FISTRAL BEACH, Newquay, Inital Parking.. please help!!

renegadefm

I live near Newquay, I dont think the parking becomes free until after 6pm. If I'm there anytime soon I can take pics of the signage for you.

MinnieSox9

I received this from Steve this morning

“ xxxxx

Thanks for copying me into your e-mail and I am sorry to learn that you have cause to complain.

You will appreciate that as POPLA is independent of the BPA, it is not for me to comment on the case directly - this is the remit of the Lead Adjudicator.

That said I would be grateful if John were to copy me into his response and should he need to seek my support in his deliberations, I would be happy to give it.

I hope that an appropriate resolution can be found for you.

Kind regards

Steve

Umkomaas

You always get a reasoned and levelheaded response from Mr Clark.

MinnieSox9

Okay so I’ve recieved a response from John Gallagher!!!

Any ideas where to go in this process now...

Dear xxxxxx

Thank you for your email.

I will start by apologising that we got this wrong. Your logic is correct. 18 July 2019 is the 15th working day from 4 July 2019 (start and end dates included).

It appears the approach taken by Stuart was to look at a calendar and note the date 14 days after 4 July 2019, as below.

(He placed a picture of a calendar with the dates highlighted)

This would give the impression that 18 July 2019 was within the 14 days allowed by the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 – and therefore the Notice to Keeper was compliant. This is not the correct logic. The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 prescribes that the clock starts on the day after the parking event, so 4 July is counted as a day and 4 July to 17 July inclusive is 14 days.

What is more concerning to me is the responses you have received from Adele and Ashlea suggesting that the Notices to Keeper were satisfactory because they were posted within 14 days. This is certainly not what we train assessors.

While this is no excuse, I would echo the comments you have seen on the Money Saving Expert forum, made by my colleague Craig Ineson. It is rare that an operator will send a Notice to Keeper once the deadline to do so has passed. Therefore, POPLA sees relatively few appeals where the Notice to Keeper has been issued the day after the deadline. Assessors are not seeing this issue regularly. It appears a lack of familiarity has led to them applying some incorrect logic. I will ensure that retraining is provided to all assessors on this subject.

You have suggested that we have made procedural errors in our consideration of this complaint. I must respectfully disagree. A procedural error occurs where we do not follow our own process. For example, if a motorist was denied opportunity to present their full case or comment on operators’ evidence. What has happened here is a misinterpretation of relevant legislation.

POPLA is a one stage process and I cannot overturn a decision because I disagree with an assessor’s interpretation of evidence or legislation. I must be true to process and although I accept that POPLA does not come out from this well, I cannot change the decision.

That said, you are free to use this letter in any further correspondence with the parking operator, or in court, as confirmation that I agree with you that the Notices to Keeper were issued outside of the relevant period. They were therefore not valid to transfer liability for the Parking Charge Notices to the keeper of the vehicle.

I accept that this might not be the response you were hoping for but our process means I cannot change the decisions. I am sorry for the poor service you received from POPLA.

Yours sincerely
John Gallagher
Lead Adjudicator

Redx

Seems a fair analysis and glad to see that neither Steve nor John fobbed you off

Also good to see that the assessor retraining has been brought to the fore yet again

Plus this promise and issue of how to count the days correctly , if lay people on here can do it , paid assessor's can do it , so should do it in future because it's happening too many times now

I would write to the PPC and inform them of this assessment and that the letter or email will be shown in court if required , so the PCN should be cancelled to avoid it

Respect to Steve , to John and to Craig too but Adele and Ashleigh need to be more accepting of complaints and not to dismiss them out of hand in future

Le_Kirk

How many more times (and assessors) is retraining going to be offered before it starts to kick in and the training takes hold so that assessors do not make these errors?


{No answer required!}

MinnieSox9

Sorry what does PPC mean? Should I email initial parking with my findings for them to withdraw the NTK or?

Redx

acronyms are in post #5 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread near the top of this forum

have you not been reading that sticky thread ?

email , letter , BOTH , I would favour BOTH myself, just to be sure

MinnieSox9

I’ve just recieved this from Steve..



“I am aware that you have received a response from John Gallagher which I hope is helpful.



Would it be possible for you to send me a copy of the original Notice to Keeper that you received please? Sorry to be a pest but there is something that I might need to check.



All the best

Steve Clark FBPA”


I’m guessing this is all good for me to do? any guesses or ideas as to why he’s asking?

Redx

yes , do so , it may help your case and cannot hinder it

we always tell people to attach copies of all paperwork when complaining to the BPA