staff mucking around.

I'd be wary of those insurance companies then, as a good system would have their times coming from a main network server. Not the local host.

UKPC website acts like they are still fully in business !

why wouldnt they, there are still 28 million motorists out there to abuse the data of and only a certain amount of time to do it before they have their computers seized as evidence.

I gather that POPLA is now closing down.

It's work is being taken over by some private ombudsman service

POPLA as such is not closing down, just changing provider, from London Councils to the Ombudsman service.

POPLA as such is not closing down, just changing provider, from London Councils to the Ombudsman service.

And in turn becoming more PPC ' friendly ' ...

I am hoping the new Ombudsman Service will still be run along the same (or better) lines as POPLA.

While POPLA has been a bit hit and miss, they are more fair on the motorist than the IAS.

It's ok everyone, UKPC have been disciplined by the BPA...

UK Parking Control disciplined over altered photos

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-34402322

Wow the BPA have really gone to town with UKPC! They have issued them with 8 -yes 8 penalty points. Wow that 's really telling them! Like

being savaged by a dead sheep as the saying goes. That will really dissuade any other parking company from tampering with times of cars entering and leaving-not. If fraud is insufficient to get you banned from the BPA what is?

Were the incentives so good by UKPC so that these two [only two?] employees falsified any number of photographs to get drivers penalised?

And how many did they actually tamper with to make it worthwhile? One would have thought that to make it profitable for those employees it

would need to be on quite a large scale to counteract the risk.

Might be best if they don't take anyone to Court for a while until the stench dies down though.

I hope UKPC get another 4 sanction points and soon. Once that happens they will be in the wilderness as they then can't move over to the IPC.

It's a shame that the police have decided not to take any further action. Let's hope the DVLA show some teeth instead of gums.

It still doent answer the question who showed the parking bods how to alter the clocks and then reset them for the next victim. Clearly someone else above them was involved so it is a conspiracy to defraud rather than just a minor one-off. However, when police prosecute these cases the defence lawyers make such a meal of it before and in court it becomes stupidly expensive to prosecute as the costs are never recovered fully so they dont bother. this makes it even more likely that the lawyers will stall and fuss the next time.

Friwend of mine sat on a jury for a big land fraud case in London, defendants found guilty as hell but appelaed on the grounds the jury wouldnt understand such a complicated case. My friend was a lecturer in maths at a local college and one of the other jurors was a retired lawyer specialising in financial fraud who sent notes to the judge whent ehy were wandering off the track. The appeal was dismissed but no extra costs of time in clink added so no loss to the convicted but more costs stacked up for the HMCTS.

Ive changed dates on pictures, its simple. As mentioned above, the PCs should of been locked down with some kind of group policy to stop people doing it.