P4Parking - POPLA appeal - review appreciated

Hilton12

Hello,

Firstly, I want to thank people on this forum - reading about similar incidents has given me some relief. In summary, I received (several) PCN's from P4Parking as my car was parked in my parking space over the weekend. I am legally allowed to park in the space and have a parking permit, but unfortunately for me, the permit unstuck itself from the window and fell onto the floor. The fines are ridiculous in amount - have no idea how they come up with the numbers and that they charge a fine for every single day. If I had gone on holiday for 2 weeks and left my car there, it would have been £1400! Crazy!

I appealed to P4Parking (I didn't check the forums before - should have waited till I received a written notice) providing them with confirmation/details from the building management company and my landlord about the validity of the permit and me parking there. It was rejected - hence the appeal to POPLA.

My appeal is as follows. Any feedback would be appreciated.

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POPLA Ref: xxxxxxxxxx
P4Parking PCN No. xxxxxxxxxxx
Vehicle Registration No. xxxxxx
Vehicle Make - xxxx

On xxxxxx 2014, I found x parking charge notices on my car issued by P4Parking. The PCN numbers for each charge are: xxxxxxx (x a few) (see PCN attached).

My car was parked in the xxxxx which caters for the apartment blocks on xxxxx where I live. My parking bar number is xxxx and as part of my Tenancy Agreement, I am legally allowed to use this parking bay and have a permit for it (please see the image attached). This permit was in my car but fell on the floor. I was not aware of this for x days, and the resulting PCNs totalled £x00.

I proceeded to appeal the charges, after providing P4Parking confirmation from the landlord and building management about the validity of the parking permit. Without elaborating further on the original charge, the appeal was rejected by P4Parking.

I believe that the charge (totaling £x00) is disproportionate to the loss incurred by P4Parking and is punitive, contravening the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1997. Additionally, P4Parking have not quantified their alleged loss or demonstrated any proprietary interest in the land.

My appeal is as follows:

1. The amount of the charge is disproportionate to the loss incurred by P4Parking and is punitive, contravening the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1997. I also consider the PCN to be a penalty because P4Parking have alleged a breach of terms and conditions and yet have not quantified their alleged loss (which cannot include business running costs nor the POPLA fee). Since the car parking in question is free to use then the charge is certainly excessive, since there are no losses to the landowner. The only losses that may be applied are those of the Landowner.

2. I do not believe that the Operator has demonstrated a proprietary interest in the land, because they have no legal possession which would give P4Parking any right to offer parking spaces, let alone allege a contract with third party customers of the lawful owner/occupiers. In addition, P4Parking’s lack of title in this land means they have no legal standing to allege trespass or loss, if that is the basis of their charge. I require P4Parking to demonstrate their legal ownership of the land to POPLA.

3. I contend that P4Parking are only an agent working for the owner and their signs do not help them to form a contract without any consideration capable of being offered. VCS -v- HMRC 2012 is the binding decision in the Upper Chamber which covers this issue, with compelling statements of fact about this sort of business model.

4. I believe there is no contract with the landowner/occupier that entitles them to levy these charges and, therefore, P4Parking has no authority to issue parking charge notices (PCNs). This being the case, the burden of proof shifts to P4Parking to prove otherwise, so I require that P4Parking produce a copy of their contract with the owner/occupier and that the POPLA adjudicator scrutinises it.

5. Even if a basic contract is produced and mentions PCNs, the lack of ownership or assignment of title or interest in the land reduces any contract to one that exists simply on an agency basis between P4Parking and the owner/occupier, containing nothing that P4Parking can lawfully use in their own name as a mere agent, that could impact on a third party customer.

6. The PCN (Figure 1) is not compliant with paragraph 9(2)(h) of schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedom Act 2012 (POFA), in that it does not identify the creditor. The operator is required to specifically "identify" the creditor not simply name them on it. This would require words to the effect of "The creditor is .....". The keeper is entitled to know the party with whom any purported contract was made. This they have failed to do and thus have not fulfilled all the requirements necessary under POFA to allow them to attempt recovery of any charge from the keeper.

I assert that, for the reasons stated above, no “relevant obligation” has been created, and that the parking charge would not be recoverable by the Operator under common civil law. I therefore invite the Adjudicator to allow the appeal. Should you require further information, please let me know.

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Thanks a lot. P4Parking have sent me a few forms (one for each PCN) with a POPLA reference for each. How should this appeal be submitted? Should I fill those forms in and in the section titled "what is your appeal", should I write the summary and attach the appeals letter?

"I believe that the charge (totaling £x00) is disproportionate to the loss incurred by P4Parking and is punitive, contravening the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1997. Additionally, P4Parking have not quantified their alleged loss or demonstrated any proprietary interest in the land. See the attached letter for further details."

Redx

each popla appeal should be put in separately even if they all say the same thing, as each has a different popla reference number , also each one will cost them money if you win

you also need to amend point 1) to mention that it is "not a genuine pre estimate of loss"

those words need to be used

I would also question the signage if possible, making them jump through hoops to show it meets the BPA CoP

I would also bullet point each one in a short menu before the main numbered paragraphs , so easily found at a glance by the assessor

so similar to this template https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4816165

also add anything else relevant from that template too

Coupon-mad

I appealed to P4Parking (I didn't check the forums before - should have waited till I received a written notice)

Nope you were right - re-read the NEWBIES thread because in it I specifically say that P4Parking are one where I DO recommend an early appeal (only not identifying who was driving - did you?). That's a good POPLA appeal wording though - as long as the signage alleged 'breach of contract/failure to comply'?