Athena ANPR ticket

gravers007

Hi all,
I received a PCN for £90 (reduced to £45 if paid within 14 days). I've read through the "Newbies" post but am a little unsure of the next course of action. Some details about the ticket are that:

• The vehicle in question is a lease car. The PCN was issued 6 days after the incident date and went to the lease company as a "Notice to keeper". The lease company named me as the leaseholder of the vehicle. Additionally, they confirmed they do have a copy of the lease/hire agreement and a signed declaration Statement of liability but refused to disclose it to Athena Ltd for "commercial & confidential reasons".
  
• Athena Ltd then reissued the PCN (this time as a notice to Hirer) to me. The issue date on this notice was 21 days after the incident date and states they have included a copy of the hire agreement and a signed statement of liability.

I had intended on appealing under the following points:

• The photos taken are of 2 separate visits. Something that can be confirmed by my bank statement which shows 2 separate transactions at the store. (Unfortunately the statement doesn't show the exact time of transaction so this isn't ironclad.).
• The time taken to issue the PCN is over 14 days from the date of the incident.
• The notice states that they have included a copy of the hire agreement and a signed statement of liability when this is not the case. This can be evidenced from a copy of the letter sent by the lease company where they refuse to supply these documents.

However, after reading the "Newbies" thread I have some questions:

[LIST=1 2]
[*] Instead of appealing using the points outlined above should I use the the template letter set out in the "Newbie" thread for an IPC first appeal or the use the template suggested for hire cars? (sorry I can't post the link as a new user)

[*] Should I wait to Appeal, so that Athena Plc do not have time to get a hold of and supply me with a copy of the lease agreement and signed statement of liability? Or will doing this potentially cause issues with the lease company?
[/LIST]


Thanks in advance for all your help,

Gravers

Fruitcake

I think you should use the hire car template, but the best thing is to wait for more knowledgeable posters to comment.

You should however compare the PCN/Notice To Hirer you received with the relevant parts of The POFA line by line to see where they have henned up.

gravers007

Thanks Fruitcake. Hopefully I'll get some more advice too, but I think that the hire car template is a good a place as any to start!

Umkomaas

Is this from a Lidl store? If so lodge a complaint - a very strong one - with both the local store manager and the CEO.

With an IPC operator this charge will be difficult to shake off (no POPLA, the IAS is a complete waste of space) without final closure by the store via cancellation (or landowner if not a Lidl case).

While Athena have the balance of 6 years to pursue you through the courts they are not litigious. In fact, in the past 2 and a bit years they have issued in excess of 450,000 tickets, with thousands of motorists ignoring them yet have never pursued one person through the county court.

http://www.bmpa.eu/companydata/Athena_ANPR.html

What's your guess on you being the very first of 450,000?

Coupon-mad

Haertnagel.

Search this forum.

gravers007

Thanks for all your help guys! I wrote a strongly worded complaint to the CEO and although they initially suggested I appeal a follow up e-mail nudged them into cancelling the ticket!

Much appreciated for all your help and advice! :T

Umkomaas

gravers007 wrote: »

Thanks for all your help guys! I wrote a strongly worded complaint to the CEO and although they initially suggested I appeal a follow up e-mail nudged them into cancelling the ticket!

Much appreciated for all your help and advice! :T

Excellent result, proving the potential of the firmly directed complaint at the landowner/retailer (or whoever contracts with the PPC).