Uncontested POPLA appeals

bokdrol

A quick question for the knowledgeable advisors on this forum:


If a POPLA appeal is submitted and upheld due to the parking company not contesting the appeal, does the parking company still have to pay £27?

DoaM

As far as we know, Yes. (Don't know if it is still £27, but the fee would still be charged).

That's why we believe some PPCs are advising POPLA that they're cancelling the PCN when faced with a detailed POPLA appeal ... they expect to lose so cut their losses before the appeal is heard.

pappa_golf

NO , no fee is payable!

when the change between POPLa suppliers came in , the BPA amended the contract , and it now states that they only get paid where they actually adjudicate , if the PPC pulls out and does not submit , they cannot go the the motions of adjudicating and just rubber stamp an appeal in the favour of the customer.

more and more PPCs are using this tactic to see the customers paperwork and basically see if they would win or not

bokdrol

Thanks Pappa Golf,


I suspected as much - there appears to have been quite a few PCN's cancelled lately, when a POPLA code is requested - there are enough people around who will get intimidated and pay up to ensure their scam remains profitable, its not worth their while to take on anybody prepared to fight back - real cowards!!

Computersaysno

pappa_golf wrote: »

NO , no fee is payable!

when the change between POPLa suppliers came in , the BPA amended the contract , and it now states that they only get paid where they actually adjudicate , if the PPC pulls out and does not submit , they cannot go the the motions of adjudicating and just rubber stamp an appeal in the favour of the customer.

more and more PPCs are using this tactic to see the customers paperwork and basically see if they would win or not

Where can we see a copy of the contract [esp the above clause] that you refer to..???

pappa_golf

contact the BPA and the ombudsman services , ask if they will post you a copy

Edna_Basher

This matter was raised at the January 2016 ISPA Board Meeting:

http://ispa.co.uk/hs-view/Minutes of the Independent Scrutiny Board - January 2016.pdf

In Para.154, JG, Ombudsman Services Lead Adjudicator described the problem as follows:

“Motorist puts details on system. Operator looks at it and may agree with the appeal. In that case there is no charge from Ombudsman Services as they have not done any work. The concern is that the operator may be turning down appeals at the first stage to wait and see if the consumer appeals. Ombudsman Services are concerned about this. The online system has had the unintended consequence where it may operate to the detriment of the consumer”.

This now seems to be happening more and more as PPCs have realised that they have little to lose by leaving a POPLA case running until the eleventh hour (i.e. Day 21 after a POPLA appeal is lodged) before notifying POPLA that they do not wish to contest the appeal.

Northlakes

Awaiting a POPLA appeal has in my opinion become the 'modus operandi' for some PPC's as it gives them a second bite of the cherry to see the quality of the motorists POPLA appeal.
If it's a poor appeal the PPC can then say to themselves that worth the effort of contesting that appeal.
Some PPC's have decided that it's just not worth the time contesting any POPLA appeal and immediately pass the charge onto say DRP to get the money. This happened to me in a recent St Anne's Pier case.

The Ombudsman's Service should charge a 'no contest' fee, if nothing else to deter PPC's declining all initial appeals.
The second thing to state is that all POPLA appeals should be thorough and well formulated to counter frivolous parking charges.
The worrying thing to me is the quality and consistency of the POPLA assessors. Some don't even understand the laws governing parking which is very amateurish for a semi-official body.