Subject: Response to your Letter of Claim – Ref: [reference number]
Dear Sirs,
Your Letter Before Claim contains insufficient detail of the claim and fails to provide copies of the evidence your client intends to rely upon. It is therefore non‑compliant with the Pre‑Action Protocol for Debt Claims (PAPDC). As a supposed firm of solicitors, one would expect you to comply with paragraphs 3.1(a)–(d), 5.1 and 5.2 of the Protocol, and paragraphs 6(a) and 6(c) of the Practice Direction. These provisions exist to facilitate informed, proportionate resolution, and I suggest you reacquaint yourselves with them.
The Civil Procedure Rules 1998, Pre‑Action Conduct and Protocols (Part 3), require each party to exchange sufficient information to understand the other’s position. Part 6 clarifies that this includes disclosure of key documents relevant to the issues in dispute. Your template letter refers to a “contract” yet encloses none. That omission undermines the very basis upon which your client’s claim allegedly rests. It is not possible to engage in any form of meaningful pre‑litigation dialogue while you refuse to furnish the documents you purport to enforce.
I confirm that, once I am in receipt of a Letter Before Claim that complies with paragraph 3.1(a), I shall seek advice and submit a full response within 30 days. Accordingly, please now provide:1. A copy of the original Notice to Keeper and the full notice chain relied upon to assert any alleged PoFA 2012 liability.
2. An actual photograph of the sign(s) in situ on the material date (not stock images), together with a contemporaneous site map showing sign locations.
3. The precise wording of the contractual term(s) your client alleges were breached.
4. The written agreement between your client and the landowner evidencing authority to manage, enforce and litigate in their own name.
5. A clear breakdown of the sums claimed, identifying whether the principal amount is alleged consideration or damages, and clarifying the legal basis and VAT position of the £70 add‑on.
These documents are required under paragraphs 6(a) and 6(c) of the Practice Direction to enable me to meet my obligation under paragraph 6(b).
Your letter’s attempt at intimidation
I also note that your accompanying schedule manages to refer to a “CCJ” four times, in what is clearly intended as a coercive device rather than legitimate legal information. The repetition is telling: it demonstrates not confidence in your client’s position, but reliance on fear as a substitute for substance.
To be clear: I am fully aware that a County Court Judgment only arises after your client wins a claim (which is highly unlikely on the facts), and even then, any judgment paid within one calendar month is removed from the register and has no impact on credit. Your overuse of the term “CCJ” is therefore not only pointless but improper.
Your firm is on notice that this conduct will now be reported to:• the Solicitors Regulation Authority, for use of misleading and oppressive tactics contrary to the SRA Code of Conduct; and
• the Competition and Markets Authority, under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, given the statutory prohibition on coercive and misleading commercial practices.
If you proceed to issue a claim without first providing the documents and information required under the PAPDC and Pre‑Action Conduct, I will draw your non‑compliance to the Court’s attention and seek appropriate sanctions, including a stay and case‑management orders pursuant to paragraph 15(b) of the Practice Direction. Any unreasonable conduct by you or your client will be relied upon in support of an application for costs.
For the avoidance of doubt, I will not engage with any web portal. I will respond only via email or post.
Yours faithfully,
[Your Name][/b][/b]
Subject: Formal Complaint and Request for Copy of Appeal Response – PCN [PCN Number]
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing to formally request a copy of the response to the appeal I submitted regarding Parking Charge Notice [PCN Number], originally issued on 28 January 2025.
I submitted my appeal by email to appeals@privateparkingsolutions.co.uk on 8 February 2025, using the form and instructions provided on your website at the time. To date, I have received no acknowledgment or response to this appeal.
I have since contacted the British Parking Association (BPA), who have advised me to reach out to your company directly to obtain a copy of your appeal response. Given that I received a Notice to Keeper dated 22 March 2025, increasing the charge to £100, without any resolution of my original appeal, this situation is both unreasonable and non-compliant with the standards expected of a BPA-approved operator.
In addition, at the time I received the second notice, your website was not functioning, making it impossible for me to follow up or contact you electronically. Although the site has since returned to service, this disruption further hindered my ability to engage with your appeals process in a timely and fair manner.
I also note that the evidence provided in the PCN clearly shows the vehicle was not parked but merely stopped for a very brief period (approximately 3 minutes) with the engine running, on a public road adjacent to private land. This casts serious doubt on the validity of the charge itself.
I therefore request the following:
1. A full copy of your response to my appeal, if one was ever issued.
2. If no response was sent, a full explanation for this failure, along with a full and immediate response to the appeal I submitted on 8 February.
3. Confirmation that the charge has been frozen pending proper review of my appeal.
4. A full investigation into your handling of this matter, and your failure to meet your obligations under the BPA Code of Practice.
Please treat this as a formal complaint under your internal complaints procedure. If I do not receive a satisfactory response within 14 days, I will escalate the matter further through the BPA and other relevant bodies.
I have attached the original PCN, my appeal submission, and other relevant documentation for your reference.
You can safely ignore any debt recovery letters. Shred them and use the result as hamster bedding for all anyone cares.This advice remains true.
4 Feb 2025 - received a PCN from PPS in the post for £60. The PCN states it was issued on 28th January for an alleged Parking in a No Parking zone.
8 Feb 2025 - appealed the PCN with PPS via email
Didnt receive any sort of acknowledgement or response to my appeal
22 Mar 2025 - Received a Notice to Keeper stating the parking charge was overdue and was now £100
PPS's website was not working and I was unable to contact them in any electronic way
23 Mar 2025 - I raised a complaint with the BPA about the situation and the fact that PPS were not reachable
Currently awaiting BPA's response
Subject: Formal Complaint Regarding PCN [Insert PCN Reference Number]
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing to raise a formal complaint regarding the handling of Parking Charge Notice [Insert PCN Number], issued by Private Parking Solutions Ltd (PPS).
Timeline of Events:
4 February 2025: I received a PCN from PPS, alleging that a vehicle registered to me was parked in a no parking zone on 28 January 2025. For clarity, the vehicle was never parked. It was momentarily stopped on a public road adjacent to private land, before turning around and departing. It was not on private land or within any designated parking bay as claimed in your notice.
Furthermore, I have reviewed the photographic evidence provided with the PCN. All images show the vehicle with its engine running, and all photos were taken within a timespan of approximately three minutes. This clearly demonstrates that the vehicle was not parked, but temporarily stationary.
8 February 2025: I submitted an appeal in accordance with the instructions on your website at the time, using the prescribed PDF form and emailing it to appeals@privateparkingsolutions.co.uk. Despite this, I received no acknowledgment or response to my appeal.
22 March 2025: I received a Notice to Keeper stating the charge had increased to £100, despite my appeal remaining unanswered. At this time, your website was also non-functional, preventing me from following up or accessing any further information regarding my case.
While I note that your website has since returned to service, it was inaccessible at a critical time when I sought to engage with your appeals process and resolve this matter.
Your failure to acknowledge or respond to my appeal, issue a timely reply, and maintain accessible communication channels constitutes a breach of your obligations under the British Parking Association (BPA) Code of Practice. These failings have left me unable to properly challenge this PCN, through no fault of my own.
I now request the following actions without delay:
1. A full written response to my original appeal, addressing all points raised and including a full review of the evidence.
2. Immediate confirmation that the charge is frozen until my appeal is properly processed and concluded.
3. An explanation for the lack of acknowledgment and your failure to respond to my original appeal.
4. Clarification as to why your website and communication channels were unavailable at a critical stage in this process.
5. A full investigation into the mishandling of my case, along with appropriate remedial action.
Please treat this as a formal complaint under your complaints procedure. If I do not receive a satisfactory response within the timescales set out by the BPA Code of Practice, I will escalate this matter to the BPA, my local MP, and other appropriate consumer protection authorities.
I expect prompt and proper resolution of this matter.
Yours faithfully,
[Your Full Name]
[Your Address]
[Your Contact Information]
[Your Vehicle Registration Number] (if applicable)
[PCN Number]
Subject: Formal Complaint – Private Parking Solutions Ltd (PPS) – Failure to Respond to Appeal and Inaccessibility of Website and Complaints Procedure
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing to raise a formal complaint against your approved operator member, Private Parking Solutions Ltd (PPS).
I received a Notice to Keeper from PPS dated 28 January 2025, requesting payment of £60. In accordance with the instructions provided on their website at the time (https://www.privateparkingsolutions.com/), I downloaded their PDF appeals form and submitted a completed copy by email to appeals@privateparkingsolutions.co.uk on 8 February 2025.
Since submitting my appeal, I have not received any communication whatsoever from PPS regarding a rejection or outcome. The only correspondence I have received from them to date are the two Notices to Keeper, the second of which now demands £100.
PPS has not acknowledged my appeal, and I have been given no opportunity to escalate the matter internally through a complaints process. Their website has now been entirely inaccessible for at least 48 hours, and the link listed in the BPA’s own public register of operators for their complaints procedure is currently non-functional.
This renders it impossible for any motorist to submit or exhaust a formal complaint, contrary to the standards set out in the Private Parking Single Code of Practice, which mandates that members must have an accessible and responsive complaints procedure. It is fundamentally unfair and unreasonable for a BPA member to be uncontactable, especially where the failure lies with their systems, not the motorist.
Further, while I have recently become aware of a separate website (https://ppsappeals.co.uk), PPS's original website — which was working at the time of my appeal — made no reference to this portal. I followed the only process made available to me at the time. Even now, searching Google for "Private Parking Solutions PCN appeal" does not return this appeals portal; instead, it leads only to their non-functioning website.
For reference, I provide archived copies of their website as it appeared at the time I submitted my appeal:
• Homepage (as of 12 December 2024): https://web.archive.org/web/20241212162014/http://privateparkingsolutions.com/index.html
• Appeals Page (as of 14 August 2024): https://web.archive.org/web/20240814144752/http://privateparkingsolutions.com/appeal.html
The archived appeals page clearly instructs motorists to download the appeal form and submit it via email or post, which I did in good faith.
Given the above, I respectfully but firmly request that the BPA:
• Takes immediate action to instruct PPS to respond to my appeal without further delay;
• Freezes the charge amount pending resolution of the outstanding appeal;
• Investigates PPS's apparent breach of the Code of Practice in failing to maintain working communications and a functioning complaints procedure;
• Ensures that PPS's listed contact methods on the BPA register are accurate and operational.
This situation is wholly unsatisfactory and a source of considerable frustration. PPS’s continued non-responsiveness and inaccessibility places the motorist at an unfair disadvantage. I expect the BPA to uphold its duty of oversight in this matter.
I have attached:
• Both Notices to Keeper received;
• My email containing the completed appeal;
• Screenshots of the non-functional website and the PPS appeals portal;
• Screenshots of search results showing no visible access to the portal;
• Archived links evidencing the original website’s content.
I look forward to your prompt response and action.
Yours faithfully,
[Your Full Name]
[Your Address]
[Your Contact Details]
[Vehicle Registration Number]
[PCN Reference Number]
I am the keeper of the vehicle and I dispute your 'parking charge'. I deny any liability or contractual agreement and I will be making a complaint about your predatory conduct to your client landowner.
As your Notice to Keeper (NtK) does not fully comply with ALL the requirements of PoFA 2012, you are unable to hold the keeper of the vehicle liable for the charge. Partial or even substantial compliance is not sufficient. There will be no admission as to who was driving and no inference or assumptions can be drawn. PPS has relied on contract law allegations of breach against the driver only.
The registered keeper cannot be presumed or inferred to have been the driver, nor pursued under some twisted interpretation of the law of agency. Your NtK can only hold the driver liable. PPS have no hope at POPLA, so you are urged to save us both a complete waste of time and cancel the PCN.