Need help with the appeal letter

kit389

Hi,

I am writing to seek help with the procedure and use of wording for the appeal to POPLA.

I am a mini-cab driver and a regular customer of a big chain supermarket store. On the day of questioned, I parked my car in the car park in Feltham. I have the habit of checking the signage before I parked my car. I went into the supermarket store and purchased my grocery. Two weeks later, I received a PCN from Horizon parking company demanding for GBP70 (since then they had dropped it to GBP40). I disputed the claim due to the following reasons:

The signage was not clearly displayed- There were two separated content signage displayed 30 feet apart. First signage stated that no taxi, mini-cab or private car hire waiting or parking. Second signage stated maximum stay of 3 hours and parking charge amount. I parked my car in the car park where the first signage was displayed. When I entered the store there wasn’t any indication of the unwelcoming of the mini-cab driver.

Unfortunately, I purchased the grocery with cash and since then I have lost the receipt. The parking company has rejected my appeal even I offered to pay a reasonable amount. Of GBP5.00 for less than one hour parking. They have provided me a POPLA reference number. Please help!

Coupon-mad

Which parking firm and which Supermarket?

Fruitcake

You were advised after your first post to redact information about who did what, and only refer to The Driver and The Keeper. Parking scammers monitor these fora and can identify the driver if too much information is left here where the whole world can see it.

Was your initial appeal as driver or keeper? Hopefully the latter as it gives the motorists additional PoPLA appeal points.

Fruitcake

Coupon-mad wrote: »

Which parking firm and which Supermarket?

The OP says it's only Horizon.

kit389

Hi Coupon-m,

Tesco and the parking company is Horizon Parking.

Coupon-mad

OK, no worries. POPLA is winnable.

We look forward to seeing your draft POPLA appeal based on the templates already written for you, the templates for POPLA are in post #3 of the NEWBIES thread.

kit389

Hi Coupon-mad,

Sorry...I cannot find the post3. I am new to this Forum and not sure about the jargons used in those threads. I have looked through the whole Newbies post and most of them are not suitable for my case. I have only 28 days from 10 April to appeal to POPLA. Thanks.

kit389

Hi Coupon-mad,
I managed to draft the following appeal letter, please help me to check the wording. As I mentioned previously, I have until 8 May to appeal to POPLA. Thank you!

Dear POPLA Adjudicator,

Registered Keeper:
PCN:
POPLA Appeal Number:
Date of incident: 4 March 2017

A notice to keeper was issued on 8 March 2017 and received by me, the registered keeper of ........ on 20 March 2016 for an alleged contravention of ‘BREACH OF THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE’’ at Tesco. I am writing to you as the registered keeper and would be grateful if you would please consider my appeal for the following reasons.

Poor Signage
In rebuttal to the claim by Horizon Parking Ltd that the signage is clearly displayed and there is signage at the car park entrance, which Horizon Parking Ltd fails to comply with, despite claiming otherwise;

Section 18, paragraph2 (S18P2)
Entrance signs play an important part in establishing a parking contract and deterring trespassers. Therefore, as well as the signs you must have telling drivers about the terms and conditions for parking, you must also have a standard form of entrance sign at the entrance to the parking area. Entrance signs must tell drivers that the car park is managed and that there are terms and conditions they must be aware of. Entrance signs must follow some minimum general principles and be in a standard format. The size of the sign must take into account the speed of vehicles approaching the car park, and it is recommended that you follow Department for Transport guidance on this. See Appendix A:

And I draw your attention to this paragraph in the aforementioned Appendix A
“The sign should be placed so that it is readable by drivers without their needing to look away from the road ahead. Any text on the sign not intended to be read from a moving vehicle can be of a much smaller size”

(see photo evidence Sign AA,28/04/2017 8:15)
Sign AA at the entrance of the store car park, drivers can only see the store name and the main word “3 Hours Free Parking” at eye level when they are approaching car park.

(see photo evidence Sign A, 28/04/2017 8:14)
Sign A (Tesco store Customer Car Park, £70 Parking Charge Notice, Only Tesco customers can use this car park. Vehicles must not remain in the car park for more than 3 hours. No return within 1 hour ………..) is about 8 - 10 feet behind the sign AA, 10 to 12 feet above the ground and Sign A and Sign AA are back to back.

(see photo evidence B, 28/04/2017 7:39)
When drove past Sign AA, there was two sign B (Tesco Customer Car Park, No Taxis, mini-cabs or private hire vehicles waiting or parking. A parking Charge Notice of £70 may be issued ………) back to back and on the drivers’ right hand side. As this signs are small and 12 – 15 feet above the ground. It was impossible for drivers to read it at the speed, the distance (20 feet apart) and angle while drivers must maintain eye level on the road rather than look to the right hand side.

(see attached video evidence 28/04/2017 7:27 and supporting drawing “Parking Map” )
I parked my car in the area marked “My Car” at my drawing (not in scale). I saw Sign A after I parked my car when I walked towards the store entrance. Sign B was not adjacent to my car that it could not be seen on my way to the store. Upon entering the store, there is no indication of unwelcoming of mini-cab drivers.

I received the Parking Charge Notice 16 days after the incident. I am a mini-cab driver and visit various stores every week. I do not keep receipts for cash payment.

From the evidence I have seen so far, the signs are sporadically placed, indeed misleading. Sign A and Sign B are not placed adjacent to each other and at least 30 – 40 feet apart.
Once again, I request that my appeal is upheld and for POPLA to inform Horizon Parking Ltd to cancel the Penalty Charge Notice.

Yours faithfully,
The Registered Keeper