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I would be grateful for the forum's advice.
In February 2018 I was issued with a PCN by UKPC. I had visited a soft play centre in a local bowling alley with my daughter. I was a regular customer there and parked up in the car park as usual for about an hour. A week or so later I was surprised to receive a PCN in the post for £100, reduced to £60 if I paid within 14 days. This was because the car park was for registered users. I was completely confused about this, as I did not notice any signs when I entered the car park and didn't know what they meant by registered users so I appealed the ticket. I also sent evidence via a credit card statement that I had used the soft play centre, as they requested. UKPC offered to reduce the fine to £15 as a gesture of goodwill but I was unhappy with this so appealed to POPLA.
UKPC submitted evidence to POPLA from which I was finally able to understand why they had issued a PCN. The bowling alley had entered into a contract with UKPC a few months before.
Small signs had been placed in the car park stating no unauthorised parking and in tiny font below it said registered users only with no clarification as to what that meant. These signs were small and positioned in such a way that they were not obviously visible on entering and parking - on fences under conifers etc, on a post by a junction so I didn't see them. UKPC provided a photo of a tablet at the main reception desk where you were supposed to input your car registration number. The bowling alley has 2 receptions though, I used the one for soft play where there was no tablet for inputting your registration, and I was not informed by staff that I needed to do so. From my research, it turns out that the day of my visit was the first day of operation of the parking scheme.
POPLA rejected my appeal. Since then I have continued to receive letters from various debt collection companies asking me to pay but I have not responded.
Many other people have been affected by the parking system at this particular venue. There are dozens of reviews on their facebook site, google reviews and tripadvisor where customers have reported unexpectedly receiving PCNs after using the venue, because they did not see the UKPC signage and were not aware that they needed to register their car registration plate. In March 2020 the venue announced on their facebook site that they had stopped using UKPC because of all the issues and apologised to customers.
I have now been issued with a county court claim. They are asking for £175.26 + £35 court fee + £50 legal representative cost. I would like to defend this on the basis that their signage was inadequate and therefore I did not enter into a contract, as evidenced by the many other people that have been caught unawares and photographic evidence of the signs, their wording and the positioning of them within the car park which were provided in UKPCs submission to POPLA, which I have saved a copy of.
I feel that the parking companies are now using tactic of court process and the threat of a CCJ being issued that may affect credit score to extort even more money from motorists, as evidenced by the number of threads on this forum.
My only concern is the effect that this may have on my credit rating, if I proceed with this and a CCJ is issued. I understand that if I pay within 28 days of a CCJ being issued that it will not appear on my credit record or affect my credit score if I apply to have it removed - is this correct? The issue is not the ability to pay the money, I strongly feel that this PCN has been issued unfairly and would like the matter to be heard in front of a judge, and I will of course pay immediately if directed to.
Thank you
In February 2018 I was issued with a PCN by UKPC. I had visited a soft play centre in a local bowling alley with my daughter. I was a regular customer there and parked up in the car park as usual for about an hour. A week or so later I was surprised to receive a PCN in the post for £100, reduced to £60 if I paid within 14 days. This was because the car park was for registered users. I was completely confused about this, as I did not notice any signs when I entered the car park and didn't know what they meant by registered users so I appealed the ticket. I also sent evidence via a credit card statement that I had used the soft play centre, as they requested. UKPC offered to reduce the fine to £15 as a gesture of goodwill but I was unhappy with this so appealed to POPLA.
UKPC submitted evidence to POPLA from which I was finally able to understand why they had issued a PCN. The bowling alley had entered into a contract with UKPC a few months before.
Small signs had been placed in the car park stating no unauthorised parking and in tiny font below it said registered users only with no clarification as to what that meant. These signs were small and positioned in such a way that they were not obviously visible on entering and parking - on fences under conifers etc, on a post by a junction so I didn't see them. UKPC provided a photo of a tablet at the main reception desk where you were supposed to input your car registration number. The bowling alley has 2 receptions though, I used the one for soft play where there was no tablet for inputting your registration, and I was not informed by staff that I needed to do so. From my research, it turns out that the day of my visit was the first day of operation of the parking scheme.
POPLA rejected my appeal. Since then I have continued to receive letters from various debt collection companies asking me to pay but I have not responded.
Many other people have been affected by the parking system at this particular venue. There are dozens of reviews on their facebook site, google reviews and tripadvisor where customers have reported unexpectedly receiving PCNs after using the venue, because they did not see the UKPC signage and were not aware that they needed to register their car registration plate. In March 2020 the venue announced on their facebook site that they had stopped using UKPC because of all the issues and apologised to customers.
I have now been issued with a county court claim. They are asking for £175.26 + £35 court fee + £50 legal representative cost. I would like to defend this on the basis that their signage was inadequate and therefore I did not enter into a contract, as evidenced by the many other people that have been caught unawares and photographic evidence of the signs, their wording and the positioning of them within the car park which were provided in UKPCs submission to POPLA, which I have saved a copy of.
I feel that the parking companies are now using tactic of court process and the threat of a CCJ being issued that may affect credit score to extort even more money from motorists, as evidenced by the number of threads on this forum.
My only concern is the effect that this may have on my credit rating, if I proceed with this and a CCJ is issued. I understand that if I pay within 28 days of a CCJ being issued that it will not appear on my credit record or affect my credit score if I apply to have it removed - is this correct? The issue is not the ability to pay the money, I strongly feel that this PCN has been issued unfairly and would like the matter to be heard in front of a judge, and I will of course pay immediately if directed to.
Thank you
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