Parking eye appeal

[Elbie]

Re: Parking eye appeal

Quite. He’s also still breastfeeding which delayed me too. Am I best to put all of those things into an appeal? Any specific advice on how to phrase it? Thanks so much for your help.

[charitynjw]

Re: Parking eye appeal

Always best to put it in your own words.

But refer to the BPA Code of Practice re grace periods

13 Grace periods
13.1 Your approach to parking management must allow adriver who enters your car park but decides not to park,to leave the car park within a reasonable period withouthaving their vehicle issued with a parking charge notice.
13.2 You should allow the driver a reasonable ‘grace period’in which to decide if they are going to stay or go. If thedriver is on your land without permission you should stillallow them a grace period to read your signs and leavebefore you take enforcement action.
13.3 You should be prepared to tell us the specific grace periodat a site if our compliance team or our agents ask what it is.
13.4 You should allow the driver a reasonable period to leave theprivate car park after the parking contract has ended, beforeyou take enforcement action. If the location is one whereparking is normally permitted, the Grace Period at the endof the parking period should be a minimum of 10 minutes.

http://www.britishparking.co.uk/writ...update_V6..pdf

Heavy emphasis on 'reasonable' (13.2) & 'minimum' (13.4)
Also that ANPR captures pictures of the vehicle entering & exiting, so allowances have to be made for finding a suitable spot to park, get out of car with baby, read sign etc etc. & the reverse when preparing to leave.
Lay it on thick.
Breastfeeding could also be a possibility....while you probably couldn't argue discrimination, it would be a factor to take into account in a bit of tolerance re the grace periods.

[Elbie]

Re: Parking eye appeal

Thanks so much for your help. I’ve constructed this. Does it sound ok? Any suggested changes? I thought I would also copy it to the manager in Asda. Thank you heaps.

I am writing concerning the parking charge I, as registered keeper of car registration BF60 EAE, received for 26^th September 2017 while parked at Asda Kings Heath. I am appealing the charge on the grounds that the overstay was within a reasonable minimum grace period in the circumstances. The driver arrived at the car park at 10.28. This is a busy car park and it took several minutes to navigate queues around the car park to find a suitable space for parking. The driver was travelling with a baby and consequently needed an appropriate space to be able to manoeuvre the child out of the car safely. On first lap of the car park, the driver noted that all the parent and child spaces were in use so a second lap was required to find a suitable space. Once parked, the driver then had to unpack the pram and manoeuvre the baby from his car seat in to it in order to walk over to the signs to read the information about parking incurring further delay before being able to begin shopping in Asda. Evidence has previously been provided to Parking eye that the driver was a genuine customer in Asda that morning (see attached bank statement with purchase listed on 27^th September for 4423 for £37.93).
Unfortunately, as is often the way when travelling with a young child, the shopping trip was extended longer than intended by the need to both breast feed the baby, returning to the car to do so as there are no suitable facilities in Asda, and to unexpectedly change the baby. Further delays were then incurred while safely securing the, now sleeping, baby in his car seat without waking him, unloading the shopping and replacing the pram in the car. Once all of this was completed, the driver had to queue to leave the, still busy car park, to exit at 12.15. The entrance and exit times to the car park are confirmed by ANPR by parking eye at the entrance to the car park. While the actual time shopping in Asda was less than the allotted 1.5hours, additional reasonable delays were incurred due to the complexities of travelling with a baby, particularly when no parent child spaces are available. In total, the parking charge notice states an overstay of 17 minutes. I believe this constitutes a reasonable grace period between entering the car park and leaving said car park in the circumstances, namely travelling with a baby. As per the BPA code of practice, Parking eye are required to allow a reasonable grace period to leave the car park after the parking contract has ended. The BPA code states that this should be a minimum of 10 minutes (reference BPA Code of Conduct 13.4). I believe the minimum grace period should be longer than this when travelling with a baby to take account of these extenuating circumstances. An additional 7 minutes grace is not unreasonable given the additional tasks which may be encountered when shopping with baby.
I have always considered Asda to be a family friendly company, hence using them for my family shop. As a genuine customer and mother of a young child, I am most disappointed to receive this parking charge for such a small overstay in genuinely challenging circumstances. I await your response.

[charitynjw]

Re: Parking eye appeal

Thanks so much for your help. I’ve constructed this. Does it sound ok? Any suggested changes? I thought I would also copy it to the manager in Asda. Thank you heaps.

I am writing concerning the parking charge I, as registered keeper of car registration BF60 EAE, received for 26^th September 2017 while parked at Asda Kings Heath. I am appealing the charge on the grounds that the overstay was within a reasonable minimum grace period in the circumstances. The driver arrived at the car park at 10.28. This is a busy car park and it took several minutes to navigate queues around the car park to find a suitable space for parking. The driver was travelling with a baby and consequently needed an appropriate space to be able to manoeuvre the child out of the car safely. On first lap of the car park, the driver noted that all the parent and child spaces were in use so a second lap was required to find a suitable space. Once parked, the driver then had to unpack the pram and manoeuvre the baby from his car seat in to it in order to walk over to the signs to read the information about parking incurring further delay before being able to begin shopping in Asda. Evidence has previously been provided to Parking eye that the driver was a genuine customer in Asda that morning (see attached bank statement with purchase listed on 27^th September for 4423 for £37.93).

Unfortunately, as is often the way when travelling with a young child, the shopping trip was extended longer than intended by the need to both breast feed the baby, returning to the car to do so as there are no suitable facilities in Asda, and to unexpectedly change the baby. Further delays were then incurred while safely securing the, now sleeping, baby in his car seat without waking him, unloading the shopping and replacing the pram in the car. Once all of this was completed, the driver had to queue to leave the, still busy car park, to exit at 12.15. The entrance and exit times to the car park are confirmed by ANPR by parking eye at the entrance to the car park. While the actual time shopping in Asda was less than the allotted 1.5hours, additional reasonable delays were incurred due to the complexities of travelling with a baby, particularly when no parent child spaces are available. In total, the parking charge notice states an overstay of 17 minutes. I believe this constitutes a reasonable grace period between entering the car park and leaving said car park in the circumstances, namely travelling with a baby. As per the BPA code of practice, Parking eye are required to allow a reasonable grace period to leave the car park after the parking contract has ended.

The BPA code states that this should be a minimum of 10 minutes (reference BPA Code of Conduct 13.4) on order to exit the car park. I believe the minimum grace period should be longer than this when travelling with a baby to take account of these extenuating circumstances.
There is also a requirement for a 'reasonable' grace period on entering the car park.
An additional 7 minutes grace is not unreasonable given the additional tasks which may be encountered when shopping with baby.

I have always considered Asda to be a family friendly company, hence using them for my family shop. As a genuine customer and mother of a young child, I am most disappointed to receive this parking charge for such a small overstay in genuinely challenging circumstances. I await your response.

A couple of suggestions to highlight stuff?