PCN for Birmingham International Airport (APCOA)

Coupon-mad

Yes it is exactly that sort of charge. Those cases are like yours in respect that there was no licence offered to park.

APCOA are saying there was no right to park there, no contract was offered. EXACTLY like those cases, that merely leaves a possibility of the landowner suing for trespass, no more and no less.

in those cases it seems as though they are replying after the company has mentioned tresspass but nothing of the sort here.

None of those companies alleged trespass. They tried 'breach of contract' and they failed. They did what APCOA are trying, they contended there was a contract formed yet the signage was forbidding (disallowed parking without a permit, just as your signs disallowed stopping).

No licence to park; no contract existed. Very like those cases. Very unlike the Beavis case.

harj1185

Received the following reply less than 24 hours after submitting my POPLA appeal against APCOA:


Thank you for submitting your parking charge Appeal to POPLA.

An Appeal has been opened with the reference xxx.

APCOA Parking have told us they do not wish to contest the Appeal. This means that your Appeal is successful and you do not need to pay the parking charge.

Yours sincerely

POPLA Team

Would like to thank everyone who helped me with the process, much appreciated :beer:

Coupon-mad

APCOA do NOT like forum POPLA appeals!

Nice one!

Nixon

Hi I'm new to all this, and as an OAP quite new to technology too. Anyway I had a PCN from APCOA at Luton Airport for Dropping off/picking up outside of a designated parking area. I appealed and lost so now I'm trying to put together an appeal to POPLA.

After looking at other appeal this is what I have put together, but I'm not that confident with it, I found some of the points hard to understand, so any feedback would be good before I send it off.

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Dear POPLA Assessor,[/FONT]


[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]I am the keeper of the vehicle with registration number ...... I received by Royal mail a Parking charge Notice (PCN), demanding a charge of £80 from APCOA, due they state, to contravention of dropping off/picking up outside of a designated parking area at Luton airport on 22/06/2016 at 15:01:00. The letter from APCOA was dated 19/07/2016, some 27 days after the alleged contravention.[/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]The original appeal, sent via email on 25/07/2016 to the operator APCOA was rejected by letter on 08/08/2016, included in the letter was a POPLA verification code.[/FONT]


[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]As registered keeper, I am not liable for this PCN and so I wish to appeal on the grounds numbered 1-6 as outline below:[/FONT]

1. [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Amount demanded is a penalty not a genuine pre-estimate of loss[/FONT]
2. [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Not relevant Land under POFA 2012: no registered keeper liability[/FONT]
3. [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Creditor not identified[/FONT]
4. [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Misleading and unclear signage[/FONT]
5. [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]No landowner contract nor legal standing to form contracts or charge drivers.[/FONT]
6. [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Reasonable cause for requesting keeper details from DVLA[/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]1. The amount of the charge is disproportionate to the loss incurred by APCOA Parking Ltd and is punitive, contravening the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1997. I also consider the PCN to be a penalty because APCOA Parking Ltd have alleged a breach of terms and conditions and yet have not quantified their alleged loss (which cannot include business running costs nor the POPLA fee).[/FONT]


[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]2. APCOA have failed to establish keeper liability. APCOA have failed to fulfil the requirements necessary under statue (the POFA 2012) to allow them to attempt recover of any charge from the keeper.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Sites designated as Airports by the Secretary of State are subject to statutory control in the form of byelaws. POFA 2012 does not apply because land subject to statutory control is not 'relevant land' - this was found as fact by Senior Assessor Chris Adamson in POPLA ref 6060164050. The driver has not been identified, therefore as registered keeper I cannot lawfully be held liable for this charge. If APCOA argue otherwise then they must produce the byelaws and maps to show that this part of the Airport is somehow exempt from statutory control. The onus falls upon APCOA to demonstrate this and I put them to strict proof on this point.[/FONT]


[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]3. The notice to keeper is not compliant with paragraph 9 (2)(h) of schedule 4 of POFA 2012 in that it does not identify the creditor. The operator is required to specifically 'identify' the creditor not simply name them on it. This would require words to the effect of 'The creditor is.....'. The keeper is entitled to know the party with whom any purported contract was made. APCOA have failed to do this and thus have not fulfilled all the requirements necessary under POFA to allow them to attempt recovery of any charge from the keeper.[/FONT]


[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]4. The alleged contravention, according to APCOA, is in 'breach of the terms and conditions of use of the Airport road infrastructure and signs are clearly displayed'. It would however appear that signage at this location which is unclear, misleading and ambiguous, do not comply with road traffic regulations or their permitted variations and as such are misleading – they are unable to be seen by a driver and certainly could not be read without stopping, and therefore do not comply with the BOPA code of practice. APCOA are required to show evidence to the contrary.[/FONT]


[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]5. I do not believe that the Operator has demonstrated a proprietary interest in the land, because they have no legal possession which would give APCOA Parking Ltd any right to offer parking spaces, let alone allege a contract with third party customers of the lawful owner/occupiers. In addition, APCOA Parking Ltd's lack of title in this land means they have no legal standing to allege trespass or loss, if that is the basis of their charge. I require APCOA Parking Ltd to demonstrate their legal ownership of the land to POPLA.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]I contend that APCOA Parking Ltd is only an agent working for the owner and their signs do not help them to form a contract without any consideration capable of being offered. VCS -v-HMRC 2012 is the binding decision in the Upper Chamber which covers this issue with compelling statements of fact about this sort of business model.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]I believe there is no contract with the landowner/occupier that entitles APCOA Parking Ltd to levy these charges and therefore it has no authority to issue parking charge notices (PCNs). This being the case, the burden of proof shifts to APCOA Parking Ltd to prove otherwise so I require that APCOA Parking Ltd produce a copy of their contract with the owner/occupier and that the POPLA adjudicator scrutinises it. Even if a basic contract is produced and mentions PCNs, 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 APCOA Parking Ltd and the owner/occupier, containing nothing that APCOA Parking Ltd can lawfully use in their own name as a mere agent, that could impact on a third party customer.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]
[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]6. The BPA code of practice says '20.14 says when you serve a Notice to Keeper, you must also include information telling the keeper the ''reasonable cause'' you had for asking the DVLA for their details.' The PCN does not provide this information; this does not comply with the BPA code point 20.14.[/FONT]




[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]I therefore request that POPLA uphold my appeal and cancel this PCN.[/FONT]


[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Yours faithfully,[/FONT]

Redx

please start your own thread and then people may reply and help you

thank you

ps:- its top left on the main forum where this thread also resides

a red roundel saying NEW THREAD

CharlieKorotane

Hi All,

It seems i'm not the only one but i need help!

I was dropped off at the airport outside the ibis hotel and the registered keeper has received a parking charge notice.
The car was not even in the parking zone, the parking there has only enough spaces for 2 cars to drop off guests and was mostly taken up by the taxi parked right in the middle of it so we had to park still in the road adjacent to the space itself.
We were only there for approx 10 seconds whilst i got my suitcase from the boot.
Is there anything i can do as there is a sign that says hotel drop off only.
Thanks.

Redx

the keeper should just follow the same advice as in this thread , appealing as KEEPER (not driver) to APCOA (see the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread)

if YOU or THEY need further help, please start your own thread

use the foum search using BHX APCOA to find similar threads which all have the correct advice in them , but only look at recent threads over the last few months

the red NEW THREAD button is top left of the main parking forum