POPLA Complaint - Rant

twhitehousescat

would love to see the contract they sent to popla , perhaps the BPA had NOT audited there signs after all ,

7 Written authorisation of the landowner
7.1 If you do not own the land on which you are carrying
out parking management, you must have the written
authorisation of the landowner (or their appointed
agent). The written confirmation must be given before
you can start operating on the land in question and
give you the authority to carry out all the aspects of car
park management for the site that you are responsible
for. In particular, it must say that the landowner (or their
appointed agent) requires you to keep to the Code
of Practice and that you have the authority to pursue
outstanding parking charges.
7.2 If the operator wishes to take legal action on any
outstanding parking charges, they must ensure that they
have the written authority of the landowner (or their
appointed agent) prior to legal action being taken.

paye

Thanks for your replies.

I did make a formal complaint the day after I received the decision letter.

As of yet, I have still not received any acknowledgement to my complaint.

When I rang up to complain, the bloke on the phone at POPLA even said, that if the parking company had provided wrong photos and my follow up letter wan't reviewed then the decision is not right, and I should complain (I recorded the entire telephone conversation I had with them).

So not wanting to give up the £100 easily shall I do the following as suggested:

1. Complain to my local MP,

2. Complain to DVLA & BPA ( I don't understand why I should complain to DVLA and BPA, what have they got to do with this? )

Newbury Park Station car park, is subject to byelaws, but what can I do to use this against them ?

I have already received a letter from NCP about the decision made by POPLA asking me to pay up, otherwise the debt collection agency will be instructed.

Do they have to take me to court first before the debt collectors get involved, as I am prepared to go to court and explain this dirty tactic NCP are using to the judge, Or shall I pay the fine and then file a claim for obtaining money by deception ( as fruitcake mentioned)?

:beer:

KeithP

What was the date of your alleged parking incident?

twhitehousescat

!:Newbury Park Station car park, is subject to byelaws, but what can I do to use this against them ?

in which case the land is not applicable for the protection of freedom act , and unless you blurted out that you were driving , they cannot hold you - the keeper liable ,

so of you kept "mum" ands did not admit to being driver they are in trouble with the BPA and the DVLA

let ncp send you junk mail all they want , however watch out for court papers at a later date

forget the pay and counterclaim , hurt the !!!!!!s via the correct authorities

paye

KeithP wrote: »

What was the date of your alleged parking incident?

This parking incident took place 7th September 18.

I think I may have also given away the fact I was driving, as I admitted I tried to pay the parking fee but the machine was out of order .

Think i'll ride out storm with these f*****s!.

What will happen first, knock on the door from bailiffs or court papers?

Cheers

KeithP

paye wrote: »

This parking incident took place 7th September 18.

So you're just about halfway through your six months wait.

paye wrote: »

What will happen first, knock on the door from bailiffs or court papers?

It won't be bailiffs.

And from reading the above posts surely you can see that court action is extremely unlikely.

Redx

nobody can knock the door without a court order

so they pass it to debt collectors who send out letters , who cares ? we dont

debt collectors are powerless to act

this times out after 6 months like I said earlier, so put a note on your 2019 calendar

as this is a bylaws issue then perhaps they have failed in their duty to the DVLA when they obtained keeper details ?

either way, only the TOC can take this to MAGS COURT

read the INDIGO threads to understand the bylaws issues, which also apply to APCOA and NCP etc too, hint they have issued a PARKING charge notice which is an INVOICE where it should actually be a PENALTY charge notice using bylaws- from the TOC not themselves

paye

Hi,

I've drafted up a letter to my local MP, I'd welcome some thoughts on it as this will be my first letter to an MP.

:beer:

Dear Mrs. Hodge,

As my local MP for Barking & Dagenham, you will, no doubt, be aware of the recent media coverage surrounding private parking companies trying to bully and chase motorist for unfair fines by deception.

I wish to draw your attention to the recent issue I have recently encountered where I have been let down by the private parking adjudicator appeals process ‘POPLA’ for not handing my appeal appropriately for an unfair parking fine I received.

My daily commute to work every morning begins with me driving to Newbury Park Station and parking my car at the car park before catching the central line train up to Oxford Circus Station.

On my return I pay the parking fee of £5.50 which I pay daily and have been doing so for the past 12 months.

However, On the 7th September 2018, I returned after work to the collect my car and pay the daily charge for using the carpark, but on this occasion, the ticket machine was out of order and there were no other ticket machines nearby to pay the daily charge. So, I and including others decided to pick up our cars and leave because there was nothing else we could do.

After about a week, I received a parking fine from NCP through the post for non-payment to which I appealed against.
My appeal to the parking company (NCP) was rejected on the basis I could of went home and registered on their website to pay the fine which I did not agree with.

I then decided to take my case to POPLA who are supposed to be an independent appeals service. I initially submitted my appeal through their website and after about a week, I received the parking company evidence pack which was forwarded to me by POPLA, I had 5 days to respond to the parking company evidence pack.

Whilst reading through the evidence pack submitted by NCP, it became apparent that the parking company submitted false information to substantiate their position, such as photographs referring to a different carpark to the one I was parked in, including photos of signage which is not even at the car park.
After spotting these anomaly’s, I wrote back to POPLA to let them know the evidence pack they (NCP) put forward is false and does not reflect the true location I was parked in.

About 5 weeks after my follow up correspondence to POPLA, I received their decision on my case and my appeal was rejected on the basis that I could have contacted the parking company direct to pay the charge even though it would of cost extra to pay by phone.

There are no clear signs that says what a motorist should do in the event of the ticket machine being out of order. Surely it must be the parking company responsibility to ensure their equipment is maintained and in working order at all times and not the responsibility of the motorist to contact the parking operator to let them know one of their equipment is broken.

After reading through the decision letter, it was clear to me that the adjudicator did not review my follow up response to the evidence pack which I believe may have made a big difference when deciding my appeal.

Due to POPLA failure to review my follow up response, I have now been penalised for £100. The amount of the fine is not an issue here but it’s the principal of the matter which I hope you understand.
My follow up response was also acknowledged by POPLA but none of this information was taken into considerations when they decided the outcome.

After complaining to POPLA last week, I have yet to receive and any form of acknowledgement from them to say that they have received my compliant and will be looking into it which I find unprofessional of them.

I am very annoyed at the fact that private parking companies are still able to get away with bullying motorist including trying to obtain money by deception by providing false information. There should be strict rules surrounding this.

This is not the first time POPLA have done this, there are many more cases when POPLA have not handled people appeals appropriately which leaves me to believe the organisation is not fit for purpose.

I will now have to wait for the parking company to take me to court so I can explain my situation to the judge something which will cost me both time & money.
I would be very interested in hearing from you with regards to your views on this matter and what you might be able to do about this.

Thank you in anticipation of your help.



Yours sincerely,

Fruitcake

paye wrote: »

This parking incident took place 7th September 18.

I think I may have also given away the fact I was driving, as I admitted I tried to pay the parking fee but the machine was out of order .

Think i'll ride out storm with these f*****s!.

What will happen first, knock on the door from bailiffs or court papers?

Cheers

So an occupant of the car tried to pay the parking fee? That happens in our household every time we go out because my Auntie/MiL always insists on paying, ever though she can't drive and doesn't have a licence.

Fruitcake

paye wrote: »

Hi,

I've drafted up a letter to my local MP, I'd welcome some thoughts on it as this will be my first letter to an MP.

:beer:

These are not fines. Please use the correct terminology.

You should refer your MP to the house of commons debates of this year, quoting the words of our MPs unanimously from across all parties as per the NEWBIES post 1.


These are the actual words used by our MPs so you must esure that your MP is aware of this.

''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''.

Point out that your vote, and that of your family and friends, depends on his/her response to your problem.

Does he support Sir Gregg Knight's bill, or does he want to lose your votes? Simple question.