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    • the Town and Country [advertisments ] Regulations 2007 are not easy to understand. Most Council planing officials don't so it's good that you found one who knows. Although he may not have been right if the rogues have not been "controlling" in the car park for that long. The time only starts when the ANPR signs go up, not how long the area has been used as a car park.   Sadly I have checked Highview out and they have been there since at least 2014 . I have looked at the BPA Code of Practice version 8 which covers 2023 and that states Re Consideration and Grace Periods 13.3 Where a parking location is one where a limited period of parking is permitted, or where drivers contract to park for a defined period and pay for that service in advance (Pay & Display), this would be considered as a parking event and a Grace Period of at least 10 minutes must be added to the end of a parking event before you issue a PCN. It then goes on to explain a bit more further down 13.5 You must tell us the specific consideration/grace period at a site if our compliance team or our agents ask what it is. 13.6 Neither a consideration period or a grace period are periods of free parking and there is no requirement for you to offer an additional allowance on top of a consideration or grace period. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________So you have  now only overstayed 5 minutes maximum since BPA quote a minimum of 10 minutes. And it may be that the Riverside does have a longer period perhaps because of the size of the car park? So it becomes even more incumbent on you to remember where the extra 5 minutes could be.  Were you travelling as a family with children or a disabled person where getting them in and out of the car would take longer. Was there difficulty finding a space, or having to queue to get out of the car park . Or anything else that could account for another 5 minutes  without having to claim the difference between the ANPR times and the actual times.
    • Regarding a driver, that HAS paid for parking but input an incorrect Vehicle Registration Number.   This is an easy mistake to make, especially if a driver has access to more than one vehicle. First of all, upon receiving an NTK/PCN it is important to check that the Notice fully complies with PoFA 2012 Schedule 4 before deciding how to respond of course. The general advice is NOT to appeal to the Private Parking Company as, for example, you may identify yourself as driver and in certain circumstances that could harm your defence at a later stage. However, after following a recent thread on this subject, I have come to the conclusion that, in the case of inputting an incorrect Vehicle Registration Number, which is covered by “de minimis” it may actually HARM your defence at a later stage if you have not appealed to the PPC at the first appeal stage and explained that you DID pay for parking and CAN provide proof of parking, it was just that an incorrect VRN was input in error. Now, we all know that the BPA Code of Practice are guidelines from one bunch of charlatans for another bunch of charlatans to follow, but my thoughts are that there could be problems in court if a judge decides that a motorist has not followed these guidelines and has not made an appeal at the first appeal stage, therefore attempting to resolve the situation before it reaches court. From BPA Code of Practice: Section 17:  Keying Errors B) Major Keying Errors Examples of a major keying error could include: • Motorist entered their spouse’s car registration • Motorist entered something completely unrelated to their registration • Motorist made multiple keying errors (beyond one character being entered incorrectly) • Motorist has only entered a small part of their VRM, for example the first three digits In these instances we would expect that such errors are dealt with appropriately at the first appeal stage, especially if it can be proven that the motorist has paid for the parking event or that the motorist attempted to enter their VRM or were a legitimate user of the car park (eg a hospital patient or a patron of a restaurant). It is appreciated that in issuing a PCN in these instances, the operator will have incurred charges including but not limited to the DVLA fee and other processing costs therefore we believe that it is reasonable to seek to recover some of these costs by making a modest charge to the motorist of no more than £20 for a 14-day period from when the keying error was identified before reverting to the charge amount at the point of appeal. Now, we know that the "modest charge" is unenforceable in law, however, it would be up to the individual if they wanted to pay and make the problem go away or in fact if they wanted to contest the issue in court. If the motorist DOES appeal to the PPC explaining the error and the PPC rejects the appeal and the appeal fails, the motorist can use that in his favour at court.   Defence: "I entered the wrong VRN by mistake Judge, I explained this and I also submitted proof of payment for the relevant parking period in my appeal but the PPC wouldn't accept that"   If the motorist DOES NOT appeal to the PPC in the first instance the judge may well use that as a reason to dismiss the case in the claimant's favour because they may decide that they had the opportunity to resolve the matter at a much earlier stage in the proceedings. It is my humble opinion that a motorist, having paid and having proof of payment but entering the wrong VRN, should make an appeal at the first appeal stage in order to prevent problems at a later stage. In this instance, I think there is nothing to be gained by concealing the identity of the driver, especially if at a later stage, perhaps in court, it is said: “I (the driver) entered the wrong VRN.” Whether you agree or not, it is up to the individual to decide …. but worth thinking about. Any feedback, especially if you can prove to the contrary, gratefully received.
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    • deed?  you mean consent order you and her signed? concluding the case as long as you nor she break it's conditions signed upto? dx  
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'The Miah Solicitors' & UKCPS


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This is my first post so please be gentle with me!

 

In October 2015 my partner went to a children's play centre on an industrial estate

(Boundry Industrial Estate) in Bolton where I live

 

 

when she returned she told me that she parked her car on the access road as it was very busy

and she could not find a parking space.

 

 

Upon her return to the car there was a parking attendant who was just about to place a ticket on her windscreen,

they chatted and the attendant didn't issue the ticket

- we thought that this was a lucky escape until we received a parking fine letter from UKCPS.

 

In my naivety and from previous experience I told her to ignore the letters (I now know that it was a mistake!)

and because of that we have received a letter from 'The Miah Solicitors' demanding payment

and threatening court if we do not contact them within 14 days.

 

I have read a lot of previous threads to know that they are a bit dodgy

and that UKCPS rarely issue court papers to reclaim the costs

 

 

but I need to reassure my partner that they wont take us to court & am asking for advice

on how I should reply to Miah Solicitors?

 

 

I have found a letter written by someone on another forum but it was written before the Beavis ruling.

 

All in all I'm not sure what to do next.

 

Thanks in advance for any help

The Miah Solicitors 05-02-16.pdf

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Hello and welcome to CAG.

 

We have other threads about Miah solicitors and parking charges, it might be worth you having a search for those while you wait for the guys to come along.

 

What does the Miah letter say please? Does it say they 'will' go to court, or they 'may' or they may recommend to their client to take legal action?

 

Information like this will help the guys to advise you, I expect they'll have other questions for you. :)

 

My best, HB

Illegitimi non carborundum

 

 

 

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Who is the registered owner of the car?

 

Do we gather that no ticket was eventually issued?

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Hi Thanks for the replies and the welcome - I have uploaded a copy of the letter we received (I have blanked out any personal details)

 

 

She is the registered keeper and there was no ticket issued because she arrived at the car before it could be placed on the windscreen and the attendant didn't issue it according to my wife

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please don't hit Quote...just type we know what we said earlier..

DCA's view debtors as suckers, marks and mugs

NO DCA has ANY legal powers whatsoever on ANY debt no matter what it's Type

and they

are NOT and can NEVER  be BAILIFFS. even if a debt has been to court..

If everyone stopped blindly paying DCA's Tomorrow, their industry would collapse overnight... 

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if this is from oct 2015 you are not alone

several members have had these letters and its gone nowhere

 

 

dx

please don't hit Quote...just type we know what we said earlier..

DCA's view debtors as suckers, marks and mugs

NO DCA has ANY legal powers whatsoever on ANY debt no matter what it's Type

and they

are NOT and can NEVER  be BAILIFFS. even if a debt has been to court..

If everyone stopped blindly paying DCA's Tomorrow, their industry would collapse overnight... 

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Share on other sites

Miahs are acting as bebt collecotrs like Gladstoneas and Wright Hassal so at this stage nothing to worry about.

Now, do you have the first letter received through the post and can you say when it arrived? The claim is undoubtely flawed so any evidnec you still have can be used to bash them. If you have it post it up and we will advise. If the letter is incorrect procedurally we will tell you and seggest a one off letter to Miah's

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You could write to Miah's and say that no parking charge notice was issued to the driver therefore the subsequent notice to keeper was timed out under the PoFA for keeper liability. You have witnesses to the events of the 29th Oct who will be happy to attend court if your client wishes to pay for a day out for a coach party but would suggest that they save your, their and the courts time by considering the matter closed due to their own procedural improprieties.

This creates a paper trail and will make them look pretty daft if they continue heading for the legal cliff.

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Hi ericsbrother

 

 

I have drafted the following but have not sent it yet, I will be sending it tomorrow by recorded post to ensure it is delivered (thank you for your help)

 

To whom it may concern

In response to your letter before action dated 5th February 2016, we deny any debt owed to your client.

No parking charge notice was issued to the driver therefore the subsequent notice to keeper was timed out under the PoFA for keeper liability. We have witnesses to the events from the 29th October 2016 who will be happy to attend court if your client wishes, however we would suggest that you consider the matter closed due to their own procedural improprieties.

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and don't waste money on recorded

 

 

all you need is free proof of posting from the PO counter

 

 

2nd class will do

please don't hit Quote...just type we know what we said earlier..

DCA's view debtors as suckers, marks and mugs

NO DCA has ANY legal powers whatsoever on ANY debt no matter what it's Type

and they

are NOT and can NEVER  be BAILIFFS. even if a debt has been to court..

If everyone stopped blindly paying DCA's Tomorrow, their industry would collapse overnight... 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I received 2 pcn tickets from them in back in August 2015 a week apart. From the placement of the notice on the front windscreen I became suspicious as to the legitimacy of this company so I spent a lot of time researching private parking and the law and UKCPS

 

Even though I am not in any shape or form a legal expert and all I say below is stated "WITHOUT PREJUDICE" and is "PURELY AND SOLELY MY OWN OPINION" based on my research.

 

I can only come to one conclusion which is that UKCPS are trading in some of their car parks unfairly to say the least, ( I can't say that for all their car parks without visiting them all ), but from what I have seen they are probably trading unfairly in many other of their car parks too.

 

They have to rely on signage to form the basis of a contract, however in all the UKCPS car parks I visited the signs were badly sited and used various font sizes which makes them much harder to read. In all cases the charges were buried under an enormous amount of print about two thirds of the way down in the smallest print allowable laid down under the I.P.C code of conduct. The I.P.C code of conduct states that it should be in large print at the top of the sign.

 

There are laws relating to traffic management signage and if the signage falls short and fails to comply then any kind of sanction is unenforceable. They can argue its on private land and the laws don't apply. I would argue that on private land where pedestrians and moving and maneuvering vehicles share the same space all motorists must be able to read the signs clearly easily from the moment they enter the car park and difficult to read signs are, in fact, a danger to the public.

 

That on its own is not enough, however the "tickets" and the way they issue are also inappropriate. Firstly when they issue a notice they attach it to windscreen in bottom left hand corner, which unless you approach your car from the front you may well not realize that you have been given one until much later. If you had taken the time to look at the notice before you ripped it off the windscreen you will have seen a clear plastic bag with notice inside displaying outward in large capital letters "PARKING CHARGE NOTICE" and if that was all it said that would have been OK. However underneath it states very clearly that "UNAUTHORISED REMOVAL OR INTERFERENCE IS AN OFFENCE" Putting that statement on the front of a Parking Charge Notice could be argued that UKCPS are "showing out" to have more authority then they actually have because usually it is civil enforcement officers employed by local government or police that issue penalty charge notices and they have similar wording on the opaque bags which the notices are put in. The fact that UKCPS use similar wording on their notices through a clear window bag, that in itself is illegal.

 

Sending out invoices and letters of intimidation asking for money without any proof or evidence to substantiate the claim is questionable.

 

If you can prove inadequate signage, If there are any words on the front of the actual notice stuck to the windscreen relating to an kind of offence...Menacing letters demanding money without any supporting evidence.

If all 3 of the above conditions apply you probably have a cast iron defence against any court proceedings that might be brought against you.

 

My other piece of advice is don't communicate with them whatsoever. Don't reply to any letters they or their solicitor send you.

IF YOU RECEIVE COURT SUMMONS FROM THEM THEN YOU MUST REPLY TO THE SUMMONS, IF YOU DON'T THEY WILL AUTOMATICALLY GET A JUDGEMENT AGAINST YOU (aggravation you could do without)

 

I think that UKCPS has developed a strategy to deliberately mislead customers starting with its name, followed by designing signage which is wordy and difficult read even when stationary. With inappropriate placement of notices on the windscreen and some ambiguous wording notices which make them appear more official then they actually are. To complain or appeal one must write them a letter and use a stamp to post it to them because they wont accept or reply to emails. This makes communicating time consuming and tedious, another tactic used to put people off appealing or complaining and therefore increasing the chances of getting paid all that takes is one phone call

Edited by fkofilee
Removing libelous comments and accusations of Fraud.
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