Free Traffic Legal Advice

Dear HC Andersen,

Thank you for your message. There is an electronic receipt for several hundreds of pounds from inside the premises, dated and time-stamped. Yes, the disabled person could not access the machine owing to a huge queue and no seating. The terminal is situated in the members only area, so one has to alert reception to tell them they’re there. This is not the case for the able-bodied, just the disabled bays - for these you have to enter the reg into the terminal on arrival, as the able bodied get 3h free parking without having to use the terminal. They only need to input the reg if they’ll be longer than 3h. The people visiting business within the club, are able to use the spaces in the same manner as the club members. It was appealed twice and rejected twice, and a letter of complaint was sent to Parkingeye. The club was contacted and asked to cancel the ticket, which was agreed, then management called the following day and said Parkingeye couldn’t let than and it had been taken out of their hands. This is not the “complete control and flexibility” of their car park, that their collaborated marketing material with Parkingeye boasts of. Having mentioned that to them in the last communication, 3-1-5 have not responded. A letter of complaint was sent additionally mentioning that this was discriminatory - it is a free car park after all, and Parkingeye didn’t take kindly to that point being made. They reiterated that money was owed or POPLA, so POPLA was appealed to, and this is the current situation. Today, POPLA asked for the disabled badges, which have been sent. The club themselves have copies of the disabled badges.

Best wishes

Dear b789,

Thank you, that is all really good advice, I shall look into that. I think perhaps another letter to push the cancellation - especially after I saw the marketing material collaborated between Parkingeye and 3-1-5, in which they said they loved the flexibility of being able to have control over the car parks and cancel the tickets for genuine mistakes. It strikes me as something smelling rotten in the State of Denmark.

Do I need to follow up the emails to 3-1-5 with postal letters? I have only emailed 3-1-5 so far. Parkingeye with my original complaint, I sent a letter - and they emailed me back!

I will certainly get on and look into these other suggestions - thank you - I would have had zero clue!

If the POPLA appeal were to fail - what happens then? Would Parkingeye take me to court? I have never had anything like this - being chased for money! It sounds like you could serve notice on anyone for anything - for no reason - just because you have a notice up! I can’t believe it. It seems legally criminal.

Best wishes,

Hello, How do you prove that it was not delivered? It sounds rather like they have just served notice on me in that case and I have to pay it, from a free car park, where I couldn’t access the machines, and my disabled badges were displayed. I thought, that because of the timing of the reminder, that proved that they hadn’t sent out the original PCN? I can prove that my letter of complaint was sent, registered. I thought the burden of proof was on the one who was making the claim. I’d spent £650.00 that day in the premises. Many thanks

These were the two attachments they attached to the response to the Letter of Complaint. It was the first time I had seen the Parking Charge Notice, because all I had received up until that point was the reminder:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/xhspc96p9nz392g8kqyl8/REDACTED-ATTACHMENT-1.pdf?rlkey=92hemeee3sor2ytnpi3adeiy4&st=i7mb1t30&dl=0

And this one:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/pi473xbwgkhz7vscszoxe/REDACTED-PARKINGEYE-ATTCHMENT-COMPLAINT-2.pdf?rlkey=ytfzsavqjtq7b5wvrp2qsykor&st=1e00ir9s&dl=0

I am sorry I have been struggling with the technology and know-how in order to upload these, that is why I have uploaded different ones (I don’t know what I am doing) but finding out fast!

Best wishes and I hope it all works!

This was the original letter of complaint I sent to Parkingeye by post - they have omitted this from the evidence upload to POPLA. It was sent registered delivery:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/bdtapcda5033emjlhemps/REDACTED-Parkingeye-Letter-COMPLAINTS-CHORLEY-2.pdf?rlkey=1wr60u8uplnzil7blynj02yrs&st=52dh5nwg&dl=0

Hello everyone,

I have not heard from 3-1-5 after sending the email on 24/03/2025, however Parkingeye have uploaded information to POPLA.

It shows the following:

"Case History
18/12/2024 Date of event
System check/manual check identified breach of terms and conditions, prior to DVLA request
24/12/2024 DVLA response received - Success
24/12/2024 Parking Charge Letter Issued - Letter1 - Ltr01-260
02/01/2025 Parking Charge Letter Issued - Letter2 - Ltr02-259
07/01/2025 Letter Issued - Website Appeal Response
07/01/2025 Website Appeal received for this case and is queued for processing.
10/01/2025 Letter Issued - GDPR Request - With Appeal
10/01/2025 Letter Issued - Disabled Blue Badge Evidence Request (w/ Att)
01/02/2025 Letter Issued - Website Appeal Response
01/02/2025 Website Appeal received for this case and is queued for processing.
14/02/2025 Letter Issued - Unsuccessful POPLA - Signage (w/ Att)

Rules and Conditions
We have included a signage plan showing that there are signs situated next to the Blue Badge bays within the car park and confirm the terms & conditions for these specific bays. These signs confirm that the bays are to be used by Blue Badge Holders only. Blue Badge holders must enter full, correct vehicle registration using the Blue Badge button at the terminal in reception, and present a copy of their Blue Badge, to obtain a permit for the duration of stay.

The ANPR equipment is installed within the bollards at the front of the bay and these cameras capture
photographs of the vehicle entering and exiting the individual bay. The bays also have clear floor markings to show they are for the use of Blue Badge Holders.

Authority
We can confirm that the above site is on private land, is not council owned and that we have written authority to operate and issue Parking Charge Notices at this site from the landowner (or landowner’s agent).

It must also be noted that any person who makes a contract in his own name without disclosing the existence of a principal, or who, though disclosing the fact that he is acting as an agent on behalf of a principal, renders himself personally liable on the contract, is entitled to enforce it against the other contracting party. (Fairlie v Fenton (1870) LR 5 Exch 169). It follows that a lawful contract between ourselves and the motorist will be enforceable by us as a party to that contract.

Additional Information
Our records confirm that no vehicle registration details were entered on the date of the event. Section 17.4 of the BPA code of Practice references different types of keying errors that could take place and instances of when a reasonable fee to cover processing costs could be offered by the Operator. In this instance, this section of the code is not applicable case as there had been no attempt to input the vehicle registration into the machine/terminal.

The appeal was rejected on the basis that the terms and conditions as outlined on the signage were breached."


It then shows the photos of the car etc, the emails to and fro, etc. It shows the original appeal, which I had no copy of. I have attached this below.

Interestingly, they have not provided POPLA with the letter of complaint I sent to Parkingeye, it has been omitted. This was included and then TWO parking charge notices - the original (which I never received) and the reminder, which I did. And this:

"Whitelist Lookup – XX XXX
Whitelist Name Plate Description Start Date/Time End Date/Time Input Date/Time Duration

No results

The above system extract displays all permits, payments for parking, and terminal entries relating to the vehicle on the date of the parking event.

Please note, if no results are displayed, this confirms that no permit, payment, or terminal entries were recorded."


On the POPLA website, when I was submitting my appeal, I could not upload my disabled badges - my server wouldn’t allow it (technical problems) however, I told POPLA this and asked them if I could have an email address so that I could send a copy of the badges. They didn't get back to me on that matter. 3-1-5 definitely had an email copy of the disabled badges.

I received this from POPLA on Friday and I have 7 days to respond, but I have been away and I was unable to, immediately. I am not sure what to do. I am going to try and copy the original appeal.

Best Wishes

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

Thank you for that, I shall have a look. I am sorry - it is because I am interested and curious as to how things work. I don’t want to stray away from the parking topic.

Thank you very much for that thread, I shall have a look. I am so glad I found this website!

Please can I just ask - why do the DVLA sell our data, when it is so protected by various things such as GDPR, to private companies without our permission? Especially when camera doorbells have come under scrutiny and yet the DVLA are happy to pass on the info (I know they get paid) but it seems nefarious nevertheless.

Best wishes!