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#Post#: 108606--------------------------------------------------
Parking Awareness Services - Unauthorised vehicle parked - Spire
Hospital Cardiff
By: ericaswas Date: February 3, 2026, 4:25 pm
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I received a PCN, pictures attached here (page 1 to 4):
HTML https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCJrvn
I appealed before reading the advice on here, which is a shame,
but hopefully somebody will nevertheless give me advice...
The appeal I sent is reproduced below and will serve as an
explanation of what happened; if anyone wants further info, I
will gladly give it:
"My wife had an appointment at Spire Hospital Cardiff at 10am on
15/01/26, following spinal surgery. Due to the surgery, she
couldn't drive & needed dropping off & picking up. Because of
post-op pain, she can't stand for long, so it was vital that I
was at the hospital for pickup as soon as the appointment
finished. I dropped her off at 10am then drove to a shop while
she was attending the appointment. It was due to end at 10:20,
so I drove back from the shop & reentered the car park 5 minutes
before, to be ready for the quickest pickup. My wife then texted
me that the Consultant was running 20 minutes late, so I parked
up so as not to block the waiting area. I then waited in the car
till she texted that she was ready for pickup. I drove to the
waiting area immediately, picked her up & we left the car park.
From the PCN, the time entry to exit was 35 mins, but this was a
pickup, not parking. I did not leave the car parked &
unattended.
In order to support pickup/dropoff, there obviously exists a
grace/consideration period for which registration is not
necessary. This must be the case, since I received no PCN for
the period I was in the car park dropping my wife off, before
exiting to the shop. At UHW, where my wife's surgery took place,
this period is 4 hours & is clearly indicated on signs. At
Spire, there is no indication of the grace/consideration period
(see attached 'spire actual sign viewed') & it is therefore a
reasonable assumption that it is long enough to cover the
appointment time plus the inevitable time waiting to be seen
plus transfer time, say 1 hour. It should be specified to avoid
confusion. Note that the site evidence on your website shows a
sign (attached `Parking Awareness site evidence sign`) which
DOES specify the waiting time as 30mins, but DIFFERS from the
one actually on site.
For these reasons I will not be paying the fine as it is
unjustified in my case."
As I stated in my appeal, I took a picture of the sign actually
in the Car Park, entitled "spire actual sign viewed" and it
differs from the one listed under 'site evidence' when I went to
Parking Awareness Services' website. That picture is entitled
"Parking Awareness site evidence sign"
I received the following response to my appeal:
Dear xxx,
Thank you for your recent appeal for Parking Charge Notice xxx.
We have reviewed the case and considered the comments that you
have made. This appeal has been considered in conjunction with
the evidence gathered by the ANPR system; retrospective evidence
you may have supplied could not be used in the appeal decision.
The reason you were issued with a Parking Charge Notice was:
Vehicle not authorised at Cardiff Spire Hospital as detailed on
signage. The signage clearly displayed on site at Cardiff Spire
Hospital clearly states that to remain on site motorists MUST
register their full and accurate vehicle registration in the
kiosk in the reception upon arrival. The vehicle must be
registered for the entire period the vehicle is on site, from
entry to exit. Vehicles must be fully parked within the confines
of a single marked bay. Patients are not exempt from the terms
and conditions of this site due to the quantity of signage (A
boards outside reception, signage inside reception, signs in car
park, signs at entry/exit) and the kiosks provided in multiple
locations (receptions, imaging, wards...)
The terms and conditions apply to all vehicles remaining on
site. The private parking single code of practice defines
parking as: "a vehicle entering and remaining on controlled
land... a vehicle being stationary other than in the course of
driving... NOTE: A vehicle may be deemed to be parked whether or
not the driver has left the vehicle and/or turned off the
ignition". There is no requirement for signage to specify a
consideration or grace period. As your vehicle remained on site
for 35 minutes, you were required to register it. As we have no
record of your vehicle being registered, the terms and
conditions were not met. In accordance with the new single code
of practice, the PCN will be reduced to £20 where the vehicle
would have been permitted at the location, but the driver failed
to enter their registration into a terminal/device as specified
in the terms and conditions, or it was not submitted correctly.
This reduction applies only for the first parking charge issued
for the vehicle.
Due to the above, we are unable to cancel the Parking Charge
Notice as we believe, with the evidence we have, that it was
issued correctly. The amount due is £20, within the next 14
days, failing to pay the reduced amount means that the full
amount of £100 with be due after the reduced period has ended.
You can make payment using the methods below:
Online: www.managemypcn.com
BACs / Bank Transfer:
Account Name: Parking Awareness Services
Sort Code: 04-00-75
Account Number: 74904906
Payment reference: 7270023468 xxxx
(Using the wrong reference format may delay allocation.)
If you believe this decision is incorrect, you are entitled to
appeal to the Independent Appeals Service (IAS). Appeals must be
submitted within 28 days of the date of your decision. For
further information please visit
HTML https://track.pstmrk.it/3ts/www.theias.org./bK0EAQ/vhDDAQ/AQ/ea8ddda9-a1fa-4685-9fd4-4ccda7f6ba6a/1/QMZexDwUok<br
/>Please be advised that if you do appeal to IAS and the option
to
pay the discounted amount is available, it will no longer be
available and the full amount of the PCN will be due if your
appeal is rejected by IAS.
This email is a summary of your appeal decision, a letter with
full details will be posted to you, to the name and address
provided at the time the appeal was submitted.
Yours sincerely,
Parking Awareness Services
I also contacted the hospital to check whether they could cause
the fine to be waived. As expected, they said that the parking
was handled by the independent company, and asked whether the
fine had been commuted to £20 and when I said it had, they said
that that was tantamount to an 'admin charge' rather than a
fine. I asked for their complaints contact - they gave me an
email address and I may yet complain to see if the charge can be
waived from their influence.
In the meantime, do I have grounds/defence not to pay the £20 -
if so, what action should I take?
Thanks in advance!
#Post#: 108643--------------------------------------------------
Re: Parking Awareness Services - Unauthorised vehicle parked - S
pire Hospital Cardiff
By: jfollows Date: February 4, 2026, 2:16 am
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Only you can decide if it’s worth £20 to avoid
[list]
[li]appealing to the IAS[/li]
[li]having the appeal rejected[/li]
[li]receiving letters from debt collectors[/li]
[li]receiving a Letter of Claim from a solicitor[/li]
[li]receiving a county court claim[/li]
[li]preparing and submitting a defence[/li]
[li]attending a telephone mediation session[/li]
[li]receiving phone calls[/li]
[li]waiting for the claimant to discontinue before paying the
court fee[/li]
[li]probably end up paying nothing[/li]
[li]but possibly having to pay £100s once costs are added to the
base £100[/li]
[/list]
I don’t know this parking company, so they may not bother. But
this is the path many parking companies follow.
#Post#: 108644--------------------------------------------------
Re: Parking Awareness Services - Unauthorised vehicle parked - S
pire Hospital Cardiff
By: InterCity125 Date: February 4, 2026, 2:23 am
---------------------------------------------------------
The Spire is normally a private hospital so it might be worth
going to them directly as technically they may well be the
land-owner.
#Post#: 108651--------------------------------------------------
Re: Parking Awareness Services - Unauthorised vehicle parked - S
pire Hospital Cardiff
By: ericaswas Date: February 4, 2026, 3:19 am
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=jfollows link=topic=9797.msg108643#msg108643
date=1770192996]
Only you can decide if it’s worth £20 to avoid
[list]
[li]appealing to the IAS[/li]
[li]having the appeal rejected[/li]
[li]receiving letters from debt collectors[/li]
[li]receiving a Letter of Claim from a solicitor[/li]
[li]receiving a county court claim[/li]
[li]preparing and submitting a defence[/li]
[li]attending a telephone mediation session[/li]
[li]receiving phone calls[/li]
[li]waiting for the claimant to discontinue before paying the
court fee[/li]
[li]probably end up paying nothing[/li]
[li]but possibly having to pay £100s once costs are added to the
base £100[/li]
[/list]
I don’t know this parking company, so they may not bother. But
this is the path many parking companies follow.
[/quote]
Thanks for this:
Their reviews are not good
HTML https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/parkingawareness.co.uk
so the prognosis is poor...
#Post#: 108652--------------------------------------------------
Re: Parking Awareness Services - Unauthorised vehicle parked - S
pire Hospital Cardiff
By: ericaswas Date: February 4, 2026, 3:20 am
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=InterCity125 link=topic=9797.msg108644#msg108644
date=1770193432]
The Spire is normally a private hospital so it might be worth
going to them directly as technically they may well be the
land-owner.
[/quote]
Yes, they are one of the Bupa hospitals in Cardiff, so we will
try this route.
#Post#: 108663--------------------------------------------------
Re: Parking Awareness Services - Unauthorised vehicle parked - S
pire Hospital Cardiff
By: InterCity125 Date: February 4, 2026, 4:48 am
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=ericaswas link=topic=9797.msg108652#msg108652
date=1770196828]
[quote author=InterCity125 link=topic=9797.msg108644#msg108644
date=1770193432]
The Spire is normally a private hospital so it might be worth
going to them directly as technically they may well be the
land-owner.
[/quote]
Yes, they are one of the Bupa hospitals in Cardiff, so we will
try this route.
[/quote]
Be firm with them - at the end of the day you were putting their
patient first.
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