APCOA Parking at Gloucester Railway Station

Not_a_Mouse

I've just received a notice to keeper from APCOA for parking at Gloucester Railway Station on 2nd May for parking without a valid permit. I have read the newbies thread but am unsure if my situation is covered by the advice there so apologies if it is.


On 2nd May I took the train from Gloucester and used AutoPay to pay the charge. All I heard on the phone was the number code with no mention of which station it related to. I realised after a bit on that day that it had defaulted to the last station that I parked at which wasn't Gloucester due to the parking charge being more than I would normally pay.



I made payment for parking at Gloucester later on 2nd May using AutoPay and I tried to get in touch with APCOA to ask how to resolve this but despite a couple of attempts was unable to get any clear explanation of what to do. I eventually managed to get a refund for the other station's parking charge so this notice is the first I've heard of an issue for the parking at Gloucester.



I'm now completely confused as to what to do next given that I did make payment the first time over what would have been the charge for Gloucester and then made payment for Gloucester on top of that. There are no notices at Gloucester or indeed any information on APCOA's own website about what to do if you pay for the parking at the wrong station plus there is no mention of the station name in the AutoPay message as a cross check.



Any help would be appreciated in how to resolve this.

Umkomaas

Just send in the template initial appeal from the NEWBIES FAQ sticky, post #1. Don't add anything to it - the detail and the rights and wrongs of your case as you describe them are (sadly) irrelevant.

You need to make yourself aware of Railway Byelaws and the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 and how the keeper cannot be held liable. So it's vitally important that the driver is never identified to APCOA. The template (unaltered!) protects you from this.

APCOA may cancel on receipt of the template, or may push you to put together a POPLA appeal, when, with forum assistance to you in putting that appeal together, APCOA always capitulate.

You will not be paying them anything!

Coupon-mad

APCOA are the easiest to beat; on the same weak level as Highview. A cinch for you!

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 House of Commons recently

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

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

Not_a_Mouse

I'm just about to post my initial appeal but I was wondering if I could get this draft checked before I do as I've slightly modified the template to include the notificatioon delay? Still unsure about this so would really appreciate confirmation that I've got this right before submitting it online. Many thanks for the help.

Dear Sirs

Re PCN number:

I appeal and dispute your "parking charge" as the keeper of the vehicle I deny any liability.

There will be no admissions as to who was driving and no assumptions can be drawn, nor was there an agreed contract. Your signage terms fail the test of 'large lettering' and prominence of the parking charge, as established in ParkingEye Ltd v Beavis, which is fully distinguished.

The notice to keeper failed to meet the obligations of Schedule 4 of the POFA Act 2012 as the alleged contravention took place on 2nd May 2015. The Parking Charge Notice was not issued unitl 19th July 2018 and is therefore outside of the 15 days after the alleged offence.

Formal note:

Service of any rejection letter/POPLA code and/or legal documents by email is expressly disallowed. All responses to me from this point on, must be made by post. Regardless of any MCOL online/email system, service of any court claim must only be made by first class post to the latest address provided by me.

Yours faithfully

KeithP

That doesn't look very much like the unchanged template that Umkomaas suggested you send.

One reason for sending the template unchanged is that it is instantly recognised by the PPC as coming from MSE and hopefully letting them know that this will be difficult.

Having said that, I can see nothing wrong with your appeal text.
Send it as the keeper.

Your choice.

Coupon-mad

contravention took place on 2nd May 2015.

What?

Just use the template from the NEWBIES thread, not that.

Not_a_Mouse

Thought I'd update as well as check on what my next step should be.



I submitted my appeal for this fine for 2nd May 2018 as per the template letter on the newbies thread with the inclusion of the section about Schedule 4 as per my draft letter above on 2nd August 2018 on the online appeal but have now received a reminder letter about this.


Logged into the online appeal and according to that correspondence was sent on 29th August 2018 which has not been received. Am I right in thinking now that I should send a copy of my original appeal by recorded mail in response to the reminder letter and add an addendum that no correspondence regarding this matter was received until the receipt of the reminder letter?


Apologies for bumping this up but as the newbies thread says don't send a recorded delivery letter and I can't use the online appeals process for further communication I thought I'd better check on the next step.

Redx

not by signed for (no recorded any more) , get a free cert of posting from the PO Counterstaff (dont pay more than the stamp), and attach the certificate to a copy of your appeal and keep the copy + receipt safe at home, also stating this is the second time you have appealed as they have ignored the first appeal sent on 02 may 2018 which was well within the time limits for submission at the time

no naming or inferring who was driving, nor who actually owns the vehicle either

also bear in mind that after 6 months it times out as far as a penalty notice and MAGS COURT , so another month and you are in the clear (even if they continue to mither you)

Coupon-mad

Logged into the online appeal and according to that correspondence was sent on 29th August 2018 which has not been received. Am I right in thinking now that I should send a copy of my original appeal by recorded mail

No.

as the newbies thread says don't send a recorded delivery letter

For good reason - so DON'T.

To flush out whether the August letter existed or not, send APCOA a SAR (a Subject Access Request, NOT AN APPEAL) asking for all data held, all photos taken and copies of all letters sent. You can find the email for their Data Protection Officer here:

https://www.apcoa.co.uk/privacy-policy.html

How you can access your information

You have the right to request access the information we hold about you. To make a request for your personal information, please contact the Data Protection Officer at dpo@apcoa.com

If the August letter is not among those disclosed (and do not mention it specifically, no tipping them off!) send an email complaint to the BPA about APCOA pretending to have replied to an Appeal. And a complaint to the Information Commissioner, as well!

DO NOT imply who was driving in your simple SAR letter.

But do attach a copy of the PCN and your V5C to show the VRN is your personal data and you are who you say you are (the data subject, entitled to the information).