PCN

[myles403]

Help required please!
I often pick my son up after school in a car park at the bottom of some flats where his friend lives (he often meets his friend there whilst I get his other brother from school), when I pull in he literally jumps into the car, I turn around we drive out.
Sadly this car park is on a very busy road and a sharp bend plus you have a lot of school kids crossing the entrance to the car park, I have now been sent pictures of the rear of my car and a PCN from london parking solutions.

1) I didn't appeal because I have moved recently and didn't get the first 1 or maybe even 2 letters, I don't know how many they would have sent?
2) When I did receive the letter, I called them to say that they had made a mistake, clearly my brake lights were showing in the pics, children were crossing back and forth in front of my car (obviously allowing them to cross), I'm not on the kerb (which the woman on the phone said I was), then of course you wait again to pull out on the dangerous section of road, I explained that in fact my son walks there all the time to see his friend who lives in the flats to which the parking belongs, but it would seem I'm not permitted to collect my son from a friends!
3) I wasn't parked, I never park there, I'm too busy to warrant stopping, the other anomaly is that I don't even know who was driving the car that day as my husband had been off that week too!
4) They want £100 plus £60 admin fee for having taken 3/4 minutes to pull out of the area.
5) I have been back and there are notices re parking etc, but as I 'DON'T park' I've never taken any notice of them.
6) They have addreseed the letter to the registered keeper, which although it's me, they have got my name wrong, for which I refused to tell them what it actually is, I don't know if this is error on DVLA's part or theirs?

Point is, where do I stand? I think it's wholly unfair in the first place, equally £160.00???? come on!
They say I can't appeal, they've noted all the above but still have to pay, think I'd rather go to court out of principle, I'm sure his friend would write to them to explain that the above in fact is true.
Please Help!

[Kati]

Re: PCN

tagging [MENTION=5354]mystery1[/MENTION] for advice xx

[mystery1]

Re: PCN

There isn't much you can do. Just wait and see if they take you to court or the statute barred clock runs out.

If you search the company here you will see how likely court is. (past performance is no guarantee of future performance)

If they are currently looking for £160 then that suggests a debt collector. Rubbish like that should be stored in a drawer until such times as it is safe to dispose of. (statute barred is 6 years so i suggest at least 7 years)

M1

[ostell]

Re: PCN

Were you visiting your friend? As she lives there she may have a right in her lease to park and her visitors to park. This lease would proably override any conditions set by the parking company. Get your friend to dig out a copy of her lease and see what it says about parking.

There have been 2 good wins in the last couple of weeks against parking companies trying to charge residents. One being Jpson v Homeguard

[myles403]

Re: PCN

Were you visiting your friend? As she lives there she may have a right in her lease to park and her visitors to park. This lease would proably override any conditions set by the parking company. Get your friend to dig out a copy of her lease and see what it says about parking.

There have been 2 good wins in the last couple of weeks against parking companies trying to charge residents. One being Jpson v Homeguard

No I wasn't actually visiting anyone there, my son walks from school to meet me there because his friend lives there, they chat until I arrive. I drive in, my son jumps in the car i drive off.

[des8]

Re: PCN

Stopping to pick up passengers is not classed as parking according to the High Court.
While the case referred to PCNs for allegedly parking on yellow lines, IMO the principle is the same.

https://www.datacars.com/private-hir...rking-tickets/

[myles403]

Re: PCN

Stopping to pick up passengers is not classed as parking according to the High Court.
While the case referred to PCNs for allegedly parking on yellow lines, IMO the principle is the same.

https://www.datacars.com/private-hir...rking-tickets/

Thank you so far , all have been very helpful, I find this one particularly so, think I need to make you all aware that the PCN has been issued by a Private firm and not a local authority, does this change anything? It wasn't CCTV either. From
the 'evidence' it is clear that someone was just taking photos from inside of their car! The photos are not great quality!
The office when I rang and cited the fact that I was neither parked nor waiting and just collecting my son (or possibly my husband was that day)
said that because i'd taken 3-4 minutes to vacate the area it was classified as 'parking'! The company now sending the letters is called UCS (Ultimate customer solutions) appointed on behalf of London parking solutions ltd!, they state that the contravention was for being parked outside of a designated parking space, well of course i was, I was heading to the junction to exit, I wasn't parked! equally the area in which they say I had parked has no yellow lines at all and is simply the exit and entrance to the car park, which logically you wouldn't park on anyway as it would obstruct!!
They state Principal charge of £100.00 and £60 admin fee! Date of parking event 5/10/2016 15:46
Grr so frustrating!

[mystery1]

Re: PCN

Debt collectors can't sue unless they are assigned the "debt" (buy it)

http://www.bmpa.eu/companydata/Londo...Solutions.html They do do court but not hellish often.

File and ignore unless/until court papers or a proper letter before action arrives.

M1

[des8]

Re: PCN

I wouldn't dare contradict M () and agree the chances of it reaching court are close to zero.

I only drew attention to the High Court case to give you the reassurance that picking up passengers and then waiting for a clear safe exit to the road could not be regarded as parking.

[mystery1]

Re: PCN

I wouldn't dare contradict M () and agree the chances of it reaching court are close to zero.

I only drew attention to the High Court case to give you the reassurance that picking up passengers and then waiting for a clear safe exit to the road could not be regarded as parking.

Why not ?

You can, just don't be wrong :duh:

M1

[myles403]

Re: PCN

I wouldn't dare contradict M () and agree the chances of it reaching court are close to zero.

I only drew attention to the High Court case to give you the reassurance that picking up passengers and then waiting for a clear safe exit to the road could not be regarded as parking.

That's cool, it just opened my eyes to the fact that there are people out there who use a common sense approach to these things too! That in itself is a breath of fresh air, frankly too the pictures on closer inspection, it seems bizarre that at least 2 pics were taken at the same time but yet in that time frame there was a boy crossing the road in front of me and the next there wasn't!
I checked also and have reported the UCS to the BPA as they have now contacted me but yet do not appear to be affiliated.
I would fight it in court too if it happened to get that far, I know I wasn't parked! We can all make things appear to be what we want them to be!
Thanks again for all your input