POPLA Decisions

Coupon-mad

Thrilled to read that outcome, Edna Basher!

Sounds intriguing and worth a Parking Prankster blog...

nigelbb

Well done Edna Basher although I am confused by this in the POPLA decision

The case is that the vehicle was parked in the car park for 25 minutes and had only paid for two hours.

Apart from being nonsensical I thought that this was a Health Centre were parking was only permitted for staff & those displaying a Blue Badge & not a paid car park?

Edna_Basher

I agree - the POPLA assessment was riddled with nonsense.

This was in the early days of the new Ombudsman Services' POPLA service when they were working through a large backlog of outstanding cases. It's clear that the assessor did not properly read our submission and simply created her assessment by copying and pasting text from a library of stock responses. Despite our complaints, POPLA refused to consider a reassessment.

Some may say that the POPLA service is no better now than it was back then.

windsmurf

Another non-contest! Received 19/03/17 (it's been a busy few weeks but I was keen to say thanks and pass on lessons learned):
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Dear ______[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Thank you for submitting your parking charge Appeal to POPLA.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]An Appeal has been opened with the reference __________.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] Indigo Solutions have told us they do not wish to contest the Appeal. This means that your Appeal is successful and you do not need to pay the parking charge.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Yours sincerely[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]POPLA Team[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Also direct from Indigo:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
Good Morning

I am writing in relation to the above Penalty Notice.

We acknowledge your appeal to POPLA. As part of the process we assess the decision made. As part of this assessment I have noted the POPLA code issued was not unique and upon your written request for a new code we did not provide this within the timely manner expected of our staff.

Due to these administrative errors during the appeal process Indigo have withdrawn the case from POPLA. I can confirm that the notice has been cancelled and the case concerned has been closed on this occasion with no payment required.

I trust the above is satisfactory and I’m sorry for any inconvenience caused
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us further.

Kind Regards,

_______

Massive thanks to Coupon Mad and all who stepped in. A peculiar anticlimax - obviously the ticket was cancelled which is the right result but I would've welcomed a full review to see how POPLA viewed this - particularly the whole debt collection palava.

Of note here as all other lessons are well covered by forum members elsewhere- INDIGO sending me the wrong POPLA code actually helped me in the end, adding approx an extra 40 days delays to the initial appeal process and moving towards a 6 months time out. If you receive a duplicate code, don't panic. Contact the BPA on the 28th day (your submission date) and complain that you have been sent an invalid code and dont have the opportunity to appeal. Have a cup of tea and add another 28 days from receiving a replacement code to your countdown towards a possible 6 month timeout (for byelaw cases only)

Ridiculous that you have to go down this route when you have made best endeavours to comply and brought a ticket in the first place. System is plain broken and needs full reform IMHO. The appeals website is a shocker too - clearly designed to encourage poor submissions and in favour of the cowboys.

Anyways, my full redacted POPLA letter on a seperate thread entitled "Indigo Southern Rail POPLA"
(Perhaps someone with forum privileges would be kind enough to link)

hankhill

I got a ticket from UK Parking Control (thread 72425639) for parking at some industrial estate car park in Cambridge where the sole sign had very small text, was unlit with very little ambient light on a dark winter's night, and to top it all was hidden behind a van that had been parked in front of it! They rejected all of my points when I contacted them directly with some vague hand-waving statements, but then caved in and withdrew when I (finally!) got to POPLA, as they probably knew they were bound to lose.

POPLA email:

Dear ___

Thank you for submitting your parking charge Appeal to POPLA.

An Appeal has been opened with the reference ___.

UK Parking Control Ltd have told us they do not wish to contest the Appeal. This means that your Appeal is successful and you do not need to pay the parking charge.

Yours sincerely

POPLA Team

Bogadala

Hello All.
I am newbie here. Trying to find a solution to my frustration.
The gist of my appeal to POPLA was as follows

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*That I paid for the parking fee, which avoided loss to the parking company.
*The Dashboard on the Rangerover is sloped/curved and the parking ticket could have slipped on to the steering, due to the air gush when the door was closed.
*The parking ticket had no self adhesive to stick it to the dashboard.
*I have shown the ticket to the parking attendant on my return to the car, while he was still there and he asked me to appeal.
*My intentions were not to breach the terms and conditions of parking site, hence bought a ticket and should not be penalized with unreasonable amount.

PEA nor POPLA could consider the circumstances and reply was as below....

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ASSESMENT DECISION was on 30/03/2017 on their website
Unsuccessful
Assessor summary of operator case
The operator’s case is that the appellant failed to display a pay and display ticket.

Assessor summary of your case
The appellant’s case is that they purchased a pay and display ticket but it slipped down the dashboard, as the ticket did not have any self-adhesive.

Assessor supporting rational for decision
The operator has provided photographic evidence of the signage located around the site in question. The signage states, “Not displaying valid permit/ticket clearly on the dashboard…Parking Charge Notice is £100”. The operator has provided photographs of the appellant’s vehicle parked at the site in question. The photographs provided show the appellant’s vehicle without clearly display a pay and display ticket. The operator has issued the Parking Charge Notice (PCN) as the appellant failed to display a pay and display ticket. I acknowledge the appellant purchased a pay and display ticket but it slipped down the dashboard as the ticket did not have any self-adhesive. However, from the operator’s photographic evidence of the appellant’s vehicle I cannot see a pay and display ticket displayed on the dashboard. In order for the warden to assess that the vehicle was authorised to park at the site, a pay and display ticket would need to be clearly visible in the vehicle. As it was not, the warden has issued the PCN, as they would have been unaware whether the vehicle is authorised to park at the site. POPLA’s remit is to assess whether or not the appellant has adhered to the terms and conditions of the site in question. Therefore as the appellant failed to display the ticket correctly, I am satisfied the appellant has not adhered to the terms and conditions of the site. Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the motorist to ensure that when they enter a car park, they have understood the terms and conditions of parking. By remaining parked on site, the appellant accepted the terms and conditions. On this occasion, the appellant has failed to follow the terms and conditions of the signage at the site and as such, I conclude that the operator issued the Parking Charge Notice correctly.

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I haven't got any debt collection letters yet. I wish to fight in the the small claims.
Should I write to the company and tell them to file it in the court for me to defend or wait for the harassing letters to pour in.

What I don't want is they clamping my car if parked again in any of their other controlled areas as there is a pending charge for them to collect. While the one I initially parked is closed and buildings are developed currently.

Please could anyone be kind to advise. Appreciate your help in advance.
Regards

Molts

Clamping on private ground is illegal so no fear there. You are under no obligation to accept POPLA's decision - only the operator is. So best course of action for now is to ignore the raft of debt collector trash you will no doubt receive and wait for a "letter before claim" if it ever comes.

Under no circumstances ignore court paperwork and come back here for advice if you need it once you receive a LBC.

Bogadala

Thank you for your reply Molts.

Bogadala

Just wondering if I have any ground to win the claim at all. I can see from the pictures posted on PEA website that the parking ticket is sitting on the Steering barrel casing. And of course the POPLA adjudicator has considered that I had a valid ticket, but not displayed clearly.
Any thoughts.

Thanks

Umkomaas

Bogadala wrote: »

Just wondering if I have any ground to win the claim at all. I can see from the pictures posted on PEA website that the parking ticket is sitting on the Steering barrel casing. And of course the POPLA adjudicator has considered that I had a valid ticket, but not displayed clearly.
Any thoughts.

Thanks

You have a case to present to a judge - he/she will decide. Everyone has a 50:50 chance at the small claims court. It's a lottery based on judge bingo, which side of bed they got out of, whether they have preconceived ideas that any car park contravention deserves censure - or whether their spouse has previously suffered at the hands of a PPC.

PEA are small fry, and at time of writing, don't do court.

http://www.bmpa.eu/companydata/Parking_and_Enforcement_Agency.html