APCOA POPLA appeal

faron

I purchased a ticket at an APCOA car park and inadvertently typed in an incorrect VRM (a car I had owned 2 months prior) but it wasn’t an intentional error and payment was made for a 24hr stay in the car park 24hrs. I have to note that APCOA sent me the letter 30 days after the offence (by which time I had received my credit card bill and all receipts had been checked and destroyed - especially the low value items).

I appealed to APCOA and they were swift to reply .... "We would like to take this opportunity to advise you that although you had purchased a valid parking session, the registration you have paid for does not match the vehicle registration seen on the day in question. The terms and conditions of the car park clearly state that a valid payment should be made for parking when leaving your vehicle in the car park. As your payment was for the incorrect registration your payment was not valid".

I then appealed to POPLA. They replied "The operator has provided images of the terms and conditions, as displayed throughout the site, which state: “Vehicles parked without authorisation or in breach of any of the following conditions may receive a Parking Charge Notice: Failure to purchase and display a valid ticket, APCOA Connect session or valid parking permit”. The operator issued the Parking Charge Notice (PCN) as the parked at the site without making a valid payment. The appellant’s case is that he did actually purchase parking time, however accidentally inputted the incorrect vehicle registration. He believes that no alleged or actual breach was made. When parking on private land, the motorist forms a contract with the operator by remaining on the land for a reasonable period. The signage at the site sets out the terms and conditions of this contract. Therefore upon entry to the car park, it is the duty of the motorist to review and comply with the terms and conditions when deciding to park. While I can acknowledge that the appellant did purchase a parking ticket, by his own admission he did not provide the correct vehicle registration when doing so. Therefore, the operator would not have been able to trace the appellant’s payment. As a result of this I can confirm that the appellant’s parking session would not have been valid. As the appellant remained at the site without making valid payment, he has failed to adhere to its terms and conditions. As such, I conclude that the PCN was issued correctly. Accordingly, I must refuse this appeal.

As APCOA's original letter was for an alleged offence and their follow up to my appeal stated that I purchased a 'valid parking session', with the POPLA response stating that the appellant’s parking session would not have been valid and I didn't make a valid payment - where do I stand with this?

I even supplied POPLA with a copy of my credit card statement showing that I purchased a 24hr parking stay on that same day and at the same location. They wouldn't even accept this, because the receipt did not have my VRN on. It's unfair that they write to you so long after the offence, when most people would have received card bills, etc.

I don't feel that the POPLA assessor's response has been truly independent, as they didn't take into account any of my issues - purely APCOA's terms and conditions.

I feel like either part paying, or ignoring it! This won't affect my credit score (unless they take me to court) and how much would they truly pursue for?!

Has anyone been in this, or a similar situation?

Fruitcake

It looks like you appealed as driver (not recommended) instead of keeper, and then made a poor PoPLA appeal.

There is nothing you can do now except ignore anything and everything you get for the next six years except real court papers.

As a matter of interest, where was the car park? Was it by any chance at a railway station?

faron

How does appealing as driver, as opposed to keeper differ? I was the registered keeper and driver of the vehicle.
Why would the assessor not take both sides fully into account.... They have no affiliation with APCOA, so why not be completely impartial and see that I did actually purchase a ticket for my stay in the car park - per the contracted terms and conditions?! They obviously don't have very good records, otherwise they would have seen that my card transaction occurred within 2 minutes of me entering the car park... and the VRN I inadvertently typed in did not enter the car park on that day. I don't see why both parties are being so bloody minded. It just smacks of greed to me.

Yes, the car park was at a railway station. APCOA expect you to park up with at least 20 minutes to spare, in order to read and digest all of the small print on their boards displayed around the car park.

To pay £107.10, for a £7.10 ticket (that has already been paid in good faith) is ludicrous.

Redx

read up on POFA2012 and keeper liability , as opposed to driver liability

the NEWBIES sticky thread also explains this difference

and have you never heard of "no comment" as a defence ?

you can read up on the popla website what they allow or disallow

as the car park was a railway station, POFA2012 does not apply and bylaws apply, so this should have been a part of your appeal, as keeper

no POFA2012
bylaws apply

clearly you failed to understand these issues , which have been explained on here hundreds of times

the TOC had 6 months to issue a penalty notice and take the driver/owner to magistrates court, this didnt happen

so APCOA pulled the wool over your eyes and because you did not dispute it at POPLA , popla were hoodwinked too

you need to read up on these bylaw issues on non-relevant land like railway stations, airports and ports

Coupon-mad

faron wrote: »

How does appealing as driver, as opposed to keeper differ?

The difference is, you would have won! We have never lost v APCOA since POPLA started in 2012. Takes a real effort to lose at POPLA v APCOA (sorry, but that appeal was badly researched so please stick around and don't pay the daft idiots). You came here too late to get the easy POPLA win served up here, but listen to our advice now.

I feel like either part paying, or ignoring it!

Ignore them, no they never sue, no it doesn't affect credit rating. Don't make it worse by paying anything!

Read the NEWBIES FAQs thread and see what to do next time by way of a keeper appeal, and then read post #4 of it, all about ignoring the tedious debt collector drivel letter chain. Enjoy!

Gillgeog

Yes we have had a similar but even more cut and dried experience. I am the registered keeper of a vehicle parked by by husband at Bristol Parkway Station in May. I received a PCN yet my husband had paid using their online system as he normally does yet it seems their system failed to match the payment with the registered vehicle or inform him it had been unsuccessful. Initial we thought this would be easy to rectify since we had the Visa card statement of proof. They did not accept this so my husband rang Coop Visa and got the necessary code for the date and time of payment. Naively we thought a POPLA appeal was bound to be successful as we could prove without doubt the correct payment was made on the right day at the right time. Unbelievably they managed to convince POPLA that the number plate/ payment was not matched and so I was liable!
I am exploring my next avenues now. They have contravened the Consumer Rights Act in that they did not take reasonable care over the online payment and 'lost' the correct payment to the correct vehicle. Their actions appear to me to be fraudulent in nature - they are trying to extort money from unsuspecting customers. They have also been economical with the truth with POPLA.
I will put in a formal complaint to POPLA over their service
My husband has already complained to Kim Challis, CEO of APCOA but to date their has been no response - no surprise there.
I have rung Citizens Advice and they advised they are unlikely to take the claim to court though judging by their standards of service so far, I wouldn't put it past them.
Is this a more recent scam to make false claims against people parking in their car parks?

Umkomaas

Please do not hijack another poster's thread - forum rules - because two sets of advice (even more sets if other random posters ask for other advice on this thread) will potentially lead to costly confusion.

Please start your own thread after you have read post #1 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky. That way you will have done some research and will have a better understanding of what's happening, it will save us having to repeat, ad nauseam, the same basic information. That's why the sticky was created. The more you understand, the easier and more successfully you will deal with it.

If you are to open a new thread, please use the 'Return' key of your keypad to create paragraphs. It's not good forum etiquette to expect regulars, whose help you are seeking, to have to wade through a screenful of unparagraphed text. I, for one, won't risk a headache trying to read a wall of text.

Coupon-mad

I am exploring my next avenues now. They have contravened the Consumer Rights Act in that they did not take reasonable care over the online payment and 'lost' the correct payment to the correct vehicle.

Complain to your MP and Trading Standards. NOT the CAB, forget the CAB.

Luckily APCOA not only never sue these days, but when they did try twice in 2012 (I think it was) their contracts were exposed as service 'on behalf of' the landowner only and they had no right to make contracts in their own name, nor status to sue in their name. Their claims were struck out and the people involved claimed 3 figure costs against them - they were pepipoo forum posters.

You need your own thread but it's not urgent, it's only APCOA. No danger, no risk.

Complain to your MP and TS, then start a thread later in the Autumn telling us how that is going and/or if you get this scam cancelled.