Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hi All

My first post on FTLA (RIP Pepipoo).

Can folks help me with a situation.  I think I have the right idea but would value the experience of those on this site as certainly those on Pepipoo were amazing.

A driver entered an empty roadside pub car park temporarily.  They did not leave the car and did not switch off the engine.  They were in the car for around 3-4 minutes (they think).

If I am correct ( ? ) that is not parking as the driver remained in the vehicle and car engine was still on. 

A 'Parking Charge' from PCS on behalf of PESS has since been sent to the registered car owners address.  All of which appears pretty much locked down since the old private carpark loopholes have been sewn up.  But the letter states that the Parking Charge was issued following observation by a warden operated camera.  They do not offer any access to that footage for verification or indeed for how long the car was observed and or for what offence was committed save the note of parking on private land.

It gives the usual - needs to be paid in 14 days - or otherwise the charge escalates etc.

I have not uploaded the letter as I would ordinarily or have posted a belated image of the sign in the car park as I think this might be straight forward ...

At this moment in time I was hoping that I am correct in being able to reply back to PCS to explain that the driver was 'not' parked and although they had entered the designated area they did not disengage the engine or leave the vehicle and so had not parked the vehicle as stated.  Instead they decided after a few minutes that the terms of parking in the area were not satisfactory and so promptly left the car park immediately after seeking telephone advice.  Going on to say : if in doubt with my explanation to please forward to me a copy of the footage that clearly demonstrates that the car had parked and the driver had left.

Any thoughts and / or advice would be most welcome.

Thanks

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If I am correct ( ? ) that is not parking as the driver remained in the vehicle and car engine was still on. 

Whether or not a car is 'parked' is dependent on the facts of the case. It's not as black and white as saying that as long as the driver is in the car and the engine is on, the car isn't parked. As a daft example to illustrate this - if you entered a car park and stayed there with the engine idling for 2 hours, you'd struggle to argue you weren't parked.

Duration of stay is more likely to be useful here. Driver's must be afforded a reasonable opportunity to consider the terms on offer and decide whether they accept them. This period must be at least 5 minutes, so if the stay was less than that, an argument can be made that no contract was formed.

You mention that the driver sought telephone advice, I assume you mean they phoned the car park operator using a number provided on the signage? If so, keep hold of the record of this in case it is useful later.

In the meantime - please read the following thread and provide as much of the info it asks for as you can: READ THIS FIRST - Private Parking Charges Forum guide. Better for us to consider as many angles of challenge as we can.

I think you’re overly paranoid in thinking that PCS, who are incompetent in so many ways, are spending their time monitoring sites like this.

That said, it’s pretty clear without seeing the details that the notice you received is not compliant with the requirements of PoFA 2012 to hold the registered keeper liable in place of the driver.

You should be able to construct an appropriate appeal based on similar posts here.

You only get a POPLA code when (I should say “if” but most operators automatically reject all appeals anyway) your appeal is rejected by the operator.

You should include the <5 minute point also, I think.

I'm working on the basis that it's that Tom Cruise we're advising