POPLA Decisions

Coupon-mad

Yes please. 

Bexx9

Original thread here: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6554178/euro-car-parks-hire-car-appeal-rejected-popla-appeal-drafted-feedback-appreciated/p1

Operator: Euro Car Parks

Decision: Operator withdrawn / successful

Dear xxx,

The operator has contacted us and told us that they have withdrawn your appeal.

If you have already paid your parking charge, this is the reason your appeal will have been withdrawn. Unfortunately, you cannot pay your parking charge and appeal, which means that POPLA’s involvement in your appeal has ended. You will not be able to request a refund of the amount paid in order to resubmit your appeal to us.

If you have not paid your parking charge, the operator has reviewed your appeal and chosen to cancel the parking charge. As the operator has withdrawn your appeal, POPLA’s involvement has now ended and you do not need to take any further action.

Kind regards

POPLA Team

Thank you to Coupon-mad, Gr1pr and anyone else who advised me, very much appreciated

simmo83

I would appreciate it if someone could advise what my next course of action should be. Thank you.

Decision

Unsuccessful

Assessor Name

Taylor-Jade Ryan

Assessor summary of operator case

The parking operator has issued the parking charge notice (PCN) as parking was for permit holders only.

Assessor summary of your case

The appellant has provided a detailed account surrounding the parking event in question. For the purpose of my report, I have summarised the grounds raised into the points below. • They did not see any signs • They were not informed by staff that they needed to enter their registration • They were using the services of the pub and a paying customer After reviewing the operator’s evidence, the appellant reiterates their grounds of appeal. The appellant has provided 1. A bank statement The above evidence has been considered in making my determination.

Assessor supporting rational for decision

When assessing an appeal POPLA considers if the operator has issued the parking charge notice correctly and if the driver has complied with the terms and conditions for the use of the car park. The British Parking Association (BPA) has a Code of Practice which set the standards its parking operators need to comply with. Section 19.3 of the Code says parking operators need to have signs that clearly set out the terms. The parking operator has provided images of the signs along with a site map confirming their location. On review of this evidence, I am satisfied that the signage on site is sufficient and that any motorist using the site would be made aware of the requirements to park. I appreciate the appellant advises that they were not made aware by staff of the need to enter their registration, but it is not for them to do so. The driver is responsible for ensuring the terms are read and understood before parking. Whilst I accept the appellant was a genuine user of the premises, it is made clear on the signs that customers must obtain a parking permit at the bar. The operator has shown with a permit report that no permit was obtained against the appellants vehicle registration. As proof of patronage was provided, the operator considered a keying error. Section 17 of the Code recognises that drivers are more frequently required to enter their vehicle registration when paying for parking or registering for a permit. Section 17.4B requires the parking operator to have a process for dealing with major keying errors. Where the motorist has proven they were a legitimate user, it requires the parking operator to offer to reduce the amount of the PCN to £20 if it can be shown that the driver was a genuine user of the site. In this case a reduced fee of £20 was offered in response to the evidence, and this offer was rejected by the appellant as an appeal was made to POPLA. POPLA’s role is to assess if the operator has issued the charge in accordance with the conditions of the contract. As the terms and conditions of the car park have not been met, as a permit was not obtained, I conclude that the operator has issued the parking charge correctly, and the appeal is refused.

Le_Kirk

simmo83 said:

I would appreciate it if someone could advise what my next course of action should be. Thank you.

POPLA decisions are not binding on the motorist.  If you have an open thread about this issue, post on there and you will receive the advice you need.  But generally wait for letter before claim and then react as the NEWBIE sticky advises.

aurellijus

Coupon-mad said:

Everyone with a Horizon case should use the same argument. Thanks for being the guinea pig! We knew the argument was right, but POPLA assessors are not always that bright!

Hi, I have same situation with Horizon parking and need to appeal to POPLA. Where can I find the template please that's been used? 

Umkomaas

aurellijus said:

Coupon-mad said:

Everyone with a Horizon case should use the same argument. Thanks for being the guinea pig! We knew the argument was right, but POPLA assessors are not always that bright!

Hi, I have same situation with Horizon parking and need to appeal to POPLA. Where can I find the template please that's been used? 

Look for the thread by @sdg213 that @Coupon-mad acknowledges. Click on the username to gain access. Please start your own thread if you need further assistance. 

bigbigcheese

Am I correcting in saying that the BPA have updated their code of practice which came into effect in October 2024, which means any references to BPA codes of practice are no longer valid unless referencing the new one?

I'm too new to post links but it's at britishparking co uk / code-of-practice-and-compliance-monitoring

Fruitcake

bigbigcheese said:

Am I correcting in saying that the BPA have updated their code of practice which came into effect in October 2024, which means any references to BPA codes of practice are no longer valid unless referencing the new one?

I'm too new to post links but it's at britishparking co uk / code-of-practice-and-compliance-monitoring

The IPC and BPA issued a joint code of practice in October, designed in my opinion to confuse people, including MPs, to think that is the new mandatory CoP that supports the 2019 Parking Bill. It is not.
It is incumbent on all posters to ensure they refer to the correct CoP, whether BPA, IPC, or joint, that was in place at the time of their alleged event.

bigbigcheese

Fruitcake said:

bigbigcheese said:

Am I correcting in saying that the BPA have updated their code of practice which came into effect in October 2024, which means any references to BPA codes of practice are no longer valid unless referencing the new one?

I'm too new to post links but it's at britishparking co uk / code-of-practice-and-compliance-monitoring

The IPC and BPA issued a joint code of practice in October, designed in my opinion to confuse people, including MPs, to think that is the new mandatory CoP that supports the 2019 Parking Bill. It is not.
It is incumbent on all posters to ensure they refer to the correct CoP, whether BPA, IPC, or joint, that was in place at the time of their alleged event.

Given a lot of old posts and templates refer to the old CoP, and that if you haven't got a parking charge from before then by now it's invalid anyway, should we be going through all the links in the NEWBIES thread and the various templates around the place and replacing them with stuff that references the new CoP? It'll be a decent amount of work to find the new wordings for the same things.

I'm currently trying to write a POPLA appeal and none of the examples refer to the new CoP so I'm struggling to find the right bits to quote. Specifically w.r.t signage from Section 18; Landowner Authority from Section 7; and Grace Periods from section 13.

Coupon-mad

You are right: I haven't made any updates to POPLA stuff for a few years. And I won't be.

This is because in Feb 2022 the Government published a proper Code of Practice which was supported unanimously in the House of Commons so we expected things to change then. The rogue industry blocked it with a Judicial Review using their shedloads of money taken from (we say) duped motorists.

We are anticipating the new statutory regime this year.  Things will change hugely and we'll update the advice on appeals then.

POPLA is unimportant and you could use the out of date quotes if you want.  Won't matter.

Or if you prefer: check some of the clauses fairly quickly by doing control & f for keywords like 'grace period' or 'entrance signs' or the single word 'landowner' and grab the new wording instead. No need to read the joke document in its woeful entirety.

I almost never bother with POPLA for friends & relatives.  Most people lose and it's better not to bother unless you have an obvious winning point, like a NTK being non-POFA.