Is it worth appealing through POPLA?

Fablewynd

Good afternoon all,

I am just after a bit of advice on how to proceed with a PCN appeal, as it has been rejected by Private Parking Solutions (London) Ltd and they have referred me to POPLA if I want to appeal their decision.

I was parked in my parking space in the carpark outside my home. I have lived at this address for over a year and never had any issues with parking tickets, and haven't had any issues with parking tickets since. The space I was parked in was the space allocated to my flat, and I have a parking permit for that space.

I was given a PCN two weeks ago at 23:55pm - the pictures that the ticketer took had to be taken using a torch, as it was nearly midnight and so pitch black outside (there were no streetlights near to my car). As such, the pictures are not that clear, and my permit is not visible in them, even though I had one in the car. Private Parking Solutions (PPS) have said that I have breached the T&C of parking in that space because the permit wasn't displayed clearly, even though the pictures they have taken aren't clear themselves. This was my point when I refuted the ticket.

Would POPLA throw my appeal out, or is it worth sending one to them? If I just pay up it'll be £60 I have to pay, otherwise I will have to pay £100 if I proceed with POPLA. Ideally, I don't want to pay anything since I was actually parked in my space.

Cheers all

KeithP

I don't understand why you think you have to pay £100 if you lose a PoPLA appeal.

A PoPLA decision is not binding on the motorist.

So to answer the question in your title - yes, it is worth appealing to PoPLA.

Have a read of post #3 in the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread to better understand how to compile that PoPLA appeal.

Coupon-mad

Is it worth appealing through POPLA?

If it wasn't we wouldn't tell people to do it every time, and have 99% win rate here, especially v small fry like that firm.

What a shame you appeal to have thrown your 100% POPLA Appeal point in the bin, by appealing and admitting who parked the car.

YET AGAIN SOMEONE RUINS THE 100% WIN CHANCE THEY HAD.

Now it's only 99%!

Why the heck do people think they HAVE to pay a penny, if they lose at POPLA? Yawn.

Fablewynd

Sorry, I have never had a parking ticket before, so I wasn't sure of the process. I thought I had to appeal first.

My understanding was that if I lost the POPLA I would have to pay the £100 because they could take me to court over it. I'm a bit confused by all of this, unfortunately. I'm just trying to read up on the templates for drafting a letter to POPLA by reading the other threads that were mentioned but I'm having a bit of a hard time of it. I'm not even sure what type of company PPS is, to get the right template. I'll continue Googling to see if I can find any information. Would I need to submit the pictures that PPS took (the ones in the dark), or will PPS send them themselves? I find all this a little bit overwhelming. I know that I probably should have come here first of all, but it was just the panic of seeing a ticket on my windscreen for the first time.

nosferatu1001

Yes you DO have to appeal to teh PPC first
However you can say prety much anything to the PPC, and they will reject. So you dont throw away one important winning appeal, by saying who drove the car

Yes they CAN take you to cvourt
It does not mean they WILL take you to court
They do not take EVERY lost appeal to court.

STOP GOOGLING
Go to teh newbies thread
post 1 covers PPC appeals. Startreading. Do not skim read. Do not look for the exact circumstances.

Submit the pictures that help you. Even better if they are the PPCs own.

Le_Kirk

One step at a time; have you still time to appeal to POPLA? What is the deadline as outlined in the rejection letter that supplied the POPLA reference number? If you look at the original NtD or NtK does it state that PPS is a member of .....

Search this forum for similar threads "own space ticket" or "own space PCN" There are quite a few recent ones floating around.

Fablewynd

Yeah, unfortunately I already disclosed that I was the one who parked there because I thought it would help my case as the space I was actually parked in was the space that was allocated to my flat - so I was parking in the space that I had parked in for the last year and hadn't had any trouble. I don't think it even says in my flat rental that I have to display a permit for my parking space, but I'd need to double check.

So, the PCN has already gone through and been rejected and they said that if I want to appeal that I will need to use the POPLA. They only sent me the rejection of the PCN appeal yesterday, so I believe I still have 13 days to appeal to POPLA.

This is the signage for my particular carpark:

hxxps://.dropbox.com/s/0uq9sj38vxwrjks/PPS%20%20-%20New%20Sign%202017%20%28002%29.jpg?dl=0

Le_Kirk

POPLA codes last 28 days I believe. find your lease/tenancy agreement and check what it actually states.

Fablewynd

I'll have a look when I get home from work to see what it states.

So, my defence against paying this charge is:

1) I had a permit in the car, but the pictures the company took were at midnight, so it was pitch black in the car and they had to use a torch to even be able to take pictures. If it had've been daytime, they would've seen the permit.

2) The space I was parking in was the one allocated to me as part of my rental agreement for my flat (if it says nothing in my contract about a parking permit then that will add to what I will compile for my defence).

I'll have a look what my rental contract actually states, but I guess that won't be enough if it doesn't mention anything about a permit?

Fablewynd

I've made an Imgur file with all the photographic evidence that PPS took - most of the images are either blurry or dark, or very obscure. Just wanted to get your opinion on whether you think they have a strong case for claiming I wasn't displaying a permit.

hxxps://imgur.com/a/3FfnNQD

Le_Kirk

Your image made live, after checking.

https://imgur.com/a/3FfnNQD