Care Parking - Not using POFA (!) - Do I need to bother about POPLA?

Coupon-mad

"The Contract is signed by both parties."

That's OK if they are talking about the contract they reckon they have with the landowner.

Interesting developments though. Complain to david.dunford@dvla.gsi.gov.uk

Anhunedd

My draft soft appeal:


Dear Sir,

I am the registered keeper of the vehicle registration number ****** and confirm receipt of your formal demand dated ******, which refers to a Parking Charge Notice, reference ******, issued ******.

I deny any liability to pay this parking charge.

As you appear to be circumventing the requirements of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, the registered keeper is not responsible for this charge, but the driver. I therefore suggest you take this matter up with that person.

Please note I have no legal obligation to name the driver.

Notwithstanding that point, I deny I have any contract with Care Parking, and the amount claimed constitutes an unlawful penalty, as it is not a genuine pre-estimate of any loss you pretend you have. Furthermore, I contend that you have no legal authority to pursue any charge at all, as you have provided no indication of having the right to recover any unpaid parking charges with respect to Steam Mill Car Park.

In addition to this, although you have not indicated in your letter that you are a member of the British Parking Association, it would appear that you are (through your parent company, Anchor Security Services Ltd.), and therefore are bound by its regulations, not least including those on signage. I contend your signage does not conform to those regulations, and you have provided no indication otherwise, nor any basis that your signage would constitute any contract between yourselves and myself as a vehicle keeper.

I have already made complaint to DVLA as I believe you are not adhering to the requirements of POFA 2012, nor the BPA, and therefore they should not have upheld your request for my details. In addition, I have made complaint to Companies House, as you have failed to include all the legal information required on official correspondence.

I shall also be preparing a complaint to the BPA with regards to non-compliance with their regulations, and, assuming I am able to trace the landowner, I shall inform them of my complaints above too.

With reference to section 7 of the Data Protection Act 1998, I request that you supply a copy of all data you hold relating to me or my vehicle, including all correspondence with DVLA and any photographic, video or other evidence you hold. I do not expect to pay for the release of my personal data, as you would be required to disclose this information as evidence in any further legal action. Should you fail to respond to this request within 40 days, I shall make complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office.

Should you wish to pursue this matter further, then I will of course raise all of these points and others in favour of my case at all necessary stages.

You should be aware that if you do continue to pursue myself as keeper, then I reserve the right to raise a claim for my costs and time against you at a court rate of £18 per hour. My costs are not exhaustive and will include stationery, stamps, travel expenses and any legal costs etc., and by continuing to pursue me you agree to pay these should I prevail.

In view of the all of the above, most significantly that you are pursuing the wrong person, I look forward to receiving your written confirmation by return that this parking charge has been cancelled.

Yours faithfully,

******
Registered Keeper


Note I have specifically avoided mentioning POPLA, as I want to see if they adhere to any BPA regulations at all before I make my complaint to them.

Any comments/additions? I think I'm happy with the above - it's based on one found linked on the Newbie thread to a similar company which doesn't bother with POFA.

bod1467

I like it.

Re. POPLA ... a driver/keeper doesn't HAVE to request a POPLA code; the PPC is supposed to issue it regardless if it is a BPA member and it is rejecting the appeal. We usually advise specifically mentioning the POPLA code because some PPCs will avoid issuing one to try and pressurise the appellant - i.e. delaying tactics.

But I like your approach - it seems you are well prepared for the battle.

Welsh_Exile

Anhunedd, you seem to be well on top of this - please keep us posted on developments, including with the DVLA. The Parking Prankster might be interested in this one.

btw - I've just looked up the meaning of your user name, you and Coupon-mad would make a good team given the late hours she seems to keep sometimes!

Anhunedd

Thanks for the reassurance guys.

Slight update - I managed to find out who the landlord (well, actually, the managing company - Workman) was and sent them a complaint that Anchor were managing their car park badly, and outlined some of the points, plus disputed that a grace period was applied as per BPA guidelines (the driver parked up, entered the building, was told it was a P&D, exited the building and found a ticket already issued - no more than 3 minutes - this is because Anchor are in the same building).

The nice man at Workman sent it directly to Anchor, who sent me an email back saying that they could not have possibly issued a ticket to the driver in less than 5 minutes, that all their signage is perfectly BPA compliant, that they fulfill all of POFA, and they have a valid contract. I even got a useless photo attached of their entry sign, which was entirely unreadable.

Don't worry - I kept in "keeper mode". And just replied saying that I will be doing my postal appeal in due course.

Then complained back to Workman that they forwarded my email without permission. Do you reckon I have a Data Protection complaint about THEM now?

Guys_Dad

Anhunedd wrote: »

Then complained back to Workman that they forwarded my email without permission. Do you reckon I have a Data Protection complaint about THEM now?

Remember how Hitler opened up the war on Russia and then found his armies were stretched and fighting on two fronts ruined his chances of winning? Whether you do or not will not count for anything in your parking appeal.

Just keep it simple and fight the major point.

Anhunedd

Interesting analogy, but point taken.

I'll moan at them and then leave it at that. They obviously don't care anyway, as instead of dealing with a complaint, they just passed it on.

I can always send them the final result and say "I told you so".

Coupon-mad

Anhunedd wrote: »

Interesting analogy, but point taken.

I'll moan at them and then leave it at that. They obviously don't care anyway, as instead of dealing with a complaint, they just passed it on.

I can always send them the final result and say "I told you so".

I would definitely do that!

Anhunedd

Turns out it wasn't the landlord anyway - it was the management company. They are refusing to pass my complaint on to the landlord and refusing to deal with me about this issue any more. Not worth bothering with at this stage.

Anhunedd

Well, they finally replied to my appeal. They acknowledged my appeal letter on 11 February, and their response is dated 18 March, so only just within the 35 days of the BPA guidelines. However, I'd question that second date, as the postmark was 24 March.

Anyway, surprise surprise, they rejected the appeal, claiming they are fully BPA compliant with POFA 2012, signs, pre-estimated loss, yada yada.

And then fail to issue me with a PoPLA code, or in fact, even mention it.

They also claim I appealed outside the 28 day window, which is rubbish - NtK was issued on 24 January, and they acknowledged the appeal on 11 February.

They failed to issue me with the printed Data Protection info I asked for, so I can now complain about that too.

What a bunch of cowboys.