APCOA Windscreen PCN - Ulster Hospital N.Ireland

[aries18pk]

Hi,

 

I have received a PCN for following contravention;

 

"Parking for longer than permitted". 

 

Should I just pay the amount or is there a way it can be avoided?

 

I did park in drop-off zone for longer than expected because main car parks were full.

 

There were spaces in Disabled Car Park but obviously parking their without proper documentation would have resulted in another PCN.

 

Parking Charge Notice

 

1 Date of the infringement 19/12/2022
 

2 Date on the NTK [this must have been received within 14 days from the 'offence' date] 19/12/2022

 

3 Date received 19/12/2022

 

4 Does the NTK mention schedule 4 of The Protections of Freedoms Act 2012? [Y/N?] No
 

5 Is there any photographic evidence of the event? Not provided with PCN
 

6 Have you appealed? [Y/N?] post up your appeal] No
 

Have you had a response? [Y/N?] post it up N/A
 

7 Who is the parking company? APCOA Parking

 

8. Where exactly [carpark name and town] Ulster Hospital
 

For either option, does it say which appeals body they operate under. POPLA

 

PCN-1.pdf

[FTMDave]

Well it's your call.

 

You can pay £40 and the problem disappears.

 

Or you can fight the fleecers, and we'd certainly help you.

 

There is a lot wrong with what they've written.  They only state you were there for 21 minutes.  Anyway, what were you supposed to do with the car parks full?  Plus I'm pretty sure that POFA 2012 doesn't apply to Northern Ireland, so they can't transfer liability from the driver to the keeper.

 

How long is the allowed drop off period?

 

Thanks for filling in the forum sticky so quickly.  You left the VRN and fleecers' reference showing, but I've removed them.

[FTMDave]

We've had a lot of success in previous "hospital car park" cases by involving the PALS service.  However, all those cases have been in England and I suspect PALS may only exist in England as I've searched and searched and found nothing for Ulster Hospital.  Is there a body in Northern Ireland that patients can contact if they have problems with a hospital?

 

I also see that the hospital itself admits parking is a mess

 

https://setrust.hscni.net/our-hospitals/ulsterhospital/car-parking/

 

Car Parking Pressures at the Ulster Hospital

The increasing requirements for the provision of hospital services have inevitably led to additional pressure on car parking at the Ulster site. This has lead to queuing at car parks during peak times and the Trust would unreservedly apologise to visitors for the delay that this can cause.

We would advise that if you need to use a vehicle and our car parking facilities to enable an appointment or to visit a patient that you allow at least 45 minutes to get parked.

[aries18pk]

Thank you very much for your quick response and removing unnecessary details from the PCN.

 

allowed drop-off period was 20 minutes - this was indicated on the nearby signpost. I don't have any issue paying £40 but my only reason to contest is that there was no other option available since all parking spaces were full and there were queues on the entrance to car parks.

 

is it worth appealing this PCN stating the facts? 

[FTMDave]

So the reason they wrote the ticket after 21 minutes becomes clear.

 

The problem with appealing is who would you be appealing to?  An unbiased body?  No, the very people who are trying to chisel money out of you.  Their only income is through these invoices.  They don't get dosh any other way.

 

Add to that that you did overstay the time as clearly displayed on their signs.  Realistically, what would the result of an appeal be?

 

It would be much more productive to get on to (a) someone who might be more sympathetic and (b) has the power to reign in these fleecers.  Ulster Hospital. 

 

If you can't find anything better, their site does have a complaints portal, go on there, explain what happened, link to what they admit on their own site is parking chaos, and ask them to call their dogs off.

[aries18pk]

I understand it. Thanks a lot for your guidance.

[aries18pk]

Hi, I was able to look out and found NI Consumer Council who generally helps with such issues. I have reached out to them and hopefully they can assist to get this PCN cancelled. I am sharing the link to council's website just in case anyone else needs it.

 

thank you again for your assistance.

 

Regards,

 

Contact us | Consumer Council

WWW.CONSUMERCOUNCIL.ORG.UK

 

[FTMDave]

Thanks for the link.

 

However, from a very quick browse through their site they seem to do what we do, albeit also with face-to-face interviews and concentrating specifically on N.I.

 

It's Ulster Hospital who called in the fleecers and can call them off.  Good news!  I've just looked at their complaints page again and they've just added a line  If you are having technical issues with the complaints form, please send your complaint via email to complaints@setrust.hscni.net  https://setrust.hscni.net/contact-us/complaints/

 

So there is an e-mail address to contact the hospital with.  We've found English hospitals to be generally - but not always - pretty decent re getting parking invoices cancelled.