Roxburghe parking charge

[C Walker]

In April I parked at a Travel lodge, yet the parking meter was out of order. The receptionist told me they were aware of the issue, had contacted APCOA, and had been advised to tell customers not to worry- there was no way to pay. A while later I received a 'parking charge notice' for the following morning. Having contacted the Travel lodge (APCOA were closed) they had received the same complaint from a number of people, had contacted APCOA, and took my details to forward to them to cancel the charge. Months later I have now been sent another charge notice from Roxburghe for the full amount of £114. Having contacted them to present my case, she was extremely rude saying if there was an issue I should have appealed directly to APCOA, and as I haven't, I am now responsible for the full amount, as I entered into a contract by parking on the premises. She also repeatedly stated the name of an act that was put into place last year which again holds me fully responsible. The conversation ended with her saying she would note on my account that I am refusing to pay and therefore court action will follow. Still waiting for management from the Travel lodge to return my call but I have the feeling they may just ignore my calls. Any advice GREATLY appreciated!!!

[mystery1]

Re: Roxburghe parking charge

https://twitter.com/TravelodgeUK

The correct thing is to pester travelodge and get confirmation in writing that it's cancelled. Use their twitter feed as a tool to help you.

You also need to know if they have complied with the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 schedule 4 as if they haven't they're screwed anyway. http://www.parkingcowboys.co.uk/keeper-liability/

Did you do any complaining in writing ? (keeping a copy obviously)

M1

[C Walker]

Re: Roxburghe parking charge

Thanks. I haven't got anything in writing as the Travel Lodge assured me they'd get it cancelled as it was APCOA's mistake, so I didn't think anything more of it. Everything so far has been purely verbal. I'll have a read of the Protection of Freedom Act (I think this is what the woman at Roxburghe repeatedly quoted at me stating I had entered a contract with the company) and see if I can find a loop hole.
if I ignored the letter, could it affect my credit ratings? Or would it have to go through court first as its a private charge, not a county fine.

[mystery1]

Re: Roxburghe parking charge

It'd have to go to court, you'd have to lose and then you'd have to take longer than 28 days to pay to get a ccj registered against you.

Failing Travelodge coming to a sensible decision or them screwing up compliance with PoFA then your best course of action is to name the driver so that you start again with a notice to driver, appeal - lose, popla appeal win.

M1

[C Walker]

Re: Roxburghe parking charge

What do you mean by naming the driver? Sorry totally new to this!
Thanks!!

[mystery1]

Re: Roxburghe parking charge

What do you mean by naming the driver? Sorry totally new to this!
Thanks!!

At the moment they are chasing the registered keeper of the vehicle as they do not know who was driving. This is allowed due to PoFA 2012 schedule 4 which began 1st October 2012.

It sounds like you are both which would negate this tactic that i suggested of naming the driver to reset the process. Doesn't mean you're beat though, travelodge, unenforceable penalties etc

M1

[bluebottle]

Re: Roxburghe parking charge

APCOA are screwed anyway, by the look of things. If the parking meter was not working, I cannot really see any judge, other than one who is a complete and total numpty, upholding any claim they attempt to pursue. The duty rottweiller at APCOA has misrepresented the PoFA and that won't go down well with a judge.

[ostell]

Re: Roxburghe parking charge

A while later I received a 'parking charge notice' for the following morning.

Could this have timed out? Does the 14 day limit apply?

[labman]

Re: Roxburghe parking charge

There is a procedure they have to follow, and that includes appeals before any court action can be taken.

There is a sample appeal letter here:

http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...rking-Offences

You can adapt this to suit your circumstances. You will also find further examples on www.pepipoo.com who specialise in motoring issues. It is free to join and they are extremely good. It sounds like the woman you spoke to had picked up a couple of threatening sounding things - the PoFA and mention of court in order to scare you. This would almost certainly have come from either a script or a very short training course. She probably knows almost nothing about the actual process.

[charitynjw]

Re: Roxburghe parking charge

Some info here

https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...ng-charges.pdf

[CleverClogs]

Re: Roxburghe parking charge

Some misinformation here

https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...ng-charges.pdf

For example:

FAQ 7
Why should the registered keeper be held to be liable if he/she was not responsible for incurring the charge?

Schedule 4 gives the registered keeper the choice of naming the driver at the time the parking rules were broken or paying the charge him or herself. Without this provision the enforcement of parking on private land could be unmanageable as both registered keepers and drivers could avoid liability and therefore disregard any parking conditions.

That statement is - of course - utter nonsense. Elsewhere in the document, care had been taken to point out that the "charge" should only be a genuine pre-estimate of a lost parking charge and administrative costs, or an estimate of provable damages incurred were the claim to be based on trespass, so the question of rules being broken really ought not to arise.

As for the assertion that being unable to chase the registered keeper of a vehicle would mean "the enforcement of parking on private land could be unmanageable", that is also piffle - all one would need to do would be to erect a wall, fence or other barrier to prevent the ingress of motor cars, in much the same way that one prevents next door's cows from nibbling on one's petunias.

[bluebottle]

Re: Roxburghe parking charge

For example:

That statement is - of course - utter nonsense. Elsewhere in the document, care had been taken to point out that the "charge" should only be a genuine pre-estimate of a lost parking charge and administrative costs, or an estimate of provable damages incurred were the claim to be based on trespass, so the question of rules being broken really ought not to arise.

As for the assertion that being unable to chase the registered keeper of a vehicle would mean "the enforcement of parking on private land could be unmanageable", that is also piffle - all one would need to do would be to erect a wall, fence or other barrier to prevent the ingress of motor cars, in much the same way that one prevents next door's cows from nibbling on one's petunias.

That's more or less what Mad Madame Mim May said when PoFA first came into force. I think even the Tories realised that the situation relating to parking on private land was akin to the Wild West and decided to put some obstacles in the cowboys path. Going by the number of claims the likes of Parking Eye have had thrown out by the courts, it would seem the obstacles are beginning to have a desirable effect.

[charitynjw]

Re: Roxburghe parking charge

For example:

............in much the same way that one prevents next door's cows from nibbling on one's petunias.

:eek2::scared: