Worth fighting?

kayloh1

Hi and thanks for taking the time to read my first thread,

I shall try to make this quick and easy as possible so here goes.

I received a PCN (invoice) on my windscreen at Lewisham's retail car park (If you want to further investigate on google maps) and it was due to a rule of "no commercial vehicles.

Now I was shopping at Matalan for 20 minutes and they fined me literally 2 minutes after I left my van. I imagine they saw me and instead of telling me they waited for me to leave since I sat in the van for about 5 minutes.

Anyway, I looked around and yes on their terms and conditions signs it says in "FINE PRINT" the words 'no commercial vehicles'. However, my argument is why they don't stick a sign at the entrance for such a rule since they had a separate sign stating the maximum time permitted.

I emailed Matalans customer support stating this and they offered no real help apart from saying they can help prove my presence within the store but to appeal directly to UKPC. So I did, and surprise surprise they rejected my appeal with a vague response of there are sufficient signs in the car park.

I just emailed the CEO of Matalan as a last resort but my luck has it that he is on annual leave for an unknown amount of time. I do have 35 days to pay so I may wait 2-3 weeks.

Now I know this is just an invoice and I've seen many people state that you could ignore it and all threats but I can't do this since my van is marked with the company logo, and they would simply go to to my company and get it paid and then it will be deducted from my wages.

I'm interested to know anyone's opinion since the next step is POPLA, and whether it's worth continuing the fight or If I'm just fighting a losing battle.

If anyone could provide links for templates and such from the NEWBIES thread for appealing unclear signage for POPLA I would be appreciated. It's just that I am a bit dyslexic and I can't find what I am looking for on the thread properly.

Many thanks in advance!

KeithP

Can you please tell us the name of the parking company.

kayloh1

UK parking control - UKPC. sorry forgot to mention it :S

Umkomaas

Windscreen ticket - use the blue text initial appeal template and submit via UKPC's website appeal portal on day 26 after the parking event.

Read the NEWBIES FAQ sticky, post #1 to find the template and the reasons for sending it around day 26.

kayloh1

will this work with POPLA? since I've already done a formal appeal directly to UKPC and they have rejected it.

Umkomaas

kayloh1 wrote: »

will this work with POPLA? since I've already done a formal appeal directly to UKPC and they have rejected it.

1. Have they given you a POPLA code?

2. When is the deadline date for your POPLA appeal?

3. When is day 56 counted from the day following the parking incident?

4. Have UKPC sent you a letter headed 'Notice to Keeper'?

kayloh1

Umkomaas wrote: »

1. Have they given you a POPLA code?

2. When is the deadline date for your POPLA appeal?

3. When is day 56 counted from the day following the parking incident?

4. Have UKPC sent you a letter headed 'Notice to Keeper'?

Reading the email they have sent me, yes they have sent me an POPLA reference number. They have written that I have 28 days from the 21st of June to make an appeal to POPLA. This incident happened on the 12-5-19. Finally no I haven't received a notice to keeper letter however I think they would send it to my company first, I imagine?

Fruitcake

Did you reveal the driver's identity like you did in your first post here when you appealed to the scammers?

If they know the identity of the driver then they have no need to send a NTK to you or the registered keeper.

You need to construct a PoPLA appeal using all the template appeal points available to you in post 3 of the NEWBIES, then post your draft here before submitting it.
Get your own pics of the site and signage. UKPC signs are generally crap with the actual charge in small font, breaching the BPA CoP. Showing that the words referring to commercial vehicles are in font too small to read from a moving vehicle will be essential.

What a shame you didn't come here first as you would have been directed to the template for hire/lease/company vehicles. Parking scammers seem to find it impossible to comply with the PoFA requirements in these cases.

kayloh1

Fruitcake wrote: »

Did you reveal the driver's identity like you did in your first post here when you appealed to the scammers?

If they know the identity of the driver then they have no need to send a NTK to you or the registered keeper.

You need to construct a PoPLA appeal using all the template appeal points available to you in post 3 of the NEWBIES, then post your draft here before submitting it.
Get your own pics of the site and signage. UKPC signs are generally crap with the actual charge in small font, breaching the BPA CoP. Showing that the words referring to commercial vehicles are in font too small to read from a moving vehicle will be essential.

What a shame you didn't come here first as you would have been directed to the template for hire/lease/company vehicles. Parking scammers seem to find it impossible to comply with the PoFA requirements in these cases.

Many thanks for the reply, unfortunately, I took drastic measures first without proper research and that is why I am in my current position. If only I found this forum first then maybe I would of been rid of this nightmare. Anyway, I shall look for the template and come up with a draft like you have said and post it here before submitting it.

I have taken pictures of the site when this event happened. I took pictures of the entrance to the car park with the only sign stating the maximum permitted time and the picture of the T&C sign with the fine print of said restriction at a distance and up close.

I shall reply soon with a draft.

waamo

You missed the most important bit. Did you name the driver?

Coupon-mad

Or did you choose 'driver' in UKPC's dropdown menu when appealing?

Is your van marked obviously with a logo, as a 'commercial vehicle' or is that arguable?