NEWBIES!!! [Sticky Thread Comments Archive]

pogofish

catcafe wrote: »

Can you help i have PCN from Secure a Space you said it would need a new thread but i dont know how to start one.

You clearly confirmed that you had understood the basic posting guide as part of your signup - Starting threads and other aspects of using MSE were fully covered therin.

Hannach

I have never used a forum before, and feeling slightly overwhelmed reading all the links.
I am currently drafting an appeal letter to POPLA with regard to a "PCN" from parkdirect uxbridge, after my initial appeal to them was rejected.
I appealed before going online and reading all the links, and I did say that I was the driver.
I can see from many posts that I should not have done so, but do not really understand why. Will this affect my appeal to POPLA in some way.
Thank you

Redx

please start your own NEW THREAD and copy and paste your request into that new thread

no questions are replied to in this thread and I am sure crabman will tidy it up yet again in the near future by moving all the non-relevant posts to his newbies archive thread

ie:- all posts after post #7 need archiving, and always will

elverson

Any chance the OP could have fewer capital letters and exclamation marks in? It's not easy to read.

redadmiral

Apologies. Will copy on to new thread.

Coupon-mad

elverson wrote: »

Any chance the OP could have fewer capital letters and exclamation marks in? It's not easy to read.

Sorry - I believe that's the fult of the new 'blue/red' version of the forum.

I read it in old-view pale green and it's always looked very easy on the eye.

bod1467

Any chance the opening line of post #1 could be as below?

THIS IS NOT A DISCUSSION THREAD - IT IS AN ADVICE THREAD.

PLEASE START YOUR OWN NEW THREAD TO ASK FOR ADVICE.

DO NOT POST A QUESTION IN THIS THREAD!

4consumerrights

coupon-mad wrote: »

second stage appeal - popla or ias



popla is offered by bpa aos firms

do not appeal saying who was driving, neither at first appeal stage nor at popla.

popla appeals are submitted here (new popla system sept 2015; it's horrible)!

http://www.popla.co.uk/

but don't feel you have to answer their questions, you can write a decent appeal and attach it as a pdf. certainly don't blow it by trying to answer about 'what happened' just because popla ask! You can appeal as keeper and raise the point (among others) that the ntk is not compliant with the pofa 2012 statutory wording.

You do not have to know what happened on the day nor comment on that, in case you say who parked the car - don't. You can use the usual legally argued popla appeals you will find in threads on this forum.

For example, a specific popla appeal is discussed in this thread (link below) and i would suggest the first appeal point in many cases could be along the lines shown (but don't copy stuff not relevant to your case - so if yours wasn't pay and display don't copy words about pay and display)! Edit it or find another example to crib from and then ask for help once you've drafted something, like this poster managed to do:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5317558

and here in november 2015 is a popla work in progress:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5351540

a typical, nice and detailed 'throw the kitchen sink at it' appeal v parkingeye often causes them to fold, as they did here in january 2016:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5379088

here's a great 'pay & display car park' popla example by salmosalaris:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=69501237&postcount=24

and a further explanation of his wording specifically to distinguish a p&d car park from the beavis case, adapt this to suit:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/69931055#Comment_69931055

and another pay & display car park popla effort, parkingeye as usual:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/69767590#Comment_69767590

here's a 'permit car park' worked example of a popla appeal:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5378359

here's one that caused pe to cancel (which is actually quite common):

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5361671

and here's a work-in-progress from december 2015 (at the time i'm writing this) suitable for a lease/hire vehicle where no ntk was served:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5362449

and here's a section (post #16) all about various additional payments and surcharges being disallowed, rendering the charge unenforceable:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/66745201#Comment_66745201

do not name the driver at the final hurdle. Just submit your appeal as a pdf under 'other' on the popla website and don't post it. Do not try to answer popla's questions because that can make a person slip up and say 'my permit' or 'i didn't see the signs' which gives away the driver. Nonono!


what do i do when i get the evidence pack from the parking operator?

'new popla' (now run by the ombudsman service) tells us that the operator is expected to show their evidence to the appellant, the same as was the case before with 'old popla'.

You should urgently (the same week) look through the evidence and find things to rebut - such as the signage being pants or the witness statement/contract being heavily redacted, out of date, not signed by the landowner or whatever - just email new popla. Put the popla verification code correctly in the email subject line and attach a rebuttal of the operator's case, blow by blow, without naming the driver. Examples here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/69778312#Comment_69778312

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/69835948#Comment_69835948


you can use the 'portal' to add comments but that currently only stays open for six days and restricts your word count and doesn't allow photos, so emailing a pdf rebuttal to popla is best, even if the portal comments box is closed. For example, you may want to copy the operator's own signage photos and point out how they do not prominently show the amount of the parking charge itself which is in breach of 2(3) of schedule 4 of the pofa and contrary to the bpa code of practice and means the sign is not clear or prominent enough to form any contract with a driver before parking.

If you can't read the £ of the charge (some signs do not even have the sum on them) you can't agree to pay it so don't just accept the version of the sign shown in close up, look at their evidence of your car near a sign - can you read the £sum of the parking charge?



what will likely happen in the end, re my popla appeal?

'new popla' starting sept 2015 is a fairly unknown quantity so read the end of the 'popla decisions' sticky thread now, for some recent winners. In oct/november 2015, so far we've seen popla wins on signage being inadequate/dark/too small to be read from a car before parking and on 'no landowner authority shown'.


Popla and the importance of rebutting the evidence in a final email to popla, is discussed here in the second half of this post:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/68548048#Comment_68548048


********************************************************************************************************************

if yours is ias (an ipc member) my advice for 2015 is, do not bother with this stage unless you have something like 'no signs at all' and proof of that, as your appeal reason.


i say ignore the ias stage - but that does not mean (repeat, not!) a person has to pay. It just puts you into 'ignore the debt collectors' stage which is fully explained in a separate post, below.

ho87 explains the problems with the ias anonymous and apparently unaccountable appeals system here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/67067144#Comment_67067144

and this is typical thread where we've discussed the issue, we all agree it appears to be a 'kangaroo court':

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5149137

and here i explain my reasons why i don't recommend trying ias stage, except in very rare cases where you have a slam-dunk winning point:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/68548048#Comment_68548048


however, if it's a lease/hire car and a ntk went to the hire firm first, you can potentially win at ias by cribbing from this ias win wording:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/67815901#Comment_67815901


please don't start a new thread asking if this advice is still up to date - yes it is - i will change it if things change.

opinions differ - but one thing is clear - do not, repeat do not pay £15 for the 'binding' ias version!


please don't start a thread asking if you should appeal to the ias unless you have very rare circumstances that might make yours worth a try. I say 90% of people should not try unless you realise you will almost certainly lose and do it for the right reasons! Do not hand the operator the 'advantage' of an ias win.


But others on here disagree and feel we need ias losses in order to collect some ludicrous decisions to add to a complaint to the dvla. Poll and discussion here so make your own mind up but don't expect to win the appeal - but we are not saying pay!:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5311944


here umkomaas explains your options:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/69418259#Comment_69418259


as always, do not overlook the power of a complaint to retailer/landowner about these scum firms:

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

so get complaining.


what will happen if i lose at ias?

discussed here and in other threads you can find by searching this forum for 'lost ias' or similar keywords:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5334100

what happens would be:

- you will most likely (unless it's a very litigious ppc) just get a series of hysterical 'pay up or else' debt collector letters, or maybe letters from the ppc themselves - see separate post about ignoring them, below.

Or

- you might have to defend this if the ppc tries a small claim band they might be buoyed by an ias 'win' under their belt to brandish in their evidence.

Here the parking prankster suggests that if you are not using the ias (would rather not have that loss under your belt) a registered keeper should write & explain why not and offer to use the consumer ombudsman to resolve the dispute:

http://parking-prankster.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/consumer-ombudsman-can-deal-with.html

disputes have been raised with the dvla and the ctsi regarding the ias, 'kangaroo court' so it is now perfectly legitimate to say that as a consumer you do not wish to use the ias until the dispute is resolved and suggest an alternative adr.

So you could write like this poster has done - but don't expect it to stop the letter chain from daft debt collector teenagers in a call centre, who need to get a real job:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/69450157#Comment_69450157



what will happen if i do not bother with the ias stage?

- you will get a series of hysterical 'pay up or else' debt collector letters, or maybe letters from the ppc themselves - see separate post about ignoring them, below.

Or

- you might be sued...

Popla Code checker - i note the link to this tool on parking cowboys has been removed.

To all ops - note the code is only valid for 28 days

(Text removed by MSE Forum Team)

4consumerrights

BUMP - it would appear that a request was made to Crabman to lock the sticky thread and remove posts including the one above.

Shame that advice provided on how to check a POPLA code is valid and when to use it is no longer considered to be useful to OPs

RogerHarding

I have just received a letter from DRP debt recovery for an alleged unpaid ticket arising from an incident at Birmingham Airport. It states that APCOA had issued me with a ticket which I had not paid.

If they sent a ticket, I have no idea where they sent it. I had only bought the car a month before, so maybe DVLA records had not been updated. I receive so little post these days that, if it HAD arrived, I could not possibly have missed it.

Now I am being told to pay £150 to DRP. Any suggestions ?
Thanks