Free Traffic Legal Advice

Good evening,

I received a penalty notice from CPM, UK Car Park Management dated 6th July in Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire (for a contravention on 3rd July at “15:20”).

Essentially I was moving into a new apartment and there is no parking anywhere near it, only double yellow lines down the entire street, except for a private car park opposite the apartments. Noticing that there wasn’t a complex camera structure around the car park I thought I would be fine for five minutes moving a couple of boxes to the apartment.

Lo and behold when I returned to my car, I saw a man dressed in black civilian clothes loitering around where my car was, and upon approaching him he walked off. I assumed as there wasn’t a physical ticket (and no camera pointed at the car, I was okay). However a letter came through demanding £100 for the contravention within 28 days (or a reduced £60 if paid within 14 days). The reason for the ticket stated was for “not displaying a valid permit”.

The photos enclosed of my car were taken physically but the “patroller” (not mounted cameras). They do not have an office that I’m aware of in the vicinity and he clearly waited for me to leave before issuing the ‘penalty’.

I ignored the first letter, and received a second on 25th July 2024, again from CPM, UK Car Park Management, stating that now I owe £100, and if I do nothing this will increase to £170 and trigger them to contact a debt collector. This letter was titled “Final chance before action”. (I note the date and time of the alleged offence are stated as different to the first letter, this time the time is stated as “02:48”).

The third letter came on 12th July 2024 from  Debt Recovery Plus stating that I now must pay £170 or if I do nothing, they will “inform their legal team, share contact evidence, advise legal action starts” and that I am making an “intent not to pay”.

Can anyone tell me how to proceed with this and if I have any grounds to dispute the penalty, or if they have done anything incorrectly (like the time of the alleged offence which is inconsistent between letters) which would allow me to avoid lying this excessive private car park penalty.

The the car park spaces around the edge of the car park are “reserved” for ‘Portland Place’, ‘Danescroft Limited’ ‘Clarion’, ‘St Claire hospice’, ‘riverside house’ and some just ‘reserved parking’ - are all nearby offices or businesses as far as I can make out. I parked in the central area (spot 9 I believe) which didn’t have any plackards specifically on the space.

I have included images for reference of the letters received and subsequently the car park itself.

https://imgur.com/a/cpm-patrol-no-permit-displayed-bishop-s-stortford-fqYivqv

Thank you I will certainly send the complaint to them that you mentioned. Should I also copy in the debt recovery company to the email?

Also is there any way to use the date and time inconsistencies in the same complaint email or another channel to work against them?

Lastly if they decide they want to go to courts is the maximum penalty I’d likely see far in excess of the £170 they are now asking of me.

Thank you

Okay I have replied to them and not responded to the debt collector company. I will re-post with an outcome so others can learn from this experience. Thank you for your help, anything else in the meantime that may be of help please let me know.

(Would you recommend to keep the ‘permit holders only’ argument in the event of a court case or add that to my initial response to CPM which I have now sent?)

Thanks

You must get out of your mind that any “offence” has been committed. You have not received any “penalty” or “fine”. CPM are not an “authority” of any kind. They are an unregulated private parking company and have sent the keeper a speculative invoice for an alleged breach of contract by the driver.

Under no circumstances communicate with the debt collectors. They are irrelevant and not a party to any alleged breach of contract by the driver. You can safely ignore any and all debt collection letters.

As this has occurred after the new Joint Code of Practice (CoP) was published, you can refer to that for breaches. In particular, if there is any mention or suggestion of a “penalty” either on their signs or their PCN, they are in breach of section 3.1.3(i).

Also, if the sign mentions the word “penalty” they are liable to a Level 4 sanction from their ATA for “deliberate misrepresentation of authority”.

BPA/IPC Joint Code of Practice

OP, you also need to understand the meaning of double yellow lines on public roads. As long as the kerb does not have yellow “blips” on them, the driver is allowed to stop for loading and unloading and no offence is being committed. A review of the Highway Code may be in order.

Thanks for the information.

As far as I can tell from code of practice document issued 27th June 2024, and also the now superseded issue 7th February 2022, both documents state the following:

“Signs within controlled land displaying the specific terms and conditions applied must:
(i) be clear unambiguous and not use the words “penalty” or “fine” unless there is a statutory requirement to do so”.

Therefore as far as I conclude the transitional period is not applicable as the same statement appears in both issued documents.

If I’m wrong please let me know.

(Also the double yellow lines do indeed have dashes on them which I assume then prevents loading on the pavement).

Thanks,

The initial response I got from them was “ Please be advised we issue Parking Charge Notices (PCNs) not penalty charge”

I replied quoting the references as per previous post and have yet to hear back from them. Will report back with their response when they return from their bank holiday break!

Cheers

Is there any evidence that their sign says “Penalty Notice” on it?

The photo is from 22/08/24 (I.e.
Thursday just gone)