Gemini Parking Solutions and Dept recovery plus Letter, Advice gratefully received

[Mr handle]

Hi Legal Beagles,

the driver got a PCN on their widscreen from Gemini Parking solutions on March 02 this year. the driver was picking up some things from their workplace, and parked their car in an area managed by Gemini (near the queen Elizabeth Olympic park, london), just while they nipped in to grab some post. the driver works for a large University, based on this privately owned site. There were no spaces in the loading bay so the driver parked in a corner out of the way, but not a legitimate parking space. the driver was gone for maximum 15 minutes. the driver came back and there was the dreaded yellow sticker on my windscreen.

Now, the driver can't find fault with their signage, I driver knows they shouldn't have parked there but this whole area is completely locked down, and the alternative would have been a half hour walk.

the driver ignored the windscreen thing, and a few weeks later a letter got sent through to the registered Keeper . The letter states all the details of the "offense" and begins with "we have recently contacted you about PCN bla bla bla..." the driver finds this strange because that letter was the first written correspndence.

The Keeper freaked out and is very annoyed by the threatening letter. That was about a month ago. the driver has had a lot of difficult things going on in their life and neglected to appeal in time, or to request a POPLA code. Now the Keeper and the keeper's husband have called the driver up in a rage because they received a letter from "Debt recovery plus" stating that the charge has gone up to £160 and if it isn't paid DRP will reccommend their client to initiate court proceedings. the driver know this letter is pretty worthless, but my the keeper is freaking out, the driver does not want to cause the keeper any stress, but also does not want to pay these bullies. Please, does anyone have any advice on the driver's options?

Many thanks in advance,

Kind regards,

Mr H

[charitynjw]

Hi & welcome to LB.

Ignore DRP.....they are just toothless debt collectors who have no enforcement powers whatsoever.

Could you post up pics (front & rear) of the notice to driver (windscreen PCN) & the postal notice to keeper, all redacted but leave all times/dates visible.
& any pics of the site signage?

[Mr handle]

HI there,

Thanks for your reply.

Unfortunately I seem to have misplaced the original notice to driver, I'll try and locate it. In the meantime, here are photos of the signage:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LUH...ew?usp=sharing

Here's a photo of the spot the driver parked in:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QWs...ew?usp=sharing


Mr H

[ostell]

Well that sign is forbidding, it is simply saying "No Parking" and then pretends that it created a contract when you did park/

[charitynjw]

Well that sign is forbidding, it is simply saying "No Parking" and then pretends that it created a contract when you did park/

Agreed.

[Mr handle]

Well that sign is forbidding, it is simply saying "No Parking" and then pretends that it created a contract when you did park/

So how should I respond now? I am inclined to send Gemini the slip transferring liability from the keeper to myself, just to get them off the keeper's case, or is that a bad idea?

Thanks for your help

Mr H

[charitynjw]

So how should I respond now? I am inclined to send Gemini the slip transferring liability from the keeper to myself, just to get them off my Mum's case, or is that a bad idea?

Thanks for your help

Mr H

It's never a good idea to ID who was driving in these cases. (Private parking.)
With that in mind, best to edit your posts & refer to 'the driver' or 'the registered keeper' as appropriate.

[Mr handle]

It's never a good idea to ID who was driving in these cases. (Private parking.)
With that in mind, best to edit your posts & refer to 'the driver' or 'the registered keeper' as appropriate.

Thanks, The driver intends to fight this but is it severely going to hinder the driver'a chances if the keeper transfers liability to the the driver? The driver has to get these bullies off the case of the keeper. The keeper is not robust enough to stand up to them.

Is it too late to try and get a POPLA number?

[ostell]

So what's wrong with you writing the letters? There are more points for the defence available to the keeper. The whole of Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 in fact

[charitynjw]

As ostell rightly states, it is often much easier to defend as registered keeper, using Schedule 4 Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 points in support of the Defence.
Once ID'd, the parking co can then use common law breach of contract, a much trickier animal to defeat.

[ostell]

So let's see the redacted Notice to Keeper. Leave dates

Your posts are coming very close to inferring who the driver was. You might care to rewrite them.