Some legal advice please

[Hornblower]

I parked in a pay and display carpark near Haywards Heath station today. I bought my £7 ticket and then found that all the bays were full and that a number of cars had parked outside of the bays but in places that weren't obstructing the parked cars. When I came back I found a £100 parking fine on the windscreen which is £50 if I pay now. As I say, I wasn't obstructing any other cars and the machine issued a ticket when the the carpark was full. Is it worth trying to fight the penalty payment?

 

[Hornblower]

Bounced. I guess I'll just pay it then.

 

[Gazwag]

Check out other (many) threads on here about parking fines, if you had put the word parking in the thread title you would have had some replies. [MENTION=1365]Westdene Seagull[/MENTION] is your man I think

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Who is the ticket from ?

 

[Hillian1]

I'm no expert, but if you paid for a product/service that didn't actually exist I'd suggest you have good grounds to appeal.

 

[dazzer6666]

Anything you need is probably on here

http://www.pepipoo.com/

 

[happypig]

Did you buy the ticket on the way in, ie before you parked, or are you supposed to find a space then buy a ticket (that's how most pay & displays work in my experience) ?

 

[LadySeagull]

Bounced. I guess I'll just pay it then.

What, just pay a private parking ticket?!

Can I have a payment too for this reply? You don't need legal advice, this isn't a fine - but you can't ignore most of them these days. Things have changed.

Who from? NCP or someone else - many are easy to beat at appeal when you know how.

I know it's not the Council at £100 a pop, it's a scumbag ex-clamper or similar. If it's a BPA member, if 'POPLA' is offered as appeal on the back of the PCN, I'll write your appeal and give you free advice. I've never yet lost a POPLA appeal and have been lodging them every week.

Westdene Seagull also knows about how to appeal, so either of us can assist. Tell me who and I'll tell you how confident I am out of ten - some are a cinch.

 

[Hornblower]

It's NCP

 

[Westdene Seagull]

It's NCP

Bloody hell .... easily beatable. Find MSE and look at the Newbies thread - use the standard template ( obviously altered for your situation ). Come back to me or Lady Seagull if / once they reject the initial appeal. NCP got spanked in court a while back and will do anything to stay out of it.

 

[LadySeagull]

It's NCP

100% winnable, at second stage POPLA.

Trick is at this stage, to appeal NOT NOW!! but after 3 weeks (deliberately) to appeal as registered keeper not saying who was driving nor talking about what happened, as that can give away the driver. If you are not the 'registered keeper' you can still lawfully call yourself the 'keeper' (i.e. the person responsible for the car).

NCP's website says: if your parking charge notice begins (PCN) with the letters 'CP' or 'PC' you can appeal online.

http://www.ncp.co.uk/help-centre/faq/how-do-i-appeal-against-my-parking-charge-notice

So if the answer to that is yes then appeal it at or around day 24/25, online (Christmas Eve would be perfect but not later than day 28). Only ID yourself as registered keeper.

If it's one you have to post, send it a bit earlier as it'll be delayed by the Christmas post - but still delay it at least two weeks. I'll explain why at POPLA stage when they reject the first appeal, which they will.

This (below) is the sort of thing to send online or by post designed to reach them shortly before day 28 - basically send anything that's clearly an appeal and doesn't ID the driver and if you have to post it, set it out as a letter with your name and postal address and sign it/date it and get a free certificate of posting from the PO counter. Don't send it recorded, just a free cert of posting if you have to post it.

Online appeal is better. Keep a screenshot of the appeal and the acknowledgement page once submitted later this month. Don't forget, diarise it.

This will suit any private parking appeal at stage one at the moment but it's only worth appealing if POPLA is offered, not all firms offer it but you still don't PAY them:

**************************************************************************************************************************************************************


I am the registered keeper of xxxx xxx and I wish to appeal PCN number xxxxxxxxxxx.

The driver did pay and display so I dispute the £100 ticket issued. Here is a copy of the P&D ticket (attached). Please explain the basis of your charge of £100, is it intended to be for breach of contract? If so please send photographs of the contract you allege was breached and explain the basis of the £100 charge which is disproportionate to any damages you or the landowner could claim.



*************************************************************************************************************************************

Don't submit the appeal too early, it's really important to try to ensure they get it around day 26/27 at their end and that you can prove the appeal submission later.

Come back when you get a rejection letter after Christmas, or come back by the first week in January if you've heard nothing at all because NCP have recently started to pretend (allegedly) to issue rejection letters then when people complain, they say: but we rejected that last month, here's a copy of our letter we sent (didn't send) and by the way your POPLA code to appeal further has expired...

Classy behaviour as usual from an industry which mainly relies on threats and pretence. Unless it's Parking Eye who rely on court...never to be ignored.

Westdene Seagull or I can help with the POPLA appeal and it's so winnable you won't pay a penny. Not all are as easy as NCP. We know what we are doing, armchair PCN appealers for years, both of us, and both fairly regular posters here.