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Hello, I'm new here and appreciate there are 101 parking eye threads but I'm totally confused now about what to do.
I'll keep this short!
Drove from Manchester to Newquay last week and pulled up on a car park we always use:
Arrival according to parking eye 6:56 ... By the time I'd pulled up, sorted the kids out and got out the car to read the parking 4-5 mins later (parking grace time??) it would have been gone 7am. Being 360 miles away, I can't revisit the site but the rules stated that parking started at 8am - being gone 7 we walked around the village and at 7:50 I got back to the car and payed for I think 2 hours. Ran back to my wife only to find our morning breakfast shop didn't open until 8:30 and with my kid needing feeding, we drove to Portreath and left the car park at 8:17am wasting our ticket.
In the back of my head, I'm concerned that the car park said no parking until 8am but to be honest, all the different signs were so confusing, after a 6 hour night drive I thought all was good!
I've no idea what to now do. I'm skint and don't want to pay £60 and especially not £100!! It is a Parking Eye Parking Charge Notice.
Do I just pay the fine?
I have drafted a letter based on one I found linked to on here but I'm not sure... Since I can't go back to the car park I may not have a leg to stand on and possibly shouldn't have even been in the car park before 8am... Being able to return, I just don't know!!
Here is my draft letter - do I sent it or just pay the fine?
Dear Sir,
Ref: removed for now
I am challenging your parking charge notice dated 20/07/2013 on the following grounds. Please respond to each of the individual points stated below:
7. I understand that, as a legal minimum, the Parking Charge Notice must include when and how the parking "offence" took place. It is absolutely not clear on the notice for what reason the parking charge is be made. The charge notes, "By either not purchasing the appropriate parking time or by remaining in the car park longer than permitted, in accordance with the terms and conditions set out in the signage, the Parking Charge is now payable..." Since a ticket was purchased and any stay was not longer than permitted, it is unclear for what reason a Parking Charge Notice has been issued. The clear details of any exact contravention of the terms has not been stated.
1. The sum demanded is so large it amounts to a penalty, so cannot be deemed a ‘reasonable charge’ as it is not an accurate reflection of any loss suffered. Your total monetary claim is disproportionate, punitive and unjustifiable. It may also be an unfair term, and therefore in breach of Schedule 2 of the Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999. Please provide a breakdown of how your demanded charge is calculated.
2. I do not believe this alleged contractual breach has caused any financial loss whatsoever to either you or the land owner. If you believe it has, please set out the details clearly in your response. If you believe I have committed a trespass or tort, please substantiate your consequential actual loss. For example, there were so many unoccupied places available for others to park in, so my presence did not prevent the parking of other cars and their making of payments.
5. Your Civil Parking Notice constitutes an invoice for payment. Accordingly your invoiced charge must include an element of VAT. However, your civil parking notice states neither a VAT registration number, nor an invoice reference number, so cannot constitute a lawful or valid demand for payment.
6. Having examined your parking charge notice I believe it is a non compliant demand for payment as your notice requires payment to be made “within” 28 days. This is incorrect and contrary to statutory requirement that provides a period of 28 days from the date of receipt.
9. The rules of the BPA require you to allow a grace period either to allow a motorist to read the signs and make payment, or to decide whether parking is permitted and at the end of a period of paid for time, or maximum stay, to allow for discrepancies in the time shown on different devices. A reasonable grace period would be 5 minutes but it may be that the owners of this site have instructed you to offer a different grace period. Please advise the actual grace period in operation so that I can assess whether you have acted reasonably.
10. If this challenge / appeal is rejected, to enable me to prepare a formal appeal to P.O.P.L.A please provide the following documentation:
i) A copy of your contract with the land owner which authorises you to act on their behalf in the management of this car parking area;
ii) A copy of the contract into which you allege I entered when I parked;
iii) Photographic evidence of the actual signs in situ, together with identification of the locations around the site where these signs are currently placed. Please also confirm, if it is not evident from the photographs themselves, the date when they were taken and whether you have made any alterations to the signage since the photographs were taken.
iv) A copy of the full terms and conditions for use of the land where I was allegedly parked incorrectly;
v) A copy of your certificate of membership of the BPA;
vi) A copy of your protocol which your enforcement and CCTV operators are required to follow;
vii) A copy of your standard appeal procedure; please confirm whether or not it complies with the Arbitration Act 1996.
viii) Full details of the owner of the parking area (if not already stated in the copy contract above) as I wish to send them a copy of this letter to them.
ix) A copy of all of the images that you have of my vehicle. I understand that the Data Protection Act 1998 entitles me to this information.
x) A copy of your protocol for handling my personal data, such as images of my vehicle. I assume that such data is not disclosed to any third party (other than POPLA in the event of an appeal). Please confirm this.
xi) The name and contact details of your Data Controller.
Please provide this information within 35 days of receipt. If you are unable to provide any of the requested documents please provide a reason for each omission.
I'll keep this short!
Drove from Manchester to Newquay last week and pulled up on a car park we always use:
Arrival according to parking eye 6:56 ... By the time I'd pulled up, sorted the kids out and got out the car to read the parking 4-5 mins later (parking grace time??) it would have been gone 7am. Being 360 miles away, I can't revisit the site but the rules stated that parking started at 8am - being gone 7 we walked around the village and at 7:50 I got back to the car and payed for I think 2 hours. Ran back to my wife only to find our morning breakfast shop didn't open until 8:30 and with my kid needing feeding, we drove to Portreath and left the car park at 8:17am wasting our ticket.
In the back of my head, I'm concerned that the car park said no parking until 8am but to be honest, all the different signs were so confusing, after a 6 hour night drive I thought all was good!
I've no idea what to now do. I'm skint and don't want to pay £60 and especially not £100!! It is a Parking Eye Parking Charge Notice.
Do I just pay the fine?
I have drafted a letter based on one I found linked to on here but I'm not sure... Since I can't go back to the car park I may not have a leg to stand on and possibly shouldn't have even been in the car park before 8am... Being able to return, I just don't know!!
Here is my draft letter - do I sent it or just pay the fine?
Dear Sir,
Ref: removed for now
I am challenging your parking charge notice dated 20/07/2013 on the following grounds. Please respond to each of the individual points stated below:
7. I understand that, as a legal minimum, the Parking Charge Notice must include when and how the parking "offence" took place. It is absolutely not clear on the notice for what reason the parking charge is be made. The charge notes, "By either not purchasing the appropriate parking time or by remaining in the car park longer than permitted, in accordance with the terms and conditions set out in the signage, the Parking Charge is now payable..." Since a ticket was purchased and any stay was not longer than permitted, it is unclear for what reason a Parking Charge Notice has been issued. The clear details of any exact contravention of the terms has not been stated.
1. The sum demanded is so large it amounts to a penalty, so cannot be deemed a ‘reasonable charge’ as it is not an accurate reflection of any loss suffered. Your total monetary claim is disproportionate, punitive and unjustifiable. It may also be an unfair term, and therefore in breach of Schedule 2 of the Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999. Please provide a breakdown of how your demanded charge is calculated.
2. I do not believe this alleged contractual breach has caused any financial loss whatsoever to either you or the land owner. If you believe it has, please set out the details clearly in your response. If you believe I have committed a trespass or tort, please substantiate your consequential actual loss. For example, there were so many unoccupied places available for others to park in, so my presence did not prevent the parking of other cars and their making of payments.
5. Your Civil Parking Notice constitutes an invoice for payment. Accordingly your invoiced charge must include an element of VAT. However, your civil parking notice states neither a VAT registration number, nor an invoice reference number, so cannot constitute a lawful or valid demand for payment.
6. Having examined your parking charge notice I believe it is a non compliant demand for payment as your notice requires payment to be made “within” 28 days. This is incorrect and contrary to statutory requirement that provides a period of 28 days from the date of receipt.
9. The rules of the BPA require you to allow a grace period either to allow a motorist to read the signs and make payment, or to decide whether parking is permitted and at the end of a period of paid for time, or maximum stay, to allow for discrepancies in the time shown on different devices. A reasonable grace period would be 5 minutes but it may be that the owners of this site have instructed you to offer a different grace period. Please advise the actual grace period in operation so that I can assess whether you have acted reasonably.
10. If this challenge / appeal is rejected, to enable me to prepare a formal appeal to P.O.P.L.A please provide the following documentation:
i) A copy of your contract with the land owner which authorises you to act on their behalf in the management of this car parking area;
ii) A copy of the contract into which you allege I entered when I parked;
iii) Photographic evidence of the actual signs in situ, together with identification of the locations around the site where these signs are currently placed. Please also confirm, if it is not evident from the photographs themselves, the date when they were taken and whether you have made any alterations to the signage since the photographs were taken.
iv) A copy of the full terms and conditions for use of the land where I was allegedly parked incorrectly;
v) A copy of your certificate of membership of the BPA;
vi) A copy of your protocol which your enforcement and CCTV operators are required to follow;
vii) A copy of your standard appeal procedure; please confirm whether or not it complies with the Arbitration Act 1996.
viii) Full details of the owner of the parking area (if not already stated in the copy contract above) as I wish to send them a copy of this letter to them.
ix) A copy of all of the images that you have of my vehicle. I understand that the Data Protection Act 1998 entitles me to this information.
x) A copy of your protocol for handling my personal data, such as images of my vehicle. I assume that such data is not disclosed to any third party (other than POPLA in the event of an appeal). Please confirm this.
xi) The name and contact details of your Data Controller.
Please provide this information within 35 days of receipt. If you are unable to provide any of the requested documents please provide a reason for each omission.
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