Parking charge - pay or dispute?

[Bear Hug 4,312]

Private land

30 min free if you enter registration and get a ticket from the machine

The ticket machine is new, there was free stay for an hour previously, that can be seen on Google streetview

It was dark, I did not spot the new signs. Parked for 35 min, so would have not been charged under new rules if I got the ticket. This is reflected in the letter. Reason for Issue is given as: Failure to claim free parking ticket. 

Charge is 60 if paid in 2 weeks, 100 after. 

Happy to dispute but wouldn't want to attend court. 

[Bear Hug 4,312]

@spunko pepipoo is excellent. Already provided a draft to send.

It's interesting that the focus of the appeal is on the parking company's failure to send the notice within legally required 14 days, rather than on anything that I thought was important (the parking period being actually free or the fact that rules have recently changed in that specific location). 

Edited January 18 by Bear Hug

[spunko 28,314]

A few questions. Is it somewhere like LIDL car park? If so, write a letter to the head office and they will cancel it.

Is it a council one? If yes, generally the advice is just to pay it.

If not, then decide now if you can be arsed with sending a few letters and spending an hour or so researching the ways to get out of, on places like Pepipoo. If it's Parking Eye then be prepared for an uphill battle, to an extent, but you will still get it cancelled with relative ease.

Edit: I'd suggest posting on Pepipoo anyway, their advice is stellar.

Edited January 10 by spunko

[eek 752]

If you want to really annoy them you wait a while and then ask them to prove who was driving Pepipoo will tell you how to play that game as I cant remember the timescales immediately

The letter I use is at 

as in reality they can only claim for the minimum appropriate fee which would be for 1 hour of parking.

 

[spunko 28,314]

Safe to ignore then but I'd definitely check pepipoo to see how others have handled this company as I've never heard of them.

[Bear Hug 4,312]

3 hours ago, spunko said:

A few questions. Is it somewhere like LIDL car park? If so, write a letter to the head office and they will cancel it.

Is it a council one? If yes, generally the advice is just to pay it.

If not, then decide now if you can be arsed with sending a few letters and spending an hour or so researching the ways to get out of, on places like Pepipoo. If it's Parking Eye then be prepared for an uphill battle, to an extent, but you will still get it cancelled with relative ease.

Edit: I'd suggest posting on Pepipoo anyway, their advice is stellar.

It's Bank Park. Used to be signs 1h max etc, as per roadside of main roads. Next to a few shops. 

I always assumed it was council but the new sign says private land

2 hours ago, eek said:

If you want to really annoy them you wait a while and then ask them to prove who was driving Pepipoo will tell you how to play that game as I cant remember the timescales immediately

The letter I use is at 

as in reality they can only claim for the minimum appropriate fee which would be for 1 hour of parking.

 

 

[eek 752]

Interestingly glancing at Vehicle Control Services £100 ticket for 19 minutes over 2hrs - FightBack Forums (pepipoo.com) (not the right company just the first interesting thread on the forum) there should be a 10 minute exit grace period.

So they shouldn't be doing anything for stays under 40 minutes.

Granted you should have used the ticket machine but go back at night and take photos of the unilluminated signs. 

[Dogtania 2,881]

Have never used but recall hearing about some kind of 'robo lawyer' created iirc as some kind of student project a few years ago.

Fwiw 

https://donotpay.com/

 

 

Edited January 11 by Dogtania

[eek 752]

23 minutes ago, Dogtania said:

Have never used but recall hearing about some kind of 'robo lawyer' created iirc as some kind of student project a few years ago.

Fwiw 

https://donotpay.com/

 

 

That's seems to have pivoted towards america over the past few years.. 

Edited January 11 by eek

[spunko 28,314]

6 hours ago, eek said:

Granted you should have used the ticket machine

Oi! NAAAOOOO!!

Only a wally would use an optional fee machine.

[Bear Hug 4,312]

On 11/01/2021 at 07:15, spunko said:

Safe to ignore then but I'd definitely check pepipoo to see how others have handled this company as I've never heard of them.

I haven't found anything specific so registered and started a topic there.  A bit late as after tomorrow, I'd need to pay £100 instead of £60 but will try anyway.

[Bear Hug 4,312]

PCN cancelled thanks to the letter drafted in pepipoo forum. Saved £60! Thanks @spunko. 

[spunko 28,314]

3 minutes ago, Bear Hug said:

PCN cancelled thanks to the letter drafted in pepipoo forum. Saved £60! Thanks @spunko. 

Wonderful news. Now make sure to tell everyone you know in the same situation, and eventually these scummy PCN companies might just die out.

[One percent 55,268]

2 hours ago, Bear Hug said:

PCN cancelled thanks to the letter drafted in pepipoo forum. Saved £60! Thanks @spunko. 

Any chance of posting the wording either here or in stealth for future reference?  

[Bear Hug 4,312]

13 minutes ago, One percent said:

Any chance of posting the wording either here or in stealth for future reference?  

That's the thread:

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=137752

It was possibly easier in this case because they have taken over 2 weeks to send PCN (thanks to Christmas?). 

The wording was very similar to the third post in that thread. 

The 4th post - where the 3rd one is quoted, contains the original wording, as if the notice was received on time. 

[Green Devil 4,942]

3 hours ago, Bear Hug said:

PCN cancelled thanks to the letter drafted in pepipoo forum. Saved £60! Thanks @spunko. 

Did you send the letter to the owner of the land, the parking company that issued the fine or the debt collector company? 

Unfortunately i've received a claim for a debt outstanding last week of £185 from one of the debt companies for a PCN on private land allegegy done in Jan 2020, of which have I no record of receiving any initial claim or ticket or photos or anything, despite the fact they have advised me they have sent numerous tickets out (which is bullshit) !

This is the second one ive received.  I had one about 5 years ago which ive not heard from for a while after ignoring it. These days id rather take my chances on double yellows than park in a damn car park, the fucking cameras are everywhere, and id advise you to do the same!

[Bear Hug 4,312]

Just now, Green Devil said:

Did you send the letter to the owner of the land, the parking company that issued the fine or the debt collector company? 

Unfortunately i've received a claim for a debt outstanding last week of £185 from one of the debt companies for a PCN on private land allegegy done in Jan 2020, of which have I no record of receiving any initial claim or ticket or photos or anything, despite the fact they have advised me they have sent numerous tickets out (which is bullshit) !

This is the second one ive received.  I had one about 5 years ago which ive not heard from for a while after ignoring it. These days id rather take my chances on double yellows than park in a damn car park, the fucking cameras are everywhere, and id advise you to do the same!

Mine was from a parking company. I recommend you start a new thread and post the letter on that site, hiding any personal details etc. I got a response within a day. 

[Green Devil 4,942]

1 minute ago, Bear Hug said:

Mine was from a parking company. I recommend you start a new thread and post the letter on that site, hiding any personal details etc. I got a response within a day. 

So you sent the letter to the parking company?

[spunko 28,314]

3 hours ago, Green Devil said:

So you sent the letter to the parking company?

You generally send the letter to the parking charge company. The landowners don't care, unless they're a supermarket and face losing a customer.

[Bear Hug 4,312]

5 hours ago, Green Devil said:

So you sent the letter to the parking company?

Yes, the address was given on the charge notice in my case