Author Topic: Gemini Parking - Bellingham  (Read 474 times)

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Gemini Parking - Bellingham
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I received this PCN below at a kids soft play area.  It was a hire vehicle so only getting the PCN now even though its from back in Feb.  I think the vehicle drove in, drove back out then in again so Im assuming they've taken the first entry and last exit.

Id like advise on appealing this PCN nonetheless, any advice is greatly appreciated.  Thanks in advance


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Re: Gemini Parking - Bellingham
« Reply #1 on: »
Any other documents included alongside the Notice to Hirer?

If not, then don’t in any way disclose who the driver was. You, the hirer, can not be held liable because of non-compliance with the Protections of Freedoms Act 2012.

The legislation requires that you be sent the original Notice to Keeper plus
Quote
(a)a statement signed by or on behalf of the vehicle-hire firm to the effect that at the material time the vehicle was hired to a named person under a hire agreement;

(b)a copy of the hire agreement; and

(c)a copy of a statement of liability signed by the hirer under that hire agreement.
« Last Edit: May 05, 2025, 08:05:11 pm by jfollows »

Re: Gemini Parking - Bellingham
« Reply #2 on: »
No other documents with this letter. So should my response be along the lines of..

'I am writing in response to the Notice to Hirer issued in respect of vehicle KW74TNE on 22nd April 2025.

This notice fails to comply with Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, specifically paragraph 14(2), which outlines the conditions required for holding a hirer liable. You have not provided the mandatory documents required under PoFA, namely:

A copy of the original Notice to Keeper;

A statement signed by or on behalf of the hire company confirming the vehicle was on hire at the material time;

A copy of the hire agreement;

A copy of a statement of liability signed by the hirer.

Without all of the above, you cannot pursue the hirer for this charge, and I expect you to cancel the Notice immediately.

Please confirm cancellation in writing. Any further action without compliance with the law will be reported to the relevant authorities.'

Is this ok? Thanks in advance


Any other documents included alongside the Notice to Hirer?

If not, then don’t in any way disclose who the driver was. You, the hirer, can not be held liable because of non-compliance with the Protections of Freedoms Act 2012.

The legislation requires that you be sent the original Notice to Keeper plus
Quote
(a)a statement signed by or on behalf of the vehicle-hire firm to the effect that at the material time the vehicle was hired to a named person under a hire agreement;

(b)a copy of the hire agreement; and

(c)a copy of a statement of liability signed by the hirer under that hire agreement.

Re: Gemini Parking - Bellingham
« Reply #3 on: »
Any further action without compliance with the law will be reported to the relevant authorities.
Compliance with PoFA is not mandatory, and accordingly, not complying does not mean they're acting unlawfully. What is does mean of course, is that they cannot transfer liability to the hirer.

Here's my usual template for these cases:

Dear Sirs,

I have received you Parking Charge Notice [(PCN number)] for Vehicle Registration Mark [VRM]. I am appealing as the vehicle's hirer. There is no obligation for me to name the driver at the time and I will not be doing so.

To hold me liable for the charge as the hirer of the vehicle, you must meet the conditions specified in Paragraph 14 of Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (“the Act”). I note from your correspondence that you have failed to meet these conditions. These failures include (but are not limited to) a failure to include the additional documents mentioned by 13(2) of the Act, as required by 14(2)(a).

As a result of this, you are unable to recover the specified charge from me, the hirer. As I do not have liability for this charge, I am unable to help you further with this matter. I therefore look forward to your confirmation that the Parking Charge Notice has been cancelled and that no further action will be taken against me.

Yours faithfully

Re: Gemini Parking - Bellingham
« Reply #4 on: »
Any further action without compliance with the law will be reported to the relevant authorities.
Compliance with PoFA is not mandatory, and accordingly, not complying does not mean they're acting unlawfully. What is does mean of course, is that they cannot transfer liability to the hirer.

Here's my usual template for these cases:

Dear Sirs,

I have received you Parking Charge Notice [(PCN number)] for Vehicle Registration Mark [VRM]. I am appealing as the vehicle's hirer. There is no obligation for me to name the driver at the time and I will not be doing so.

To hold me liable for the charge as the hirer of the vehicle, you must meet the conditions specified in Paragraph 14 of Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (“the Act”). I note from your correspondence that you have failed to meet these conditions. These failures include (but are not limited to) a failure to include the additional documents mentioned by 13(2) of the Act, as required by 14(2)(a).

As a result of this, you are unable to recover the specified charge from me, the hirer. As I do not have liability for this charge, I am unable to help you further with this matter. I therefore look forward to your confirmation that the Parking Charge Notice has been cancelled and that no further action will be taken against me.

Yours faithfully


Thank you! I'll add specifics and submit this now

Re: Gemini Parking - Bellingham
« Reply #5 on: »
It is also a case of a "double dip" where the "orphan images" from the first exit and the second entry have not been checked. This is breach of the PPSCoP which, under most circumstances would be a god appeal point at POPLA but being an IPC member, that avenue is not available and you would be wasting your time with the corrupt and incestuous IAS.

However, there is a small gem in there that you can use against them and it could possible hurt them very badly should a DVLA investigation show that they failed to comply with the KADOE contract and they have their access to the DVLA date withdrawn. Any breach of the PPSCoP is a breach of the KADOE contract and by requesting the Keepers data (and by connection, the Keeper providing Gemini with your personal data) they are acting unlawfully and you could even sue them for compensation if you were up for it.

For now, you need to submit a DVLA complaint. Here’s how to make a DVLA complaint:

• Go to: https://contact.dvla.gov.uk/complaints
• Select: “Making a complaint or compliment about the Vehicles service you have received”
• Enter your personal details, contact details, and vehicle details
• Use the text box to summarise your complaint or insert a covering note
• You will then be able to upload a file (up to 19.5 MB) — this can be your full complaint or supporting evidence
That’s it.

The DVLA is required to record, investigate and respond to every complaint about a private parking company. If everyone who encounters a breach took the time to submit a complaint, we might finally see the DVLA take meaningful action—whether that means curtailing or removing KADOE access altogether.

For the text part of the complaint the webform could use the following:

Quote
I am submitting a formal complaint against Gemini Parking Solutions Ltd, an IPC AOS member with DVLA KADOE access, for breaching the Private Parking Single Code of Practice (PPSCoP) and unlawfully obtaining and using personal data—initially from the DVLA and subsequently from the vehicle’s Keeper.

This complaint concerns a Parking Charge Notice (PCN) issued to a hire vehicle following an alleged event in February 2025. Gemini requested the registered Keeper’s data from the DVLA via KADOE. The Keeper later provided my details as the Hirer in response to a Notice to Keeper (NtK).

Gemini never had any lawful cause of action to request the Keeper’s data from the DVLA. The PCN was based on false ANPR data arising from a well-documented “double dip” error (i.e. a vehicle entering, leaving, then returning again, but only the first entry and final exit are logged). Clause 7.3(d) of the PPSCoP explicitly requires parking operators to conduct manual quality control checks on ANPR images to detect such errors. Gemini failed to do so.

Had Gemini complied with Clause 7.3(d), they would have discovered the “orphan” ANPR images showing the true visits, and no PCN would have been issued. As such, no breach occurred, and there was no justification to request any data from the DVLA.

This failure rendered Gemini’s KADOE request unlawful, and their misuse of the Keeper’s data set off a direct and foreseeable chain of events that led to the misuse of my own personal data as Hirer. That misuse would not—and could not—have occurred without the DVLA’s initial release of the Keeper’s data in breach of the contractual framework governing such disclosures.

The DVLA remains the data controller for the Keeper’s data and must be held accountable for ensuring that personal data is only released where lawful cause exists. Where that threshold is not met, the DVLA is directly responsible for any subsequent and predictable misuse of data that arises from its original unlawful disclosure.

I attach a supporting statement and request a full investigation. Please confirm receipt and provide a reference number.

Then you could upload the following as a PDF file for the formal complaint itself:

Quote
SUPPORTING STATEMENT

Complaint to DVLA – Breach of KADOE Contract and PPSCoP

Operator name: Gemini Parking Solutions Ltd
Date of PCN issue: [INSERT DATE]
Vehicle registration: [INSERT VRM]

I am submitting this formal complaint to report the unlawful release and misuse of personal data by Gemini Parking Solutions Ltd, an IPC AOS operator who obtained Keeper data from the DVLA under the KADOE contract. As a result of this unlawful disclosure, my own data as the Hirer of a hire vehicle was subsequently obtained and misused.

Causal Link – Unlawful DVLA Disclosure Initiated Chain of Data Misuse

The DVLA released the registered Keeper’s data to Gemini following a request made under Regulation 27(1)(e) of the Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) Regulations 2002. However, Gemini had no lawful cause of action to request that data. The PCN is based on a well-known ANPR failure known as a “double dip” error—where the vehicle made two separate visits, but the system only recorded the first entry and the final exit, fabricating an overstay.

Clause 7.3(d) of the Private Parking Single Code of Practice (PPSCoP) specifically requires operators to carry out a manual quality control check on all ANPR images to detect such errors. Gemini failed to perform this check. Had they done so, they would have identified the orphan images and correctly concluded that no contravention occurred.

There was no cause of action to justify the KADOE request. The DVLA therefore released the Keeper’s data unlawfully. That unlawful release directly enabled Gemini to contact the Keeper and obtain my personal data as Hirer. The misuse of my data would not—and could not—have occurred without the DVLA’s original breach of its data controller obligations.

Failure to Comply with PoFA – No Lawful Transfer of Liability

Gemini’s subsequent Notice to Hirer fails in two critical respects under Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (PoFA):

1. It does not state that the operator is seeking to recover the charge from the Hirer under Schedule 4, as required under paragraph 14(1)(a).
2. It fails to include the documents required under paragraph 14(2): a copy of the Notice to Keeper, a copy of the hire agreement, and a copy of the statement supplied under PoFA 13(2).

These omissions mean that no liability has lawfully transferred to the Hirer. The operator has no right to pursue me, and thus no right to process my data.

Threat to Revert to Keeper – Breach of PoFA 13(3) and KADOE Contract

Even more concerning is Gemini’s statement that if the charge remains unpaid, they may use the Keeper’s data “to send any related correspondence and any further notices”. This directly contravenes PoFA 13(3), which prohibits reverting to the Keeper once a valid hirer has been identified. Once the Keeper has discharged liability under 13(2), that data must not be used for any further correspondence or enforcement with the Keeper.

This is a misuse of DVLA-supplied data, a breach of the KADOE contract, and a clear infringement of UK GDPR principles relating to lawful basis and data minimisation.

DVLA's Role and Statutory Reporting Obligation

As the original data controller, the DVLA is responsible under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 for ensuring that personal data is only disclosed where a valid cause exists. In this case, the DVLA’s unlawful disclosure to Gemini enabled an entirely avoidable and unlawful chain of personal data misuse.

Under Article 33 of the UK GDPR, the DVLA is now legally obliged to self-report this breach to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), as it constitutes an unlawful disclosure of personal data.

Requested Actions:

I therefore ask the DVLA to:

• Acknowledge the unlawful disclosure and misuse of data in this case
• Confirm that the breach has been reported to the ICO under Article 33 UK GDPR
• Investigate the conduct of Gemini Parking Solutions Ltd
• Consider suspension or termination of Gemini’s KADOE access
• Provide a formal complaint reference number and details of next steps

Please confirm receipt of this complaint and advise accordingly. I am willing to provide further documentation or evidence if requested.

Name: [INSERT YOUR NAME]
Date: [INSERT DATE]
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