The Driver of the vhiecle had an overheating issue with the car along the a13 and had to crawl into the esso garage to stop the car to avoid damage. They drove into one of the car parking spaces on the garage lot and parked the car. They then opened the bonnet of the car to help cool off the engine. Once safe to do so after 5 minutes or so they opened the water tank to check the levels and it was empty as the cap was not properly screwed on. The driver then went into Esso to purchase some water for the car and returned to fill up the tank with a bank statment purchase at 15:04. After 15 minutes of cooling and water evaporating, they then went into the Esso again to purchase more water with their bank statment showing a time of 15:21. They then having waited to be safe to drive off and water levels no longer depleating left at 15:30. The total stay being 28 minutes.
I the keeper of the car have since recived a PCN as shown below from Euro Car Park for an overstay. with the maximum allowed time limit being 15 minutes. No car rescue was called out at the time. It was called out a week prior due to water pipe issue that was fixed - this overrheating situation wwas caused by the driver not screwing the cap on properly.
I appealed the parking charge on the 9th May as the registered keeper on the Euro Car Park website and used their 796 character limited enquiery box. (frustratingly i forgot save this word for word) But along the lines as follows:
I the registered keeper contest the charge. the driver had broken down and needed to stop at the esso garage to repair the car. they purchased supplies from the Esso garage twice with bank statments to this effect, and was only able to movce the car once safe to do so.
Please provide the grace period for the parking time limits as well as the signage for the car park.
I recived a response to my appeal on the 29th May with the following:
My question now is do I just pay the £60 and move on or do I go to POPLA? The sign picture they provided in thier response is from a different garage and they did not provide the grace period.
Also the private parking sector single Code of Practice page 46 states "F.3 Appeals where the charge should be reduced to £20 for a period of 14 days
In considering appeals parking operators must recognise the below case types as
mitigating circumstances warranting a reduction in the amount of the parking charge to
£20 for 14 days, subject to appropriate evidence being provided. This reduction applies
only for the first parking charge issued to the vehicle for the specific contravention, where
payment is made within 14 days and where no independent appeal is lodged"
Note: When considering appeals, operators should look at evidence provided in the
appeals process and where evidence is lacking it may be appropriate to ask the motorist to
provide additional evidence to support their account before finalising their decision.
c) where the vehicle has broken down;
Note: This may not be applicable where the vehicle was not parking in accordance with
terms and conditions. It is more appropriate where the terms and conditions were initially
complied with but there was an overstay
Show Posts