Britannia notice - lease vehicle appeal

Bobbybob

Hi, just looking for a bit of guidance on next steps to take following a parking notice from Britannia on my lease vehicle. Please see notice details, initial appeal, and response below:

Initial PCN sent to lease company: "ttp://i68.tinypic.com/wspz9.jpg"
So I was working in the car park, but not for the land owner or parking company, If it makes a difference I overstayed the 2hr limit by about 20mins and was captured on ANPR cameras. I had registered my number plate with a local hotel chain to prevent parking fine, but apparently this did not cover the car park adjacent, where this fine relates to.

My first appeal:

I challenge this 'PCN' as lessee of the car and subsequently request all future correspondence be sent directly to myself at the above address.

I am the vehicle's hirer and keeper for the purpose of the corresponding definitions under Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (POFA) now it is proven that in this instance, the registered keeper is not the "keeper" (as defined under POFA), Civil Enforcement has no reason to contact Lex Autolease again regarding this PCN.

The vehicle named above was registered at ...10/12/18 09:00hrs for a period of no less than 3 days whilst work was undertaken immediately adjacent to the car park. Therefore, under the parking policy, the PCN is not valid for the above time period which includes the alleged entry and exit times.

Additionally, 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.

Further, I understand you do not own the car park and you have given me no information about your policy with the landowner or on site businesses, to cancel such a charge. So please supply that policy as required under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.

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

Thank you for your cooperation and I look forward to receiving your response within the relevant timescales specified under the British Parking Association Ltd Code of Practice.

Their response:

Thank you for your appeal received on 08/01/2019 regarding the above detailed Parking Charge Notice.
Your POPLA verification code is XXXXXX
We have reviewed the case and considered the comments that you have made. This appeal
as been considered in conjunction with the photographs and any evidence provided. Our records show that the notice was correctly issued as your vehicle was parked in breach of the Terms and Conditions of the Car Park.

Please be aware that this site is an ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) controlled car park. A camera photographs your entry and exit and times this against the 2 hour maximum stay allocated to this car park.

We are members of the British Parking Association (BPA) and we follow their Approved Operator Scheme, the BPA Code of Practice, at all times. Section 13 – Grace Periods, details that we must give the driver a reasonable period of time to read the terms and conditions on the signage and to leave the car park after the parking contract has expired. We have a 10 minute grace period at this car park. After 2 hours of parking, if the driver has not left the car park by the time the 10 minute grace period has been reached, a Parking Charge Notice will be issued for breaching the terms and conditions of the car park. An online copy the Code of Practice can be found by visiting:britishparking.co.uk/Code-of-Practice-and-compliance-monitoring.

Britannia Parking do not have a contract with ..., and as such there is no agreement that anyone working for any company other than Britannia Parking or its associates is entitled to free parking. All of our signs follow the standard requirements needed by the British Parking Association (BPA). We are also audited yearly to ensure that signage is maintained and updated in line with the BPA’s requirements. The signage clearly advises when a Parking Charge Notice will be issued and no ambiguous wording has been used. There is also a contact telephone number stated on the signage should you require further clarification on the terms and conditions. We have authorisation to act on behalf of the landowners, ensuring that the terms and conditions are adhered to. We have full authority to issue Parking Charge Notices on their behalf. You are not entitled to business sensitive information, it will only be supplied at court, as evidence and not before. You have now reached the end of our internal appeals procedure.

You now have a number of options from which to choose:-
1 Pay the Parking Charge Notice at the discounted rate for a further 14 days.Please note that after this time the discounted rate will no longer apply and the full Parking Charge Notice amount will then be due within 14 days.
2 If you choose to do nothing, we will seek to recover the monies owed to us via our debt recovery procedures and may proceed with Court action against you.
3 Make an appeal to POPLA – The Independent Appeals Service. Please note that if you wish to appeal to POPLA, you will lose the right to pay the Parking Charge Notice at the discounted rate, and should POPLA’s decision not go in your favour you will be required to pay the full amount. If you opt to pay the Parking Charge Notice you will be unable to appeal to POPLA.
The POPLA service is only available in England and Wales.

You must submit an appeal to POPLA within 28 days from the date of this outcome letter, by submitting an online case at popla.co.uk.. Your POPLA verification code is XXXXXXX.
By law we are also required to inform you that Ombudsman Services provides an alternative dispute resolution service that would be competent to deal with your appeal.
However, we have not chosen to participate in their alternative dispute resolution service. As such should you wish to appeal then you must do so to POPLA, as explained above.’

So my question is, where do I go from here?
Take it up with POPLA? If so, what reasoning and wording should I use to appeal?
I'd rather not just ignore it as it's lease company and they may not find this acceptable.
Or, dare I say it, pay them off.

I don't have much time to spend on this, so I would greatly appreciate your help.

Thanks

MistyZ

NUMBER 1: edit your post right now to conceal the identity of the driver!

Have Britannia sent an NTK to you as keeper? If so, I assume they did not enclose the documents which they are required to send under PoFA Schedule 4, paras 13 & 14, specifically a copy of the hire documents?

You will win this at POPLA ('will' as in almost certainly) if you appeal as hirer / lessee, they have not complied with PoFA and you do not identify the driver from now on, not here, not anywhere.

Search for hire cars Britannia to find plenty of similar cases.

I'm scratching my head as to who the work was being done for .... I think a landowner complaint including a strong request that they cancel the PCN is in order (before submitting POPLA appeal but not instead of). If you can say which organisation contracted the driver to do the work and what their relationship is to the car park, maybe we'll have some ideas.

Coupon-mad

So my question is, where do I go from here?
Take it up with POPLA? If so, what reasoning and wording should I use to appeal?

AN EASY WIN AWAITS YOU AT POPLA!

Just copy any POFA Paragraph 14 Notice to Hirer POPLA appeal, search the forum.

Or, dare I say it, pay them off.

Ahem:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/75460972#Comment_75460972

MistyZ

Bobbybob, people just plain win hire car appeals at POPLA if they go about it the right way. It seems to me to be one of the most clear-cut parking 'situations' to deal with. Don't hesitate or angst about it, just get it right.