Is this initial appeal letter suitable?

rorylando45

Coupon-mad wrote: »

Hope you didn't use your original planned appeal which gave away who was driving?

Have you found a recent UKCPM POPLA appeal in the forum by searching their name?

No, I soon realised that was an appalling letter! Rewrote one based on the template in the Newbies thread.

I will search for a UKCPM POPLA appeal letter and get writing.

The only thing I'm concerned about is the receipt I enclosed. In response they wrote:

In reference to you supplying a receipt for [shop]. The car park is not owned or managed by [shop] and as stated above is for permit holders only, therefore this has no bearing on your appeal and in fact exhibits that you're parked there for convenience in contravention of the restrictions.

Is that gonna hurt my case?

Coupon-mad

Nope because the receipt doesn't show who was the driver and nor does a receipt matter for a POPLA appeal.

rorylando45

OK I've had a go at constructing my POPLA appeal...I used Gemlou and SirSiekier's letters as templates as both of them were UKCPM as well.

I think I've covered the 3 main points, are there any glaring omissions? I don't think it says anywhere who is driving.

One question, what goes in place of the asterisks at the top? The name of the PPC company, their PCN reference number, and the POPLA appeal number?

Dear POPLA Assesor,

Re: ********* parking charge notice ********
POPLA ref **********

I am the registered keeper and I wish to appeal this charge on the following grounds:

1. No Genuine Pre Estimate of Loss
2. Contract with Landowner
3. Inadequate Signage

1. (a) The Charge is not a contractual fee – it is a disguised breach

The Operator has attempted to avoid the necessity of having to justify a pre estimate of loss by stating that this is a contractually agreed fee on their signage. However on both the parking charge notice (which is described as exactly that, NOT an invoice for an agreed fee) and the rejection letter to my appeal they state that the charge is for being "in contravention of" and having "breached" the terms and conditions of parking. In addition, the wording on their sign also states that "unauthorised parking may result in your vehicle being issued with a parking charge notice".

The charge must be either for damages or a fee paid for parking (consideration), it cannot be for both and in order for it to be consideration, it would have to mean that permission to park without a permit was given providing a fee was paid. Clearly permission to "park in breach" cannot be granted and I therefore submit that it is clear that the amount sought is for parking in breach and that the amount represents liquidated damages which is compensation agreed in advance.

I would like to highlight a similar appeal against CPM where POPLA assessor Marina Kapour found that

"The charge must either be for damages as submitted by the Appellant, or for consideration - the price paid for the parking as submitted by the Operator. In order for the charge to be consideration, the parking charge must be paid in return for something, here permission to park beyond the permitted stay. In other words, the sign must permit the motorist to park beyond the maximum stay provided he or she pay the charge. Clearly, permission to park 'in breach' is not granted, and so the parking charge cannot be a contractual price. Instead, it is clear that the charge is in fact a sum sought as damages, and therefore must be a genuine pre estimate of the loss which may be caused by the parking breach. I find it seems clear that the signs in this car park do not give permission to park in return for the parking charge and so it cannot be consideration".

I would also highlight POPLA appeal reference 9663053967 where an initially refused appeal against the same Operator who again, made the same attempt to describe the charge as a contractually agreed fee on their signage was allowed by the Lead Adjudicator. It was found that the charge was a penalty and as such was not a genuine pre estimate of loss. I contend that the same applies in my case, and POPLA must show consistency where similar arguments are raised by appellants. The amount of £100 demanded is punitive and unreasonable, is not a contractual fee but is a disguised breach and must be shown to be a genuine pre estimate of loss to be enforceable.

(b) The Charge is not a Genuine Pre Estimate of Loss

The charge of £100 is being sought for an alleged breach of the parking terms namely “parking without displaying a valid permit” consequently I contend, and the BPA code of practice states, that a charge for breach must be based on the genuine pre estimate of loss.

The Office of Fair Trading has stated to the BPA that a 'parking charge' is not automatically recoverable simply because it is stated to be a parking charge, as it cannot be used to state a loss where none exists.

In the case of Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre co v New Garage Motor co (1915), Lord Dunedin stated that a stipulation "will be held to be a penalty if the sum stipulated for is extravagant and unconscionable in amount in comparison with the greatest loss which could conceivably be proved to have followed from the breach" and "there is an assumption that it is penalty when a single lump sum is made payable by way of compensation on the occurrence of one or more or all of several events, some of which may occasion serious and others but trifling damage".

As the charge in this case is the same lump sum whether the vehicle is parked for 10 minutes or for 24 hours and the same amount is charged for any alleged contravention, it is clear that this is punitive and that no consideration has been given to calculating a genuine pre estimate of loss in this case.

I therefore require the Operator to submit a full breakdown of their genuine pre estimate of loss to show how this loss was calculated in this particular parking area and for this particular alleged breach.
Operational business costs cannot possibly flow as a direct result of any breach as the operator would be in the same position whether or not any breaches occur.

I would also refer them to the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations, where it states that parking charges for breach on private land must not exceed the cost to the Landowner during the time the Motorist is parked there and remind them that the amount in this case is nothing.

The operator will no doubt state that loss was incurred as a result of the appeals process after the parking charge notice was issued but in order for this to represent a genuine pre estimate of loss, they must first show that they incurred an initial loss as a direct result of the alleged breach.

This initial loss is fundamental and without it, costs incurred subsequently cannot be reasonably claimed to have been caused by the breach and as I have stated earlier - there was no initial loss.

Christopher Adamson stated in a POPLA appeal against VCS Ltd that

"the aim of damages is to be compensatory, beginning with the idea that the aim is to put the parties in the position they would have been in had the contract been performed. It also seems that courts have been unwilling to allow clauses designed to deter breach as this undermines the binding nature of the initial promise made. Whilst the courts have reasonable moved away from a strict interpretation of what constitutes a genuine pre estimate of loss, recognising that in complex commercial situations an accurate pre estimate will not always be possible, nevertheless it remains that a charge for damages must be compensatory in nature rather than punitive. In this case it is clear that the dominant purpose of the charge is to deter parking for longer than the time paid for. Accordingly, I am not satisfied that the charge can be commercially justified".

In another recently upheld POPLA appeal, Marina Kapour did not accept a submission by the operator that the inclusion of costs which were made up of general business costs was commercially justified. She said:

"the whole business model of an operator in respect of a particular car park operation cannot of itself amount to commercial justification. I find that the charge is not justified commercially and so must be shown to be a genuine pre estimate of loss in order to be enforceable against the appellant".

The same applies in my case, and POPLA must show consistency where similar arguments are raised by appellants. The amount of £100 demanded is punitive and unreasonable, is not a contractual fee and can be neither be commercially justified or proved to be a genuine pre estimate of loss and I respectfully request that my appeal be upheld and the charge dismissed.

2. Contract with Landowner

The Operator does not own the land in question and have provided no evidence that they are lawfully entitled to demand money from a Driver or Keeper. They own neither proprietary or agency rights and hold no title or share of the land. I do not believe that they have the necessary legal capacity to enter into a contract with a Driver of a vehicle parking there or to allege a breach of contract in their own name as creditor. I believe that at best they may hold a site agreement limited to issuing tickets and as such I require that they provide POPLA with an unredacted copy of the actual contract with the landowner (not a lessee or managing agent).

In order to comply with the BPA code of practice, this contract must specifically grant the Operator the right to pursue parking charges in their own name as creditor, please note that a witness statement such as a signed letter to the effect that such a contract exists will be insufficient to provide all the required information and therefore be unsatisfactory for the following reasons;

(a) Some parking companies have provided 'witness statements' instead of the relevant contract. There is no proof that the alleged signatory has ever seen the contract nor that they are employed by the Landowner. Such a statement would not show whether any payment has been made to the Operator which would obviously affect any 'loss' calculations. Furthermore it would not serve to provide proof that the contract includes the necessary authority required by the BPA Code of Practice to allow the Operator to pursue charges in their own name as creditor and to enter into contracts with drivers.

(b) In POPLA case 1771073004, it was ruled that a witness statement was 'not valid evidence'. If the Operator provide a witness statement merely confirming the existence of a contract but no unredacted copy of that contract then POPLA should rule this evidence invalid in the interests of fairness and consistency.

Even if a basic contract is produced that mentions parking charge notices, 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 the Operator and the Landowner containing nothing that the Operator can lawfully use in their own name as mere agent that could impact on a third party customer. I therefore respectfully request that my appeal be upheld and the charge dismissed.

I would remind the Operator of their obligation to provide the Appellant with a copy of any evidence provided to POPLA as requested sent with sufficient time for consideration and rebuttal.

3. Inadequate Signage

The BPA code of practice February 2014 clearly states that "Specific parking terms signage tells drivers what your terms and conditions are, including your parking charges. You must place signs containing the specific parking terms throughout the site, so that drivers are given the chance to read them at the time of parking or leaving their vehicle. Keep a record of where all the signs are. Signs must be conspicuous and legible, and written in intelligible language, so that they are easy to see, read and understand".

I assert that being unable to read the detail on the sign visible on entry without stopping your vehicle and having only one other sign located as described, which may or may not be visible depending on which spaces are occupied at the time of parking, breaches this code. One sign is not easy to read without impeding the flow of traffic behind you and the other is inconspicuous. The photograph supplied at the rejection letter stage is not one that is located at the relevant end of the development nor is it one that would have been visible on the route taken.

I therefore require that the Operator submit evidence of the "clear and prominent signage throughout the development" referred to in their rejection letter in the form of site maps and photographs clearly indicating the location and height of said signage at the time of the alleged breach.

I have taken photographs myself for the purpose of rebuttal should the need arise and would once again remind the Operator of the requirement to submit copies of any evidence to the Appellant allowing sufficient time for consideration and rebuttal.

Best wishes,
[name]

Coupon-mad

Yep that looks fine except I would remove the words 'against VCS' in the line about Christopher Adamson as it's not relevant which PPC it was unless writing an appeal about VCS.

One question, what goes in place of the asterisks at the top? The name of the PPC company, their PCN reference number, and the POPLA appeal number?

I would say yes, that's what you need.

And make sure you tick 3 out of 4 POPLA appeal boxes (it's obvious which one doesn't apply).

rorylando45

Great, thanks a lot. Just submitted. Hopefully this will be the end of it! Will update here as and when I hear back from them.

Do they tend to let you know by email or post? And what sort of timeframe might I be looking at?

ColliesCarer

If you submitted it via the web site and supplied an email address you will shortly get an email acknowledgement - in the attachment they will give a date around when the appeal will be assessed - usually about 4 - 6 weeks from now.

They will also email you the PPC's evidence/reponse to your appeal - if the parking company supply anything check it over quickly as you can send in a further letter to POPLA anytime before the assessment happens, rebutting any questionable evidence they supply.

Popla will also email you the outcome

rorylando45

Finally heard back from them today by email, my appeal has been upheld. The PCN is to be cancelled! Was a long process (about 5 months all in) but glad that justice has prevailed in the end.

Massive thank you to everyone in this topic who helped out, couldn't have done it without you

prosnap

Congratulations ... :beer:
Now go and tell everyone else how to do the same

Coupon-mad

Nice to see UKCPM stuffed again - that took a long time but you got there in the end.