Meteor Parking Ltd Appeal Guide

So you have received a Parking Charge Notice from Meteor Parking Ltd?  Meteor Parking Ltd issue many PCN’s on railway land that.  This first edition of the Meteor Parking Ltd Appeal Guide is aimed at people who have received such a PCN.

Parking Charge Notices issued on railway land are different to notices issued in other car parks such as shopping centres.  The difference is that railway land is covered by by-laws.  On land that is covered by by-laws, parking companies such as Meteor Parking Ltd are not able to claim keeper liability.  What this means is that unless you tell Meteor Parking the name of the driver, then they have no way of finding out who the driver was, and they also cannot hold the registered keeper of the vehicle liable either.  You see, under the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (known as “POFA 2012″),  private parking companies can hold the keeper liable under circumstances.  However, those circumstances to not extend to any land that is covered by by-laws – such as railway land.

So, if you do receive a PCN from Meteor Parking for parking on railway property, then follow the below instructions carefully.

1. Make sure you wait until you have received a notice in the mail.  Do not write to them if you have only received a notice on your windscreen.

2. Make sure you appeal to Meteor Parking as the keeper and not as the driver.  You do that by simply writing as follows: Dear Meteor Parking, I am appealing this PCN as the registered keeper.”. If you need to refer to the driver, you do so in the third person e.g. “The driver parked …”.

3. State that as keeper, you have are not required to name the driver, and refuse to do so.

4. State that the railway land is covered by by-laws and therefore not “relevant land”, and not covered by POFA 2012.

Here is an example of a Parking Charge notice from Meteor Parking Ltd.  Note that it was issued on behalf of “London Midland” railway company. It says “if payment is not received within twenty eight (28) days, Meteor Parking Ltimited will commence collection procedures (whcih may include legal action) for the recovery of the sum claims in this notice along with all costs associated with its recovery“.  Now, if the notice had not been incurred on railway land (nor any other land which has by-laws cover it) then Meteor would be within its rights to attempt legal action against the keeper.  However, this is not the case for a car park on railway land.

Meteor Parking, also runs car park on behalf of Southern and Southeastern.

I am often asked about the likely-hood of Meteor Parking taking someone to court.  The answer is that I’m not aware of anyone being taken to court for not paying a fine.  However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t appeal.   You should always appeal a Meteor Parking fine, particularly if it was received on railway land.

The fact is that Northern are the only railway company that issue penalty tickets under bylaws, and if you don’t pay a fine from Northern, you will find yourself in the Magisgtrates’ court.

Meteor Parking have used a number of debt collection agencies over the years, such as Robburghe debt collectors.  And more recently, GPB Solicitors have been sending out demands on behalf of Meteor Parking.

Reports are that rail commuters are have been hit with up to $40,000 “bogus” parking fines – not just by Meteor Parking, but also by other companies such at Met Parking.

Meteor Parking Ltd are members of the British Parking Association and also member’s of the BPA’s Approved Operator Scheme.  As such, you are able to appeal to POPLA if your appeal to Meteor Parking is unsuccessful.