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Hi all, I'm hoping someone could offer a bit of advice regarding UKCPS and their "Parking Notices". I'm finding a lot of mixed info via Google.
This afternoon I went to Cross Gates centre in Leeds, as the car park was full I parked on Back Austhorpe Rd, this is a public road and parking is not charged on it.
The building in the centre of the picture is Larkspeed and at the time was closed and the staff had all left (3pm).
I was parked on Back Austhorpe Road at the side of Larkspeed (roughly where the silver car is at the corner of the building), there are parking notices there but since it is a public access road that doesn't carry parking charges I assumed parking would be ok. I know a lot of people say it but I really was in there literally 10mins.
Where do I stand with this Parking Notice, do I have to pay? Can I ignore the inevitable letters that will follow? Should I attempt an appeal?
I've read numerous times that this UKCPS are quite the shady company but rarely, if at all, actually pursue court proceedings. Anyone had dealings with them or know how to deal with them?
The main thing is, can they prove it was YOU driving?
The answer is no, you do NOT have to say.
Just ignore any letters. DO NOT respond in any way, or you signify acceptance of their demands.
This^^^^
Can they prove you was driving??? Just ignore all contact from the parking company, 9/10 it will just go away but incase they do start court proceedings then you will have to reply to the courts, then you could deny you was driving on that day, its not like a speeding ticket where the registered keeper by law has to say who was driving, these are parking company clowns who are trying to screw you out of money by pretending to manage the car park which they probably only been once before to put up the signage!!!
You will get some nasty letters from the parking company trying to scare you into paying up, but just chuck them in the bin!!! It costs the parking company money to take you to court and there win rate at courts are pretty low!!
In October 2012, the Protection of Freedoms Act was introduced in England and Wales, bringing in the concept of keeper liability. This change in law meant that, should certain conditions be met by the parking company, the keeper of the vehicle could be held liable for the parking ticket if the identity of the driver was not provided by the keeper. At this time, a number of parking companies, such as ParkingEye and Civil Enforcement Ltd, started to issue county court claims to enforce tickets. It is believed the intention here is to change the public’s perception that private parking tickets can be ignored.
Can they prove you was driving??? Just ignore all contact from the parking company, 9/10 it will just go away but incase they do start court proceedings then you will have to reply to the courts, then you could deny you was driving on that day, its not like a speeding ticket where the registered keeper by law has to say who was driving, these are parking company clowns who are trying to screw you out of money by pretending to manage the car park which they probably only been once before to put up the signage!!!
You will get some nasty letters from the parking company trying to scare you into paying up, but just chuck them in the bin!!! It costs the parking company money to take you to court and there win rate at courts are pretty low!!
The actual car park belongs to the Cross Gates Shopping Centre and is a pay to exit car park and it is monitored as it is a busy place but Back Austhorpe Road a public road and is not part of it.
The only thing I think they could argue is that I was on private land (Larkspeed's) but since it's free to park there to visit Larkspeed it shouldn't even be an issue. Plus, as mentioned in my first post, Larkspeed had closed for the day so there was no "loss of income" to them at the time.
In October 2012, the Protection of Freedoms Act was introduced in England and Wales, bringing in the concept of keeper liability. This change in law meant that, should certain conditions be met by the parking company, the keeper of the vehicle could be held liable for the parking ticket if the identity of the driver was not provided by the keeper. At this time, a number of parking companies, such as ParkingEye and Civil Enforcement Ltd, started to issue county court claims to enforce tickets. It is believed the intention here is to change the public’s perception that private parking tickets can be ignored.
Contrary to popular belief, private parking charge notices are now legally enforceable, but only if they're issued on the basis that the enforcement company can prove that the conditions of use were reasonable and adequately signed. If you're 100% confident that it would have been impossible for anyone parking where and when you did to reasonably conclude that restrictions were in force, and reasonably understand what those restrictions were, the alternative approach to ignoring the letters is to write back politely and explain why you don't believe the charge applies, and then wait for the inevitable reply from UKCPS telling you why they think you're wrong. Now, if you look carefully, somewhere near the top of that letter there should be a popla reference/verification code*. You then need to take that code, head on over to the POPLA appeals website, put in your code and give them the basic facts of where and when you were parked, the reasons why UKCPS think they have a right to charge you, and the reasons why you think they're talking out of their backsides. POPLA will then weigh up whether the facts add up to an enforceable case, almost certainly decide they don't, then contact UKCPS to see if they have anything further to say. They'll of course very likely get no reply, since the one or two people working at UKCPS who deal with POPLA are the very same one or two out of however many hundreds or thousands of others on UKPCS's payroll who have IQs in double-digits, and they know full well the terms of their parking charges are a load of hot air and why, at which point POPLA will simply void your charge and write back to inform you of this
* By law UKCPS have to give you a popla reference. If they don't, they're liable to have their license to act as parking enforcement company revoked.
The consequence of this case is that the genuine pre-estimate of loss argument against high parking charges will no longer work. Parking charges do not need to represent loss, but instead not be extravagant or unconscionable. It does not, however, mean parking charges are enforceable if other arguments can be cited. We have a guide here that offers a number of ideas
I have just gone through all this with UKCPS in Leeds. I can tell you they do follow through and take you to court. I played the ignore card all the way through thinking\hoping it would go away!!! It didn't and I got a court date!!! The best thing to do off the bat is contact the actual land owner and hope they quash it. There are numerous sites on the internet with up to date information but please don't ignore it. It doesn't work with UKCPS!!
Contrary to popular belief, private parking charge notices are now legally enforceable, but only if they're issued on the basis that the enforcement company can prove that the conditions of use were reasonable and adequately signed. If you're 100% confident that it would have been impossible for anyone parking where and when you did to reasonably conclude that restrictions were in force, and reasonably understand what those restrictions were, the alternative approach to ignoring the letters is to write back politely and explain why you don't believe the charge applies, and then wait for the inevitable reply from UKCPS telling you why they think you're wrong. Now, if you look carefully, somewhere near the top of that letter there should be a popla reference/verification code*. You then need to take that code, head on over to the POPLA appeals website, put in your code and give them the basic facts of where and when you were parked, the reasons why UKCPS think they have a right to charge you, and the reasons why you think they're talking out of their backsides. POPLA will then weigh up whether the facts add up to an enforceable case, almost certainly decide they don't, then contact UKCPS to see if they have anything further to say. They'll of course very likely get no reply, since the one or two people working at UKCPS who deal with POPLA are the very same one or two out of however many hundreds or thousands of others on UKPCS's payroll who have IQs in double-digits, and they know full well the terms of their parking charges are a load of hot air and why, at which point POPLA will simply void your charge and write back to inform you of this
* By law UKCPS have to give you a popla reference. If they don't, they're liable to have their license to act as parking enforcement company revoked.
I have just gone through all this with UKCPS in Leeds. I can tell you they do follow through and take you to court. I played the ignore card all the way through thinking\hoping it would go away!!! It didn't and I got a court date!!! The best thing to do off the bat is contact the actual land owner and hope they quash it. There are numerous sites on the internet with up to date information but please don't ignore it. It doesn't work with UKCPS!!
09 October 2016, 01:44 AM
UKCPS ltd Parking Notice
