Free Traffic Legal Advice

On 24/10, the driver took their children to a soft play center. Upon arrival, they found that the payment machine for parking (cash/card) was either out of order or the process had moved entirely online. The driver attempted to use the designated app to make payment but encountered significant issues: poor signal and technical difficulties with the app itself prevented the payment from going through.

After spending about 10 minutes trying to resolve the issue, the driver had to prioritize their children’s soft play session, which was about to begin. They decided to head inside with the intention of sorting the payment once inside. Unfortunately, the driver became distracted and didn’t attempt payment again until roughly 30 minutes later. At that point, they successfully completed the payment, as evidenced by the receipt. However, they were unable to backdate the payment on the app and could only pay for an hour starting from the time the transaction was processed. The driver is aware that their total stay slightly exceeded the hour paid for.

Recently, the lease company informed the vehicle’s keeper that they had received a PCN (Parking Charge Notice) related to this incident. The lease company has charged a £12 admin fee for handling the notice and has contacted the issuing company, Gemini, requesting that the notice be readdressed to the driver directly. They advised that no appeal should be made until the PCN is issued in the driver’s name. As of now (21/11), the driver is still waiting for Gemini to send the notice directly to them.

Key Questions:

Are there grounds to challenge this PCN?

Given that payment was ultimately made (albeit delayed), and that genuine issues with the app and signal caused the delay, does the driver have a valid basis to contest the PCN?
Does the inability to backdate payment on the app provide further grounds for challenge, especially since the driver paid for as much time as they could from the point the transaction was completed?
What should the driver expect when the PCN arrives?
Are there specific details or evidence that Gemini must provide, particularly in the case of a private lease vehicle?

Does Gemini have any legal obligations to provide additional evidence?
For instance, should Gemini provide photographic evidence of the vehicle’s entry and exit, a timeline of the parking session, or a detailed breakdown of the alleged breach?

Does the fact that payment was made for an hour, even if slightly under the full duration of the stay, provide grounds for mitigation?
Could the fact that a payment was made and the overstay was marginal help challenge the validity of the PCN?

Any advice, similar experiences, or guidance on how to handle this situation would be greatly appreciated. The driver wants to ensure they approach this correctly and fully understand their rights before taking action. Thank you!

Yes, the lease company has the hirer’s current address and assume, has passed it on to Gemini. Additionally, the hirer was not the driver at the time of the incident.

Good. It doesn't matter if the Hirer was the driver or not. The burden of proof would be on the operator to show that the Hirer was the driver and the only way they could do that is if the Hirer told them they were also the driver, which they are under no legal obligation to do so to an unregulated private parking company.

You must now wait for the NtH to arrive in the Hirers name. Once it does, confirm to us whether it contains the following documents:


What you don't know is on what date the lease company transferred the liability to the Hirer. The operator has to "give" the NtH to the Hirer with 21 days of them receiving the liability transfer and required documents, if they intend to rely on PoFA to try and hold the Hirer liable.

Good. As you now have a Notice to Hirer (NtH) in your name, you can appeal, only as the Hirer, as they have no idea who the driver is, and tell them to go rotate on a sharp stick, slowly.

Use the following as your appeal as the Hirer (do not select anything that suggests anything except that the appellant is the Hirer or anything except driver.:

I am the Hirer of the vehicle and I dispute your 'parking charge'. I deny any liability or contractual agreement and I will be making a complaint about your predatory conduct to your client landowner.

As your Notice to Hirer (NtH) does not fully comply with ALL the requirements of PoFA 2012, you are unable to hold the Hirer of the vehicle liable for the charge. As your NtH did not include copies of the documents mandated in PoFA paragraph 14(2)(a), you have failed to fully comply with ALL the requirements of PoFA if your intention was to hold the Hirer liable.

Partial or even substantial compliance is not sufficient. There will be no admission as to who was driving and no inference or assumptions can be drawn. Gemini has relied on contract law allegations of breach against the driver only.

The Hirer cannot be presumed or inferred to have been the driver, nor pursued under some twisted interpretation of the law of agency. Your NtH can only hold the driver liable. Gemini have no hope at IAS, so you are urged to save us both a complete waste of time and cancel the PCN.

appeals@geminiparkingsolutions.com

Make sure you make your appeal as a PDF letter addressed to:

Gemini Parking Solutions London Ltd
PO Box 815
Wigan
WN1 9WX

But sent as an email attachment to the email address above.

If I can figure that out after a 2 minute Google search, you should be able to do so too!

Apologies, I did and forgot to update here!
The email was sent with the PCNN number and template.
Should one be resent as a PDF this time?

What does that mean? You either sent the appeal as advised, as a PDF attachment to an email or you used the webform and selected something that does you in the mire.

What did you do?

I read it as meaning they put the content that would otherwise have gone into the PDF into the body of their email. Would be useful for the OP to clarify.

Correct, content was sent in the body of the email instead of as an attachment within a pdf.

So they say you can't appeal by email, then take up much of the email responding to your appeal - having their cake and eating it? 

You could leave it, having made your point. Or you could respond briefly as follows: