MET Parking Services

[roop27]

Hi all

I recently visited a McDonald's to speak to a manager who was saving a happy meal toy for my son. When arriving the car park was chaos with people driving the wrong way round and no spaces, so I parked in the disabled bay (I know I know) as I was only going to be 2min.

Turns out there was a camera monitoring and I received a NTK as below

https://imgur.com/a/rOGqx5H

Ive googled a few other victims of this and noticed theres grounds for appeal as it's a private company. I haven't replied to the letter in anyway so wanted some advice before doing so.

TIA

[des8]

so I would write to them (no hurry!):

Dear Sirs,
I have 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 specify the period of parking to which this notice applies as prescribed by section 9 (2) (e) 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.

I do not expect to hear from you again, or your debt collectors, except to confirm that no further action will be taken on this matter and my personal details have been removed from your records.
Yours etc

Do not identify the driver when communicating with them, nor on here as they are known to occasionally scan these sites
They probably won't accept this as a valid appeal and you will have to go through the whole process, eventually even as far as a court hearing

[roop27]

Firstly thank you for your reply. If it goes to court what chance do I have of winning? On what grounds can I appeal other than the can't identify the driver?

[des8]

difficult to say on what grounds you can win as driver.
Note that appeals to parking companies are rarely accepted and in some ways are a waste of time and effort.

It is easier to defend as keeper (already they have failed to comply with the statutory requirements, hence advice not to identify the driver.)
If they pursue the driver In court they need to prove on the balance of probabilities the identity of the driver

It is probable that the parking signs are deficient in some way, or they will add some form of collection charge to their claim or make some other error.
Sometimes they win, sometimes they lose, sometimes they abandon the claim.
Small claims are a bit of a lottery and there is no certainty for either side.

Having said that, I would always contest a Parking Charge Notice, but fully understand why people will unhappily pay the "reduced" amount just to avoid the hassle.

[roop27]

If it goes to court, and I lose how much more am I looking to pay? Rough numbers are happy. I'm all for arguing my case, but I don't want to make it significantly worse than £60. I'm not the keeper of the car if that helps in my case as you've mentioned

[des8]

If you are not the keeper, how did you receive the Notice to Keeper?

[roop27]

If you are not the keeper, how did you receive the Notice to Keeper?

Apologies, i should have made that clear. I'm posting on my wifes behalf.

[des8]

If it goes to court and your wife wins, she will pay nothing.

If she should lose the award will depend ...........................

The claim will probably be for £100 plus £50 costs or damages plus solicitors fee £50 plus court costs £35
However the claim £50 for costs/damages should be excluded by the judge.
If the defence argue the matter of those costs correctly, (and if the judge doesn't like parking companies) the charging of those costs could be ruled an abuse of process and lead to the whole claim being dismissed.

Also these companies often initiate a claim but discontinue at the last minute or just don't turn up at court, especially if a strong defence has been filed.
For them it is their business plan: a numbers game as sufficient people cave in to make it profitable for them to issue court claims like confetti

[roop27]

Hi I've received a reply!

https://imgur.com/a/aSOQtgL

Please let me know your thoughts.

[des8]

EITHER your wife could respond that there is no legal requirement for her to name the driver, and she will not be doing so.
Add that they should not make any assumptions following that declaration.
She could also repeat that they have failed to comply with the requirements of POFA2015, and so cannot transfer liability to her for any unpaid parking charges that remain unpaid by the driver.

They may accept that and cease their attempts at collection, but I doubt it.

OR do nothing.

Either way they will probably continue to pursue her for the charge

[roop27]

I've responded in kind with as you said. If they reject the appeal again, do you think the next step will be a court date?

[des8]

After they have rejected the appeal, the next letter will probably be from a firm of debt collectors called DCBL.
They are toothless and can be ignored.

The matter will then be passed to their firm of solicitors (DCB LEGAL .... the next floor up!) who will issue a "letter of Claim"
to which one should reply.

Assuming your wife continues to dispute the claim they will in all likelihood initiate a court claim, which can be defended.

[roop27]

Hi there. They did indeed reject the appeal and provided a POPLA reference.

My wife doesn't want this to go court, so is there a likely chance it can be thrown out before then without paying?

[des8]

We understand people's reluctance to go to court, but actually the anticipation is worse than the reality1

However you might as well make an appeal to POPLA.
It costs you nothing, and the result is binding on the parking company.

IMO your wife should be successful as the NTK did not comply with the strict requirements mandated in PoFA 2012.
If you decide to appeal to POPLA you can post up your appeal here before submitting it if you wish.