APCOA reply or ignore?

mailmannz

Sorry if this has been answered a million times BUT I just cannot find a thread thats appropriate to my question???

There was a parking ticket on my vehicles windscreen from APCOA at a railway station car park. Do I need to appeal it now or do I need to wait for the notice to keeper to arrive?

Thanks in advance.

Regards

Mailman

bod1467

Wait for the NtK is my suggestion. In the meantime check whether that site is covered by railway byelaws. (In which case there is no keeper liability as it would not be "relevant land" per POFA2012).

But ... please confirm this was a PARKING charge notice and not a PENALTY charge notice.

ColliesCarer

Hi Mailmannz
You need to read the NEWBIES sticky thread (2nd thread on main forum page).
In addition use the Search the forum function using APCOA or the particular railway station concerned as the search term.

mailmannz

Hi Collies,

yes I read the newbies sticky thread but even then it wasnt clear whether I should wait for the NTK to turn up or appeal straight away???

BTW, how do I check to see if the railway carpark is covered by railway bylaws? The "Parking Charge Notice" makes absolutely no mention of railway bylaws or POFA2012???

Regards

Mailman

ColliesCarer

Hi mailmanzz
Here is the part of post #1 in the NEWBIES thread that is relevant to you

"Why wait for the postal NTK and why not admit who the driver was?
- Under POFA 2012 the registered keeper has a stronger set of appeal grounds than a driver does, in most cases when it comes to POPLA stage.
- Another reason is if a PCN does not mention POFA 2012 or if it's a 'byelaws' car park (e.g. Railway, Port, Quay, Airport) then the PPC can only pursue the driver, so by appealing as the keeper you keep that information anonymous."

The PCN won't mention byelaws .
To find out if it is you can try
- googling byelaws for that location,
- contacting the station to ask,
- or as suggested in my earlier post "use the Search the forum function using APCOA or the particular railway station concerned as the search term" which may help you find other posters who have dealt with this particular company at that location and have already found out if it's covered by byelaws

mailmannz

CC,

Thakns for the reply. Ive done a search for my station on here and cant find anything. When Im down there next week Ill have a look and see if I can see anything.

So, in the mean time Ill wait for the notice to keeper letter to arrive and then appeal from there. Is htat the right action to take?

Regards

Mailman

ColliesCarer

Yes the forum advice is that it is worth waiting for the NtK before appealing - because of all the reasons in the section I pointed you to the NEWBIES thread. The NtK should arrive no earlier than day 29 and no later than day 56 after the event.

The chances are that as it’s a railway car park there will be byelaws and therefore it won't be relevant land regarding POFA 2012 and keeper liability

Try searching "APCOA Station" or "APCOA railway" and click POSTS not THREADS because although it may not be mentioned in the thread title it may be mentioned in the content.

Here are a couple of threads to get you started on understanding why to wait and how to appeal when the NtK arrives

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4817796

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4923457

mailmannz

I sent off my appeal to APCOA and naturally enough got a letter back last week saying my appeal had been unsuccessful.

In it they say I have 14 days to pay the full penalty BUT the pages on appealing to POPLA says I have 28 days to appeal to them...which is surely a disconnect (but probably just a tactic by ACPOA to get one to pay up?).

Anyway, I thought these guys had to include a POPLA verification number in their rejection letter? I cannot find any said POPLA reference number in their letter at all (apart from their parking ticket reference number)???

Also in the POPLA information enclosed with their rejection notice it says that "however the fact that you think that the charge is excessive is NOT valid ground for appeal". Surely the whole problem with ALL parking tickets is that their charges are excessive and dont represent the actual loss incurred by the parking company???

Anyway, any thoughts would be appreciated.

Regards

Mailman

Redx

the 14 days is to encourage people to pay up , phishing

they dont want it to go to popla as it will cost them money

the popla code is a 10 digit verification code and should be clearly marked on the letter somewhere (front or back)

the 28 days for popla is from the time they generated the popla code (check it with the parking cowboys code checker when you do find it or get it)

maybe there is an attached popla sheet (the one you mentioned) with the code on it (plus the pcn number etc) ?

Also in the POPLA information enclosed with their rejection notice

please double check this paperwork, as the code should be on there, otherwise you report it all asap to the BPA, post #6 of the newbies threads tells you how, and attach copies of all paperwork (if the code is missing)

Dee140157

If you haven't got a POPLA code then you need to email them again requesting/demanding one as you should receive it with your rejection.

But as Redx asks, is it on the other sheet of paper.

When you have got it, search for APCOA appeals and find a recent one that has been okayed and use it as a basis for your draft appeal and post here for checking.

Oh and ignore what the PPC says about what you can appeal on. They tell everyone yo appeal on. Mitigating circumstances, even though POPLA clearly states it won't consider mitigating circumstances. Not that I am suggesting they are being economical with the truth in any way!

mailmannz

Hiya,

The rejection letter most definitely does not have a POPLA verification code anywhere on any of the pages that was sent to me???

Ive sent a copy of the letter to the DVLA and BPA and have asked them to cancel the charge due to APCOA failing, quite deliberately I feel, to follow their own code of practices. Lets see if that does the trick

Regards

Mailman