Free Traffic Legal Advice

Thanks for your considered reply.

Regarding the VRM there’s been no check against any white list as far as I know, simply that the Costa manager accepted my word that I’d entered the VRM and she then requested the PO to cancel the PCN. I don’t know whether it was system failure or my mistyping the reg which invoked the PCN.

Point #1 isn't wrong, per se, the OP received the notice when he received it. Proving the same is another matter.

It would seem the landowner's contract with ParkingEye is such that there is a fee for cancellation - I'd be pressing the landowner to cover this fee, if it is their system that has failed.

I believe though will need to confirm that CoP requires that a request to cancel an NTK by the landowner must be complied with by the parking company.  Also, I don’t think there’s  mention of a supplementary invoice being sent to the registered keeper.
In any case, wouldn’t this supplementary invoice/additional charge need to be included on the NTK?

Above I described that I’d received a Parking Charge Notice from Parking Eye for my vehicle overstaying the time limit at a Costa Coffee car park. 

Details are that:
1: I, as registered keeper of the car received the PCN  24 days after the event, and not within the required 14 days.
2: whilst at the café, the driver entered their VRN into the counter terminal and should have been allowed an extra 90 minutes of parking such that the PCN shouldn’t have been issued.
3: the Area Manager confirmed that the driver had entered their car details into the VRN terminal and cancelled the PCN via her access to the Parking Eye management terminal. 

Then, on 13th April I received a letter from Parking Eye as follows:
“With reference to the parking charge incurred on 15 February 2026 at 14.08, at Costa Coffee Green Meadow, Pontyclun car park.
We have recently received a request to cancel this parking charge via our client.
Following a review of the case, we are unable to cancel the parking charge at this stage however, on a without prejudice basis, Parkingeye are willing to offer a further reduced parking charge amount of £20.00, which will contribute to covering some of the costs incurred.
If, following a period of 14 days this Parking Charge remains unpaid, the Parking Charge will revert to the full amount and follow our unpaid escalation process.”

I plan to appeal to Parking Eye on the following grounds:

1. POFA breach — NTK delivered after 14 days
2. Authorised parking — VRN entered, confirmed by Costa
3. Principal cancellation — Costa Area Manager cancelled via management portal

Once more factual detail is added does this seem like a reasonable appeal?

On 11 March I, as keeper, received a PCN for a parking offence dated 15 February (attached above).

On 14 March The driver drove the 50 mile round trip to Costa Coffee and spoke with the manager who kindly offered to cancel the PCN via the parking company though warned there might be a £20 “admin charge”.
Whilst there the driver saw the on-counter tablet device and remembered that during his original visit his registration number had been entered into this as required to extend his stay by 90 minutes, and therefore that his stay was within the allowed time (90 mins +90 mins for entering the registration number).  The driver informed this to the manager and asked that she noted this to the parking company.

On 16 March I received a parking charge reminder dated 28 February. I ignored this because the Manager had informed the driver that the PCN would be cancelled.

On 2nd April I received a letter from the parking company dated 25 March stating that Schedule 4 of PFA has been satisfied and as 29 days have passed from the date the PCN was given parkingeye has the right to recover the parking charge  from me.

On 3 April the driver again visited Costa Coffee but a different manager was on duty and wasn’t able to help.  The driver entered registration details on the terminal and noted that on their first attempt the recorded details were wrong but accepted by the machine.

According to parking eye I am now liable for the PCN charge.
My defence appears to be that the driver entered their registration details in the tablet but that this hasn’t been considered by parking eye: perhaps the driver entered incorrect details, or perhaps the tablet screen was out of calibration and recorded the wrong details.  Unfortunately a receipt is not provided by the tablet so it is difficult to verify who or what is at fault.  On the original visit the driver was accompanied by two friends who acknowledge that the registration details were input into the tablet.

The PCN reminder and Schedule 4 letter are included below.  I have the number of the Costa area manager and Will phone her tomorrow and ask that this be cancelled, however as this was promised but didn’t happen previously I’d be grateful for suggestions as to my next steps.

Hello

On 15th Feb the driver drove into the Costa Coffee, Pontyclun car park, found a parking space and entered the coffee shop with two friends.  No parking signs were noticed by this group, and they weren’t advised of any parking restriction by staff of the coffee shop.  The group left the coffee shop more than two hours later and drove away.

This morning I, as registered keeper received through the post a PCN sent for over-staying at the Costa Coffee car park in Pontyclun.  The PCN is attached and the images show that a car bearing my car’s registration number entered the car park at 11:44:54 and left at 14:06:27, a period of 2h23m.  The PCN states that the maximum stay is 1h30m after which a parking charge will be applied.

On the PCN it states that the stay was on the 15th February, and that the PCN was issued on the 19th Feb.  It was received by me today 11 March, almost 3 weeks after it was issued, and outside the 14 day discounted period.

The driver plans to drive to Costa Coffee and ask that the PCN be cancelled.  They will also photograph the car park area and any signage.

I’d appreciate your help as to the next steps.

Thank you.