Britannia PCN Newcastle - POPLA Stage

PPYSM

Hi All,


I am looking for some help and guidance with the POPLA stage of an appeal against Britannia Parking at Newbridge Street Newcastle. I would also like to be told whether people think I realistically have an adequate reason to appeal.


In terms of a bit of background I use this car park for work multiple times a week. On this instance I needed to park for a short period to pop into the office. During the week this car park is extremely busy so it took me a fair amount of time to find a space. Once parked there was an important phone call I had to receive. I imagined because I was with the car it would be fine to pay for parking afterwards which I did using paybyphone.co.uk 20 mins after arriving at the car park.


Unfortunately a week later the owner of the car was posted the PCN while I was on holiday. There was photos attached of the car entering and leaving the carpark saying that there was no valid ticket. In my haste to appease the owner of the vehicle (a family member) I appealed saying that I was the driver and sent the receipt of my payment and the reason I was late getting a ticket. I realise this isn't the tact I should have taken after reading the newbies chain and some other Britannia Parking claims.


This was the appeal I sent


"
Dear sir/Madame,



I am writing to appeal the PCN for parking at New Bridge Street Newcastle on 28/05/2017.


You will see attached that I did pay for parking pm the 28/05/2017 through the paybyphone website. However, it was 20 minutes after I entered the carpark. This delay was in part due to a substantial time finding a parking space and also an urgent phonecall that I had to take before paying. There is no clear signage to say that a ticket had to be purchased within a certain time of entering the car park therefore if this appeal is rejected I will be appealing through POPLA.

I urge you to consider that this is a car park that I use extremely regularly for work so I hope this matter can be solved quickly as the loss of a loyal customer would far outweigh the fine.

Thanks in advance,

Stephen
"


And this was the response


"
Dear Mr Murphy,

Re: Parking Charge Notice Number XXXXX (Vehicle: XXXXXX)


Site: Newcastle - DEX MSCP


Issue date: 06/06/2017


Thank you for your appeal received on 16/06/2017 regarding the above detailed Parking Charge Notice.


We have reviewed the case and considered the comments that you have made. This appeal has been


considered in conjunction with the photographs and any evidence provided. Our records show that the


notice was correctly issued as your vehicle was parked in breach of the Terms and Conditions of the


Car Park.


The Parking Charge Notice was issued to your vehicle because our records show a ticket was


purchased 26min after entering the car park.


We are members of the British Parking Association (BPA) and we follow their Approved Operator


Scheme, Code of Practice at all times. Section 13 – Grace Periods, details that we must give the driver


a reasonable period of time to purchase a ticket and leave the car park after the purchased ticket has


expired. We have a 10 minute grace period at this car park. If the driver has not purchased ticket by


the time the 10 minute grace period has been reached, a Parking Charge Notice will be issued, for


breaching the terms and conditions of the car park.


An online copy the Code of Practice can be found by visiting:




britishparking.co.uk/Code-of-Practice-and-compliance-monitoring






You have now reached the end of our internal appeals procedure.


You now have a number of options from which to choose:-


1 Pay the Parking Charge Notice at the discounted rate for a further 14 days.Please note that after this


time the discounted rate will no longer apply and the full Parking Charge Notice amount will then be due


within 14 days.


2 If you choose to do nothing, we will seek to recover the monies owed to us via our debt recovery


procedures and may proceed with Court action against you.


3 Make an appeal to POPLA – The Independent Appeals Service. Please note that if you wish to


appeal to POPLA, you will lose the right to pay the Parking Charge Notice at the discounted rate, and


should POPLA’s decision not go in your favour you will be required to pay the full amount. If you opt to

pay the Parking Charge Notice you will be unable to appeal to POPLA.

The POPLA service is only available in England and Wales.

You must submit an appeal to POPLA within 28 days from the date of this outcome letter, by submitting

an online case at Your POPLA verification code is xxxxxxx8.

By law we are also required to inform you that Ombudsman Services ()

provides an alternative dispute resolution service that would be competent to deal with your appeal.

However, we have not chosen to participate in their alternative dispute resolution service. As such

should you wish to appeal then you must do so to POPLA, as explained above.’

How to Pay:

Internet: Visit and follow the onscreen instructions. Please have your parking

charge Notice number and payment card details ready. An additional £1.50 will be incurred for card

payments.

By Phone: Call 0345 5 555888 option 2. An additional £1.50 will be incurred for card payments.

By Post: Make your cheque or postal order payable to Britannia Parking

Yours sincerely,

Appeals Department

Britannia Parking
"


Any advice would be extremely appreciated.


Thanks,

Stephen

Coupon-mad

Britannia signs are normally dreadful, not showing the £100 (or whatever) in large lettering, whilst the tariffs are in the largest font (to hide the penalty clause). As you use this place all the time, can you get photos this week, as you have plenty of time to appeal to POPLA with our help.

Next time, appeal in the name of the KEEPER only, as per the NEWBIES thread, this would be dead as a dodo by now if you had. Also read post #3 of the NEWBIES thread where the POPLA templates are - deliberately very long, because Britannia and their ilk are a pushover when faced with some words!

PPYSM

Thanks for the quick reply.

I have parked there today so will take some pictures and post them this evening.


I have this one from the stairwell but there is a more details sign at the pay machines (5 floors down) that I will take some pictures of.


i1249.photobucket.com/albums/hh516/ppysm/Britannia1_zpsmwgbhlqi.jpg


Once again, thanks for the response.

Coupon-mad

Nothing about having to 'have a valid pay by phone session' within a certain time whilst there. It's not drafted to say that you have to do all this 'within ten minutes' (despite the heading 'on arrival'). You did pay on arrival.

PPYSM

So you would definitely go down the route of unclear signage? I will take more photos tonight and start drafting POPLA appeal using some of the references others have used.


What do you mean by I did pay on arrival? As in I paid as soon as was convenient upon arrival?


Cheers

Guys_Dad

This car park - I presume you have to pay in advance. How much time did you pay for and how long were you there- including the 26 minutes before you bought a ticket?

Coupon-mad

PPYSM wrote: »

What do you mean by I did pay on arrival? As in I paid as soon as was convenient upon arrival?

Yes, you paid as soon as you were able, once parked and able to make that payment. And the sign says nothing about a deadline to make that phone call.

bigalogigalo

What was the outcome of this? I'm just considering my response to a PCN at the same location. Thanks

Umkomaas

bigalogigalo wrote: »

What was the outcome of this? I'm just considering my response to a PCN at the same location. Thanks

We've got the same 'update' you have, as in the last post by the OP on 10/07/17 - over 15 months ago. Send him/her a PM.