Euro Car Park (ECP) PCN Matalan POPLA Appeal

barafear799

ECP have replied to my appeal.
One thing I notice is that the "landowner authority" (if that what it purports to do) is with Matalan, whereas I am 99%+ sure the land is actually owned by a real estate company (presumably Matalan pay them rent) - does the agreement NEED to be with the owner or would an agreement with Matalan suffice?

Clearly, they completely ignore my popla appeal and original appeal.

They state in their "response to my evidence" :

At one stage, they summarise my original appeal by stating :

Refused to name the driver.

A few paragraphs later they state:

Mr Joe Bloggs appealled the PCN and confirmed he was the driver on the day, therefore the liability remains with Mr Joe Bloggs.......

.....

So in one sentence, they state I refused to name the driver, then in the following they state I confirmed I was the driver.

Obviously, in my appeal and my popla appeal, at no stage did I name the driver.
I am the keeper, and the driver is someone else.

They have provided pictures showing the driver "purportedly" driving in the entrance and then leaving the exit.

Some times on both photos amount to the difference in time which they show "proves the driver parked on site for that amount of time".

Advice please?

I will put up the appeal once I manage to redact it - they've clearly done a "look up and replace" driver with my full name across the whole document.

Coupon-mad

One thing I notice is that the "landowner authority" (if that what it purports to do) is with Matalan, whereas I am 99%+ sure the land is actually owned by a real estate company (presumably Matalan pay them rent) - does the agreement NEED to be with the owner or would an agreement with Matalan suffice?

A corporate tenant who leases the land is the 'landholder' in possession (leasehold title) so I would say yes, Matalan have standing to sign.

Check for other things like the Matalan signature and job title (redacted?) dates, including the start date and end date. Is it clear whether the contract continues into perpetuity? If not, say so!

Put this into your concise bullet point comments on the POPLA Portal, as well:

At one stage, they summarise my original appeal by stating :

''Refused to name the driver.''

A few paragraphs later they state:

Mr Joe Bloggs appealled the PCN and confirmed he was the driver on the day, therefore the liability remains with Mr Joe Bloggs.......

So in one sentence, they state I refused to name the driver, then in the following they state (wrongly copied from one they did earlier) that I confirmed I was the driver.

Obviously, in my appeal and my popla appeal, at no stage did I name the driver.
I am the keeper, and the driver is someone else.

Also look at the dates of any photos of the signs. Point out if the photos are old/undated.

And were the photos of signs taken in the same light conditions? Point out all discrepancies.

barafear799

Once again CM, many thanks for your help.
I have now uploaded the redacted appeal.
It was quite long, and my adobe editor wasn't playing ball in letting me remove pages -
so I've redacted whole pages on occasion.
However, these are only copies of previous items (such as their original rejection letter).
anyway - if anyone has time to have a quick scan through it.
I noticed in their documents they state that signs should be at least 1.9m from the ground (to adhere to COP) - some of signs in car park are definitely not that high - obviously I cannot make a "new appeal" - but could I mention that in replying to their evidence.
Am I limited to the 2000 characters in response?
what sort of thing should I be including in this response?
The COP also states "Landowner" - which Matalan clearly isn't......but....

Anyway - thanks again - and I would welcome comments on their response.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1MkyQZcvpmaMfuO0vUSQKv9I5G1BY_sDq

Coupon-mad

some of signs in car park are definitely not that high - obviously I cannot make a "new appeal" - but could I mention that in replying to their evidence.

Yes you can, bullet points only.

Am I limited to the 2000 characters in response?

Yes and I recommend you don't try emailing longer comments. Use the Portal, be very concise.

what sort of thing should I be including in this response?

The 2 or 3 things I listed in my reply above.

barafear799

Thanks. I just need to summarise/clarify what I need to respond with.

1) Is this pointing out that ECP's "response" shows that they have assumed I (the keeper) was the driver, despite the fact that they acknowledged that my original appeal to them (via their website) stated quite clearly that I was the keeper, and their summary of my appeal even stated that "the driver was not named". By pointing this out, am I merely showing to the POPLA adjudicator that ECP do not have a coherent argument/case?

2) Can I now mention that some of their signs (some of which I had included in my photographic evidence) do not comply with the height regulations in accordance with the COP?

3) In terms of the pictures of the signs they've provided, they are all dated and timed. The alleged parking incident happened in the morning - their picture of the driver entering the car park shows the car with the sun visor down and the driver wearing sunglasses. This would suggest a sunny day - being it was in December, it could be argued it was a low sun. One of my original questions about my POPLA appeal which I'd like to ask about - although I was advised not to include the picture in my POPLA appeal. This relates to the sign at the entrance. My point previously was that it is on the left hand side of the entry point of the car park - the photo they show of the driver clearly shows the driver (wearing sunglasses) looking right (as would be expected in a RHD car). The entry sign is also one of the signs which is clearly not 1.9m from the ground level. Would the advice still be not to mention the "entry sign" at all?

One more point - which is probably irrelevant or too late to be brought up now. The pay machines are cash only - and I originally believed (when checking out the site) this was the only method of payment - that raised the possibility of the driver needing to find the right change - however, I never believed that would have been a valid point anyway. However, their "response" states that payment by phone is also possible - I'll need to check out the site again - but would it be relevant if I found no mention of this alternative payment method on their signs? Or is it just an aside?

Many thanks again.

Coupon-mad

You can't add any new points, just do bullet points and hurry up, you only have SIX DAYS (no, not the seven POPLA say you have) before the POPLA Portal window closes.

I already said what to mention, keep it brief and don't add layers of stuff POPLA will not read.

what sort of thing should I be including in this response?

The 2 or 3 things I listed in my reply above.

barafear799

CM> Thanks for the warning about the time limit.
I'm still a bit confused as to what to write - but I've come up with a draft.

Page 3 (bottom) of ECP Evidence: Summary of my original appeal where they state my appeal !!!8220;declined to name the driver!!!8221;. By page 7, ECP claim I confirmed I was the driver on the day. Page 8 is a copy of original appeal, once again showing I appealed as the keeper. From page 12 onward, ECP continue to refer to me as the driver. Page 19 of ECP Evidence shows that for signs to be compliant with the COP they must be a minimum of 1.9m from the ground. The sign shown on page 11 is clearly not compliant, as well as not being visible to a driver on the Right Hand side (sign is on the left). The landowner authorisation is signed by Paul Reid for Matalan. There is no indication what his job title is or whether he has authority to sign. Similar comments apply to the ECP signature.

Have I missed anything? Have I included anything I shouldn't have? Maybe the sign on page 11 (being the sign at the entrance to car park, which I did not include a photo of in my evidence.)

I will aim to upload tomorrow - hopefully, you can confirm my response by then.

Thank you loads!

Coupon-mad

I think the driver/keeper thing is superfluous, if ECP posted the PCN to reach you within 14 days.

barafear799

Many thanks for all your help. Fingers crossed for the POPLA appeal.

barafear799

As per title?

Is there a "standard" time to hear back from Popla?

Mine has been 22 days (total days, not working - and I guess with Easter that means only around 14 working days) since I responded to ECP's evidence.

Thank you.