Park Direct evidence from a mobile device but no PCN served

elponce28

Decision Successful
Assessor NameLinsdey Rogers
Assessor summary of operator case
The operator states that it issued the Parking Charge Notice (PCN) on the basis that the appellant stopped or waited where stopping or waiting restrictions are in force.

Assessor summary of your case
The appellant raises several grounds of appeal including, the charge is extravagant and not a Genuine Pre-estimate of Loss, they state that the Notice to keeper failed to meet the requirements of POFA to hold the keeper liable, they question landowner authority, advise that the signage at the site is insufficient and state that the car park address is not correct.

Assessor supporting rational for decision
While the appellant has raised a number of grounds for appeal, my report will focus solely on the landowner authority. Section 7 of the British Parking Association (BPA) Code of Practice requires Operators to own the land or to have written authority from the landowner to operate on the land. While I note the operator has provided a copy of their contract, it is dated 25 March 2014.I note that the PCN was issued on 10 December 2015. Within the whereas section, point 2. It states “The contract shall take effect on the date that this document is signed and shall expire 12 months later. The client may extend the term and provision of this contract by written notice to park Direct.” The operator has failed to provide any evidence that it has received any written notice to extend the contract. As such, I cannot confirm whether the operator has issued the PCN correctly.

elponce28

Important to note though:

I have never seen the copy of this contract, the operator did not include it in their rebuttal pack.
So they omit evidence in which we cannot rebut but they still send it to POPLA. I did send another email to POPLA stating that the second rebuttal pack from the operator was exactly the same as the first one. I also put some emphasis that they failed to provide the contract required as proof of authority. Whether it helped I cant say but I thought it should be noted that these mercenaries also omit evidence from us.

Redx

well done , and shows how they cheat and sc@m people even at the POPLA stage

pop the decision and PPC into the POPLA DECISIONS thread at the top of the forum too

Coupon-mad

elponce28 wrote: »

Important to note though:

I have never seen the copy of this contract, the operator did not include it in their rebuttal pack.
So they omit evidence in which we cannot rebut but they still send it to POPLA. I did send another email to POPLA stating that the second rebuttal pack from the operator was exactly the same as the first one. I also put some emphasis that they failed to provide the contract required as proof of authority. Whether it helped I cant say but I thought it should be noted that these mercenaries also omit evidence from us.

Right, you now need to send a complaint to the BPA telling them that. We've seen Park Direct do that before. IT IS NOT ALLOWED.

AOS@BRITISHPARKING.CO.UK

And you could also contact ISPA to ask them to flag up that this is a very serious fault of the POPLA system and has hapened in your case and others in the public domain. Although you won at POPLA on a technicality in the landowner contract you should have won due to no landowner contract being supplied because you never saw it in your 'reduced' version of an evidence pack. You told POPLA that but they have still considered the landowner contract as if it was evidence, the Assessor has looked at it - and frankly, POPLA should have discounted it completely as they knew you hadn't had that.

This is inherently wrong and should not be possible; it is fundamental at POPLA that the appellant MUST be sent the same information in the evidence pack as POPLA see.

Donlt be fobbed off by the BPA, make it clear what your complaint is about and that it is a serious breach and you are also reporting Park Direct's deliberate withholding of evidence from you, to ISPA.

To focus the BPA's minds, do copy in the DVLA:

david.dunford@dvla.gsi.gov.uk

David Dunford will read it even if he replies and says this isn't DVLA's remit. The good thing is, he reads it. I would still include him; all complaints need to be seen by all parties who need to know about the scams played out by parking firms.

elponce28

Thank you Coupon-mad, the email addresses you provided will come handy!! I will do it very soon.

In the mean time, I would like to say a massive THANK YOU for your support. You guys encourage us to fight these crooks. I am nowhere near being good at writing these sort of appeals, hence why I put some together from other appeals. This means that if a person like me ( I had never heard of pofa or POPLA before) can put something like this together, anyone can!! I thought of giving up in the beginning but I am glad I didnt. I have learned a lot in the process. Thank you so much!!

Coupon-mad

Park Direct are nasty so make sure you do that email while it is fresh in your mind.

You are an example of what can be achieved by newbies starting from scratch, learning, making an effort and winning against a nasty firm out to trick you. Well done!

Now report what they did. Maybe it might make them think twice about playing this trick again if they end up on sanction points (which we don't know if they already are...). Complaints about this sort of con are important.

elponce28

OK I have sent an email reporting the operator to BPA and also sent an email to ISPA as advised by Coupon-mad.

I reported parkdirectuk for sending a reduced version of the evidence sent to POPLA and this is unacceptable. On the same email I reported that the operator is still issuing PCNs on the same site illegally as I witnessed it two weeks ago.

Here is BPA's reply:

"Good afternoon Mr xxxxxxx

Thank you for your email below.

Please provide copies of the evidence packs etc. referred to in your email. We do not have any access to POPLA appeals and do not hold any information on your case.

We will investigate any complaints about alleged non-compliance with the Code of Practice. However, we are not set up to deal with disputes from the general public about parking or control. We are not a legal entity nor a regulatory body. Therefore, the Code does not provide a way for the driver to challenge how a landowner or operator has applied parking control or enforcement on private land. Any challenge or appeal is a matter for the landowner's or operator's procedure, with the option of taking it to POPLA, and or the Courts. We will not get involved in the arbitration of a dispute between an operator and an individual.

Yours sincerely
Jan Wilkins
Operational Services Co-Ordinator
British Parking Association".

I have not requested any involvement from them and made clear that my appeal was allowed so whats he on about?
I forwarded the email from the operator with the "evidence pack" and reminded them of the CoP section 7. I also requested that, because this is a very serious incident, it should be dealt with accordingly.

Coupon-mad

I have not requested any involvement from them and made clear that my appeal was allowed so whats he on about?

The second paragraph is standard, not special to your case.

If you have sent the evidence pack, reply and say it was already attached. You will also need to show the BPA the POPLA decision so they can see what you mean about them considering evidence you were never shown.

rdr

As a point of fact the BPA is a legal entitiy, their website states:

The BPA is a not-for profit organisation and a company limited by guarantee.

So that statement in their email is wrong and misleading.