Parking Charge Notice - Local Parking Security LTD

[aran69]

Hi All,

A friend received a PCN from a hotel carpark. They were using the bar at the hotel and as they were leaving they went to the parking meter which wasn't working. They then drove to the barrier and pressed the button but there was no answer so they drove off assuming the parking restrictions weren't in effect. This was on the 05/10/2018, they only received the letter on the 26/10/2018, and the date of the notice is the 11/10/2018.

They went back to the hotel today and they advised they don't own the car park so can't cancel the ticket for them, instead my friend needs to appeal to LPS. They went onto link and attempted to click on We also have our own letter which can be found by clicking HERE however this doesn't seem to work for me.

Can someone please assist? Does my friend have a leg to stand on with this appeal?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[ostell]

Need to see the PCN so post it here suitably redacted. but leave dates,

The fact that the letter was not received till the 26/10 means that it is beyond the 14 days to be able to hold the leeper liable. Did the envelope give any indication that it came first class royal mail?

[aran69]

Hi Ostell,

I've attached the PCN as requested.

I'm pretty sure someone at home would have thrown away the envelope, but I can double check for you this afternoon.

Appreciate the help!

Thanks

[aran69]

Hi Ostell,

I've checked and unfortunately my friend doesnt have the envelope.

Can you please advise on what steps they should take? Should they send the Parking Cowboys appeal letter as the Legal Beagles one doesn't seem to load for them?

Thanks

[ostell]

First edit your posts (all of them) so that the identity of the driver cannot be inferred. As the PCN was received after 14 days then this is the letter to send them:

Dear Sirs,

I have just received your Notice to Keeper xxxxx for vehicle VRM xxxx

You have failed to comply with the requirements of Schedule 4 of The Protection Of Freedoms Act 2012 namely, but not limited to, failing to deliver the notice within the relevant period of 14 days as prescribed by section 9 (4) of the Act. You cannot, therefore, transfer liability for the alleged charge from the driver at the time to me, the keeper.

There is no legal requirement to name the driver at the time and I will not be doing so.

Any further communication with me on this matter, apart from confirmation of no further action and my details being removed from your records, will be considered vexatious and harassment. This includes communication from any Debt Collection companies you care to instruct.

Yours etc

[aran69]

First edit your posts (all of them) so that the identity of the driver cannot be inferred. As the PCN was received after 14 days then this is the letter to send them:

Dear Sirs,

I have just received your Notice to Keeper xxxxx for vehicle VRM xxxx

You have failed to comply with the requirements of Schedule 4 of The Protection Of Freedoms Act 2012 namely, but not limited to, failing to deliver the notice within the relevant period of 14 days as prescribed by section 9 (4) of the Act. You cannot, therefore, transfer liability for the alleged charge from the driver at the time to me, the keeper.

There is no legal requirement to name the driver at the time and I will not be doing so.

Any further communication with me on this matter, apart from confirmation of no further action and my details being removed from your records, will be considered vexatious and harassment. This includes communication from any Debt Collection companies you care to instruct.

Yours etc

Hi Ostell,

Thanks for your reply. I've just sent this across to them now.

I've also edited my posts as advised.

Again, thanks for your help! Much appreciated!

[ostell]

I can still work out who the driver was. Use "the driver........"etc. It is not unknown for the parking companies to print of forum threads as evidence. You are using POFA as your defence as they do not know the name of the driver so don't tell them.

[aran69]

Hi Ostell,

Thanks, I've changed everything again. Surprised the parking companies would be able to use forum threads as evidence!

[ostell]

They can and have

[aran69]

Hi Ostell,

Please find attached the reply from LPS.

It doesn't look like they've actually read the email we sent. What should be done next?

Thanks,

[ostell]

Sirs,

you do not seem to have read my appeal, rather you have just issued a templated response.

As you have not complied with the requirements of POFA then I, as the keeper, can have no liability in this matter. You can only proceed against the driver at the time who you have failed to identify.

You have not identified the driver and the use of CPS v AJH Films, which concerned an employer employee relationship, or Ellliott vs Loake, which was a criminal case that relied on compelling evidence to identify the driver, are not relevant in this case.

Continuing with this matter knowing that I have no liability causes distress and amounts to harassment. I wold point you to the case of Ferguson v British Gas Trading Ltd in the appeal court.

[aran69]

Hi Ostell,

They've come back again with the reply attached, although it still doesn't seem as though they've taken into account any of the points raised. Is it not strange that again they've given the opportunity to pay at the reduced amount despite the fact that it's now outside of the 14 days?

Appreciate all the help!

[ostell]

Unfortunately I can't read it but normally if they've offered a reduced rate again then they proably feel that they are going to lose and just hoping they can scare you into giving something

[aran69]

Unfortunately I can't read it but normally if they've offered a reduced rate again then they proably feel that they are going to lose and just hoping they can scare you into giving something

Hi Ostell,

I've copied their reply below

----------------------------

Dear Mr xxxxx

Parking Charge Notice: xxxxxx

Thank you for your email dated 5^th November,

We advise that the Bath Road Premier Inn car park operates as a pay on exit system for all car park users. This is clearly stated on the signs located throughout the car park.

All car park users receive 30 minutes free parking.
Residents are required to pay £10.00 per night.

The car park is operated on an Automatic Number Plate Recognition system therefore the camera will pick up your vehicle registration entering and exiting the car park.

We can confirm that we have checked the machine records for the date the contravention occurred and your vehicle registration was not imputed into the machine to make payment.

Before exiting the car park, you need to visit the pay station located in the Premier Inn reception to pay for parking, You will need to enter your vehicle reg into the machine and this will inform you how long your vehicle has been parked for and how much payment is required for your stay. Payment is then made.

Once you have visited the machine and made a payment, you can then exit the car park.

The barriers operate automatically therefore will allow you to exit the car park.
As no payment for parking was made, the above parking charge notice was correctly issued.

Thank you for your appeal against the parking charge notice issued by us to you on the 11th October 2018 for the contravention that happened on the 5th October 2018. Having carefully considered the evidence provided by you we regret your appeal has been unsuccessful for the following reasons:

• Failure to Pay for the Duration of Stay

You now have a number of options:

1. Pay the parking charge Notice at the reduced amount of £50.00 within 14 days. Please note that after this time the parking charge notice will increase to £85.00.
.
2. Make an appeal to POPLA – – The independent Appeals Service by visiting www.popla.co.uk and submitting your appeal online. Please note that if you wish to appeal to POPLA, you will lose the right to pay the charge at the discounted rate of £50.00, and should POPLA’s decision not go in your favour you will be required to pay the full amount of £85.00. If you opt to pay the parking charge you will be unable to appeal to POPLA.

3. If you choose to do nothing we will seek to recover the monies owed to us via our debt recovery procedures and may proceed with Court action against you.

You have now reached the end of our internal appeals procedure.

If you wish to appeal to POPLA, please submit your appeal online by visiting www.Popla.co.uk

When submitting your appeal to POPLA, please use verification code xxxxxxxx.
Please note that you have 28 days from the date of this email to submit your appeal to POPLA.

By law we are also required to inform you that Ombudsman Services (www.ombudsman-services.org/) provides an alternative dispute resolution service that would be competent to deal with your appeal. However, we have not chosen to participate in their alternative dispute resolution service. As such should you wish to appeal then you must do so to POPLA, as explained above.

Kind Regards

[ostell]

OK you must appeal to POPLA to kill this one. The POFA failure should kill it stone dead. But look for other failures, such as the bad signage and other POFA fails, to add to the appeal, Post up here first fro critique before you send.