NCP POPLA appeal?

Rabbit_lover

Dear All,
I'm after some advice and I hope someone can help.

I received a parking contravention charge from NCP for not displaying a pay and display ticket at a railway station. I paid for the ticket at the train ticket booth and was given two things: a railway ticket (which turned out to be the actual parking ticket) and a till receipt (which was just that). Being in a rush, I accidentally put the till receipt on the dash and the actual ticket in my wallet. I appealed to NCP straightaway, but the appeal was rejected, not surprisingly.

I have the option of a POPLA appeal, but I've left this longer than 28 days -- the rejection of appeal letter from NCP didn't state how long I had for a POPLA appeal so I’ve been procrastinating. I've spent a while reading various forums from what I've gathered, I think I have reasonable grounds for appeal based on 1. disproportionate charges, 2. that NCP has no proprietary interest in the land and therefore and no authority to issue charges.

I have a few questions that I hope someone can help me with:
1. will my popla appeal automatically be rejected because it is more than 28 days after the initial notice?
2. is there a standard template with above arguments for appeal that I can tweak -- I understand that it's important to get the exact wording correct for legal purposes
3. if the appeal fails, or if I don't appeal, am I likely to get taken to court? I think I have strong grounds, but I have enough other stresses at the moment and I really don't have the time or energy to fight it. Should I therefore just pay the (extortionate) charge and be done with it? :mad:

Thank you.

Coupon-mad

Right, if you have a POPLA code I would email your appeal right now when you see this and have done a bit of work on it (if you have a paper form, post it 1st class tomorrow to POPLA and get a certificate of posting for free from the Post Office in your lunch hour. Job done, one email/letter, end of scam.

Try something like these:

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?act=at...st&id=21565

http://www.parkingcowboys.co.uk/wp-content...version-v2.docx

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/...9&postcount=20

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showto...mp;#entry826492

These will keep you busy but should only take an hour or so; just do it! Use the wording(s) as appropriate to your case. Do NOT 'tell the story of what happened' (mitigation) - won't help, won't work, waste of breath (or typing) - POPLA are not interested.

But a well-worded legal appeal will win and should take long with a bit of copying & pasting from those examples. I wrote the last one of those links and I don't mind if you copy big chunks of the relevant paragraphs (change the details and Operator's name to NCP of course!). I am SchoolRunMum on pepipoo.

Don't miss out the lack of identifying the 'creditor' specifically on the Notices, and the fact that this is an alleged breach but there has been no loss suffered whatsoever, as you did pay, and that NCP have not provided a genuine breakdown to show that this is a 'pre-estimate of loss' tailored to that 'contravention' even when a person later shows they paid. And allege that the signs are not compliant and the PCN Notice isn't compliant either (both also probably contain misleading phrases about railway bylaws which simply do not apply to a private parking charge). And state that you think the contract with the landowner (Train Operator) is not compliant with the BPA code of practice - include it ALL as it's for them to rebut, not for you to prove!

My version has all of those points as do some of the other links so you don't have to read this and then write it yourself, it's easy, just copy some of those links. These points are ALL important to include (much more than the 2 you were going to rely on) and with that sort of appeal, with all those points, you WILL NOT LOSE (as long as POPLA consider it, just send it!).

In your case you could also have an introductory paragraph briefly outlining the situation and saying that the machines and signs do not make it clear which piece of paper to display, especially in a train car park where a person is also buying a ticket for the train and is naturally in a hurry and requires very clear instructions. This makes it an unfair contract and also the mention of railway bylaws is an impersonation of authority and a breach of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPUTR) and the BPA Code of Practice too. Say that NCP should have accepted the appeal when you were able to show they had made no loss as you had indeed paid - that would have been a fair outcome and clearly this is just a penalty dressed up as a parking ticket.

POPLA should not automatically reject it but if they do, you just ignore NCP like people have done for years. You certainly DON'T PAY IT!! People who lose at POPLA (you won't!!) do NOT have to pay at all, they just go back to ignore mode because the decision isn't binding on the driver/keeper. NCP do not do court, haven't a clue and lost & had to pay huge costs on the one occasion they had a rush of blood to the head and they actually tried to keep a person's car captive before clamping/towing was made illegal.

Rabbit_lover

Thank you very much Coupon-mad -- your help is much appreciated. I'll get on with it today and keep you informed of progress

kirkbyinfurnesslad_2

Don't forget though ncp own a lot of their car parks so the will be no contract issue

Coupon-mad

kirkbyinfurnesslad wrote: »

Don't forget though ncp own a lot of their car parks so the will be no contract issue

Yep I thought of that but decided to leave it in as a point anyway because I thought a railway car park is much less likely to be NCP-owned than a town centre one. And if NCP can rebut that point of appeal it doesn't actually matter as they'll fail on another, and it only takes one of several bullets to hit home, to win at POPLA.

Rabbit_lover

Hello All,

Following on from my previous messages... POPLA wouldn't consider the appeal, stating that it was more than 28 days after the initial letter from NCP.

I've since had a few letters from various 'agencies' ("Zenith" being the latest) with various last chances to pay before court action etc. I'm assuming the advice is to still ignore?

I have a further request for advice. We'll be moving house soon so I guess I'll have to let them know of a change of address, in case I miss a court summons. Who should I tell of the change of address? Is it NCP, the debt recovery services, or Arriva?

Thanks!

kirkbyinfurnesslad_2

Hmmm

Simply write to ncp/zenith and advise that the debt is denied and give them your new address

As your moving house set up the redirection service via the royal mail for 6 months, definately worth the money

Rabbit_lover

will do -- thank you