Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hi all,

I, the registered keeper of the car, have received a PCN from Excel Parking, requesting £100, or £60 if paid early. This is because my vehicle was used in the customer car park without paying for a parking ticket, and remained there for 40 minutes, which is outside of the 10 minute limit, but not exceeding the 1 hour parking limit as stated on the signs.

I am not sure if any form of argument can be made since the driver had simply missed the sign at the entrance, and hadn't thought to check for other signs, having assumed it was another free car park for Iceland customers, like all previous ones, however I would appreciate any advice on if there is something I am unaware of that can be argued, or if the text contained within the PCN is not sufficient in some way.

I have attached pictures of the PCN that the registered keeper has received, as well as pictures of signs in the car park. It is frustrating since it would have only been £1 to park there for the duration that the car remained there for, so I'm wondering if there could be some sort of reduced payment as a settlement?

https://imgur.com/a/pcn-NfrO4ba

Thank you.

Thank you, I have just sent an email to the CEO explaining the situation, hopefully he sees it.

I think the signage would be considered adequate to be honest - it is at eye-level, the photos might be a bit misleading as that's just the wall protruding, and it was evening so the visibility was not that bad. The only problem with the signage is that it was only at the entrance (on the left, not driver's side) and walls surrounding the car park, and not in the middle where the driver had parked, and was mixed in with Iceland 'Customer Parking' and 'Make sure you don't get locked in' signs:

https://imgur.com/a/cOe5EpV

Red are Excel Parking signs, blue are Iceland signs which don't mention restrictions.

Worth noting that the entrance is on a one way street, so this is the view on approach:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/pXbhvobGnFksf1Yu6

The angle of the entrance signage, and it being so far offset from the entrance itself worsens Excel's case.

Why are you even considering the "mugs discount"? You have received a speculative invoice from an unregulated private parking firm for an alleged breach of contract by the driver. If I send you a speculative invoice for £50 for not wearing pink underwear on a Tuesday but if you pay me within 14 days, I'll discount it to £10, would you pay it?

If you want to fight this, then ignore the mugs discount. These PCNs are easily beatable if you follow the advice.

If you are changing address imminently, then you MUST send a Data Rectification Notice (DRN) to the Excel Data Protection Officer (DPO). The DRN must instruct Excel to update their records with your new address for service and to erase the old address. The highlighted words are there for a reason, so make sure you use them.

I also strongly advise you to use postal redirection, ideally for a minimum of three months. We see many cases where this was not done and several months down the line the Keeper is surprised to find they have a CCJ by default because they know nothing about the claim.

So, DRN is your very first priority. You only sent the email to the Iceland CEO three days ago. A bit more patience is required.

If your only concern is to be low-hanging fruit on the gullible tree and are going to be intimidated into paying at the mugs discount because of ignorance or fear of the process, then I won't bother wasting any more time on this.

Do I believe that the PCN is beatable... yes.

If you've instructed the firm by DRN to update your address for service and they then send something to the old address, then that is nit you fault. As for are you "liable", that depends on what you think you may be liable for? If the operator thinks you are liable for a debt claim and it is sent to the wrong address, then that has nothing to do with their allegation that you are liable for the claim. However, if that were to happen, you have an even stronger case to have any default judgment made because of the defective service set aside.

All good photos. just keep them in the very remote chance you may ever need to use them as evidence.

Give it until 3rd October and then you can appeal to Excel, for what it is worth, if you've not heard back from Iceland by then.

Hi

Did you manage to get any updates here?

The person you are asking has not been back since 29 September.
Please start a thread of your own if you want advice.