ParkingEye Parking Charge Notice

[antiparkingfineBS]

Hello Folks,

 

Wonder if those in the know about private parking company PCNs - namely ParkingEye can jump in with some constructive feedback here.

 

I received a PCN from ParkingEye today (dated 5 days ago) parking in Tunbridge Wells whilst in a closing down Comet store. They asking for £60 by 22/12 or it will become £100.

 

I Was in there for 2h 24m (time allowance is 2 hours) but was in the shop genuinely buying some products (albeit discounted as they were shutting down , that i lost track of the time i had been in there.

 

I have been doing lots of research about appealing the PCN with PE directly, complaining to the retailer (not possible as they are now gone bust), ignoring letters, etc but am worried that they may escalate this matter to higher authorities - bailiffs, Courts, credit agency etc. I take pride in maintaining a good record with all concerned, but this matter has got me puzzled.

 

They offer an email address to appeal to - if so is it safe to email an appeal or safer by post?

 

Not sure what to do, would appreciate any feedback you can generously provide.

 

Best regards,

 

Ryan

[havinastella]

If you had done any reading you would know that nothing will happen should you ignore this INVOICE!

[antiparkingfineBS]

Hi HavinaStella. (fellow Crawley buddy)

 

If ignored can these cowboys escalate it or what?

Is there a more professional approach to employ?

 

What would be the best approach to appeal in the first instance?

 

regards,

 

R

[Sidewinder]

Absolutely agree - any appeal would be automatically dismissed (as it isn't a proper appeal, but more a means of confirming that they have a 'taker' to their bait). Whether you overstayed or not is irrelevant and if you paid up you would simply be contributing to their Christmas fund!

[havinastella]

They could try to escalate it, but two recent court cases have blown PPC out of the water.

 

You could try to be professional, but this just gets them excited and they will hound you more than normal.

 

Hopefully in the next few weeks, there will be a new template letter to send the PPC, but for now, just ignore.

[antiparkingfineBS]

Thanks Side -

 

I am a strong believer of approaching things diplomatically, and trying to find an amicable resolution to a problem.

 

In all my due diligence / research about these SOBs I found that everyone says to ignore (but its likely not their name on the line so why wouldn't they say this). I have also seen some cases of this type of matter being escalated and leading to increased fines.

 

So that being said, looking for a tactful approach first before just adding more fluff to my shredder

 

R

[antiparkingfineBS]

Can you point me to these 2 recent cases you refer to please?

[antiparkingfineBS]

Can these guys really enforce a charge of £100 (£60 if paid before set date) for a 24 minute overstay?

 

To be fair it took me 10 mins trying to get out the dam* car park as it was so busy so technically I was 14 mins over their allotted time..

 

It just winds me up that I have to sit here at near midnight to get engrossed in these matters....

[havinastella]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2150551/Thousands-beat-parking-fines-judge-tackles-766k-Mr-Clampit-landmark-penalty-claim-case.html

[antiparkingfineBS]

Thanks for posting link, although it refers to VSC, I see the similarities.

 

Is this notion of a contract only if monies exchanged applicable to a free car park? have I entered into a contract by parking there in the first place?

PE point to terms and conditions of parking - legalese that is intended to imply that I am in a contract with them...

 

Would you respond pointing out the situation and a link to this article? at lease to show that they are confronting an informed person rather than someone who will just fall back and let them walk all over? Ultimately, they - PE must be able to do something to claim fines or they would not be in business or have been contracted by the land owner to monitor the car park.

 

Thanks for your continued input..

 

R

[sean110869]

There has to be three elements to a contract - offer & acceptance and consideration. By parking on this car park despite parking eyes wording you have not entered into a contract as you have offered no consideration they are just scare mongers and can not enforce any action. They could issue court proceedings but never will as this would set a precedent and there are plenty of people who do not know their rights and will pay up.

 

If you want complete piece of mind please look up the case of parking eye v somerfield where it was held any monies due would be payable to owner of the car park in your case comet and not parking eye. Any penalty must not be excessive either from a legal point of view, please trust me I have fought and won against parking eye in manchester with no need to go to court you can even get a template letter on the net preventing them from sending you any correspondence. THEY ARE JUST BULLYING CONMEN.

 

Lastly, please remember you are under no LEGAL obligation to even admit it was you driving they are not the police or the court so safe to file under bin, just bullies one look at the wording of the pcn will reflect it is actually an invoice and not a legal charge at all and one which you are safe to ignore.

[antiparkingfineBS]

There has to be three elements to a contract - offer & acceptance and consideration. By parking on this car park despite parking eyes wording you have not entered into a contract as you have offered no consideration they are just scare mongers and can not enforce any action. They could issue court proceedings but never will as this would set a precedent and there are plenty of people who do not know their rights and will pay up.

 

What precedent are you referring to?

 

If you want complete piece of mind please look up the case of parking eye v somerfield where it was held any monies due would be payable to owner of the car park in your case comet and not parking eye. Any penalty must not be excessive either from a legal point of view, please trust me I have fought and won against parking eye in manchester with no need to go to court you can even get a template letter on the net preventing them from sending you any correspondence. THEY ARE JUST BULLYING CONMEN.

 

Can u paste a link to any such letter for my defence reference? Given that Comet went bust it's probably the reason they chasing me in the first place as they would then be the beneficiaries.

 

Lastly, please remember you are under no LEGAL obligation to even admit it was you driving they are not the police or the court so safe to file under bin, just bullies one look at the wording of the pcn will reflect it is actually an invoice and not a legal charge at all and one which you are safe to ignore.

 

Thanks again

[dx100uk]

they are not FINES!!

 

dx

[Startkey&Clutch]

This is what parking eye will do................................

[sean110869]

sorry I do not have template but it can be downloaded on money saving expert thats where i got it from or just google a template for pcn's

 

please do not worry they can not touch you the only people who have legal right to info is the police or gov, they also will not own the land but will operate on behalf of the landlord.

 

My bill was in a YMCA in manchester where I have a tutorial for my law studies every week and they charged about five of us because it changed from free parking to 2 pound but we all run over the time, you can imagine their offices when they got five letters from 3'rd year lawyers basically saying do one you conmen would love to have been a fly on the wall.

 

Ps a reasonable fee is roughly 2.00 for an hour the key to all law in England is the clapham omnibus test - what would a reasonable man do - as you can see from this forum alone we all agree 60 is excessive and they would never be able to justify it in court plus any costs would have to be born by them so not worth pursuing.

[DBC]

Why bother with a template letter? Just follow the advice on here and ignore.

[Surfer01]

Thanks Side -

 

I am a strong believer of approaching things diplomatically, and trying to find an amicable resolution to a problem.

 

In all my due diligence / research about these SOBs I found that everyone says to ignore (but its likely not their name on the line so why wouldn't they say this). I have also seen some cases of this type of matter being escalated and leading to increased fines.

 

So that being said, looking for a tactful approach first before just adding more fluff to my shredder

 

R

They CANNOT issue fines as they do not have the power. They have no more power than the cat next door. They issue an invoice inviting you to give them some money. Just ignore!

[antiparkingfineBS]

Thanks Sean,

 

How is this situation different from say;

 

I go to a NCP car park, (pay for a ticket - for an hour) park my car and then come back 2 hours later and find a parking ticket notice?

They will still expect you to pay the ticket or begin to hunt you down until you do.

 

Just to be on the safe side and to trigger a possible POPLA input should this matter get escalated from PE side - I am working on an appeal letter which I hope to post in the next 3 - 4 hours. I would appreciate feedback from all.

[DBC]

If you pay for one hour and stay for two, then all you owe the landowner is the price of that hour's parking and not the stupid amount demanded by the parking company. You appear to be taking this matter much too seriously. Just ignore. That's the best advice.

[antiparkingfineBS]

I appreciate that / everyone else on this board seems to encourage the ignore approach.

 

In order for POPLA to be involved "who will surely see sense of the matter" I must appeal in the first instance

 

Here is the proposed appeal response, Would appreciate feedback on the wording particularly;

 

Without Prejudice:

 

We received a PCN Ref Number XYZ; and we write to appeal this and seek this matter to be closed.

 

First and foremost we were making a trip to Comet store – Tunbridge Wells, and as such had a viable reason to park in their premises in the first place.

 

Looking over at the photo evidence that you have provided – this merely shows the point / period of which their vehicle entered the turn into the car park but not in fact the actual space where the care was parked – which as you will see below was substantially lesser that that you have referred to.

 

More over, there should have been a grace period granted that can be extended particularly to an instance where a baby is involved.

 

You should be aware that we had been in Comet for the entire duration of the time that the vehicle was parked and upon leaving Comet went back directly to the car and left the car park accordingly. It should also be know that upon entering the actual car parking areas (the bays) it took at least 15 minutes to a) find a space b) exit vehicle with baby, pram, and baby particulars.

 

Furthermore on departure it took nearly 20 minutes to exit the car park bay, a) as it was very dark, b) made it harder to place baby in the car seat in safe manor, c) due to there being a major commotion with other vehicles / namely vans blocking reversing area meant that there was a overage in the time that the vehicle actually left the premises.

 

Lastly at the junction where you show the second image of my client’s vehicle leaving the premises, the junction to join the main road was exceptionally busy and the vehicle was stationary there for at least 5 minutes before being able to join the main road and continue the onward journey.

 

So therefor this PCN is whole inappropriate and we ask that you cancel this and desist from taking any further action or making contact.

[DBC]

You don't have to ask to "have it cancelled". By ignoring you achieve the same ends but with less hassle.

[antiparkingfineBS]

Reading over the various posts I have seen that it is best not to admit being the driver, so does the approach of "we" self incriminate?

[antiparkingfineBS]

I also just stumbbled upon this very interesting link that outlines some methods of approaching such matters:

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-2242801/The-trick-beat-private-parking-tickets-I-dodged-service-station-fine.html?ito=newsletter

[Surfer01]

Thanks Sean,

 

How is this situation different from say;

 

I go to a NCP car park, (pay for a ticket - for an hour) park my car and then come back 2 hours later and find a parking ticket notice?

They will still expect you to pay the ticket or begin to hunt you down until you do.

 

Just to be on the safe side and to trigger a possible POPLA input should this matter get escalated from PE side - I am working on an appeal letter which I hope to post in the next 3 - 4 hours. I would appreciate feedback from all.

 

 

You are wasting time and effort when you could be enjoying yourself. Do you really and sincerely believe that they have a genuine appeals process and will take note of your letter? If so you have to be very naive.

[DBC]

Once again, I say you are taking this matter much too seriously. Just ignore.