Britannia Parking Poole appeal

Workandpay

Hi Coupon Mad, thanks for your reply. Sorry for the delay - I've been away and wasn't able to log in. I took your advice and didn't respond to POPLA. They rejected my appeal on the basis that PoFA did not apply and that the operator has provided evidence that no payment was made.

So the options now are that I either pay or risk them taking me to court I suppose?

Coupon-mad

Not a risk, is really? Google 'Britannia BMPA insight' and count the times they've tried a small claim!

Brucey88

Hi,

I hope you don't mind me jumping on this.

I received a PCN in Basildon, Essex for being in a clearly labelled loading bay on a side street, which was next to a car park and Britannia gave me a ticket saying that I was in a car park and there were clear signs. I was in a work van unloading goods but I was away from the vehicle at the time.

There was a sign on the roof of a building next to me which I didn't bother reading because it was on the pavement and there was a tiny terms and conditions with loads of tiny writing writer on it at the start of the street ( which when travelling at 20mph, you're not going to stop to read)

I sent in the photos and the rejected it but it all seems a bit fishy to me.

Next step is they're asking for me to pay the fine or appeal through POPLA.

What do you guys advise? Keep pushing or just ignore? (I saw in old threads people just ignore them and don't really take them seriously)

I must note, that I obviously sent them an email, they got my details somehow of my address, however I was driving a hire vehicle. So it's not actually my personal car, just a work van.

Coupon-mad

You need to:

1. Read the sticky thread at the top of this forum board 'NEWBIES PLEASE READ THESE FAQS FIRST'. Read the advice about POPLA stage in post #3 of that sticky FAQs thread.

2. Search the forum for 'permit POPLA' (if this was a PCN for no permit in a permit area?) to read relevant POPLA appeals.

3. Crib from those POPLA appeals and show us (ON YOUR OWN THREAD) your own draft appeal based on the usual points.

Ignoring it is not a good plan even though Britannia are currently 'tame' and don't sue people, they have six years to pursue this and things change. People get court claims five years later sometimes from other PPCs so you can never assume nothing will happen and if you are offered POPLA you should use it, with forum help.

Please start your own thread once you have done your research and have a POPLA draft sorted. The code is valid 28 days.

fred7777

pappa_golf wrote: »

you will of course ask for a full printout from the pay and display machine and a full printout from the ANPR camera system for the same period to be produced in court.


this will then show if a person entered the wrong number , as the car will not appear on the ANPR

This is my plan for a charge notice I have just received for what I think is the same car park in Poole. The machines are particularly unresponsive to use with screens which are difficult to read in direct sunlight and on more than one occasion they have been out of action.

On the day in question for me I know I paid for a ticket but I don't have the ticket. The likely explanations are that the machine is faulty or that due to the difficulty of use I typed in the wrong number.

I would be very interested to hear from the original poster who he is progressing.

Workandpay

Hi, sorry I haven't been on here for a while. I did not pay following my failed POPLA appeal and have received two letters from a debt collection company and now their deadline has now expired.

I would be interested to know how POPLA and the courts are able to rely on the machine read-outs as evidence and whether they are fully satisfied that Britpark cannot alter the read-out, i.e. if they can delete incomplete or incorrect registration numbers. Does anyone know this?

Fred777 - I agree, the sunlight is a problem in Poole. I have been back since to check them out and the other confusing thing for first time users of the machine is that most of the characters of the VALID key on the machines have been worn away so when you look for the VALID key it is not apparent that that is what you should press.

Many people using the machines for the first time seem to find them difficult to use but this plays into the hands of Britpark doesn't it?

Castle

Workandpay wrote: »

I would be interested to know how POPLA and the courts are able to rely on the machine read-outs as evidence and whether they are fully satisfied that Britpark cannot alter the read-out, i.e. if they can delete incomplete or incorrect registration numbers. Does anyone know this?

Hopefully each ticket printed would have its own unique number so if a number is missing on the print out around the time you parked, you can suggest that it's your vehicle.

fred7777

Workandpay wrote: »

Fred777 - I agree, the sunlight is a problem in Poole. I have been back since to check them out and the other confusing thing for first time users of the machine is that most of the characters of the VALID key on the machines have been worn away so when you look for the VALID key it is not apparent that that is what you should press.

Many people using the machines for the first time seem to find them difficult to use but this plays into the hands of Britpark doesn't it?

I challenged Britannia on the charge and asked for records, they dropped it to £20 as they had records of the wrong reg number typed in (1 digit missing). In the end I decided it was easier to pay them £20 than continue arguing

The_Deep

In the end I decided it was easier to pay them £20 than continue arguing


Do you always take the easy way out?

Umkomaas

The_Deep wrote: »

In the end I decided it was easier to pay them £20 than continue arguing


Do you always take the easy way out?

I think sometimes pragmatism wins, TD. And don't go quoting me Martin Niemöller!