Is this initial appeal any good?

kev_min

Am trying to get this killed off at the first stroke with the PPC as doing popla is tredious, am also hitting the Hospital with a nice snotogram regarding their parking policy!

am open to comments good or bad:D

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Thank you for your letter dated XX/XX/2014 relating to PCN No XXXXXXXX.


I am writing this letter in my capacity as the registered keeper of vehicle holding the registration number xxxxxxxx


My address has changed, to avoid delays please update your records and use the above address for all future correspondence.


I am APPEALING this ticket on the following grounds:


1. Mitigation
The ticket was issued on the 2nd of the month, displaying a blue badge that was 2 days out of date. This was a genuine error on the passengers behalf, similar to the common error of forgetting to fix a new tax disk in a vehicle window. As this was so soon after the expiry of the badge your operative could have used a modicum of common sense and decency to leave a note reminding the occupants to use their new badge in future, particularly as the vehicle displays a disabled VED . Unfortunately this was not the case, either due to blind observance of rules, having a bad day or just a seriously misaligned moral compass a ticket was issued.


I am aware that companies such as yourself exist to make a profit and consequently the meaning behind words such as compassion, empathy, decency and mitigation are lost to you, and as I expect you will not cancel the ticket on these grounds alone, please also fully consider the following points.


2. No Keeper Liability
Your notice to keeper is missing some of the mandatory requirements of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 and as such fails to establish keeper liability.


3. Contract with landowner.
I do not believe that you own nor have any interest or assignment of title of the land in question. As such, I do not believe that you have the necessary legal capacity to enter into a contract with a driver of a vehicle parking in the car park, or indeed to allege a breach of contract.


4. [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Inadequate signage.[/FONT]It is a specific requirement of the BPA Code of Practice that there must be very clear terms & conditions signage on the point of entry and throughout a car park, I contend that your signage fails to meet these standards.


5. Excessive charge
I contend that your charge far exceeds any losses due from a breach of contract, should one even have been entered into (which is denied), as such they could be considered a penalty.


6. Disability Discrimination.
Breach of statute, namely the Equality Act 2010 (EA) and the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) code of practice on services, public functions and associations' (chapter 5 indirect discrimination) which became law on 6th April 2011

Both yourself[FONT=Times New Roman, serif] and the hospital are service-providers who are relying on unenforceable terms which purport to create an inflexible contractual term 'requiring' disabled people to display a blue badge in order to use a disabled bay. Companies such as yours might choose to mention the Badge on their signs but they cannot legally rely on it in isolation as the [/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]only[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]indicator of disability need.

The EA takes precedence over any 'contractual' terms and a blanket term to display a Blue Badge is specifically an 'unenforceable term' as defined in the EA. It is an example of a blanket policy which seeks to [/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]limit[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif] the provision of the disabled bays to 'badge-display only' and thereby causes disadvantage to other people who have certain protected characteristics (which the passenger does, on disability grounds). For your convenience I have included an extract from the EA at Appendix 1 to this appeal.[/FONT]


I accept that the above act makes the control of disabled parking problematic on private land, as when a ticket is issued, as in this instance, you may not be aware of an occupants disability status. However, once you are made aware of such you must comply with its requirements.


As you are now aware that the Equality Act applies to the occupant of this vehicle it should be obvious that you cancel this charge, any further pursuit or demands for payment could be construed as harassment leaving both yourself and your principal open to civil action.


If you are not aware of the requirements (and their implications) of the EA I strongly suggest your legal department study it in depth as there may be further issues for both you and your principal to resolve should you decide to ignore it.


[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]These points and others will be expanded upon with POPLA should you not accept this appeal, and you will be expected to provide (to POPLA and myself) a full breakdown of your alleged loss, and your full [/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]unredacted[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif] contract with the landowner.[/FONT]


[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]I will suggest that at this point the most commercially sensible course of action for you would be to cut your losses and cancel this ticket. Currently your losses are minimal however, should you risk a POPLA appeal and loose they will increase dramatically taking into account your admin costs and POPLA fees.

If you do reject the challenge and I am successful with at POPLA on any of the above grounds I reserve the right to pursue you for my costs incurred in submitting it. These costs may include, amongst other things, the cost of postage, stationary, travel (to gather evidence) and time (at £18/hr). By continuing to pursue me you agree to pay these reasonable costs when I prevail.

I expect a response from you stating either your acceptance of this appeal or a rejection (complete with POPLA code) including your full reasoning against the appeal points above.[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif] [/FONT]


xxxxxxxxxx


Registered keeper.