NCP refused POPLA code- please help

lulaboo

Hi


A driver parked a hire car at a station car park. Parking was paid for using a cashless payment system on an app on a phone.

This was October last year. A letter was received from ZZPS (forwarded by the hire company). NCP were contacted and told that they were mistaken, that the parking had been paid for and screenshots were included from the payment history of the app. They were asked to cancel the charge or to provide a POPLA code.

They declined the request, refused to give a POPLA code and have declined to enter into further correspondence stating it's in the hands of their debt collectors ZZPS.

An email complaint was sent to the BPA who responded thus:


Thank you for your email.

Unfortunately we are unable to ascertain whether mail has or has not been sent or received by either party. As it is not currently a requirement of the Code that the operator sends mail using recorded delivery (or requests a delivery receipt for an email), we cannot advise there to be a breach of the Code in this instance.

As a membership association and not a regulatory body, we do not have the authority to request a parking operator to cancel a parking charge or recall it from debt recovery, as per the collection process.

Please note that a POPLA code will only be provided if an appeal is first submitted to the operator within 28 days of the original Parking Charge Notice issue date. In this instance as you have unfortunately not received the original PCN, you have not been able to submit an appeal to the operator within the relevant timescale and therefore the option to further appeal to POPLA is no longer available.

If a charge remains unpaid at debt recovery stage, it will be at the discretion of the parking Operator as to whether they choose to pursue the matter through the legal system. As we are not legally trained, we are unqualified to offer any advice in this area and would suggest proper legal advice be sought.


Sorry, I found the whole POFA thing quite confusing but it seems that all the required timeframes for anything have been exceeded by NCP. The first notification was a forwarded debt recovery letter from the hire company at the beginning of February.


The signage at the entry to the station is small ( one would have to get out of the car to read it), it contains no time frames specifying how long payment has to be made after parking, the letter from ZZPS doesn't state what time the car was parked nor for how long. They have added all sorts of charges to the original charge which was £50 and is now £150.00


There must be something that can be done about this? Is the only option to pay the exorbitant charges they are now levying?

It seems to me that BPA are saying that the car park operator can do whatever they please and there is no recourse to appeal because they didn't send the relevant information within the required timeframe. Can this be right?

Please help.

Fruitcake

Don't panic. The whole private parking industry is unregulated and in most cases, is a scam.

You have complained to the BPA and they have fobbed you off. No surprise there. You could complain to the DVLA but I would expect the same sort of fob off.

Should it get to court then you would ask the parking scammers to provide proof they did indeed send a NTK within the prescribed timescales.

However, the most important thing is to determine if the car park in question is covered by byelaws. If so it is unlikely the scammers will try court as this would then become a case of trespass and any monies would go to the landowner which would be the train operation company. The car park would be non relevant land as far as POFA 2012 is concerned ad the keeper cannot therefore be liable.

Were byelaws mentioned on the correspondence you have received, or was the word penalty mentioned and a penalty code? These would all indicate byelaws were in effect and therefore the vehicle owner would be liable not the keeper or the driver.

As for debt collectors, they have no powers. Post 4 of the NEWBIES thread tells you why it is safe to ignore them.

lulaboo

No byelaws were mentioned, no use of the word penalty and no penalty code.


The letter from ZZPS looks identical to the example ones on this site. No details, no times, just a location and a date.


It is a station car park though so does that mean byelaws do apply?


This was a hire car so no keeper liability and the car hire company stated they have sent the hirer details to ZZPS who they said should re-issue the PCN which they have not done.


In the meantime, an appeal was sent to NCP which they declined.

Fruitcake

lulaboo wrote: »

No byelaws were mentioned, no use of the word penalty and no penalty code.


The letter from ZZPS looks identical to the example ones on this site. No details, no times, just a location and a date.


It is a station car park though so does that mean byelaws do apply?


This was a hire car so no keeper liability and the car hire company stated they have sent the hirer details to ZZPS who they said should re-issue the PCN which they have not done.


In the meantime, an appeal was sent to NCP which they declined.

Just because it was a station car park does not automatically mean byelaws apply. You will have to do your own research on that. Often there are clues in the signage. Sometimes the TOC has their own signs in addition to the parking scammers signs, or the scammers say who they are acting for on their signs.

You appear to have done everything right, and it would appear that the hire company has done the same, unless they have charged you for the privilege of passing your details to the scammers.
The hire company have now discharged their liability and the scammers cannot (should not) contact them again.

Did you appeal as hirer or keeper (the day to day keeper on the day in question?)
Did NCP give you a PoPLA code

lulaboo

The car hire company did charge me for giving my info to NCP. The car park in question is managed by NCP on behalf of a railway company. There is nothing in the signage that states any byelaws apply. They don't say who they act for but the railway company states that their car parks are managed by NCP (on the railway company website)


NCP refused to issue a POPLA code and the BPA say that as it's outside the 28 days there is no requirement for them to issue a POPLA code.


So am I screwed? I can't appeal to POPLA and NCP refuse to even consider the fact that I paid.


I appealed as the hirer of the car. No driver was named.

pappa_golf

managed by NCP on behalf of a railway company

more research needed , try imputting the station name into the search facility

you say this happened last oct? , could very well be coming upto the 6 mth timeout for bylaw offences

Coupon-mad

So am I screwed?

LOL! It's only NCP!! haha. Search the forum, no-one pays them!

Fruitcake

lulaboo wrote: »

The car hire company did charge me for giving my info to NCP. The car park in question is managed by NCP on behalf of a railway company. There is nothing in the signage that states any byelaws apply. They don't say who they act for but the railway company states that their car parks are managed by NCP (on the railway company website)


NCP refused to issue a POPLA code and the BPA say that as it's outside the 28 days there is no requirement for them to issue a POPLA code.


So am I screwed? I can't appeal to POPLA and NCP refuse to even consider the fact that I paid.


I appealed as the hirer of the car. No driver was named.

Shame on the hire company then. I bet there was nothing in the hire Ts and Cs about charging you for a private PCN, only penalties and fines. You could complain to them and the BVRLA if they are members (hire company trade association.) The BVRLA have told their members not to charge for this, or at least only to charge a nominal admin fee, not £25 or other extortionate amount. Tell the hire Co you won't be using them again and post negative feedback on their website/social media site if they have breached the BVRLA guidelines.

It sounds very much like this car park is indeed covered by byelaws and therefore not relevant land as far as the POFA is concerned. Not saying who NCP are acting for is normal dodgy practice for a parking scammer but would cause them problems in the unlikely event they went to court.
In any case, if this is non relevant land, it becomes statute barred after six months.
Either ignore unless you get real court papers or play postal ping-pong with them until six months have passed.

lulaboo

Please could you give me an idea how I find out who owns the car park and if it is covered by railway byelaws?

I have searched on the name of the car park and the name of the train company but have been unable to find anything that states that the car park is owned by the train company nor anything that states whether it is covered by railway byelaws.

The train company state that most of their car parks are managed by NCP. This car park is managed by NCP but NCP don't say who they manage it on behalf of and there is nowhere on the train company's website that states which car parks they own.

Coupon-mad

I really wouldn't bother - it is only NCP! Ignore them.

Mark12345678

My daughter parked just outside a parking bay line
She's ignored everything now a letter has arrived threatening solicitors Wright Hassell £160.00 saying an extra £30.00 plus vat if they pass it...
She has now received a letter from the solicitors