Free Traffic Legal Advice

Excel can be a rather stubborn company, and may well sue you, but from the sounds of it you may have the makings of a sound defence.

Firstly, using the following guide - READ THIS FIRST - Private Parking Charges Forum guide - provide as much info as you are able, in particular, images of the original parking charge you received, copies of your appeal and their response, and photos of the signage (close ups, so that we can see the terms and conditions, and photos of their layout and ideally lack of visibility at night).

The signage not being visible is one potential argument to advance, although it might be made more difficult by the fact that you paid, as you'll need to explain how you knew to pay if there was no visible signage to draw your attention to this fact (of course not impossible).

Another question for starters, is the car park monitored by ANPR or wardens on foot?

Ive attached their respond to my appeal as well as their original PCN. Ive also screenshotted from google maps their car park. as you can clearly see there is no lights. During the night there is no way of able to read the signs if even you managed to see them.

Unfortunately they wont let me access my original appeal but i just basically said I did pay and send them the proof of purchase.  I will try obtain a close up of the signs, its not close to where i live and had only popped in as we saw it on our route home

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yes i spoke to them but they are not very helpful, they said they have no control over the car park.  they too said Excel Parking use cctv to issue tickets and monitor so there are no wardens.

as Excel rejected my appeal today went to IAS and stated i shopped at iceland and paid for ticket ( screenshotted bank statements for both) and that its pitch dark thus unable to read the signage.



Below is there automated response, so if Excel reject i think i have one more throw of the dice,  My main arguments will be due to no lighitng i cant see anything and as you can only see the paying machine when exiting it made more sense that is when you pay. i didn try to scam or get a free parking from them. had the signs been cleared i could have gotten it free from icelands.  Hopefully il have picture of the sign later today or on friday.

PS ive attached the view driver gets coming in from the alley and were there machine is. As you can see the machine is out of driver sight and only visible on looking back towards the way you enter. add to this i came in the dark.

What happens now?

Your appeal has been sent to the parking operator so that they can provide their account.

The Parking Operator is now provided 5 working days to upload sufficient evidence to show that you are liable for the charge.

Once they have submitted their evidence you will be able to log in and see it. You will then have 5 working days to respond in one of TWO ways:

1) SUBMIT YOUR APPEAL - You can respond to the evidence by making any representations that you consider to be relevant as to the lawfulness of the charge any by uploading any photographs or other evidence that you may have. Once you submit your response it will go back to the operator who may wish to respond or send the appeal straight to arbitration. In the case of the operator responding, you will receive another chance to respond.

- OR -

2) REFER THE CASE STRAIGHT TO ARBITRATION - If you consider that the information provided is not capable of showing that you are, on the face of it, responsible for the parking charge, then you may choose this option. The Adjudicator will assess the evidence provided by the operator and appellant. You will not have the opportunity of making representations and the Adjudicator will decide, on the balance of probabilities, whether you are liable for the parking charge.

You will be notified by email when you are able to proceed further.

Caution: Once the operator has uploaded their evidence, if you do not respond in one of the above two ways within 5 working days, your appeal will be submitted to the Adjudicator WITHOUT your response to the operators evidence that will be available to you.


IMPORTANT:

You will receive emails from the IAS at various stages throughout your appeal notifying you of the need to take action. You should check regularly and ensure these emails do not end up in junk/spam folders.

You should also log in regularly to check the status of your appeal to ensure that you do not miss any deadlines which would have an adverse effect on your appeal.

Yours Sincerely,
The Independent Appeals Service



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Quote from: mkdon on March 05, 2024, 05:14:53 pm

Below is there automated response, so if Excel reject i think i have one more throw of the dice

It's not up to Excel to reject - if you've appealed to the IAS, it is them who make the decision, as outlined in the automated response.

The IAS are a bit of a kangaroo court so they're almost certain to reject.

The last 'throw of the dice' would be in court, if Excel choose to go that far. If they do, you could seek to defend on the issues already outlined.

thanks for your help appreciate it. if IAS reject my appeal i most likely just pay to avoid the stress. i cant believe how desperate these guys are. they got their £1 yet hounding me like im a criminal. this woman below seems to have had similar issue.

PS. my strongest argument is the lack of lighting, is there any benchmark or anything they need to demonstrate that the sign was clear? if i was to obtain picture and video evidence the signage is only visible to read if shining a light, will that be enough for me?


https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/fuming-iceland-shopper-hit-170-7047473

Yh it may be difficult, the signage in the middle closer to where I was parked has no lighting so this one we only saw on our way out. however my wife does recall that there was a delivery truck at the time which was covering the sign you posted, also she had to turn her phone torch on to enter the reg on machine because it was so dark.

Sorry for the daft question but what is commercial justification.  Someone on the pepipoo forum also said that is a avenue.

Is it fool proof and does it apply to me?  I imagine they will push back on the lighting even though it was so dark we had to use a torch and there was a truck covering sign

It's just criminal they can charge £100 for simply paying the correct amount on leaving rather then staying. It makes no difference to them.

If you can think of any other arguments I can use please share as I'm at my wits end.

Nobody who gets advice from this forum or over on the MSE parking forum pays Excel parking a penny. Losing an appeal from these shysters (Hansard) means nothing and does not affect anything if it should go all the way to court.

They rely on low hanging fruit on the gullible tree to capitulate and pay into their scam. Letting it go to court is what you want and what they don’t want.

It’s small claims in the county court. It’s civil law and nothing criminal about it, except the behaviour of the likes of ex-clamper thugs like Excel and their ilk, the unregulated private parking industry.

If this were to go all the way, assuming that they don’t discontinue before it ever gets in front of a judge because they know they are on shaky ground, you would have a strong case and if you used the robust template defence, you’d be highly likely to win.

Paying a penny to these scammers would just mark you as a “mug” for future reference. You’ve come here for advice and you are already getting it.

Your defence is, amongst other things, it’s an unenforceable penalty, the signage is rubbish and breaches the IPC Code of Practice (CoP), due to the lack of lighting and clear, prominent signs, no contract could have been formed. It is very possible that Excel have no authority from the landowner to issue PCNs and so on.

thanks guys i really appreciate all you help. is it ok if i share my draft email ive written to send to the Iceland CEO? im hoping as a genuine customer he can intervene and get it cancelled.