HELP: Birmingham Airport PCN APCOA/DRP+

zorro69

HI,
Would appreciate any advice as I am being harassed by DRP +. Their latest letter is a FINAL CHANCE TO PAY! ( UNPAID parking charge £160.)

It states that they have recommended to their client that they appoint their solicitor to start court action to recover the £160 that I have refused to pay.
They also state that I have until 6 July 2018 to settle out of court & pay by instalments.

Background;

02/08/17 Went to BHX to drop off daughter. Never had a problem before & knew where and what to do. However, on this occasion there was total chaos. There were major road and carpark alterations in progress with diversion notices in operation. The entrance to the normal drop off point was blocked although I could see in the distance that cars were in the drop off area. I have no idea how they were able to enter the compound!

I went round the island 2-3 times as I didn't know where to go! Traffic was horrendous! We then saw a "makeshift" sign re-directing us to a multi storey car park due to alterations. I couldn't find it!

As I drove in the direction of the sign we passed what I understand now was the IBIS Hotel. I saw a lay-by and pulled in to let my daughter out! Unbeknown to me at the time, contravening the T&C of use and caught on camera.

I recd a PCN from APCOA Parking dated 10 Aug 17 including 4 photographs of the alleged offence. I am seen clearly exiting my car. The incident was approx 25-30 secs.

As per the advice on this site at the time I sent in my appeal by email to Birminghamappeals@apcoa.com . I used the Appeal template as suggested ie,

Dear Sirs

Re: PCN No. ....................

I challenge this 'PCN' as keeper of the car.

I believe that your signs fail the test of 'large lettering' and prominence, as established in ParkingEye Ltd v Beavis. Your unremarkable and obscure signs were not seen by the driver, are in very small print and the terms are not readable to drivers.

There will be no admissions as to who was driving and no assumptions can be drawn. You must either rely on the POFA 2012 and offer me a POPLA code, or cancel the charge.

Should you obtain the registered keeper's data from the DVLA without reasonable cause, please take this as formal notice that I reserve the right to sue your company and the landowner/principal, for a sum not less than £250 for any Data Protection Act breach. Your aggressive business practice and unwarranted threat of court for the ordinary matter of a driver using my car without causing any obstruction nor offence, has caused significant distress to me.

I do not give you consent to process data relating to me or this vehicle. I deny liability for any sum at all and you must consider this letter a Section 10 Notice under the DPA. You are required to respond within 21 days. I have kept proof of submission of this appeal and look forward to your reply.

Yours faithfully,

THE NAME AND ADDRESS OF THE KEEPER GOES HERE. THE DRIVER IS NOT IDENTIFIED.
Last edited by Disco1972; 27-06-2017 at 8:07 AM. Reason: On advise

I never received a reply to this email. and as time passed I duly forgot about it.

Then on 4 Jan 18 I received a REMINDER LETTER from APCOA stating they had not recd payment or an appeal!

The charge was increased to £100 together with another offer to appeal within 28 days of the REMINDER. As I had already appealed I ignored the letter & have subsequently recd 3 debt collection letters from DRP + for £160.

Unfortunately as I write this email I have realised that my original appeal email was dated 10 October 2017, some 8 weeks after the date of issue of the original PCN!

Maybe this is why they never acknowledged my appeal?

Im really at odds as to what to do next as Ive really made a pigs ear of the incident!

Should I pay by instalments to rid the problem?

All advice at this stage most welcome.

(Apologies for the drawn out saga!)

Regards

Quentin

Everyone is politely asked to read up on this in the Newbies FAQ thread near the top of the forum before starting a new thread

#4 there covers debt collectors letters and advises to ignore them

Ignore everything except a lbcca or Court correspondence

If this does get that far then come back for advice on how to defend

#2 in the FAQ covers Court claims

They have 6 years to start legal proceedings against a debtor

Fruitcake

I dare say that airport byelaws apply so CRAPCOA have no chance of pursuing this any further. Indeed, it may already have timed out as normally byelaws infringements can only be pursued for six months.

If byelaws apply, you should send an SAR to CRAPCOA and DRP and if they still have your personal data you should complain to the ICO, BPA, and DVLA that the scammers have held your data beyond any period where it can be justified.

Debt collectors have absolutely no powers and must be ignored. The NEWBIES tells you why it is safe to do so.

Of course you shouldn't pay. Why would anyone even think about paying a scammer?

As advised above, ignore anything and everything you get from now on except real court papers/LBC/MCOL.

Please complain to your MP about this unregulated scam. It is the only way this will ever get stopped.

These are some of the comments made by the MPs in Parliament concerning the unregulated parking industry (Feb 2018):

https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2018-02-02/debates/CC84AF5E-AC6E-4E14-81B1-066E6A892807/Parking(CodeOfPractice)Bill

''Rip-offs from car park Cowboys must stop''; unfair treatment; signage deliberately confusing to ensure a PCN is issued; ''years of abuse by rogue parking companies''; bloodsuckers; ''the current system of regulation is hopeless, like putting Dracula in charge of the blood-bank''; extortionate fines; rogue operators; ''sense of injustice''; unfair charges and notices; wilfully misleading; signage is a deliberate act to deceive or mislead; ''confusing signs are often deliberate, to trap innocent drivers''; unreasonable; a curse; harassing; operating in a disgusting way; appeals service is no guarantee of a fair hearing; loathed; outrageous scam; dodgy practice; outrageous abuse; unscrupulous practices; ''the British Parking Association is as much use as a multi-storey car park in the Gobi desert''; and finally, by way of unanimous conclusion: ''we need to crack down on these rogue companies. They are an absolute disgrace to this country. Ordinary motorists and ordinary residents should not have to put up with this''.

These are the exact words used, so you should quote them to your MP in a complaint and ask him/her to contact Sir Greg Knight MP if he wants further information about this scam.

The_Deep

This is an entirely unregulated industry which is scamming the public with inflated claims for minor breaches of contracts for alleged parking offences, aided and abetted by a handful of low-rent solicitors.

Parking Eye, CPM, Smart, and another company have already been named and shamed, as has Gladstones Solicitors, and BW Legal, (these two law firms take hundreds of these cases to court each year). They lose most of them, and have been reported to the regulatory authority by an M.P. for unprofessional conduct

Hospital car parks and residential complex tickets have been especially mentioned.

The problem has become so rampant that MPs have agreed to enact a Bill to regulate these scammers. Watch the video of the Second Reading in the HofC recently.

http://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/2f0384f2-eba5-4fff-ab07-cf24b6a22918?in=12:49:41

and complain in the most robust terms to your MP. With a fair wind they will be out of business by Christmas.

Coupon-mad

Unfortunately as I write this email I have realised that my original appeal email was dated 10 October 2017, some 8 weeks after the date of issue of the original PCN!

Maybe this is why they never acknowledged my appeal?

Maybe, but one would still expect them to have replied, and so would the BPA.

Complain to the BPA, using the email shown in post #5 of the NEWBIES thread.

zorro69

Thanx for the prompt replies recd so far.

My main concern is that having not recd confirmation of my Appeal Email, I have no POPLA code!

I didn't think I could progress any further without one?

Regards

Quentin

You cannot progress a popla appeal without one

Which you will be complaining about as part of your letter of complaint advised in #5

fisherjim

Ignore everything especially debt collection scammers who lie throughout their working day!


Your chance of APCOA doing court:


http://www.parkingappeals.info/companydata/APCOA_Parking_UK.html


Why would you pay?

Umkomaas

'APCOA' and 'court' are rarely seen in the same sentence. This isn't going anywhere near a court.

DRP BS seen so many times, yet never once delivered.