Excel lose Peel Centre case.Motorist not responsible for faulty payment machines

Excel v Ms P. Oldham C1DP1C1V. 10/2/2017

Ms P purchased a ticket at the Peel Centre but due to the well-publicised faults in the Metric Parking Machines Excel use, her ticket was only printed with two letters of the VRM.

Excel issued Ms P a parking charge which she declined to pay. Eventually they issued a court claim for £241.96.

The hearing

The claim was dismissed.

The judge ruled that it was up to Excel to prove that the machines were in correct working order, and that Ms P's word stacked up with the evidence (a partial registration recorded in the machine log).

Ms P drove home the point that the machine should be linked to the ANPR so that it is impossible to buy a ticket without the full registration.

The judge wasn't happy with some of the court bundle produced by Excel. The email appeal was barely legible (Ms P had a typed copy that she gave to her). They also included images of the tariff board that were different to the ones in place on the date Ms P parked. As the judge laid into the BW Legal stooge Ms P actually felt a bit sorry for the solicitor at some points!

Ms P included in her bundle a copy of the judgement from Excel Vs Mrs S case, also heard in Oldham, and when she made her judgement, the judge read sections from the case provided to inform her own judgment. She also made references to the Parking Prankster blogs Ms P had included about faulty machines on the Peel Centre.

Prankster Notes

Excel's boss Simon Renshaw-Smith thinks it fair that he makes extra money from motorists by using shoddy machines which fail. The Prankster disagrees, and thinks this is morally wrong.

It appears that judges, at least in Oldham, agree.

Happy Parking

The Parking Prankster