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So back in December I received a parking ticket from this lovely professional company called Group Nexus.
I parked in a gym car park for 13 minutes unaware of the time limit/cameras etc.
Ticket arrived through the door, decided to appeal and this is where the fun started.
Once I appealed I recieved an automated response saying something along the lines of.
"We have recieved your appeal it will take approximately 35 days for us to respond please do not follow up in this time, your fine has been put on hold, it will not increase whilst your appeal is being looked at and you will never be asked to pay more whilst your appeal is in progress"
Fair enough I thought, hopefully they will accept my appeal
Two weeks later I get a letter through the post informing me the fine has now gone up to £100 as I have not paid with the 14 days
At this time I tried to contact them but of course you cannot speak to anyone, so I log on to reappeal, to add another appeal, anything to get their attention, of course you cant as it was showing my appeal was in progress.
Still I thought, maybe this was an honest mistake
and Ill receive my appeal decision soon.
Nooooooooooo of course I didnt instead a couple of weeks later I receive a letter saying my bill is now £170 and has been passed on to the debt collectors. Oh joy...
I have tried to log onto my appeal again but it just shows it has been handed over to the debt collectors.
So, I have the original email from them showing their promise of looking at my appeal which they obviously havent done and are just a bunch of scumbags, I have no intention of paying after what has happened just wondering if anyone knows where I stand and if they have heard of this kind of behaviour before.
Cheers. -
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This might sound like an obvious point, but the first thing to do is check your spam folder - you'd be surprised how many appeal rejections end up there.
If there's nothing, you could contact them to ask why they have not responded to your appeal and instead escalated the charge, seemingly in breach of the BPA's Code of Practice.QuoteI have no intention of paying
In which case, it might also be wise for us to explore what potential defences might be open to you, in case they decide to sue you for the money. If you'd like help with this it would be useful to see:- Both pages of the original notice, with only personal info redacted. (See the following thread for info on how to upload images: READ THIS FIRST - Private Parking Charges Forum guide
- A copy of the exact text you sent as your appeal. If you don't have this, try to summarise in as much detail as possible - in particular, let us know if you revealed who was driving when you appealed.
- Photographs of the signage at the site, both close up showing the terms and conditions of any alleged contract, as well as images showing the layout and visibility of the signage. A link to the site on Google Maps would also be useful.
Was the driver a customer of the gym? If so, an approach to the gym might be wise (even if not, there's little harm in doing this). -
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"We have recieved your appeal it will take approximately 35 days for us to respond please do not follow up in this time, your fine has been put on hold, it will not increase whilst your appeal is being looked at and you will never be asked to pay more whilst your appeal is in progress"
...Two weeks later I get a letter through the post informing me the fine has now gone up to £100 as I have not paid...
I will bet you the £100 that you will not find the word “fine” anywhere in the paperwork or communications between you, CE or any debt collector. What you received was a speculative invoice from an unregulated private parking company for an alleged breach of contract. There is nothing regulatory about this. A private company cannot “fine” you.
Whilst you have no intention of paying, you do need to know where you stand in terms of liability for the alleged breach of contract. Until you show us the NtK and explain why you think you received the PCN, it is difficult to advise on your next steps.
Is it safe to assume you identified yourself, the keeper, as also being the driver? This is crucial as it may affect your liability for the charge. What made you think that you could park on private land without being liable for any terms and conditions for parking there? -
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Hi all, thank you for the replies.
I have checked my spam folder and nothing is in there. Looking at trust pilot reviews (1 star) this is not the first time they have done this.
In my appeal letter I have admitted I was the driver and I was in the car park for 13 minutes. I went into the gym to enquire about joining, as it was December and around 18:00 it was dark and I had no idea it was a camera controlled car park, which I am sure will not hold up but that's just being honest.
My main issue with this is the fact my appeal has been ignored/missed and you cannot talk to anyone at the company about this. It clearly states on their automated response email to my appeal that my parking charge would be put on hold until my appeal is considered, however this was not the case.
Is there not any kind of protection over this?
The worst thing about it is the lack of customer service, you cannot talk to anyone at group nexus about this, it is like this is how they operate.
I was very much willing to pay the fine if my appeal failed but they have not kept to what was sent to me in their email. I have attached the mail I received.
Many thanks
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You still keep calling it a "fine". You say that you are willing to pay an unsolicited, speculative, invoice from an unregulated private parking company. Why?
You say you had no idea it was a camera controlled car park. Why do you think that you had no idea? Was there no obvious or prominent signage to indicate that you were entering private land that is controlled by a private parking operator?
CE are BPA members and are required to abide by the Code of Practice (CoP). In that CoP, there are defined requirements on what signage there must be and how it must notify drivers of the terms of parking on the land.
As we do not know the location and you have not shown us anything about the NtK, again, it is difficult to properly advise on what you need to do next. Can you get photos of the signs at the location preferably under the same lighting condition as they were at the tie of the alleged breach of contract?
I am assuming when you asked the Gym to get the PCN cancelled, you mentioned that potential customers receiving an invoice from a third party for £100, just for spending more than 5 minutes enquiring about membership, is not likely to result in much additional business for them. -