Parking ticket advice (ParkingEye)

Mike1983

Mike1983

Mike1983

Associate
Joined
16 Nov 2007
Posts
811
Hi all

Please may I seek some advice on a ticket I've just received? Details as below.

* Infringement date 29/04/16
* Date of letter / ticket receipt, yesterday 17/05/16 (more than 14 days from above)
* Despite being more than 14 days, there is no date stamp on the envelope so I guess there is no "proof" of this delivery delay
* Date of letter isseu does say 10/05/16 but I find it hard to believe it took a week to arrive at my door.
* Infringement covers a period of 18 minutes between 08:46 and 09:05

Now, I didn't actually fully park up in this car park, leave the car, go shopping etc. I drove into the car park that morning a little lost in trying to find the place I was due to meet a work colleague, made some calls to figure out a plan and then left. Not once did I leave my car unattended.

I obviously want to appeal this but wary of the following

* There is no proof that the letter was issued late
* I guess the automated system just catches your reg plate on entry / exit, I'm guessing there is no proof of me not leaving the car unattended.

I welcome your thoughts and advice!

Thank you for your time,

Mike
 
I don't believe it matters whether you left the car on not really.

Drop them an email though, don't go nuclear and just be polite and firm emphasising the date of receipt.

I had similar, where I never received the first or second chasing notice. I told them I had made a genuine mistake but wasn't happy paying the increased charge and I'd happily pay the original one. They waived the whole thing - despite the fact that I couldn't prove I hadn't received the first 2.

I think these places back down when you ask them for something they can't provide - such as proof of postage so thats worth a try.
 
My advice would be not to identify the driver (might be worth editing your post too), and start a thread over at http://forums.pepipoo.com/ for guidance.

The time related protections in the Protection of Freedoms Act are only relevant if they are seeking to hold the keeper of the vehicle liable, not if the driver has identified themself.
 
What service are they are trying to charge you for? If it's parking then have they provided evidence that you actually parked?

Pretty sure a picture of your car driving into the car park at a certain time, and then driving out again at another time does not constitute evidence that you've actually parked at any point.

Mike1983 said:
I'm guessing there is no proof of me not leaving the car unattended.
Click to expand...

There's also no proof that you didn't drive around for 18 minutes looking for a space, fail to find one, and then leave. ;)
 
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As above with parking eye do NOT say who the driver is. Refer to yourself as "the driver".

I got one from them the other day for parking at morrisons for too long. Luckily my father shops there regularly so I sent them copies of his bank statements showing his visits and that it was an accident that "the driver" stayed there for that long.

There is a template on the money supermarket forum. They cancelled the charge for me.
 
As far as I'm aware, they don't need to stick to the normal guidelines of 14 days. That's for fixed penalty notices and the like from the police. This is just a private company, so I think the delay isn't going to help your case or let you off scot free..

Saying that though, if you didn't actually park, I'd say you've got grounds for appeal.
Edit: If you did actually go into a space and wait while you made the phone calls and the like, I'd actually think that you have parked there.
Might not have been long and you might not have left your vehicle unattended, but they'll still see it as you being in the car park waiting.
You might be able to get away with it.
 
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Kuros said:
As far as I'm aware, they don't need to stick to the normal guidelines of 14 days. That's for fixed penalty notices and the like from the police. This is just a private company, so I think the delay isn't going to help your case or let you off scot free..

Saying that though, if you didn't actually park, I'd say you've got grounds for appeal.
Click to expand...

This, there is no 14 day limitation. The BPA code of practice (to which ParkingEye are beholden) gives a driver time to enter the land, find signage and decide whether they want to be bound by the terms of the contract. Deciding you don't wish to be so beholden, and then promptly leaving, leaves PE no grounds to issue an invoice. I'd try that tact as you didn't actually park and decided to leave. The fact it took near 15 minutes may go against you however.

They generally want easy pickings, so by asking about their rights to file action and pointing to the BPA code may be enough to get them to drop it. Be polite but firm and ask somewhere like Pepipoo for further advice if nobody else chimes in on here with something more authoritative.
 
Usually these companies drop it if they think your going to be difficult. So be as difficult as possible :p
 
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Rainmaker said:
This, there is no 14 day limitation. The BPA code of practice (to which ParkingEye are beholden) gives a driver time to enter the land, find signage and decide whether they want to be bound by the terms of the contract. Deciding you don't wish to be so beholden, and then promptly leaving, leaves PE no grounds to issue an invoice. I'd try that tact as you didn't actually park and decided to leave. The fact it took near 15 minutes may go against you however.

They generally want easy pickings, so by asking about their rights to file action and pointing to the BPA code may be enough to get them to drop it. Be polite but firm and ask somewhere like Pepipoo for further advice if nobody else chimes in on here with something more authoritative.
Click to expand...

The time limits apply when keeper liability come into play.
 
ParkingEye have a track record of taking people to court over these so definitely don't ignore it. The best thing to do, as has already been posted above, is to register at the Pepipoo forums and create a post there asking for assistance in challenging the invoice.
 
Am I missing something?

ParkingEye usually gives you like 30mins to an hour of free parking...?

That says 18mins? Did you overstay for 18mins or something?
 
Thank you for all of your advice.

I read a lot of info over on the PePiPoo site as suggested.

To answer Swifty55's query, no I didn't "overstay", it was 18mins from entry to exit. I simply stopped in there to make some calls (not leaving the car) and then left.

Will be raising an appeal online today as this is a completely legitimate mistake. Will report back on how it goes.

Thanks again

Mike
 
Swifty55 said:
Am I missing something?

ParkingEye usually gives you like 30mins to an hour of free parking...?

That says 18mins? Did you overstay for 18mins or something?
Click to expand...

Depends entirely on the place that has ParkingEye installed. We have it installed at my workplace car park, and there's a "grace period" of 15 minutes - this can be changed on request. Our car park is small enough that you could check all rows for available spaces within 2 minutes, so it's pretty generous.
 
Strictly speaking these PPC's are there to deter parking exactly like the above, however on the flip side POFA 2012 was introduced to try and at least enforce some rules, regardless of whats above Parking Eye always claim keeper liability so they have to meet "all" the strict conditions set out in schedule 9 - one being the letter has to be delivered within 14 days or keeper liability is lost

Go over to Pepipoo and get some proper advice its been mentioned a couple of times above
 
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