Parking charge, I don't know who was driving

[Help needed please]

Hi all

 

 

Can anyone help me?

 

 

I own a car which I rarely use as I have a company car and my own car is left at home and general used from time to time by my Mum, my brothers and one of my brothers' girlfriends depending on need.

 

 

I work away and take the company car with me.

 

 

I received a notice that somebody had parked my own car on private land about 6 weeks ago and everyone is denying it.

 

 

I only return home every 3 or 4 weeks so didn't get the letter until after the appeal period.

 

 

I wrote to the company and asked for photographs of the driver but they have responded

saying they have no pictures of the driver, only the car as it was parked and that I must tell them who was driving and the fee is now £120!

 

 

I genuinely don't know who had the car, they are all denying it although I have my suspicions because of where it was parked, but no proof.

 

 

I've banned them all from using my car without agreeing with me in advance but is there anything I can do about this charge as I think it's unfair to fine me for something I definitely didn't do!

 

 

I don't want this to create bad credit on my record so would I be taken to court if I don't pay it?

[silverfox1961]

Hi

Who has written to you?

 

What date was the 'offence' and what date is the letter?

 

Give us those and we can give you more.

[Help needed please]

Thanks Silverfox.

 

 

The offence was on 13th June, they wrote to me dated 24th June and a further letter on 14th July as I hadn't responded. I received both letters on 18th July having been away.

 

 

I wrote to them 21st July and received a reply on 28th. I'm away again but had my Mum open it as she'd identified it as them and called me. The company is CP Plus Ltd in Barnet.

[DragonFly1967]

Right, firstly, don't worry about it too much. There are plenty of people here that will give you more than enough advice to beat them.

 

You say that the letter says that "you must tell them who was driving", that's not the case, there is no requirement in law that compels you to provide this information.

 

 

Others will advise better than I, but I think the best route to go down would be an appeal to CP Plus, though keep it simple, something along the lines of "no contract formed, didn't see the signs" something like that, and say that if the appeal is rejected (most are because all they want is for you to roll over and pay) you want a POPLA code.

 

That alone will upset them, as it costs the PPC £27+VAT just to supply you with the code

 

Once you have that POPLA code, you have 28 days to appeal to POPLA, where you go through your whole defence, which plenty on here will gladly advise you on. Most people win at this (POPLA) stage. But in the unlikely event that you lose, the decision is still only binding on the PPC, who would then still need to take you to county court, and win, to get their money. And PPC's don't tend to win a very high percentage of cases at court.

 

There are plenty of defences for every step of the way, and people on here that are ready and willing to help you beat the PPCs

[ericsbrother]

are they saying the car was observed by number plate capture camera or did someone slap a ticket on the windscreen? If the latter then their timings are wrong for the Protection of Freedoms Act entitlement to pursue the keeper of the vehicle, if the former then they are within the times specified.

You must respond as the keeper of the vehicle, the letter they sent to you on the 28th should include a POPLA code for appealing their decision to the independent arbitrator, If it doesnt then write to them demanding this as they have a limited time to respond with the code otherwise they cannot pursue you as keeper for the charge.

If you have the code then write to POPLA saying you are appealing the charge as you do not believe that CP Plus has a contract with the landowner that allows them to take legal action to recover monies in their own name an as such you want sight of that contract. Also say that as the parking at that site was either free or prohibited then no loss has been caused to the parking company by your vehicle being there, the latter being a matter of trespass and not a contractual obligation. If there are signs in place that specify a contractual obligation you do not believe that the demand for £120 is a relection of the loss caused by a breach of the contractual obligations of that site and is likewise not a genuine pre-estimate of loss to CP Plus for the supposed breach and you would demand to see a breakdown of their costs that are directly resultant from that breach.

The company know very well that it hasnt cost them £120 and so you will win your appeal. By demanding sight of contract it places the onus upon them to actually produce such a contract for scrutiny and many companies dont have the authority they claim so you will beat them before anything else can be considered.

[Help needed please]

Thanks Dragonfly. I can't offer a defence on didn't see the signs or no contract entered as I wasn't present. The wording in their letter is "if you were not the driver, in order to transfer correct liability of this notice, we will require the full name and address of the driver for the time this charge was incurred".

 

 

I genuinely don't know who that was. One of my brothers is unemployed and the car was parked on an NHS site next door to where he signs on, on the same day of the week that he signs on, so putting two and two together I might be getting 5, but he is adamant that he has never parked there and he isn't normally shy of accepting responsibility if he's done something so I'm really unsure.

 

 

Should I write and just say I an't help with the driver as I don't know who it was?

[Help needed please]

Thanks ericsbrother. Are you saying then that not being the driver and not knowing who was, is not a defence in itself?

[DragonFly1967]

Then say that the driver has told you that there were no signs/they didn't, or couldn't read the signs... You still don't have to name the driver

 

As ericsbrother said, have you received anything from them with a POPLA code on it? This will either be clearly marked as a POPLA code, or might be hidden in the letter disguised as a reference number. It'll be 11 digits long.

 

 

If you haven't, the only thing that you need to send them is a letter saying that you want to appeal and demanding a POPLA code. They can't refuse to give you that code, and if they do, they'll find themselves up to their necks in the brown stuff when you take the matter forwards as a complaint to the BPA, the DVLA, Eric Pickles MP, your local MP and the papers

 

The Daily Mail for one would be very happy to hear from you at the moment

[ericsbrother]

absolutely correct. This has been the case since Oct 2012, which is why you should take action as they can sue you.

[Help needed please]

Thanks guys. There is nothing in the letter which identifies as a POPLA code and their reference at the top is 13 digits long so this may not be it. I'll write to them and ask for it.

[ericsbrother]

It is possible they have hidden the 10 digit code in that 13 digit one they sent you, which is a no-no and when you get the POPLA code you can compare and if it is the same make a complaint to the BPA and POPLA about abuse of process.

Now write your appeal and see what you get back.