LPS excess charge notice at great western hospital, swindon car park

[reef2005]

Hi and thank you in advance for your help,

 

I need advice on the following parking issue:

 

I arrived at a hospital car park and after waiting along time in the queue I got in but found no space.

As my appointment was now past I could not wait any longer and decided to park the car in a non-designated space

but made sure there was no obstruction to car park traffic.

 

 

After my appointment (40min) I paid for my parking ticket (£1)

when i returned to the car i found an EXCESS CHARGE NOTICE attached to the wind screen.

 

 

The reason for the ticket is obstructive parking.

Clearly this was not the case as there was ample space for cars to pass from all sides.

I find the charge of £85 draconian and predatory.

 

 

I am thinking of ignoring it until it reaches the court stage where I can defend my case

as I feel that my circumstances (as a patient in a hospital) have not been taken into account

by the ticket issuer (LOCAL PARKING SECURITY LTD).

 

 

If the fee was going to the hospital funds it would be more than worth it

but am finding it difficult to accept to pay this large amount to a private parking predator.

 

Any advice would be much appreciated.

[silverfox1961]

Hi and welcome to CAG. I will move this thread for you to the correct forum.

 

Can you have a look at this and give the needed responses.

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?462118-Have-you-received-a-Parking-Ticket-%281-Viewing%29-nbsp

[reef2005]

Thnks.

 

This is not an NTD ticket but EXCESS CHARGE NOTICE on the windscreen.

 

1 The date of infringement? 28/4/2016

 

2 Did you appeal to the parking company? NO

 

5 Who is the parking company? LOCAL SECURITY PARKING LTD

 

the rest of the questions are not relevant as the 28 day payment period is still applicable.

[silverfox1961]

I suggest you do nothing and wait for the Notice to Keeper which should arrive between 29 and 56 days after the event. Never identify the driver. Always say 'The Driver'

 

Once you have the NTK, you can then appeal as the keeper if you want but as this is a relatively small company, they haven't taken anyone to court in the last two years.

 

The reason to appeal is so that they will reject you and then you can appeal to POLPLA. This costs them, not you and even if you lost that appeal, they would still have to take court action to get a penny out of you.

 

There is nothing stopping you complaining to the hospital. (be good to know which hospital this is) They may just instruct LPS to cancel the ticket.

 

If you are going anywhere near the hospital again, take some pictures of the signs. This helps us help you.

[silverfox1961]

Just one other question, was this a barrier controlled car park?

[reef2005]

yes it is. It's a hospital car park so you get in with a ticket and can't get out until you have paid. I stayed 40min and paid £1.

[reef2005]

Thanks for the advice. I will write to the hospital (great western hospital, swindon) and update the thread when they respond.

[silverfox1961]

Interesting! A barrier controls entry/exit yet they don't monitor how many cars enter or exit the car park. That is an inducement to fail! If the car park was full, the barrier should not have risen for you so I suggest you find out whether LPS or the hospital maintains the system as it seems not fit for purpose.

 

When you complain to the hospital, raise that.

[reef2005]

Yes I thought the same as there were several cars waiting for other cars to vacate their parking spaces.

[ericsbrother]

can you photograph the signage at the car park next time you are there, the claim is in law for a breach of the contractual conditions offered at the time so 2 can play at that game, you may well have the grounds for suing them for breach of contract for charging you to park and not providing a space to aprk in. The silly thing is there is no legal regulation for what is and isnt a parking space so if they dont agree that will undo their claim.

However, that is for the future, in the meanwhile complain to the hospital and wait for the NTK through the post. DO NOT contact the parking co until the NTK arrives as this creates a liability on your part that doesnt as yet exist.

[reef2005]

can you photograph the signage at the car park next time you are there, the claim is in law for a breach of the contractual conditions offered at the time so 2 can play at that game, you may well have the grounds for suing them for breach of contract for charging you to park and not providing a space to aprk in. The silly thing is there is no legal regulation for what is and isnt a parking space so if they dont agree that will undo their claim.

However, that is for the future, in the meanwhile complain to the hospital and wait for the NTK through the post. DO NOT contact the parking co until the NTK arrives as this creates a liability on your part that doesnt as yet exist.

 

Many thanks.

[reef2005]

While i was out of the country, the LPS passed my details to a debt recovery company (DRP) who sent me a letter DATED 19JUL claiming double the PCN charge i.e. £160.

I emailed the hospital complaining that the gate opened while there were no spaces in the car park but they directed me to contact LPS.

[Homer67]

OK that's normal. Do not contact or enter any dialogue with the Debt Collector, they have no powers over you and can only send scary looking letters and do nothing else. The windscreen ticket is the NTD - Notice To Driver, you never respond to that, you only respond to the NTK - Notice To Keeper. The NTK response should have been made after you received the first NTK and you shoudl have received an appeal code for POPLA if this lot are POPLA members or IPC if they are members of them.

[silverfox1961]

The hospital are passing the buck. They own the site (or lease it) and they are ultimately responsible for the car parking so I would suggest a formal complaint to the trust.

 

As this is a barrier controlled car park, some allow 30 minutes free parking where you just insert your ticket into the pay station and this validates the ticket so you can exit the car park. All well and good but if there are no spaces, you would still need to park and leave the vehicle to get the ticket validated. Even in that short a time you were at risk of getting a ticket.

 

Did you receive a NTK? If so, are you out of time to appeal? As for DR+, they are a pet debt collector who the parking industry use and they have zero influence over you not forgetting to mention the extra charges levied would never stand.

 

If you haven't appealed and you are still within the time, appeal as the keeper

[reef2005]

The hospital reply (by email) was that there must have been spaces in the car park to let you in which is a point of evidence on their side and mine.

On my return to the car I found a ticket attached to the wind screen - EXCESS CHARGE NOTICE. The only other contact was a recent letter from the debt recovery company.

I did not appeal at the time as I wanted to see if the LPS gets in touch. They did not and then I was out of the country for a month.

The incident happened 3 months ago.

 

It seems my only option is to ignore the DR+ letters unless they opt for the court in which case the control barrier issue might play in my favour.

[ericsbrother]

well, LPS havent sent a NTK in time so no keeper liability. I hiope you didnt tell the hospital you were driving as they may well pass on this information to their lackeys, even though it is a breach of the DPA.

I would just wait and see what LPS decide to do, threatograms from the poodles at DR+ are nothing to concern you.

[reef2005]

today, i received a letter from DRP with a title NOTICE OF INTENDED COURT ACTION. It says the follwoing:

 

"in light of the court ruling Beavis-v-ParkingEye Ltd we urge you to make contact with us without delay. if you are liable for this charge and do not pay by 17/8 we will pass your file to the creditor with a recommendation to commence court action against you."

 

has anyone heard of this court ruling and is it the right course of action to respond to them?

[silverfox1961]

Hi

Yes, the Beavis case was hears at the Supreme Court where Parking Eye won the case. As was mentioned by the judges at the time, the judgement only applied to the once car park that PE managed.

 

Your case is different. PE's case was based on a free car park. yours is a pay on exit car park. The fact that there were no parking spaces available at the hospital says to me that the barrier systm is flawed. My local hospital is the same (except they don't use money grubbing companies) in that the barriers let anyone in irrespective of whether there are any parking spaces available and the exit is electronically controlled by a member of staff in the office who will raise the barrier as the driver couldn't find a parking space.

 

Personally, I would go back to this car park on a busy day and count how many cars there are in the car park in relation to how many spaces.

 

As to DRP, they cannot do anything. They can recommend I come and take your first born but that is all it is, a recommendation. they cannot force the issue.

 

The only time to be concerned is if a Letter Before Action/Claim or court documents turn up. Until that time, continue to ignore is what I would do.

[reef2005]

thanks for the advice.

[Homer67]

Send an FOI to the Hospital Trust asking for the number of vehicles allowed to enter the barrier to the car park and the number of parking places available. It will make someone have to do some work and if they can't come up with an answer then use this in your evidence. While you're doing the FOI ask for the names and dates of the parking company contract and the terms and conditions that specify the parking company can take action on behalf of the Trust.

 

FOI's have a limited time for response so you should get this in enough time to use it, should LPS fancy their chances in court.

 

Go to the Hospital Trust website, there will be a link there for you to submit your FOI or an email address - if you don't get an answer complain to the PALs Dept and email the CEO directly, usually [email protected]

[reef2005]

many thanks for the suggestions.

[nb29]

Hi, I work at the GWH and I received an excess charge notice 2 days ago in the staff car park! The hospital won't do anything about it as its a private company. Did you have any other comeback for ignoring it, and should I also just ignore it?

Thanks

[ericsbrother]

read a few dozen of the posts on this forum and then tell us what we will need to know to answer your questions. There is a simple box filling questionnaire pinned to the top of the section that if you fill out will help is start on things

[honeybee13]

Hi, I work at the GWH and I received an excess charge notice 2 days ago in the staff car park! The hospital won't do anything about it as its a private company. Did you have any other comeback for ignoring it, and should I also just ignore it?

Thanks

 

You need to start a new thread of your own please, nb29. Welcome to CAG.

 

My best, HB