Reduction of charge on rejected appeal with operator

[batterseadog]

I appealed a ticket I got from an operator who is registered with a trade body.

They came back to me to say they have rejected my appeal. Lower down in their response letter they say "However, as per the BPA and Single Code of Practice we have reduced the parking charge to £30.00."

Having looked at that document I can see reference in Annex F - Appeal Charter to a reduction to £20. No reference to £30, or anything that would compute to that amount that I can see. The original fine was £100, or £60 if paid within x days.

I've asked them whether in fact it should be £20 and await an answer from them. At £20 I might just pay it, putting it down to an expensive hour's parking.

As it might take a while to get back to me I thought I would ask here whether the amount quoted by them is correct. Should they not be charging me £20, as they imply that they are complying with the content of the above document?

[des8]

So this is a Parking Company accepting on appeal that an alleged transgression was only minor and so are reducing the charge in align with Annex F of the operators Code.
You are correct in that it should be £20.
If they decline to reduce it from the £30 (might be a typo) report them to their governing body (BPA or IPC)

[batterseadog]

Thank you for your very prompt reply, and your confirmation of my understanding.

I will post details of the alleged transgression once the dust has settled. Doing so may help others from having the problem I had.

EDIT: Just wondering about what to do if they don't get back to me by the time the payment deadline is due. Should I say that I accept the charge if it is £20, or do I pay £30 and hope to reclaim the overpayment later?

(We are talking about principles here, £10 is neither here nor there).

[des8]

Up to you, but if you overpay you may find they won't return the £10!

I would be inclined to just pay the £20 as per the code, with a covering letter explaining that you reckon they had made a typo.
I very much doubt they will invest time and money chasing £10

[batterseadog]

Thanks once again. I will do as you suggest.

[batterseadog]

So here's the latest on this thread. The operator in this case is Total Parking Solutions Ltd. In their appeal rejection PDF, they used this wording:-

"However, as per the BPA and Single Code of Practice we have reduced the parking charge to £30.00."

I responded to them with the following:-


"I received your response today regarding my appeal.

I note that you have reduced the parking charge to £30 as per "the BPA and Single Code of Practice". I have had a look at this document and can find no reference to £30, however there is reference in Annex F - Appeals Charter to an amount of £20.

Kindly confirm whether or not there is a typographical error in your document."


Yesterday (03/03/2025) I posted payment to them with the following covering letter:-

I sent you the following email (in italics) on 20/02/2025 04:17 PM to which I have had no reply. (I do have an SMTP transcript of my email log and it shows your system received it).

From: ###
To: complaints@totalparking.co.uk
Subject: : ###

Hi

I received your response today regarding my appeal.

I note that you have reduced the parking charge to £30 as per "the BPA and Single Code of Practice". I have had a look at this document and can find no reference to £30, however there is reference in Annex F - Appeals Charter to an amount of £20.

Kindly confirm whether or not there is a typographical error in your document.

Best regards

###

On the basis that the BPA document is correct – I can see no reference to £30 in the cited document – and that you have had ample time with which to dispute my query I am sending you an instruction to debit my credit card the sum of £20.

Please note: That my payment should not be construed as acceptance by me that the charge should have been levied in the first place."


Today I received an email from them, an exact copy of the Appeal Rejection that they had sent to me before, with two alterations:-

"However, as per the BPA and Single Code of Practice we have reduced the parking charge to £30.00."

has been changed to:-

"However, as a gesture of goodwill we have reduced the parking charge to £30.00."

The other amendment is to extend the cut-off date to pay this reduced charge from 06/03/2025 to 18/03/2025.

(I know for certain that the time of receipt of this amended Appeal Rejection email was before that of receipt of my letter).

[des8]

If I was considering continuing a dialogue with them (just for the fun of it) I would be asking them how confused they were as they appear not to know their operators code of practice, and if they continued to fail to comply with it I would raise the matter with BPA.

[batterseadog]

I emailed the BPA in general terms about this.

They didn't reply.

I wrote to them again saying that my previous email had not been replied to.

They asked me to re-send my original email, which I immediately did.

No response.

They seem to be very selective about what they respond to.

This organisation is supposed to be doing... what exactly?

[des8]

They are a trade association, so basically they support their own, but one would hold a forlorn hope that occasionally they would enforce their own rules.

[batterseadog]

Lo and behold I received a phone call this morning* from TPS saying they've reviewed my appeal and have reduced the charge to £20. I've emailed them to say that I consider this matter now closed.

Thank you for sticking with this DES8, I know this is small beer for you compared to some of the hair-raising cases on here. Much appreciated.

*The original deadline for payment.

[batterseadog]

And would you believe I've just received an email from British Parking (Compliance Team). I think I'll buy a lottery ticket.

[des8]

Something stirred in the undergrowth
I wonder if BPA pushed them

even small victories are encouraging
thanks for the updates