Advice on where to go now with Parking Fine?

Kirstiemcb

Hi all

Looking for some advice for my mum. A while back, her and my nan were shopping on a retail park. My nan has quite a lot of trouble getting around and as a result it takes a little longer to get to places.

They spent the whole time on the retail, going to various shops and stopping at a cafe for a bite to eat. They have reciepts that pretty much prove they did in fact stay on the retail park the whole time.

A week or so later, they received a fine in the post, stating they stayed 10 minutes over the 3 hour limit and as a result had to pay a £60 fine. They (as I), were unaware there was a 3 hour limit. I advised NOT to pay the fine, and directed her to this website for advice. She has since appealed to the parking company, and then further to POPLA. POPLA have advised that as she stated in her inital appeal that it wouldn't have been possible to get around the retail park quicker, she is saying she was aware of the 3 hour limit.

The next action now is for this to be taken to the courts, and she is getting nervous as this means the £60 fine turns into a £140 fine.

What do we do?? I believe this is SUCH an unfair charge and will be fuming if she has to pay what is now a £100 fine for staying 10 minutes over the limit.

ColliesCarer

Which parking company was this?
Is it possible for you to post the appeals and the POPLA verdict - blank out any personal details?
Also have you tried going back to the retail park and speaking to all the shops they bought goods from - they can often get these cancelled and many others have been successful by doing this and/or writing to the CEO's of the retailers concerned

What is the latest letter that's been received?

bod1467

As POPLA has been and gone (mitigation appeals NEVER work; even POPLA say so themselves), all they can now do is wait and ignore (file away) all letters they receive ... UNLESS they receive an LBA/LBCCC (see the NEWBIES thread) or court papers.

If you tell us which PPC this was we can give an indication of the likelihood of receiving LBA/LBCCC or court papers.

And like CC says - complain to the retailers at that location. If your Nan has a "protected characteristic" as per the Equality Act 2010 then make sure this is made clear to the retailers. The EA 2010 means that companies need to make "reasonable adjustments" for people with protected characteristics. Indeed such people could possibly raise a claim for damages against these companies for breach of the EA 2010 and the harassment and suffering their breach has caused.

Kirstiemcb

Hi ColliesCarer / bod1467

Thanks for your advice. It was UKPC who issued the fine - any extra information you can give me on them would be great.

I will certainly suggest writing to the retailers they visited. Is it also worth writing to the land owner? I've had a quick Google but thus far haven't been able to find who owns the land.

bod1467

Just search this forum for UKPC and you'll find lots of threads, all saying the same thing ... UKPC don't do court. And the letters they (and their debt recovery friends) send are toothless threatograms.

Kirstiemcb

Thank you bod1467, very good to hear!
I feel it will take some convincing to stop my mum from paying this fine, so lots of links to send I think!

spacey2012

You still have the options of contacting the retail stores you shopped at and the owner of the park requesting they make an adjustment under Equality Act 2010, if they refuse, put it in writing and obtain a certificate of postage.

Coupon-mad

spacey2012 wrote: »

You still have the options of contacting the retail stores you shopped at and the owner of the park requesting they make an adjustment under Equality Act 2010, if they refuse, put it in writing and obtain a certificate of postage.

Definitely - failure to make a reasonable adjustment for an elderly visitor (e.g. by allowing a longer time to shop, particularly when they are made aware of the issue) is illegal practice by the shops and the PPC (both) under the EA 2010. The retail Head Offices will act to cancel it if you complain along those lines. By the way, you don't need a Blue Badge to fit the legal definition of disability - a mobility issue which is clearly chronic and ongoing, not going to go away, is a disability under the Act.

Kirstiemcb

Thank you everyone - my Nan has a list of ailments of long as my arm, many of which affect her mobility to the point she has to use a wheelchair for anything more than very short distances. So looks like contacting the retailers they visited is definitely the next route to take!

Thank you again for all your help, without more research I know they would have just paid up - and I never would have been able to let it go!!

Coupon-mad

By the way, would you mind please sharing the POPLA appeal wording (we know it wasn't a strong one but it would help others to see it) and also the text of the POPLA decision including the Assessor's name.

We don't have cases lost on here, as we win 100% of them - so when a new poster mentions they've lost we would want to see it on a thread to learn from the thought process of the Assessor when faced with a weaker appeal. No point us criticising the appeal used, no point crying over spilt milk, so if you could show the losing words it might help other newbies to avoid this pitfall.

Kirstiemcb

Hi all

I just wanted to say a quick thank you! My mum emailed the the landowner late last night, and by 2pm today was told the ticket had been cancelled, along with an apology for the inconvenience.

Coupon-mad - I will certainly try to get a copy of the POPLA appeal to post on here to help others.