How Can I Challenge A Flashpark PCN?
This blog serves to answer the question “How Can I Challenge A Flashpark PCN?” Flashpark enforces lower level parking contravention codes in its car parks and ensures that the parking space is run efficiently to serve the needs of its clients. You should memorise the 12 contravention codes in place at Flashparks parking zones and attempt to collect evidence of your presence in these car parks by recording video clips of each of your parking experiences inside them.
How Can I Challenge A Flashpark PCN?
Your Flashpark PCN can only be challenged by writing a written challenge and mailing it to the Flashpark parking services address. This PCN challenge can only contain evidence in the form of photographs, medical certificates (for proving mitigating circumstances) or copies of your pay and display tickets. The evidence you will send with your appeal depends on the contravention code on your Flashpark Penalty Charge Notice.
For instance if you have received a Flashpark PCN with the contravention code 96, parked with engine running where prohibited you can use photographs from the Flashpark parking zone to show that your vehicle had its engine turned off while parked in the designated parking space. You can also upload video footage of your vehicle parked in the Flashpark car park, with its engine clearly turned off. These video clips can be recorded by a passenger in your vehicle travelling with you, you should remember to film a short clip when you leave your vehicle parked in the parking zone and one when you return to remove it from the designated parking space.
If you are taking photographs you can take a series of photographs of the front half of your vehicle and your ignition key before leaving your vehicle parked in the Flashpark car park and after you return to remove your vehicle from its designated parking space. You can mention the date and time on these photographs to support your case.
Your PCN will only be cancelled if you provide a valid reason to prove that you did not breach the parking contravention on your PCN, and have authentic evidence material to back your case.
In many cases, PCNs are not enforceable and you may be able to win your case and avoid having to pay your fine.
You could begin the process by speaking to an online solicitor for as little as £5.
What is the procedure for appealing against a Flashpark PCN?
You can only challenge a Flashpark PCN by writing a written appeal to the car park management company and posting it to their mailing address. It is necessary for you to send in your PCN challenge by the 20th day or so at most to allow it to reach its destination on time. You need to ensure that all your evidence material has been correctly attached to your written PCN challenge and can add a checklist in your envelope to make sure that nothing is left out or disregarded.
You need to brainstorm reasons to challenge a Flashpark PCN from the day of your parking violation incident and list them down in word processing software or on paper.The evidence must be matched with the grounds for your appeal before describing the incident from your point of view. Your rough formal representation can be edited for clarity multiple times before it is ready to be written on paper and sent to Flashpark.
The text of your appeal must state the relevant contravention code on your PCN and explain how you attempted to avoid the error (supported by photos or other evidence material). You can write down a PCN challenge on paper and attach evidence documents or photographs to the form using a stapler or paper clip. Your letter should mention your Flashpark PCN number, date of issue of the PCN, your vehicle registration number, and personal details.
Your PCN appeals letter and all accompanying evidence documents (enclosed in an envelope) need to be sent to:
Flashpark,
PO Box 21425,
Highgate,
London,
N6 6WP
Flashpark will respond to your Parking PCN appeal and your Flashpark PCN will be cancelled or you will be sent a Notice of Rejection or Representations, which needs to be received promptly in order to contest the notice with the Parking on Private Land Appeals service.
What is a Penalty Charge Notice?
A Penalty Charge Notice is a monetary penalty issued to drivers or motorists for committing certain traffic contraventions including violating Parking, Bus Lane, and Moving Traffic restrictions. A PCN is issued for failing to follow Parking zone, bus lane enforcement, and moving traffic restrictions mentioned in the Road Traffic Act 1984 and the Traffic Management Act 2004.
A penalty charge notice can be handed to you by a Civil Enforcement Officer or dispatched to your (DVLA) residential address by post. Traffic contraventions are observed by CCTV cameras and Civil Enforcement Officers before a violation is detected and the vehicle is charged with a PCN.
A PCN might also be issued for failing to pay road charges on time. You have 28 days to decide how and if you would like to challenge your Penalty Charge Notice. After 28 days if you have neither paid nor challenged your PCN, your unpaid PCN amount will be registered as debt at the Traffic Enforcement Centre at the Northampton County Court.
What Is Flashpark?
Flashpark allows you to create a legally enforced controlled parking zone in whichever area you like. This can be a residential area, shopping centre, college or university area or around an office space. This can help you to efficiently manage the vehicles parked inside the zone and control the traffic entering and leaving the parking area to ensure that no outside vehicle enters.
In order to issue tickets with Flashpark you need to take a clear photograph or film a video clip of the specific vehicle violating a certain contravention code and login to the flashpark website to enter the Vehicle’s Registration Number, upload your available photographs or video evidence and mention he date and time of the traffic violation. Flashpark is provided with registered keepers information by the DVLA and can use this to pursue the vehicle owner to pay the PCN fine (by also taking them to court).
With Flashpark you can be sure of not having any unauthorized vehicles using your parking area and ensure that all the authorized vehicles utilize your designated parking spaces.
How Can I Pay My Flashpark Parking PCN?
You should be aware of the fact that you can only pay your Flashpark Parking PCN fine online. The PCN fine can be paid online on the Flashpark Parking official website. This payment method saves time and is also more precise as your details are entered directly into an electronic database.
If you were looking for a postal order payment option or a choice for paying your PCN fine via an automated payments hotline, you might be disappointed to learn that these options are unavailable for your Flashpark Parking PCN.
You need to enter your Parking Charge (Notice Reference) Number and Vehicle Registration Number after opening this webpage to initiate the PCN fine payment online. After clicking “Continue” you will be shown your Penalty Charge Notice information and in the next window, you can enter your payment card details. You must remember to wait for 24 hours after your PCN is issued before attempting to pay it.
Flashpark accepts Visa Card, Master Card and Maestro card for PCN fine payments.
What happens if I don’t pay my Flashpark Parking PCN within 28 days?
You should not consider a private car park PCN any less than a regular PCN issued by your local council. The lower level parking contravention codes enforced by Flashpark make you legally bound to respect them while using the company’s parking zones.
If you neither pay your Flashpark PCN within 28 days nor decide to appeal against it, you will be sent a letter from the car park company to pay your PCN in full within 14 days. If you donot pay the PCN within the next 14 days, you (nonpayment) case will be passed on to enforcement agents or bailiffs. Your actions will also result in the filing of a court order (for recovery of debts) against you by Flashpark.
Your unpaid Parking PCN amount will be treated as a debt with the Traffic Enforcement Centre at the Northampton County Court.
The court order for debt recovery enforces that the charge certificate amount must be paid in full within 21 days the county court will have to use additional powers to recover the money from your possession which means employing Enforcement Agents, to (contact you or) visit your personal premises.
Can I dispute my Notice of Rejection with POPLA if Flashpark dismisses my appeal?
You can dispute your Notice of Rejection of Representations from Flashpark with the Parking on Private Land Appeals service (POPLA). Your challenge can be sent in 2 different ways, the first method is to download the POPLA Appeals Form, print it out and send it to the Parking On Private Land Appeals service postal address:
POPLA,
PO Box 1270,
Warrington,
WA4 9RL
The letter must mention the 10 digit reference number contained in your Notice of Rejection from Flashpark. You need to remember that the appeal to POPLA is just like a regular Parking PCN challenge. You can upload evidence such as video clips of your traffic violation scenes (taken from inside your vehicle), medical certificates from a certified General Practitioner, and scanned copies of “pay and display” tickets.
The evidence is necessary to convince the Parking on Private Land Appeals service that you did not breach the relevant parking contravention code. You should preferably memorise all these codes before using Flash Park’s car parks, so that you know how to challenge a PCN and can do your best to avoid getting one.
If you have mentioned mitigating circumstances in your POPLA appeal, you must be able to explain the cause and effect relationship between the condition which led you to commit the traffic violation (such as leaving your vehicle parked for an extended period of time owing to a medical emergency). The evidence material to be sent with your written representation needs to be a document or photographs from the scene of the incident. You can convert a video clip into photographs by using a video player or video editing software by simply taking snapshots of the relevant frames showing your claim.
A first class mail letter takes between 1 to 2 days to reach POPLA and second class mail takes between 3 to 5 days. So you need to send in your challenge by the 20th day at the latest for it to be considered side by side with Flashpark’s legal proposition.
You also need to remember that you must submit a challenge to your Notice of Rejection from Britannia Parking to POPLA within 28 days of receiving your Notice of Rejection.
How can I submit my challenge to the Notice of Rejection of Representations from Flashpark by using the online form?
In order to submit your challenge to the Notice of Rejection of Representations from Flashpark online, you need to visit the POPLA website. On this page you need to first agree to the terms and tick each one off and enter your 10 digit verification number stated on the Notice of Rejection from Flashpark. You need to click on “I Confirm that the operator is correct” and click on “Start Appeal” after that. On the next page you will be asked for your Flashpark PCN Number, Vehicle Registration Number, the reasons for your challenge and the evidence material to support your case (which can be uploaded onto the POPLA system).
Here you can easily attach evidence material such as video clips and scanned copies of your medical certificates (for supporting your mitigating circumstances) through your computer. It is also an advantage to be able to first edit the text of your formal representation in a word processing software and then transfer it onto the online appeals form on the POPLA website. A better worded parking contravention challenge which mentions the legal technicalities stated in the Road Traffic Act 1988 or the Traffic Management Act 2004 regarding your parking contravention code to put forward your challenge will be considered as a strong formal representation.
The evidence attached with your challenge should also be correctly matched with the grounds of your appeal and not seem out of place. The document or video clip needs to clearly prove your mitigating circumstances or show that the traffic contravention didn’t occur, and convince POPLA to accept your evidence over that provided by Flashpark.
Once POPLA is satisfied that Flashpark’s case has been refuted outright by your representation of the matter, the adjudicant (or assessor) of your case will probably make the final decision in your case.
This decision will be sent to both you and to Flashpark via email simultaneously. If the decision by POPLA is made in your favour the Flashpark PCN will immediately be cancelled.
If your appeal is rejected by Parking on Private Land Appeals service, you will have to pay the fine within the next 28 days to avoid your case being taken to the debt collection stage by Flashpark.
At POPLA “assessors” or adjudicators of your case will make their final decision based on :
- The act of legislation your case (traffic contravention) refers to such as the Traffic Management Act 2004
- The Code of Practice used by The British Parking Association
- The articles of evidence put forward by Flashpark and you which are representing opposing viewpoints of the situation.
Conclusion
This blog post addressed the question “How Can I Challenge A Flashpark PCN?” You must adhere to Flashpark’s parking contraventions while your vehicle remains parked inside a Flashpark car park, as any violation of these rules will make you liable for a Penalty Charge Notice. Private car park PCNs are just as rigidly enforceable as council issued Parking PCNs as the car park is providing a service for the vehicle owner and therefore the registered keeper of the vehicle is responsible for any breaches of these parking contraventions (made by their vehicle).