Author Topic: UK Car Park Management - Parked in an electric vehicle charging bay - Springfield village SW17 (Read 1202 times)

loady · « **on:** March 04, 2026, 10:41:13 am »

My vehicle received a ticket whilst parked in a parking bay outside where my elderly mother with dementia and Alzheimers was attending an appointment, it has been parked here and around on previous occasions and the signs have also been observer in others bays, the signs all look identical as do the parking bays, the PCN was issued because it was parked in an electric vehicle charging bay whilst not charging, my mum has a blue badge and difficulty with mobility and this was cleary displayed in the window.

Is this an invoice or PCN, sould i just ignore it or are there steps i can take by writing to them.

Tanks you as always.

ixxy · « **Reply #1 on:** March 04, 2026, 12:21:40 pm »

It's an invoice but we would not recommend ignoring it as it can still have serious consequences, ultimately the keeper of the vehicle could get a CCJ which would seriously screw up their credit rating for 7 years.

You can lodge an appeal but you need good grounds for that to be successful. In this case there may be a number.

Was there a ticket on the windscreen or was this the first you've been notified of the PCN?

The immediate issue I can see with this is there is no period of parking stipulated, they needed to observe the vehicle for at least 5 minutes for a contract to have been formed, the driver could have legitimately left the vehicle to read the signs before realising they should not be parking there and driving off within the mandatory consideration period.

Second avenue may be signage but as there's a sign above the vehicle in the picture on the PCN we'd need to see an image of it to be able to advise if that is an avenue for appeal. Could also do with seeing the reverse of the PCN letter.

The downside here is CPM are IPC members and the (not) Independent Appeals Service is the second stage appeal. Neither are likely to grant an appeal however well founded.

loady · « **Reply #2 on:** March 04, 2026, 12:40:59 pm »

Quote from: ixxy on March 04, 2026, 12:21:40 pm

It's an invoice but we would not recommend ignoring it as it can still have serious consequences, ultimately the keeper of the vehicle could get a CCJ which would seriously screw up their credit rating for 7 years.

You can lodge an appeal but you need good grounds for that to be successful. In this case there may be a number.

Was there a ticket on the windscreen or was this the first you've been notified of the PCN?

The immediate issue I can see with this is there is no period of parking stipulated, they needed to observe the vehicle for at least 5 minutes for a contract to have been formed, the driver could have legitimately left the vehicle to read the signs before realising they should not be parking there and driving off within the mandatory consideration period.

Second avenue may be signage but as there's a sign above the vehicle in the picture on the PCN we'd need to see an image of it to be able to advise if that is an avenue for appeal. Could also do with seeing the reverse of the PCN letter.

The downside here is CPM are IPC members and the (not) Independent Appeals Service is the second stage appeal. Neither are likely to grant an appeal however well founded.

No, there wasnt a PCN issued to the actual vehicle, i will get a picture of the signage in a day or two. The reverse of the PCN is there now, it was inserted as an image.

Sounds like from what you say, it matters not if i make an appeal, they will just say no and then i have no recourse ?

InterCity125 · « **Reply #3 on:** March 04, 2026, 12:52:01 pm »

The PCN is definitely not PoFA compliant and several elements of Schedule 4 Paragraph 9(2) are not met by this NtK.

Brenda_R2 · « **Reply #4 on:** March 04, 2026, 02:26:36 pm »

Quote from: loady on March 04, 2026, 12:40:59 pm

Sounds like from what you say, it matters not if i make an appeal, they will just say no and then i have no recourse ?

Your recourse is to appeal as the registered keeper, never the driver.

Follow the advice from the very wise posters here and there is a very strong chance that CPM will drop this before it ends up in front of a District Judge.

ixxy · « **Reply #5 on:** March 04, 2026, 03:29:35 pm »

It depends, it's always worth appealing, you might be lucky, at the least it indicates you're going to challenge them and shows you acted in good faith should it get to court.

However most appeals we see here do get rejected, mainly because people generally have relatively weak grounds to appeal. Most people who have strong grounds, frustration of contract, car breakdown, medical emergency, genuine customer will often just naively appeal and depending on the private parking company have a reasonable chance of it getting cancelled.

For example getting into a detailed argument over whether the wording on the PCN is or isn't fully POFA compliant isn't going to win any appeals. Challenging the PPC regarding sufficiency of signage (with evidence) or not providing a consideration period are stronger grounds less open to interpretation. Unfortunately you are dealing with an IPC affiliated operator and the fact they've issued a PCN without a stated period of parking would suggest they see the rules as guidelines at best.

Brenda_R2 · « **Reply #6 on:** March 04, 2026, 05:12:26 pm »

Whether or not POFA compliance “wins an appeal” isn’t really the point. IAS appeals almost never succeed on any grounds, so using appeal outcomes as the benchmark is misleading.

POFA matters because if the Notice to Keeper doesn’t meet the statutory requirements, the operator cannot transfer liability to the keeper. That becomes crucial later if they try court action.

So while POFA arguments may not persuade the IAS, they absolutely do matter when assessing the legal enforceability of the charge and the operator’s ability to pursue the keeper.

It would actually be a whole lot simpler if all of these parking companies simply made sure that their speculative invoices were fully POFA-compliant

ixxy · « **Reply #7 on:** March 04, 2026, 06:12:57 pm »

Quote from: Brenda_R2 on March 04, 2026, 05:12:26 pm

It would actually be a whole lot simpler if all of these parking companies simply made sure that their speculative invoices were fully POFA-compliant

They would undoubtedly argue they are and the perceived wisdom on here is wrong

The point I'm trying to make is that people come here looking for help, sometimes the POFA compliance argument gives people false hope because of the way it is phrased that they will be able to win an appeal with it. We know that's not the case. With BPA / POPLA appeals there is more chance of succeeding so relying on stronger appeal points makes more sense if they exist or better still rely on plan A.

loady · « **Reply #8 on:** March 17, 2026, 12:07:49 pm »

Only got there today again with my mum and took some pictures, i feel this is a bit of a sting operation, i saw the guy milling around waiting for people to park in this bay, he doesnt issue tickets, he has what looks to be a handheld device that he just takes pictures with. The signs are all the same, there is nothing on the post to denote this bay is a parking bay for charging electric vehicles, quite honestly, the thing on the lamp post is not visible from the car on drivers side, looking at it today, it looks like a litter bin or ashtray for ciggarette butts.

The car pictured in the bay is not mine, it is some other poor unsuspecting driver.

How should go about wording my appeal to this, i think i might also be outside of the preiod to pay it at a reduced rate, this is because i was away and didnt take my mother to this appointment the next time and only came back today.

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