Help needed with POPLA appeal!

Pinacolada_2

Hello,

I got a ticket from Ethical Parking Management Company, who are members of BPA approved operators. The ticket was issued in my work car park - I had bought a ticket (as I do every day) which had just fallen off the dashboard when I slammed shut the door (it was extremely windy with strong sea winds at the time and I work down the road from the beach). I scanned the ticket in immediately and sent it to them with my appeal. I still have the valid ticket. You could clearly see the ticket by looking in through the window - it just wasn't on the dashboard. You can't see it in the pictures the parking warden took either as the glare from the sun has turned the window glass into mirrors.

I appealed it and they upheld the ticket. However as I was shocked and so sure the ticket would be cancelled as I had paid for a permit, I immediately wrote an appeal to the company, which I regret now as I should have done my research first. I told them the truth (that the ticket had fallen onto the place behind the gearstick) and sent them a copy of the ticket. I didn't ask them to provide me with proof that the landowner has given them permission to charge parking fines on the land - can I now challenge to POPLA using this point? I've had a read of the threads on here and wanted to use the following points:

1) They haven't provided evidence that they are allowed to charge parking fines on the land (although I didn't mention this in my initial appeal??)
2) That the charge is punitive, as all day parking costs £1.50 so they have only really lost £1.50 if it was to be argued my ticket was incorrectly displayed.

I'm going to keep reading through other threads to find excerpts I can use and examples of case law, but any input would be greatly appreciated.

I saw another thread where the driver suffered from clinical anxiety and could argue against harassment from the company under the Equality Act 2010 - I too suffer from clinical anxiety which is naturally exacerbated by this situation - is this a viable argument or would it look like I was trying to provide mitigating circumstances (I have read that these kinds of arguments are never successful).

As I immediately appealed and explained about the ticket blowing off the dashboard in the wind, I have owned up to being the driver so have shot myself in the foot as to using the 'I am not the driver so therefore not liable' argument - also, as I work there, it would be pretty easy to prove it was me parking there. Could I argue that there was no definition of what 'correctly displayed' means? Although they have photos to prove that the ticket wasn't visible on the dashboard.

Finally, apologies if I've posted in the wrong part of the site, I'm new to this and freaking out about being taken to court.

Guys_Dad

No apologies needed.

Now, a few facts so we can help you.

Date of contravention please
Date of your appeal
Date of their letter back
Did they give you any information on POPLA or a POPLA code? Please check carefully for any 10-didit code somewhere on the letter, maybe lurking under "Reference" or similar.

Come back with that as 1st stage.

Pinacolada_2

Thanks - date of contravention - 10th May
Date of appeal - 10th May
Date of their email back (no letters ever received) - 17th June
I got a POPLA code and told I had to apply within 28 days so I have until Monday by my count!

Guys_Dad

Pinacolada wrote: »

Thanks - date of contravention - 10th May
Date of appeal - 10th May
Date of their email back (no letters ever received) - 17th June
I got a POPLA code and told I had to apply within 28 days so I have until Monday by my count!

Right, you need to get a move on then.

You need to realise that you won't win at POPLA or court on mitigation grounds. You will win on the PPC not following POFA2012 and BPA Code of Practice.

So, you need appeal points and these are available in various posts on the web

See Coupon -Mad's appeal points here https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4596057 Now some of them are irrelevant to you.

See also here https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4596057 to check that their ticket complied
And here for a catch all http://timkevan.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/challenge-to-private-parking-charge.html

Please also read the POPLA Decisions thread at the top of the forum and see the points that have won at POPLA.

And don't forget to add that, although your ticket had dropped from the dashboard (you have already admitted that) it was clearly visible through the window.

Hope that's sufficient to keep you busy for now, but please come back if in doubt.

Coupon-mad

I would use most of the wording from the appeal I wrote for the other person with clinical anxiety - only in your case as you've said you were driving it's even easier to word the appeal; you can genuinely talk about you, the driver, being protected by the Equality Act 2010 (like in the case linked by Guy's Dad above).

I struggled a bit with the 'other' clinical depression case as I was trying not to word it to imply who was driving - in the end I could only add the Equality Act thing at the end of that one! In your case it should be the first point IMHO as it is very important and unless you ram it down POPLA's throat their adjudicators don't get it.

Show us your draft appeal so we can help you fine tune it!

Pinacolada_2

Thank you so much, I will get started writing it tomorrow and then post the draft in here. I just have a question, seeing as I messed up my initial appeal, and did not demand to be provided with the contract showing the company's permission to collect charges on the land, can I now use that as a point of appeal? Do you think I can write to the company now, or is it too late?

Coupon-mad

Pinacolada wrote: »

Thank you so much, I will get started writing it tomorrow and then post the draft in here. I just have a question, seeing as I messed up my initial appeal, and did not demand to be provided with the contract showing the company's permission to collect charges on the land, can I now use that as a point of appeal? Do you think I can write to the company now, or is it too late?

It's not too late to add anything you like, even demand to know their shoe size! Anyway they would not have shown you the contract if you had asked, and most posters do NOT ask at the early appeal stage in any case.

Include almost all the paragraphs you see in those examples. Compare the Notice to this checklist and mention any breach:

http://www.parkingcowboys.co.uk/keeper-liability/

Also read the BPA Code of Practice (Google it, and it's not that long...can be skim-read in half an hour!). Look for things they did wrong, bound to be some as I think 'Ethical' are ex-clampers and far from living up to their name.

HTH

Pinacolada_2

Thanks for that, I am a bit confused by this point:

6. The Creditor or its agent must have made application to the DVLA for your name and address either

• NOT EARLIER than 28 days after the vehicle was parked (where a Notice to Driver was issued); or
• NOT LATER than 14 days after the vehicle was parked (where a Notice to Driver was not issued)

I received the stuck on the window parking ticket and then by email a refusal of my appeal, which of these is the notice to driver? And how can I tell if they contacted the DVLA within the time limits set out above? Apart from the original ticket, they have only ever corresponded with me via email.

Orrin

Notice to Driver is the one they stick on your windscreen.

Those timescales are for keeper liability under POFA but as you admitted being the driver they don't need to rely on it.

Pinacolada_2

Having looked on the check list that Coupon-Mad kindly provided, I've noticed a few points that I will be using in my appeal - any thoughts?

The notice to driver must...

"State whether a notice to the driver was given either to the driver or placed on the vehicle and if so to repeat the information in that notice about paying the parking charge and when"

This is not on my parking ticket as far as I can see.

" Identify the “creditor” who is legally entitled to recover the parking charge"

Is the creditor Ethical Parking Management? Or is it the landowner? Because nowhere does it state anything about having permission from the landowner.

"Details of the discount for payment within 14 days, The Discount should be at least 40% of the full charge under the BPA Code of Practice (applies to BPA Members only)"

Ethical is a BPA member, and I have found this section on the notice to driver appeal section confusing and contradictory - is it just me or does this not make sense:
"Any driver appealing against a Parking Charge Notice within 14 days from the date of issue will be given the opportunity to provide payment at the reduced amount in the event that their appeal is unsuccessful. Not all parking areas have a reduced charge for early payment. You should be aware that any driver lodging an appeal later than 9 days from the date of issue will be liable for the full amount in the event that their appeal is unsuccessul."

So if you apply within 14 days of the date of issue you can still pay the reduced fee if the appeal is unsuccessful, but if you apply after 9 days of the date of issue you must pay the full amount if the appeal is unsuccessful?!

Pinacolada_2

Does anyone know which code or part of the law this comes from:

"7.1 If you do not own the land on which you are carrying
out parking management, you must have the written
authorisation of the landowner (or their appointed
agent) before you can start operating on the land in
question. The authorisation must give you the authority
to carry out all the aspects of the management and
enforcement of the site that you are responsible for. In
particular, it must say that the landowner requires you
to keep to the Code of Practice, and that you have
the authority to pursue outstanding parking charges,
through the courts if necessary."