Ticket issued for parking in space allocated to my flat with no permit.

Hello everyone,

I hope that this is not too long, and it risks straying away from strict parking law. Please remove if not appropriate.

1.5 months ago I moved into a new flat. As part of this flat, I was given an allocated parking space that corresponds to my flat number. This was confirmed by the estate agent in writing and through various documents exchanged before move in.

I inquired directly about whether or not the space was included in my lease, and this was confirmed. At no point did the estate agent mention a parking permit, nor did I ever receive a permit when I moved in. The only mention of a permit in my tenancy agreement is a generic clause stating that I must return any parking permits when I leave. The allocated space is mentioned in the inventory, but no mention of a permit.

Last Tuesday (one week ago) I received a parking fine from P4Parking for failure to display a valid permit. The residents parking area recently came under management of P4Parking, from what I gather earlier this year prior to my moving in, when I think my flat was vacant. There is (new) signage in the parking area.



https://i.postimg.cc/Cx43pX9B/image-3.png


I have appealed the ticket, and reached out to building management who have informed me that permits were delivered 'by post/hand'.

I mentioned to the real estate agent that they had a duty of care to provide me with a permit (or details of) permits that are required or my quiet enjoyment of the property. I asked for them to get in touch with the management to arrange a new permit and to get the PCN cancelled, or to pay for the ticket on my behalf.

They responded with the following:

"Dear _____,

Thank you for your email.

Unfortunately, we will not be able to make payment towards the parking ticket you have received. As the vehicle was parked without a valid permit being displayed, we would recommend continuing to contact the parking company directly to explain the circumstances and ask whether they would be willing to waive the charge.

This is the first time we have received a request from you regarding a parking permit, despite you having been living at the property for some time. We do not normally deal directly with parking permits; however, we appreciate that you would now like to get this arranged and I will be contacting the block management company to find out how we can obtain a permit for your allocated parking space."

I've had no contact with them since, and they've ghosted me on a number of issues in the past. I cannot display a permit that I was not provided, nor did I know I needed. Additionally 'quite some time' was about 6 weeks at the point of that email.

I've continued some back and forth, and the appeal has not been responded to yet, but I was wondering what my best approach to this would be going forward?

I would rather not pay as I believe that the Estate Agent has a duty to provide me with a permit if required or to inform me of it. I also note the primacy of my contract to the space - does this apply here?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

Please post up your lease agreement and the signs in the car park. Of course the land managers can get the PCN cancelled given the circumstances. It will be interesting to see what the signs say about car parking and permits.
It is obvious that if you were not issued a permit you could not display it. It is a shame that you appealed as it could have been delayed until later in the process.

Please post up your lease agreement and the signs in the car park. Of course the land managers can get the PCN cancelled given the circumstances. It will be interesting to see what the signs say about car parking and permits.
It is obvious that if you were not issued a permit you could not display it. It is a shame that you appealed as it could have been delayed until later in the process.

Thanks Sander! Yeah I appreciate that I could have waited a lot longer to give myself time. I'm quite anxious (and indignant) and when I received the ticket I wanted to just take action.

Here are the signs (front and back of the one sign that is posted on the main gate)  - I can't post my lease agreement at the moment.






It's very frustrating. I have contacted the land managers, but they just provided me with a direct email to a person who works for P4Parking and have asked me to take it up with them. I have sent them an email, but also sent the land managers a request for them to consider the circumstances and cancel the ticket.
 

To be clear - have you appealed to the parking operator yet?

Yes if you can answer specifically whether you have submitted an appeal to P4P.
They mention in their signage that digital permits are acceptable it appears from this you were not offered this facility worth checking if the management company do have this option.

More importantly (at this stage) we would normally recommend waiting for the operator to issue a Notice to Keeper rather than responding to the Notice to Driver as many operators screw up the NtK stage and often issue a generic NtK rather than a specific NtK which references the fact that an NtD was previously issued.

More importantly (at this stage) we would normally recommend waiting for the operator to issue a Notice to Keeper rather than responding to the Notice to Driver as many operators screw up the NtK stage and often issue a generic NtK rather than a specific NtK which references the fact that an NtD was previously issued.

Thanks all!

Unfortunately (being my first PCN) I appealed immediately with the following:

"Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to formally appeal the above Parking Charge Notice issued to my vehicle while parked in Space x.xx

I am the legal tenant of Flat xxx, having recently moved into the property. Space xxx is allocated exclusively to my property, as confirmed in writing by my letting agent prior to move-in (see attached email confirmation). Furthermore, my tenancy agreement explicitly references the requirement to return parking permits at the end of the tenancy, confirming that parking rights are attached to this property.

As a newly moved-in resident, I was not handed the physical permit by the letting agent upon handover, an administrative error that is currently being rectified. As the contractually authorized occupier of this allocated space, I hold primary right of occupation, and no loss or breach of contract has occurred to the landowner.

Please find attached:

Written email confirmation from the letting agent confirming Space x is allocated to my tenancy.

The relevant section of my tenancy agreement referencing parking permits.

Proof of my tenancy/residency.

Given that I am the legitimate resident with rights to Space xxx, I request that this Parking Charge Notice be canceled with immediate effect, and that my vehicle registration be whitelisted while my physical permit is reissued.

Yours faithfully,"



However since sending this I have gotten in touch with a member of staff directly at the company through my building management who has listed my car as exempt and issued me a permit that will be delivered.

They made no note of my appeal, but I would suspect that this helps my case. I have asked them and the building management to void/cancel the PCN on their side.

I have also clarified that there is no clause in the tenancy agreement that refers to building management or a scheme.

Discussion can be seen in this thread elsewhere: