Parking fine slapped at Fistral beach parking

[abhi6512]

Hello,

2 weeks ago I was in cornwall on a family holiday.
One fine evening I went to Fistral beach & entered the parking area as that's the only route to the beach to me (showed by Tom tom).
Driver parked the car, weather was bad - chilly with some strong winds. I was in car with the family for say about 10 mins contemplating whether we should step out or not.
Finally we decided not to step out in bad weather as it would not be good for our Kid who's asthmatic and I drove back to the hotel.

I surprisingly got a parking fine notice from Smart parking showing my car to be in the parking area for 16 mins.

We didn't parked for long in parking lot though we were there for 10 mins but within the car only. I find this really disturbing for me to pay a fine to be in a parking for 10 mins or so.

Pls. suggest me what would be my best next steps to get out this shit.

I read few other forums & I realised that parking in fistral beach is notorious for that. I was not at all aware of this when I entered there.

[charitynjw]

Re: Parking fine slapped at Fistral beach parking

Hi & welcome to LB.

In general you should be allowed a reasonable grace period to drive into the car park & find a suitable space, read the signage to decide whether to accept the T&Cs, & a further 10 mins to exit.

Also there may be technical defences available if the Notice to Keeper is defective.
Post it up, front & rear, obscure personal details but leave all times & dates visible.

Do you live in England/Wales?
Is the vehicle on HP or Mobility, etc?

[ostell]

Re: Parking fine slapped at Fistral beach parking

And modify the first post so that the identity of the driver cannot be inferred.

[abhi6512]

Re: Parking fine slapped at Fistral beach parking

Hello,
[MENTION=5553]charitynjw[/MENTION] - Appreciate your quick response. Yes I live in England. Sorry I'm unable to make out what you mean when u speak about HP or mobility.
Also it gives me a little respite to understand that a driver gets 10+ mins to make up his mind to stay or exit the car park.
Also to share I was there for 16 mins in all out of which if I would have consumed 6-7 mins in entering the car park, finding a parking slot & then exiting slot. I'm just left with 9- 10 mins and genuinely no one could see the beach or even grab a takeaway or coffee in those 10 mins.
Sorry I was just spilling out my heart.
I will be posting the front & back of the PCN in a while
[MENTION=39331]ostell[/MENTION] - I have removed my identity from the first message. Thanks

[charitynjw]

Re: Parking fine slapped at Fistral beach parking

HP=hire purchase.
Motobility is a gov. scheme to aid disabled persons.
The issue is, who is on the DVLA database as being the registered keeper?
Imho, 16 mins for the entry 'reasonable' grace period plus the 10mins exit grace period, for Fistral, should be arguable.
Esp if it was busy & other parkers impeded your journey.

Just in case you've missed it....do not ID who was driving when the parking incident occurred.
& as @ostell has already mentioned, edit your first post.
"The driver parked.....", etc.

[ostell]

Re: Parking fine slapped at Fistral beach parking

Hello,
@ostell - removed identity from the first message. Thanks

Oh no you haven't !! It is important that the identity of the driver is not inferred. Use "The driver...."

You may like to look at Parking Prankster

[abhi6512]

Re: Parking fine slapped at Fistral beach parking

Hello,
I have edited my first post as per your suggestions. Apologies for my noviceness here !!
[MENTION=5553]charitynjw[/MENTION] - Driver's vehicle is registered in DVLA. It's not under any motobility though not sure of HP.
I have uploaded the front & rear images of the notice. I have obscured all the personal details on the notice but left time & other details as is for your reference.

I have a query - Shall I go ahead, make a call on the mentioned phone no of smart parking to discuss or resolve this or lodge an online appeal directly to smart parking, as per the mentioned procedure on the notice? (Though I don't have any evidence to attach from my end except the notice itself, mentioning driver's car was there for just 17 mins. - just recalculated to get this correct time duration)

One minor point to mention - Notice mentions the date as 3/11 though I received it only on 6/11 but again I have no evidence of this with me.


Thanking you both for all your responses till now !!

[ostell]

Re: Parking fine slapped at Fistral beach parking

I can't read the first page, even after magnifying. Could you post it again with better definition AND remove the PCN number. Have a read of POFA especially paragraph 9. The items in 9 (2) are "must" but I can't see 9 (2) (f) Are any of the other items missing? There is no period of parking in there. The time between the cameras, when you were still moving, is not parking, and a judge agree with that. So this will be a BOGOFF letter as they have not complied with POFA to be able to hold the keeper liable and so can only chase the driver who they do not know.

[abhi6512]

Re: Parking fine slapped at Fistral beach parking

Hello,

The image I have is clear & readable when magnified. I guess upon upload the image quality is degrading.
For this:
1. I have reuploaded the image hoping this time it helps.
2. In case it's still not clear. I have uploaded second image for only the main letter content you want to read.

As suggested I have removed the PCN no this time.

Also do you suggest me to speak with helpline or directly log an appeal online?

Thanking you !!

[ostell]

Re: Parking fine slapped at Fistral beach parking

The only help they want to give is to help your pay.

The person who created the contract was the driver and it is the driver who is liable for the charge. If Smart comply fully with the requirements of POFA then they can hold the keeper liable for the transgressions of the driver, who they don't know and you do not have any legal obligation to tell them.

Here's the POFA regulation. As this ticket was generated by ANPR and there was no ticket on the windscreen then you should look at paragraph 9 . Note that 9 (2) start with "The notice must"

A simple BOGOFF should suffice:

I am the keeper of vehicle xxxxxx and am in receipt of your PCN xxxxxx. You have to comply with the mandated requirements of POFA, namely, but not limited to, paragraph 9 (2) (f) and 9 (2) (e) in order to hold me, the keeper, liable for the actions of the driver at the time. I have no legal obligation to identify the driver , and will not be doing so.

As I have no liability in this matter I do not expect to hear from you again save as to confirm this and the removal of my personal details from your records to stop further distress and harassment. Please take this as a section (10) (1) request under the Data Protection Act , which has a mandated response time of 21 days.

See what comes back from that. If you get a POPLA code then non compliance with POFA is a sure fire win.

[abhi6512]

Re: Parking fine slapped at Fistral beach parking

Hi [MENTION=39331]ostell[/MENTION],

Appreciate your quick fire & crisp response.
So to clarify my understanding (pls. bear with my limited knowledge of UK drivig, parking legalities - I'm just a year old here & still getting my ground)

I will file an online appeal on the lines rather very much like you mentioned above in your response and wait for the response.
Pls. let me know if my understanding is correct?

Thanking you - Honestly speaking thanking you is a very small adjective to thank for all of your help.
You people are really helpful & doing a great job here. Thanks from the bottom of my heart.
I was so stressed before speaking to you people here !!

[charitynjw]

Re: Parking fine slapped at Fistral beach parking

If you are using the online appeal, if I were you I'd take a screenprint before sending it.

[abhi6512]

Re: Parking fine slapped at Fistral beach parking

Thank you - Sure I will take a screen print before submitting the appeal.
Also do you suggest me to mention that they are issuing a PCN for 17 mins parking that itself is a non sense thing to do?

PS: Apologies for a delayed reply from my end today !!

[ostell]

Re: Parking fine slapped at Fistral beach parking

No, don't mention the 17 minutes. It may be nonsense but that#s how the parking companies work!

[charitynjw]

Re: Parking fine slapped at Fistral beach parking

For potential future reference & fyi, the following might be of use.