Met Parking is trying to rob me.

The_Naked_Ape

Hello fellow MSE'ers after years of reading the forums I have now joined and sharing my first MSE experience, I read through and seen similar cases to mine but none that covers my situation of being a resident that pays in advance direct debit and fell foul to expired permit (The paper may have expired but I was paying throughout and my housing association was taking these payments)


I have a housing association flat that comes with parking. For the parking I pay £30 per month which is paid by direct debit, I have always paid in advance, on time and never parked anywhere but my designated space.
I had prolapsed disk problems so for over a month did not use my car in this time my permit expired (Although I was still paying for it!) I was convinced that a new permit would arrive by post, it didn't and so when I next checked my car on the 29th of august they had issued me with two tickets.
I contacted my estate manager who seems to not want to get involved in fact it seems like he is employed more by MET Parking than by the housing association, (I am sure they are bribing him) as he did not want to help and only under pressure from me threatening to go down and see senior the management about the subject, that he suggested that I should write to MET parking and appeal. Now I see that this was worthless and I should have sent my appeal to POPLA instead.
Today I received two letters from Met Parking both with large red boxes demanding £100 (each!) With the following writing -

Dear MR ...
We note the above charge remains outstanding. Please can you ensure the charge is paid in full within 14 days of the date of this letter to avoid the matter escalating through the instruction of solicitors/debt recovery agents to secure immediate payment or the issuing of court proceedings.
Further information including how to pay, the right to appeal etc. can be found on the reverse of the notice.
Please be advised that the independent appeal service, POPLA, is no longer available and that payment of this notice will close the case on our records and also close our formal appeals process.
Correspondence received after a case is closed may not be replied to.


I am at my wit's end as my housing association do not seem to care, they said I should have realised that the permit had expired.(But that didn't stop them from taking money from my account for that space!)

I feel robbed, that I could be paying for something and yet still fined because of a genuine accident, not once but twice! In this age of paperless communication.
I would like to know if there is anything I can do, I realise that this is not the usual supermarket parking fine, this is where I live so not sure how to proceed, and worried that by sending my appeal to Met Parking instead of POPLA I have missed my boat for appeal?

Any help gratefully accepted.

Hugh

ps although they are BPA registered they are not AOS. (Does this help me?)

pappa_golf

who issues the permits?

Redx

MET are definitely on the BPA AOS register , under M for Met

MET Parking Services Ltd http://www.metparking.com

there was a recent case where the leaseholder ((Jopson)) won their case against a different parking company and the fact is that no parking regime trumps the lease, so you reallly need a copy of your lease and check what it states about your parking rights and obligations

until you do this , nobody can really advise you , because the lease you signed details the hoops you must jump through , or not , as the case may be

the initial 2 appeals definitely should have been made to MET , after day 25 , or after day 29 if you received 2 NTK`s in the post (so did you ?)

if MET refused your 2 appeals , they should have issued a popla code (did they issue any popla codes ?)

without the 2 popla codes , you cannot appeal to popla

pappa_golf

who has with held the permits?

Fruitcake

Please give us a timeline of events.

The date of the alleged event(s).
The date(s) you appealed to MET, and whether you identified yourself as keeper (hope so) or as driver (hope not)
Date of the letter(s) saying you have missed the PoPLA deadline.

It's easier for us here if we can see all the information in the same place.

What does your lease say about parking?

The_Naked_Ape

MET issue the permit, and I believed were to have sent mine out on expiry I have now been told that over a year ago the paper that contained the permit also had something about that I was supposed to have contacted them for a renewal but I just thought it was throw away.

I made an appeal by email to MET Parking on the 30th of August the day after the last PCN appealing for both the PCN's they acknoweledged reciept but have not gotten back to me except today to demand £200 for both fines, stating I am too late for an appeal?
I did what I was told to do by my estate manager and now finding out that it makes not a blind bit of difference as the appeal is just totally ignored.


Today I received two letters from Met Parking both with large red boxes demanding £100 (each!) With the following writing -

Dear MR ...
We note the above charge remains outstanding. Please can you ensure the charge is paid in full within 14 days of the date of this letter to avoid the matter escalating through the instruction of solicitors/debt recovery agents to secure immediate payment or the issuing of court proceedings.
Further information including how to pay, the right to appeal etc. can be found on the reverse of the notice.
Please be advised that the independent appeal service, POPLA, is no longer available and that payment of this notice will close the case on our records and also close our formal appeals process.
Correspondence received after a case is closed may not be replied to.




confirmation of PCN 1 appeal:

Dear Smith,

Thank you for submitting your appeal to Met Parking. This e-mail acts as acknowledgement of your appeal.

A letter of response will be sent to you in the post to the address you have provided in your appeal within 35 days from the date that the appeal was received.

We will however endeavour to respond to your appeal within 14 days but this may not always be possible.

If you have not received a response to your appeal after 35 days then please e-mail our Customer Services Department to check the status of your appeal at

/email].

PCN Number: AB4446*

Vehicle Registration: VA06MY*

Please note that any correspondence and decisions from the Appeals Department will be in writing and sent to the address provided in your appeal.


metparking.

confirmation of PCN 2 appeal:

Your Appeal for AB44403
MS
MET Parking Services noreply>
Reply|
Fri 30/09, 13:38
You
Met Parking
This sender failed our fraud detection checks and may not be who they appear to be.
30th September 2016 14:37
Dear Mr Hill,

Thank you for submitting your appeal to Met Parking. This e-mail acts as acknowledgement of your appeal.

A letter of response will be sent to you in the post to the address you have provided in your appeal within 35 days from the date that the appeal was received.

We will however endeavour to respond to your appeal within 14 days but this may not always be possible.

If you have not received a response to your appeal after 35 days then please e-mail our Customer Services Department to check the status of your appeal at [email
info metparkingemail.

PCN Number: AB4440*

Vehicle Registration: VA06MY*

Please note that any correspondence and decisions from the Appeals Department will be in writing and sent to the address provided in your appeal.

metparking



what I'd like to know is they have acknoweledged receipt of my appeal and yet they are denying me any justice, what can I do as they havent given me a POPLA code only stated that - "Please be advised that the independent appeal service, POPLA, is no longer available and that payment of this notice will close the case on our records and also close our formal appeals process.
Correspondence received after a case is closed may not be replied to"
which seems is if its just a brush off.

Coupon-mad

OK you need to complain to the BPA about MET not replying to appeals they acknowledged, not supplying any POPLA codes:

aos@britishparking.co.uk


HTH

The_Naked_Ape

Thank You Fruitcake,


First MET PCN ticket issued on 24th of September the second on the 29th of September.
I sent appeals for both as of the 30th of September one at 14:37 and the other at 14:58.
MET Parking acknowledged receipt of both and yet instead of sending me a POPLA code, they have just issued two final demands for both PCN's (£200) dated 4th November staing underneath -

Please be advised that the independent appeal service, POPLA, is no longer available and that payment of this notice will close the case on our records and also close our formal appeals process.
Correspondence received after a case is closed may not be replied to.

What can I do?

Any help advice really appreciated.

The Naked Ape (Hugh)

Redx

complain to the BPA with copies of all correspondence , stating that no paperwork was received back regarding these 2 appeals and no POPLA codes were issued either

as mentioned earlier, check what your lease says about your parking rights

pappa_golf

complain to the BPA

firstly about refusing to issue popla codes , enclose scans of their acknowledgements

secondly complain to the BPA that MET , have "set you up" by failing to issue replacement permits , then pouncing on you and that the permit HAD been paid for

I think the wording is that they used "predetary tactics" to issue tickets

The_Naked_Ape

HI Redx,

When you say, what my lease says about your parking rights. Do you mean my tenancy agreement/parking conditions.

I'm sure thats it but need to check..


Once again thank you for replying and insight.


The Naked Ape (Hugh)