Received Parking fine from Indigo Park

daniellehickson

Hi,

I was wondering if someone could help me, last Monday I parked down at the train station and bought a parking ticket for the week (which cost enough in itself!), I displayed the ticket in the dashboard and went on my way.

When I got back to my car at 8 o'clock that evening I had a fine stuck to the window from Indigo Parking! I checked my car and realised that due to the rush and panic I was in earlier that morning (because of Southern train strikes and it not being something I usually do) I had accidentally displayed my receipt instead of my ticket for that day. I thought it would be worth disputing it as I had still paid for a ticket at 7am that morning and the receipt did contain both the date and the full amount paid. I should also add that the ticket officer failed to tell me that no trains were running from that station for the rest of the week, so I had wasted my money on the weekly ticket!

I checked the dispute this morning and Indigo have rejected it because I displayed the receipt and not the ticket. I am now just looking for some advice on what I should do next,.. has anyone experienced this before?

My options are to pay the fine now (which would be £60) or go down the POPLA route, but if I lose that, I will have to pay the full £100.

Many thanks in advance!

Carthesis

There has been a rash of these recently - I commented on three of these just the other day. All for Indigo tickets, and all at Southern Trains car parks.

** EDIT **

See this link: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/71510323#Comment_71510323

** END OF EDIT **

It is likely that railway byelaws apply in this situation, meaning only the train operating company can take you to court, and only for trespass, which clearly isn't the case because you've paid. If you still have the receipt and ticket, then this is most certainly worth going through POPLA.

Why would you consider paying when you've *ALREADY PAID THE CORRECT AMOUNT FOR PARKING*? Even if they were to take you to court (highly unlikely), then the Judge would laugh them out of the building for not just cancelling it when it became obvious you had paid!!

I presume this was a windscreen ticket?

When you appealed, were you careful to avoid naming / identifying the driver (i.e. through use of phrases including "me, myself and I")?

daniellehickson

Thanks for your response!

I didn't realise there would be so many people wanting to dispute tickets from Indigo, i'd not even heard of them until now!

You're information is really helpful and will definately proceed through POPLA having read your advice, however I do not have the reciept anymore as I had to provide it to my work to claim for my expenses, I do however still have the ticket and proof on my bank statement if that would be relevant. I also have a photocopy of the receipt (I copied it before sending it off to my company).

It was a windscreen ticket yes, and when I appealed, I wanted to get it done and out the way because I was so annoyed I had recieved the ticket and didnt do my research before doing so, I did use "I" a couple of times throughout the appeal. Would this damage my chances of being able to appeal through POPLA?

Thanks again!

Carthesis

This is one of the few cases where naming the driver isn't terminal, because of the railway byelaws. The byelaws say that only the "owner" can be prosecuted for trespass, and the "owner" isn't necessarily either the "driver" or the "keeper". It's a bit confusing in truth.

But the upshot is that you've already paid for parking, so no loss has been suffered by any party. Charging you £60 quid for a simple admin error (displaying the wrong bit of paper that still provides the relevant information) is simply not cricket.

If you're going through POPLA, remember to read the **NEWBIES** thread, and then to search the forum for "Indigo POPLA", and read the submissions from the last few months. Put a response together and post it on here, and people will help you perfect it.

daniellehickson

Okay great, I will gather my information and go to POPLA, thanks again!

Umkomaas

daniellehickson wrote: »

Okay great, I will gather my information and go to POPLA, thanks again!

Have you received the 10-digit POPLA verification code from Indigo?

daniellehickson

Yes they have sent me the code

Umkomaas

daniellehickson wrote: »

Yes they have sent me the code

Thanks - make sure you don't miss the POPLA deadline for submission. Check it out here for certainty.

http://www.parkingcowboys.co.uk/popla-code-checker/

Fruitcake

daniellehickson wrote: »

Yes they have sent me the code

Read the most recent successful appeals from the POPLA Decisions sticky thread at the top of the main page.

Pick out all the bits that are relevant and add that since Byelaws apply, only the vehicle owner can be held liable, and you are under no obligation in law to reveal who that is.
Include at least, not the landowner, no standing to issue charges in their own name, inadequate signage, and anything else relevant.
Put Byelaws at the top so it gets put in the "hold" pile straight away.

PoPLA have put all Byelaw appeals on hold for a few weeks so all this helps. The idea is for you to drag this out beyond six months when it becomes statute barred.

daniellehickson

Thanks both! I didn't realise there was a POPLA deadline and I also didnt realise that byelaw appeals were put on hold for 6 weeks! Very helpful information.

Umkomaas

daniellehickson wrote: »

Thanks both! I didn't realise there was a POPLA deadline and I also didnt realise that byelaw appeals were put on hold for 6 weeks! Very helpful information.

Don't miss that deadline, otherwise you leave yourself exposed to the balance of six years of uncertainty as that's the statutory time limit available to Indigo to pursue you through the county court. They're not currently litigious, but no one can predict how they might behave between now and 2022.

The other 'deadline' you also need to be aware of is that available to the Train Operating Company (TOC) to pursue the car owner through the Magistrates Court - a criminal charge under the byelaws operating at the station. This deadline expires 6 months after the date of the ticket.

This is where it all becomes terribly conflated, with Indigo (and other operators elsewhere) flipping and flopping between 'byelaws' and 'contract breach'. But Indigo cannot pursue you under byelaws.

To be safe from byelaws prosecution (we haven't seen a single one where PPCs are involved at stations) you need to limp this case past the 6 month point, by taking your time with your POPLA appeal to take it near to the deadline for submission to eat up some of the 6 months. A POPLA 'stay', currently being applied to byelaws cases, will also consume some of the 6 months too.

None of the above should worry you, but it's provided to give you a fuller picture/understanding of a byelaw/contract breach case which is a bit less straightforward than a bog standard PCN.

HTH