No popla code received or response to my appeal, just started getting DRP letters

Matt_dingley

Hi all,

Got a PCN a while back, checked the forums on here and replied via email to their appeals address with a robust and well put together appeal. Park Watch failed to reply to my email at all and just passed me on to Debt Recovery Plus who have been sending me letters. Originally the final date for me to pay was 13/11/17 which I ignored. They then wrote again saying the final date was now 28/11/17. I am very confident I would win if it went to court, however my job may be taking me to the Middle East within the next 6 months so my questions are:

1. How likely is it that I will be taken to court if I continue ignoring Debt Recovery Plus?
2. If I do get taken to court, how long does it take to get there? (I live in the Coventry if that helps to know which local court I’ll be at) I don’t want a court date appearing whilst I’m living in the Middle East and won’t be able to attend.
3. Is it worth writing to the appeals email again and state that I never received a reply or popla code and demand that they either supply me with one or cancel the charge?

As you can see my main worry is that I’ll have an outstanding court date that could stop me moving abroad or become a problem whilst abroad.

Any advice is hugely appreicated

Loadsofchildren123

3 - yes you must do this and complain to BPA that they haven't followed the proper appeals procedures.


At the stage you go abroad, you tell them you've moved permanently abroad and provide your address. Don't tell them much before, otherwise they may jump in and issue/serve something before you go (although I don't think they are that organised). They will then have to jump through hoops to serve you with proceedings abroad under the special rules that apply, which they are very unlikely to do (particularly as it's Middle East - eg service in Europe may be a much simpler affair, I imagine service in the Middle East is much more complicated).


Make sure your post is forwarded from your old address, or regularly monitored in case they ignore your change of address and sue you and get a CCJ which you need to set aside.


You may need to show proof of having informed them of your change of address. We always say not to send anything recorded (because the PPC may then not sign for it which would prove that they DIDN'T receive it), but you can get a certificate of postage from the PO which you must keep safe. Personally I'd also send it by email if you have a usable email address and get a delivered/read receipt.

Matt_dingley

Thank you so much for your advice, will get on that straight away

beamerguy

As an addon, DRP are simply leeches who attach
themselves to scammers, they are pond life who are
useless and powerless so rest assured that whatever
they say, it is actually complete and utter rubbish

NEVER CONTACT DRP, USELESS BUNCH :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Umkomaas

Got a PCN a while back, checked the forums on here and replied via email to their appeals address with a robust and well put together appeal.

Did their appeals process accept appeals via email?

Did the process ask for the keeper’s name and full address? If so, did you provide it?

Did you comply with every step required in their process (detailed in their NtK)?

Matt_dingley

Thanks for your help, I emailed the below to them and they responded by cancelling the charge completely

I wrote to you regarding the matter of the above PCN on the 18/08/2017. After receiving the PCN I followed your appeals procedure by sending an email to the outlined address, with the information requested contained. I then received an email response on the 18/08/2017 stating my appeal had been received and that I would receive a response within 35 days. No response was given, nor was a POPLA code supplied. I just received a failure to pay notice and subsequent letters from Debt Recovery Plus stating that I should pay or I may be taken to court.

I do not appreciate those letters from Debt Recovery Plus, which encourages me to view online content outlining court cases where all these people have lost to Park Watch through Court; that template might have been interesting if it had not already been in the public domain several times over. Clearly this is mere bluster - a standard, unhelpful, and frankly misleading response which does nothing to address my appeals claims.

From your recent template letter and the previous Debt Recovery Notices it is clear that:

a) Your charge is for an alleged (your words) 'breach of the terms and conditions' and yet clearly it is not a genuine pre-estimate of loss. As such, this is a breach of the BPA Code of Practice. As no loss has been established whatsoever, this charge is also unenforceable in contract law and indeed the Office of Fair trading stated to your Trade Body the BPA Ltd that a 'parking charge' is not automatically recoverable simply because it is stated to be a parking charge, as it cannot be used to state a loss where none exists. Parking charges cannot include tax-deductible business costs for running a parking company, such as site signage and maintenance, staff employment, membership fees, postage, etc. It should not be recoverable as it is being enforced purely as a penalty. Since there is no other income at this site, PCNs for alleged 'breach' represent the only profit for Park Watch and it is clear that you cannot be operating at a permanent loss. The fact that the 'charge' is fixed at the same cost, whether the allegation is a serious matter of obstruction or a trifling matter (such as a few minutes perceived overstay) shows it to be merely a penalty where no loss exists.

b) Your signage is not sufficient to create a contract between Park Watch and the motorist because it is unreadable, being placed eight or nine feet up on a pole, far too high to be in a driver's line of vision on arrival, before parking. Not only does this, once again, breach the BPA Code of Practice on mandatory entrance signs but it fails to create any contract at all when a driver does not see the terms before parking, as in this case, outlined in my initial appeals email.

c) You have clearly not followed the correct appeals procedure by not responding to my appeal, and in addition, no POPLA code has been supplied.



Resolution of the Dispute - ADR (POPLA)
I would suggest that this matter is resolved using the bespoke ADR for private parking, POPLA, to save your wasted costs and the court's precious time. The above points a) - c) can be considered to represent my appeal points in order to prompt a rejection letter and POPLA code now. If we use POPLA, as you are aware your costs will be a mere tax-deductible £27. If you use the court, then you will incur further costs, including £15 filing fee, £25 hearing fee, and approximately £250 as costs payable for your legal representative from LPC Law or other firm.

Failure to agree to my offer of both parties abiding by a POPLA decision would be evidence of Park Watch failing to mitigate your alleged loss which I will draw to the court's attention along with your unreasonable behaviour, and inability to follow the correct appeals procedure. I will also invite the Judge to apply the principle of Halsey v Milton Keynes General NHS Trust [2004] EWCA Civ 576 regarding costs.

If you reject this resolution and proceed to court I will robustly oppose any costs over £27 and will in my first defence statement, ask the court to stay the case and insist on a POPLA decision instead. I am aware that in many cases in the public domain, Park Watch has issued POPLA codes much later than your self-imposed 28 days guideline and indeed POPLA have confirmed that a code can be issued by the operator at any time. The 28 days is merely a time limit that starts when the code is generated and sent to the motorist and I will state this fact to the court if Park Watch suggest otherwise.



Please do not send me a generic template letter which does not address my points or does not address the points made in my original appeal email.

I look forward to hearing from you within 14 days with either:

- a rejection of points a) - c) along with a POPLA code, or

- confirmation that this matter is not proceeding and the charge is cancelled.


yours,

Registered Keeper

Umkomaas

There you go, job done, good result.

Just as an aside, especially for anyone finding this thread later .....

a) Your charge is for an alleged (your words) 'breach of the terms and conditions' and yet clearly it is not a genuine pre-estimate of loss. As such, this is a breach of the BPA Code of Practice. As no loss has been established whatsoever, this charge is also unenforceable in contract law and indeed the Office of Fair trading stated to your Trade Body the BPA Ltd that a 'parking charge' is not automatically recoverable simply because it is stated to be a parking charge, as it cannot be used to state a loss where none exists. Parking charges cannot include tax-deductible business costs for running a parking company, such as site signage and maintenance, staff employment, membership fees, postage, etc. It should not be recoverable as it is being enforced purely as a penalty. Since there is no other income at this site, PCNs for alleged 'breach' represent the only profit for Park Watch and it is clear that you cannot be operating at a permanent loss. The fact that the 'charge' is fixed at the same cost, whether the allegation is a serious matter of obstruction or a trifling matter (such as a few minutes perceived overstay) shows it to be merely a penalty where no loss exists.

..... you wouldn’t have succeeded at POPLA on this point. I’m afraid this argument was all but blown out of the water by the highest court in the land - The Supreme Court - in the ParkingEye v Barry Beavis case judgment in November 2015.

Nevertheless, you’ve got this out of your hair before Christmas, well done.

Janandroy

I have received two parking charges from A.P.C.O.A
I paid for parking on my mobile app. which my car was registered with this company, I have used this car park many times paying this way. They tell me that I am in breach of terms and conditions and can only concluded that there was a technical error of which I was not made aware.
I appealed to Popla three months ago but have had no reply, I did however get a letter from APCOA telling me that my appeal has been rejected. This has now been passed on to a debt collection agency. Any help would be much appreciated

Umkomaas

Any help would be much appreciated

You won't get any help jumping in on an old thread, owned by someone else, about a parking company that has no connection with the parking company that this thread is about.

Please read the NEWBIES FAQ sticky, post # 4 about how to deal with debt collectors.