u/Intelligent-Spell288

Hi all, England-based

I own a leasehold flat with an allocated/demised parking space, which I paid extra for when purchasing the property.

The managing agent recently changed the residential parking system to Sippi/e-permits/ANPR. Residents were told to register vehicles online, and the property manager confirmed in writing that the ANPR/e-permit system was live and that physical permits no longer needed to be displayed.

My own car was in for repair, so I was using Mercedes courtesy/loan vehicles. I registered/submitted the vehicles on the Sippi system for my parking bay as required.

I have now been made aware of 8 private parking charge notices issued by UK CPM to these Mercedes courtesy vehicles. The patrol agent never left any tickets in the windscreen either. He's issuing tickets because there is no physical ticket on the dashboard even though that is not needed anymore. Sippi / CPM / Property Management confirmed that its not needed. Yet tickets are still being issued . The patrol agent is unhinged

Mercedes has now paid all of them automatically and is seeking to recharge me.

Some PCNs were issued for “No Permit”, apparently because old signs still say a physical permit must be displayed, even though residents were told permits were no longer required. Others were issued as “Vehicle Not Registered (ANPR)”, even though the vehicle had been registered on Sippi. Sippi has confirmed there was an issue where registered vehicles were not syncing correctly with the back-office system.

UK CPM told me that because the PCNs were paid, there are no refunds and payment is treated as admission of liability. But I did not pay them or admit liability — Mercedes paid them automatically before I had any chance to dispute them.

My questions are :

1)If Mercedes recharges me, can I seek reimbursement from the managing agent because I followed their written instructions?

2)Is this something I can take through the managing agent’s formal complaints process and then The Property Ombudsman?

3)Does payment by Mercedes count as my admission of liability, even though I had no chance to appeal before they paid? (CPM says it does and there is nothing they can do about it)

4)Should I also pursue UK CPM/Sippi separately for cancellation/refund back to Mercedes?

It feels unfair that I may have to pay hundreds of pounds for parking in my own paid-for residential space, where I followed the managing agent’s process and the charges appear to have resulted from poor implementation, outdated signage and system errors.

Im facing over £800 in fines for a period of 1 months with probably more to be made aware of.

Sippi also told me in writing that they are aware of issues where even if we register the vehicle online its not sync to their system correctly so tickets will still be issued.

I spent last 3 days trying to sort this out but no one is helping me and referring me to cpm. Cpm says they understand but no refunds.

Any advice on the best route would be appreciated.