Failed my POPLA appeal against Parking Eye...

contrarymary1972

What next?

Back in the summer, I parked near the beach in Newquay, Cornwall. I decided to pay using my phone by telephoning to pay. I kept getting disconnected, got through and cut off, then finally got through. This took around 15-20 minutes. I finally paid and returned to my car in what I thought was the time limit. We packed up and left the car park.

A week after getting home, I got the parking letter with the photos saying we'd underpaid. This was a shock, due to me thinking we had paid. I appealed with Parking Eye, producing proof of my call logs from my phone, as well as the payment from my bank statement, but was unsuccessful. I then appealed through POPLA. It has taken until now for the appeal to be heard and the decision is: "The Assessor considered the evidence of both parties and determined that the appeal be refused." They say that "the appellant failed to provide further evidence to support her claim within 14 days. They state that it is the driver’s responsibility to ensure that she complies with the terms and conditions of parking when she parks in the car park."

I am at a complete loss - I'm really confused about them saying I failed to provide the evidence!

Please could someone advise me what to do next?

kirkbyinfurnesslad_2

Again it shows what not to appeal on (mitgation or "what happened on the day")

It's a shame you didnt come here. You would have definitely won it on no loss etc

zzzLazyDaisy

contrarymary1972 wrote: »

Please could someone advise me what to do next?

It is a shame you did not come here for advice BEFORE you submitted your POPLA appeal, as forum assisted motorists win every time at POPLA.

However you are where you are.

So, to take stock....

1 the POPLA decision is not binding on you and you are not obliged to pay (and should not do so.

2 PE are very litigious and you will now almost certainly be on their list for court action. However, before they can start court action, they must serve a Letter Before Claim on you. So do yourself a favour and go to this thread
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4754020
and get clued up about what you need to do when that letter arrives.

3 COMPLAIN to the landholder of the car park. They can and do cancel charges even at this stage (see post 3 for advice on how to make a successful complaint)

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4766249

hth

Daisy

Stroma

You have basically wasted your popla appeal on mitigation, sorry but we would have advised differently. You will probably get one of their letters before action now, so keep an eye out for it. And come here if you get it.

I would advice removing the decision above as you are identifying yourself on a public forum, see my signature

Umkomaas

Not sure which car park this is ?Fistral Beach?, ?Tower Road? From recollection I'm not sure if we have had any POPLA wins against PE at either?

If we have, then they would have most certainly been on the basis of GPEOL, so POPLA should know that the PE £100 does not represent a GPEOL on that particular site (as they will have assessed on that basis). So wouldn't it have been logical to have upheld the appeal - I know, I know, if it ain't raised, it ain't assessed.

But there is something not quite right here in trying to balance things for the motorist in these cases.

And if POPLA has judged that on the particular site that what PE is claiming is not a GPEOL, then it is an unlawful claim, and as POPLA know and have assessed the situation, disallowing a claim on one occasion, allowing it the next time, then aren't they aiding and abetting an unlawful act?

Food for thought

Coupon-mad

Oh dear, what a horribly sad waste of a POPLA code when you only needed a few words to win 'no genuine pre-estimate of loss'!!

And PE are now going to send you a Letter before County Court Claim so be ready for it by reading the forum in advance this time...start at the top, there's a sticky thread about LBCCC letters and how to respond.

You do NOT just pay, this decision is not binding on you.

contrarymary1972

Yes, it was Tower Road.

I did come on here - but only after I had had a failed appeal with Parking Eye. I thought I had followed the advice, but must not have read it properly. At the time I did it, my Dad had suddenly died without warning, so I wasn't functioning properly. I do always put up a fight - I successfully took on a PPI firm and didn't pay any fees to them that they tried to charge me - I went all the way to the Ministry of Justice. SO I am not afraid to fight, and usually do it right and win.

I will edit my OP in order not to be identified. I will follow your advice on here, hereon in.

Thank you. And I'm really annoyed at myself if I had appealed differently and, as you say, I would have won the appeal.

zzzLazyDaisy

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

3 COMPLAIN to the landholder of the car park. They can and do cancel charges even at this stage (see post 3 for advice on how to make a successful complaint)

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4766249

hth

Daisy

The landowner for Fistral is Britannic Industries Ltd. The person to complain to is Nick Briant.

EDIT - I see you have changed your previous post from Fistral Beach to Tower Road.

Sorry to sound harsh, but surely, having already appealed to both PE and POPLA, you must have worked out where the parking event took place by now?

contrarymary1972

It does sound a bit harsh - Tower Road is one of the car parks you park at when visiting Fistral Beach. I realised my error as soon as I posted - hence the edit!

... and I've just worked a 60 hour week... and have 3 children... and a litter of puppies at home at the moment... as well as grieving for my Dad. I'm finding I'm making all sorts of errors in my life at the moment...

Sometimes people make mistakes unintentionally.

Coupon-mad

contrarymary1972 wrote: »

Yes, it was Tower Road.

I did come on here - but only after I had had a failed appeal with Parking Eye. I thought I had followed the advice, but must not have read it properly. At the time I did it, my Dad had suddenly died without warning, so I wasn't functioning properly. I do always put up a fight - I successfully took on a PPI firm and didn't pay any fees to them that they tried to charge me - I went all the way to the Ministry of Justice. SO I am not afraid to fight, and usually do it right and win.

I will edit my OP in order not to be identified. I will follow your advice on here, hereon in.

Thank you. And I'm really annoyed at myself if I had appealed differently and, as you say, I would have won the appeal.

Read other Tower Road threads and you will see it is owned by the Golf Club. Do read them because there's loads of info already on the site about this place and complaining. Think of every complaint as a nail in the coffin of PE getting contracts renewed; even if a landowner doesn't step in for individuals they are NOT going to be happy about having to handle a swathe of complaints every week.

Have a real go at the complaining, and then update this thread when you get a LBCCC, having reads the sticky thread about how to respond to those. Losing at POPLA doesn't mean you are on a one-way ticket to a small claims hearing because you still have options along the way to put up a good fight.

So sorry to hear about your Dad; I have recently had another bereavement myself this summer and have no extended family now. Very sad to lose someone close.

contrarymary1972

Thank you. I'll take a look. Then will wait for the LBCCC in order to take the next action. In the meantime, I will get the Tower Road landowner's contact details and make that complaint.

I really appreciate the time everyone is taking to reply.