Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hi gang

I had a pcn from group nexus for using a shopping car park. We went to the machine and it said to pay £1 so we did. The pcn states that i under paid and want £100 They're crazy. Anyway I appealed then went to Popla as I thought it was a cut and dry case. They rejected the appeal. I provided evidence that i paid. What is this about now/

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ya-jYBYfLewKmiSqX2Pzf64158gvEw_0/view?usp=drive_link

Received the letter from the parking company they've added £60 to the fine. a-holes! Which the best wat foreard please?

Thanks I cant find the original letter or rejection atm I have the decision from the popla website which i printed. Please see below:


Decision
Unsuccessful
Assessor Name
RXXXXXd BXXXXn
Assessor summary of operator case

The operator has issued a Parking Charge Notice (PCN) as sufficient payment was not made.
Assessor summary of your case

The appellant advises that they paid the amount requested by the machine. They have provided a screen shot from their bank account. The appellant has repeated parts of their appeal within their comments.
Assessor supporting rational for decision

When assessing an appeal POPLA considers if the parking operator has issued the parking charge notice correctly and if the driver has complied with the terms and conditions for the use of the car park. The operator’s list of payments shows that while a payment was made the driver did not enter their full and correct vehicle registration. As such the machine would not have been able to suggest the correct tariff. The appellant evidence shows that a payment was made but if they compared this to the tariffs on site they would have been able to tell that their payment was insufficient to cover the length of time which they were parked. The signs required the driver to make a valid payment using their full and correct vehicle registration or a parking charge of £100 will be issued. After considering the evidence from both parties, the driver did not pay for their stay and therefore did not comply with the terms and conditions of the site. As such, I am satisfied the parking charge has been issued correctly and I must refuse the appeal.

It's up to Highview/Nexus, not you, to decide whether it's worth pursuing.  If they want to make you pay, they will need to sue you in the County Court and win the case.

The document you linked is not the original PCN.  It is a reminder and refers to an original PCN dated 25 July 2023.  So we still don't know anything about the original PCN.  The original PCN should have been included in the evidence submitted by Highview/Nexus to POPLA.  If you show us that, we can provide more detailed advice.  In the meantime, we do know how Group Nexus cases usually play out after POPLA refuses an appeal.  If you have the patience and tenacity to play the game properly, you should eventually win without paying anything.  You can choose to pay £60 now for a quiet life or play the long game and most likely pay nothing.

You will receive a stream of increasingly shrill demands for payment, first from the parking company and then from debt collectors, all of which you can safely ignore.  These will add an extra (bogus) charge of £70 and make empty threats about court action, CCJ etc.  You can safely ignore these however scary they seem.  Eventually, you will receive a letter from solicitors or Highview/Nexus itself which will call itself a "letter of claim", "letter before claim" "letter before action" or something similar giving you 30 days warning of impending court action.  This will enclose a form asking for personal financial information.  You don't need to reply to this letter or complete the forms.  Court action will follow either way, but if you reply towards the end of the 30 days saying "I dispute this alleged debt but I am anyway taking debt advice" they must wait another 30 days before starting proceedings.

Proceedings are started by the court office named Civil National Business Centre (CNBC) sending you a claim form.  Provided you fight the claim following the guidance over on https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4816822/newbies-private-parking-ticket-old-or-new-read-these-faqs-first-thankyou/p1 you should defeat the claim.

In the meantime, you must ensure that Highview/Nexus is kept informed of your current address if you ever move to an address that is different from the one to which they sent the PCN.  If you don't do that, you risk getting a CCJ because CNBC will send the claim to your old address.  To notify a change of address, send the following email (attaching proof of your new address such as an updated V5C vehicle registration certificate or utility bill) to dpo@groupnexus.co.uk

Dear Sirs,

PCN [         ] VEHICLE [                 ]

I dispute this charge and intend to defend any claim initiated in relation to it.

Please note that I no longer reside at the address shown on the PCN and correspondence sent to me there will not reach me.  I require you to erase my former address from your records.  My new address is [                        ] and I attach proof thereof.

Yours faithfully,

You must repeat the exercise every time you move house in the next six years.

Hello again, sorry been unwell and not been able to focus.

This is how the events transpired; my mum was driving the car. She went to the shopping area and when she was leaving she went to the machine and put in her vrn. The machine came up with £1 so she was there less than two hours. It seems that by the time she got to the cr and loaded up, then left the car park it must have gone over the two hour mark. She said the car park was busy with cars and people and took some time to get out. 8 minutes is the questionable time here. So for 8 mins they want to charge my mum who is 74 £90 originally and now £160. What a world we live in.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1G8FZoSIuUSIL4R_in5e6OYqsLHF6bUf-/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1G2g6hAeLlvDvlVJExhyNx2qoLzIiJaJM/view?usp=sharing

So I went to the car park and it looks like you are correct. There must have been an error on my mums part but she says 100% she typed in the vrn correctly and thats what came as the tarrif. Not sure what to do now really.

Yes she has been there many times. In fact her previous visit a few days earlier it was £1 and again she was there for 2 hours butI cant verify this. Whats the procedure if it goes to court?

So it's been 6 weeks and have not heard anything further from nexus group. Is there a time limit on these things?