Apcoa Parking 'Invoice' - advice

neil1970

Hi

First time post- so here goes.

I received a Civil parking notice from Apcoa for parking in a restricted space at my local Train Station.

I appealed on the basis of poor visibility of the signs etc but they have written to me saying that this was unsuccessful - surprise!

I now have 14 days to pay £50 or I can appeal to POPLA which if unsuccessful, would mean £80.

Having read previous threads, Apcoa's ability to identify the driver would have meant it was un-enforceable but given that I have appealed and had bought a ticket via my telephone account on the day, I can't see them being unable to identify me!

So, any advice? Should I just pay the £50 and put it down to experience or continue as before and ignore?

Thanks

ManxRed

Don't panic. You still have no obligation to pay the charge.

I would appeal to POPLA on the following points:

1. APCOA do not have proprietorial or occupational rights over the land in question so do not have sufficient capability to offer a contract for parking with the driver (re: VCS v HMRC), hence cannot pursue you in respect of a breach of such contract.

2. Even if a contract existed (which you refute), then the sum pursued is not representative of actual losses incurred by the landholder, and hence constitutes a punitive penalty, which is unenforceable under contract law.



This will cost APCOA £27 plus VAT.

The good news for you, is - although this appeal ought to succeed - even if POPLA reject this, you are still under no obligation whatsoever to pay up.

APCOA would not pursue this to court unless they were incredibly foolish, the two points I've given you above would be enough to get it kicked out of court, and APCOA know it.

neil1970

Thanks for your comprehensive advice, very useful.

I'm printing my photos as I type for the POPLA form.

NotanIdiot

You can do the Popla thing cos it then costs the PPC £32.

Whatever the outcome, the appeal is binding on them but not on you. So even if they uphold it, you just then carry on ignoring, because if they attempt to enforce in court, we can provide you with a cast iron defence, They havent a a chance of getting anything.

So in fact rather than 14 days to pay £50, you can cost them £32 by appealing, and then you have the rest of your life to pay nothing no matter what.