Reply from POPLA

hoohoo

You are falling for an impersonation of authority scam :-)

Just because the PPC says you can only appeal to POPLA for certain reasons doesn't make it so. If they had said you can only appeal if you wrote your original appeal in red ink, while hopping on one leg and whistling Waltzing Matilda would anyone have believed them then?

We all know PPCs build their business on misinformation and the odd outrageous lie, and this is just another example.

The PPC has tried to impose this condition retrospectively after the original has been completed, and there is nothing about this condition either in the government guidelines or the POPLA website.

In reality, it would be a complete own goal by POPLA if they wrote back saying in effect, "Your appeal is denied. Reason X was a valid reason to allow your appeal, but we decided to ignore it for reasons you were not made aware of before starting the appeal process." Let's secretly hope POPLA do this, but realistically expect them to be a bit more worldy-wise and not shoot themselves in the foot.

Especially as they probably have nothing better to do than to read this forum until the appeals process starts to kick off.

On a slightly different note, is this worth a quiet world in the ear of the DVLA? If a PPC is trying to impose their own conditions on the POPLA process then perhaps this is enough to get their DVLA access suspended?

Or, since the POPLA process is meant to be strictly controlled, perhaps this is a valid reason to appeal:

"The ticket is invalid because the PPC did not follow the POPLA process, but tried to impose extra restrictions."

Of course, you will note that this particular reason is only apparent after the PPC appeal, and so while a perfectly valid reason for appeal would never be allowed by POPLA if we were to believe the PPC. :-)

hoohoo

NotanIdiot wrote: »

Absolutely, its discriminatory. What if you are disabled and cant operate a computer?

I'd like Coupon Mad's opinion on this from the discriminatory angle.

Specifically, is it worth a letter to the DVLA asking to suspend their access because they are only providing the POPLA forms in a digital form, which disadvantages people without ready computer access.

Also, it is worth letters to any other body? Trading Standards? Disability Rights? BPA (I know, waste of ink!)?

I-LOV-MONEY

Who would bet that the first appeals through POPLA are successful. This will make them look good, and truly independent!

ManxRed

They might be setting a precedent though. Not a legal one, but if they uphold an appeal for any particular reason then they might find it difficult to turn an identical appeal down later.

taffy056

We need to make sure we get successes up on here, though my feeling is that they'll be as rare as hens teeth. If you look at patas and see that most appeals are allowed, wouldn't it be reasonable to assume the same for popla ? If not there needs to be serious questions asked for the reason why, it would look like that private parking tickets have more legitimacy than penalty charges notices, and that wouldn't be acceptable IMO

ManxRed

Of course the real killer will be if POPLA reject an appeal and it subsequently goes to court and a court throws it out.

No idea how long we might have to wait for one of those.

I-LOV-MONEY

Could the court throw it out that POPLA have no legitimacy to levy a fine?

ManxRed

Probably not. The court claim would have to be from the PPC (yeah, I know, it ought to be the landowner, but let's keep it real eh?) so they'd be the ones levying the 'fine', not POPLA.

peter_the_piper

I doubt it but they could be persuaded that the range of arguments that popla look at are extremely limited and do encompass all the facts.

Coupon-mad

hoohoo wrote: »

I'd like Coupon Mad's opinion on this from the discriminatory angle.

Specifically, is it worth a letter to the DVLA asking to suspend their access because they are only providing the POPLA forms in a digital form, which disadvantages people without ready computer access.

Also, it is worth letters to any other body? Trading Standards? Disability Rights? BPA (I know, waste of ink!)?

We would need a person who had been disadvantaged by this to complain. I suspect there is potential for a complaint since not everyone has access to a PC, how is the average non-techy elderly victim going to navigate their way around this system? The Equality Act covers age discrimination as well in E&W.