Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hello all, Parking Eye: Invoice, Letter before Action, Mental Health Disabilities, polite Tech request.
Huge respect to all who run, as well as use, this forum. I have read the Read this first-private car parking charges forum guide and the House rules. Doing my best, any mistakes are not deliberate. Hope DWMB2 and/or other gurus may see this.

Received almost the same "PCN" Invoice from Parking Eye thru' the post. Twice. Date of event 05/03/2025, first invoice states issued 10/03, second states issued 19/03/2025. Otherwise  states a car of which I am the registered keeper on V5 exceeded the stay authorised of 1 hr 30 mins in a Lidl Car Park in England. Photos show the car was on site for 1 hour and 49 mins. Second invoice claims "PCN remains outstanding and have until 23 March 2025 or amount due will increase". And if I was the driver, I must "pay or appeal". Basis of claim: Wording in each: "by remaining at car park for longer than authorised or without authorisation." Think have paper receipt for items bought in store.
Trigger Warning: what follows contains info. about significantly poor mental health and associated actions/thoughts
Disclosure: these are reasons, not excuses. I'm diagnosed with significant complex mental needs. Diagnosis by NHS Consultant in a respected NHS psychiatric hospital in England as suffering from: chronic anxiety, severe depression, ASD (Autism) and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity "Disorder"). I am on medication for these and have been under the care of complex needs, again NHS.

On 03/03/2025 I managed to access my GP on the phone from the same car park to inform him I was making plans to take my life or going beyond plans and attended an emergency evening appointment the same day. Part of these conditions which can be misunderstood is that I can present as relatively articulate. In reality my concentration, understanding and memory is highly limited. Can struggle to function and take care of my basic needs, eat sleep wash etc. Summary: Since concentration is so poor, at times ability to prioritise my own needs, focus, can be easily distracted and sense of time / deadlines can be limited.
Letter before Action: I believe on Monday 28 or perhaps Tuesday 29 April, I received a Letter before Action through post, dated 20 April. Think 14 days given is due to expire very soon. Then they can issue proceedings.
Think Defence process likely as follows: go through internal appeal process, and POPLA, and then likely court to fight this. Alas, I've received similar invoices at this site several times in past, my name, different car, and I've paid.
I can find tech things very difficult. Takes excessively long time. And often simply can't action or complete them eg paying bills online. Simply go round in circles for hours and days without completing them.
If you can please help with a "tech" technical query too, this would help so much. TBH not sure whether within the spirit of this forum because guidance seems of highest quality. Not know where else to turn.
Feel I've limited energy to fight this just now. (I also try to care for a very elderly parent and have an adult child with significant mental health needs). I have tried to pay via parking eye's online system, using mobile phone scan code. Even after filling in all my debit card details and so on I can't succeed in completing payment. There doesn't seem to be a button to press pay - have tried pushing "one click" but that doesn't work either. If anyone can tell me how to do this I would be very grateful, if appropriate. Thank you.

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Welcome. We are here to assist. However, we would need to see both Parking Charge Notices (PCNs) you say you received. We need to see both the front and the back and you must leave ALL dates and times showing. You only need to redact your VRM, the PCN number and your name and address.

I suspect that the second PCN you received is just a reminder but we'll know for sure one you show it to us.

At any point did you approach Lidl to have them get the PCN cancelled? If you were a customer and have a receipt, they will usually get ParkingEye to cancel it. There is no reason they could not still try this for you.

The "Letter before action" you mention cannot be a formal Letter of Claim (LoC) as required by the Pre Action Protocols for Debt Claims because you mention "14 days to pay". That indicates that it is simply a useless debt recovery letter. A real LoC must give you 30 days to pay before they can make a claim.

You can safely ignore any debt recovery letters. they are powerless and the only reason they send them is to try and get the low-hanging fruit on the gullible tree to pay up out of ignorance and fear.

So, nothing is going to happen until at least 30 days after you have received a real LoC, not a fake one that only gives you 14 days to pay.

Who is the "Letter before action" from? It sounds like DRP any one of the other powerless debt recovery companies. If ParkingEye have resorted to one of these, it means that they know they have very little chance of successfully suing for this and they will pass the case to DCB Legal to handle the claim. If that is the case, it is very easy to defeat with a greater than 99% chance of success.

For now, you need to show the letters mentioned above.

You need to follow the instructions. I said to show the back of the Notice to Keeper (NtK) you received! We do not need to see the reminder or your receipt!

Did you contact customer services at Lidl about this after being advised to do so by the manager?

What on earth do you mean by "three misrepresentations"? The alleged event was on 5th March, confirmed by your receipt from the same date. ParkingEye then applied to the DVLA for the registered keepers data because they have no idea who the driver is. They then issued the Notice to Keeper (NtK) on 10th March.

The letter you have shown is NOT a "letter before action". Where do you get these ideas from? Only a Letter of claim (LoC) which MUST give 30 days to respond or pay before a claim can be issued needs to be taken seriously. Not a silly debt recovery threat giving you 14 days to Pay.

It is a pity you didn't cone here earlier as there would have been a very simple appeal to POPLA that could have got this cancelled because the NtK is not PoFA compliant. The location is simply stated as Lidl Oxford.

There is no indication of whether that is:


In the meantime get back in touch with Lidl and let them know that they should get the PCN cancelled as you were a customer. Escalate all the way to the CEO if necessary. Make sure that everything is in writing as a phone conversation is not worth the paper it isn't written on.

Do not pay this. It is easily challenged should they try to litigate this. Under no circumstances reveal the identity of the driver. The driver must be referred to only in the third person. No "I did this or that", only "the driver did this or that".