Company car - advice is to appeal early, but how early?

frankietwospots

Right, formal complaint made with POPLA for the attention of the Lead Adjudicator (don't think that will get very far), and have written to ISPA and BPA. Thanks for all your help guys! Wish me luck...

frankietwospots

So, an update.

Firstly, I had an acknowledgement from BPA who say they have logged my complaint.

I also had an acknowledgement from Christine Fraser, Director of ISPA, who said their investigation is likely to take 8 to 12 weeks.

POPLA, on the other hand, are a disgrace. I sent an email with the header 'Formal complaint for the attention of the Lead Adjudicator' outlining the way my case had been handled and the fact that I was unhappy with the process. After two weeks, I'd had no reply so I chased it up. The reply I got from Emily Chriscoli was essentially a copy and paste of the last email to me saying 'case closed' with the following added on:

As previously stated, POPLA's involvement with this appeal has ended. As such, any future correspondence you send to us will be noted on the case but we will not respond.

So what they are saying is that they are ignoring my complaint. That can't be right can it? What's the point in having a complaints process if they just ignore you? They state on their website the following:

If you wish to make a formal complaint about specific alleged misconduct by an Assessor, it would be investigated by the Lead Adjudicator. However, this is not the same as merely disagreeing with the Assessor’s decision.

That's precisely what I am doing. I'm not merely disagreeing with their decision but complaining about the fact that supposedly new information came to light which was not shared with me and which, somehow, changed their decision from successful to unsuccessful. I want to know what that evidence was. :mad:

Coupon-mad

If you wish to make a formal complaint about specific alleged misconduct by an Assessor, it would be investigated by the Lead Adjudicator.

Quote that from their website and forward the email trail of your complaint to:

complaints@popla.co.uk

And use the salutation 'Dear Mr Gallagher' who is the Lead Adjudicator. Tell them that this complaint has already been escalated to ISPA but you wish to have his view as Lead Adjudicator on the misconduct by the Assessor in neglecting to consider all points of appeal raised, which included 'no landowner authority' (did your ORIGINAL POPLA appeal - not rebuttal - have that point?).

And you wish to protest that their complaints procedure which you were obviously trying to invoke, is hidden under 'FAQs' (including their complaints email address and the Management Structure including his name, none of which was supplied by POPLA) and no information about POPLA's complaints policy was supplied when Emily C utterly fobbed off a valid complaint and, disgracefully, said 'if you write again we'll ignore you'.


Just my thoughts, not for the complaint:
This is not a complaints policy under any description - this appears to be: 'go away, we know we are screwing lots of these cases up but we can't cope, we have a backlog and we have taken on untrained new staff who don't understand the POFA or the basics of requiring clear evidence and considering all comments made & shared by both sides. Please go away and pay because we have a backlog to clear [STRIKE]screw up[/STRIKE]'.

frankietwospots

Thanks Coupon-mad - I sent another email to POPLA using the complaints@popla.co.uk address. Unfortunately I didn't see your response in time to use Mr Gallagher's name as I had a window of opportunity whilst the baby was asleep! I quoted the following text from their website and then specifically tailored my complaint around 1) their failure to keep me updated on progress ( have chased them repeatedly) and 2) their failure to explain things properly (specifically, this supposed new evidence that emerged that they haven't shared with me and they haven't explained why and how it changed their decision). I think that's the least they can do to be honest.

Unhappy with our service POPLA

At POPLA we take complaints about our service very seriously. If you think that we have done something wrong please let us know so we have the chance to put things right quickly and effectively. Your complaint will help us learn from our mistakes and improve our service.

Sometimes the outcome of your appeal is not what you want to hear. Your appeal has independently been reviewed by a professional assessor taking into consideration the relevant law, regulatory rules, guidance and standards and the British Parking Association Code of Practice. You cannot challenge the outcome of your appeal with POPLA. Regardless, you should be satisfied with the level of service you have received free of charge from us. If you disagree with the outcome of your appeal, you will need to follow alternative routes.

We can only investigate complaints that involve allegations of poor service or performance, for example where we have:

treated you rudely;
failed to keep you updated on progress;
caused unnecessary delays;
failed to explain things properly; or
any other shortfall in service
If you have a complaint about the standard of service that we have provided, please send us an email to complaints@popla.co.uk

Completely agree with your thoughts about the real reason behind all of this. Unfortunately for them, I'm stubborn as hell and won't give up that easily!

frankietwospots

PPC_hater wrote: »

from the BMPA website


"Kernow Parking Solutions

BMPA Support Desk August 07, 2015 05:47



Not really a company but a trading name of Robert Ley.
However with tickets you cannot contract with Kernow Parking Solutions unless it is identified as a trading style - which from the tickets we've seen it does not.
Our advice would be to take a copy of the ticket to Citizens Advice or Trading Standards.
If you have any examples of these tickets we'd appreciate copies"


number of court claims = zero

@PPChater - can I ask, when you said 'number of court claims = zero', were you talking about KPS in particular? If so, where did you get this info? In between all of this to-ing and fro-ing with POPLA, I have KPS asking me to pay the fine or possibly be faced with court action.

Redx

I would have thought that you would know by now that this is not a "fine" and I hope you are not calling it that in any of your present correspondence

I doubt that even numpties like KPS would call it a "fine" in their letters

I think that the above is getting the info from the BMPA website, hence what they have copied and pasted

in any case, what KPS are saying has always been the case, its nothing new, its "pay up or you may face court action"

well that has always been the case and they have 6 years to do so

Coupon-mad

frankietwospots wrote: »

@PPChater - can I ask, when you said 'number of court claims = zero', were you talking about KPS in particular? If so, where did you get this info? In between all of this to-ing and fro-ing with POPLA, I have KPS asking me to pay the fine or possibly be faced with court action.

Yes he was talking about KPS, who do not do court. He obviously got the figures from the BMPA (as quoted):

https://bmpa.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/203753801-Kernow-Parking-Solutions

A VERY reliable source.

They are looking for copies of PCNs and NTKs so you can safely contact the BMPA to supply those and ask any questions you may have.

Umkomaas

frankietwospots wrote: »

@PPChater - can I ask, when you said 'number of court claims = zero', were you talking about KPS in particular? If so, where did you get this info? In between all of this to-ing and fro-ing with POPLA, I have KPS asking me to pay the fine or possibly be faced with court action.

http://www.bmpa.eu/companydata/Kernow_Parking_Solutions_KPS.html

frankietwospots

At long last, a reply from IPSA:

Dear XXXX

Thank you for your email dated 30 March 2016 regarding the appeal decision you received. Our director is currently on leave and I am writing to you in her absence to inform you of the outcome of your case review.

One of our Independent Assessors has investigated your complaint and looked at the processes applied to your appeal. She has identified concerns with the processes followed in your case. Those concerns will be reported to the ISPA Board and to the BPA and Ombudsman Services. As you are aware, ISPA cannot overturn an appeal decision.

Thank you for bringing these issues to our attention.

Best wishes,

Elspeth Bramley

Board Secretary to ISPA

Obviously I'd love to know exactly what those concerns identified were, but I'm guessing this is all I'll get...

Umkomaas

Our director is currently on leave and I am writing to you in her absence to inform you of the outcome of your case review.

That director has been 'on leave' for weeks now. Great job if you can get it!