Conflicting Messages

Tracal

Having received one of these PCN's from Highview Parking in relation to Warrington Hospital, I eventually got round to finding the help I needed and used the template letter on the sticky thread to appeal. The charge was then put on hold whilst the appeal was reviewed.

However, today I received 2 emails from them, the first one was received at 14:12 and offered very good news and said the following: -
Dear Madam,
Thank you for your email.
In light of your claims, the representations stated in your appeal have been noted and upheld.
We confirm this Notice has been cancelled in full and no further action will take place on this occasion.
Yours Faithfully,
Highview Parking Ltd

But then one minute later at 14:13 I received another email, which said completely the opposite and gave me a POPLA number to take my appeal further and the amount of the charge has decreased quite a lot too. It said the following (I have kept my popla number hidden by the way):-
Dear Madam,
Thank you for your correspondence concerning your Parking Charge Notice.
This PCN was issued legally and correctly according to the British Parking Association Approved Operators Scheme.
Given that the signage is displayed in compliance with all relevant laws and regulations, the fact that you were seemingly unaware of the Terms and Conditions on site is not considered a mitigating circumstance for appeal.
The amount owed is a genuine pre-estimate of the losses incurred in managing the parking location to ensure compliance with the clearly-displayed Terms and Conditions. However, in Parking Eye Ltd v Beavis, it was found, both at County Court and Court of Appeal level, that appealing a Parking Charge Notice on the basis that the amount is not a genuine pre-estimate of loss is, in fact, not a successful legal defence.
In light of the above, on this occasion, your representations have been carefully considered and rejected.
We can confirm that we will hold the charge at the current rate of £15 for a further 14 days from the date of this correspondence.
Yours faithfully,
Although we have now rejected your appeal, you may still have recourse to appeal to Parking On Private Land Appeals (POPLA), an independent appeals service. POPLA will only consider cases on the grounds that the Parking Charge exceeded the appropriate amount, that the vehicle was not improperly parked or had been stolen, or that you were otherwise not liable for the Parking Charge.
To appeal to POPLA, please go to their website http://www.popla.org.uk and follow the instructions. If you would rather deal with this matter by post, please contact our Appeals Office and we will send you the necessary paperwork.
Your POPLA reference number is: ??????
Please note that if your appeal does not relate to the above criteria or is rejected by POPLA for any reason, you may be requested to pay the charge at the full amount and will no longer qualify for payment at the reduced rate.
Highview Parking Ltd

So my dilemma now is which email do I actually pay attention to, both had the same PCN reference number listed in their heading, so there was clearly no way that I have received somebody else's email ... Typical that things never run a smooth course for me lol.

Advice on what action I take next would be appreciated.
Thank you.

Redx

I would contact them and ask which is correct and ask for a confirmation email or postal letter confirming what action (if any) is being taken

if in doubt , submit the popla appeal and they have the option to withdraw the charge and they can tell popla to cancel

they couldnt run a p up in a brewery , so we have a LO-VIEW of highview

Umkomaas

You could do a full blown appeal to POPLA, with all the usual appeal points, but then finally adding a last paragraph stating you have no idea why Highview are pursuing this as you have already had written confirmation from them that they have cancelled the charge.

This way you put them to the task of having to respond to POPLA - and it will cost them £27.

Alternatively you could just wait and see if they make another move - like using a debt collecting agency to hassle you. Then just reply with a FRO letter with a copy of their cancelation notice enclosed.

You should also send a letter of complaint (whichever of the two above options you go with) to the hospital trust and show them the mess of things their agent is making. Ask them if in their opinion this is how their car parking should be managed. And remind them of the even greater mess HV is making at their sister hospital at Halton.

You won't be paying anything.

Hot_Bring

Just appeal to POPLA with a copy of the email saying they've cancelled. Let's see them get out of that one AND it still costs them £27 plus VAT !

Tracal

Haha, some great advice there, thanks guys, they really do need bringing down a peg or 5 lol

bazster

Complain to the BPA. Valid complaints about operator c0ck-ups usually result in the ticket being cancelled.

Tracal

Thank you Bazster, I will do :-) Its ridiculous how they conduct themselves and how much stress and anxiety they bring to people. If a member of the public does not do something quite right in their eyes then they act like vultures and are fast to tick them off, but then they think that they can get away with this diabolical behaviour - complete joke!!!

System

You might want to send some information on this to the Liverpool Echo. They are interested in this at the moment

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/halton-hospital-parking-fine-system-9748881.

Same system at Warrington as at Halton.

Umkomaas

IamEmanresu wrote: »

You might want to send some information on this to the Liverpool Echo. They are interested in this at the moment

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/halton-hospital-parking-fine-system-9748881.

Same system at Warrington as at Halton.

Mr McGuirk said they could not cancel the contract without showing Highview had done ‘something wrong’ and that bosses were awaiting the findings of a British Parking Association investigation.

Well that will sort it all out then. Three cheers for the BPA!

Tracal

Ok, I am not that clued up with all this process and I am about to submit my POPLA appeal, have stalled with this as I want to make sure I am doing it all correctly.

On the POPLA appeal form, am I appealing because the "parking charge exceeded the appropriate amount"?

In their second email where they rejected my appeal, they reduced the charge from £75 to £15 if paid within 14 days. However, it never even started off as £15 in the first place, and when the initial charge was received from them their invoice was for £40. It then went up to £75 when the charge notice reminder was received due to the fact the initial £40 was never paid. Are they reducing it to try and get out of the clause where it says they exceeded the appropriate amount?

Also in the box titled please tell us your reasons for appealing, do I put my original appeal letter in there that was sent to Highview Parking (the blue template on the newbies sticky thread) with the additional paragraph on the end for the POPLA stage. Plus I am also going to add another paragraph stating the fact that I had 2 emails from them within a minute of each other with the first informing me that the charge was cancelled etc.

I may also mention the fact that the charge relates to the vehicle being parked on the 2/6/15 and that they state that they sent out their first notice on the 15/6/15 which would mean that by the time it reached me it would have gone outside of the 14 day period they have to contact me in.

Would I be correct in doing all this?

Redx

there are 4 boxes on the popla site, you tick 3 from 4 , so not the "stolen" one

your actual appeal can be attached after you login to the site and you can attach it as a word doc or a pdf , so you can say "see attached full appeal" in the initial comments box

your popla appeal should be based on the following

non compliant NTK (including outside the 14 days contact window)
poor signage
no contract
not a gpeol
anpr accuracy

so if in doubt, put it on here (no personal info) so people can have a skim read

dont worry about all the different amounts , they are just trying to get money out of you (any amount is better than nothing, plus they will lose £27 + vat at popla)

you can try the single point appeal stating that the charge was cancelled and attach a copy as evidence, if you are "brave enough" lol

you dont need to add any other paperwork unless it backs up your case

so its your choice how you wish to send in your appeal, and on the grounds , one point or multiple points , your choice

you are not liable for the charge is the actual correct box , but usually people tick 3 from 4