POPLA Appeal - First Draft - Comments Please

TightGit43

Here is my POPLA appeal draft I would be very grateful for any comments. At the end I have provided more background to the case;

Dear Sir or Madam,

Ticket number: [insert ticket number]
Vehicle registration number: [insert vehicle registration number]

I received a Parking Charge Notice in the post from APCOA on the 6th August 2019. I will not be paying this charge as I believe this notice was unfairly issued. For the following reasons

The alleged contravention did not occur
I paid for a ticket shortly upon entering ( a SW Railway Station Car Park). I displayed this ticket in my windscreen between the time I entered the car park and the time I left.

On the Parking Charge Notice and in their subsequent refusal of my appeal APCOA have not shown the time or date I entered the car park, or the duration of parking. Further they have not provided any evidence I did not display a valid ticket during this period (e.g. photograph of my car parked without a valid ticket). This is despite having a ticket machine in the car park which requires emptying by operators that could reasonably have obtained such evidence.

I provided APOCA with a copy of a bank statement showing I had paid the sum of £xx. This was debited from my account on the next banking day, the xx July 2019. On the statement my account number and sort number were clearly shown. APOCA could have reasonably been expected to search their database for the payment and provide evidence that the payment was not a valid payment for parking. They have not done this or indeed referred to the payment I made in anyway.

In APOCA's refusal of my appeal they state that 'It is the motorist’s responsibility to ensure that they have a valid payment for the entire time that they are parked in the car park and that this payment is made straight away when parking. However as mentioned above they provide no evidence that my payment was not 'straight away', when they could easily have checked their data to do so (it was made within minutes of entering the car park).

The charge is disproportionate and not a genuine pre-estimate of loss. The amount charged is not based upon any genuine pre-estimate of loss to the company or the landowner.

In my case, the £100 charge being asked for far exceeds the cost to the landowner of alleged contravention of £12.

The notice to keeper is incorrect
The Notice to Keeper failed to meet the obligations of Schedule 4 of the POFA Act 2012. I received it on the xth August and the alleged contravention occurred on the xxth July. The period between the two dates is 23 days.

Yours faithfully,



Background: Not to be submitted. Parked for 2 days in a SW Railway Station Car Park operated by APCOA. The car park uses ANPR + static machines that you should get your ticket from after entering your plate. The signs state the car park is 'Private Property' and the use of ANPR is clearly signposted.. Received PCN after 23 days. PCN simply shows my car entering and leaving the car park (no time stamps on photos). The letter mentions only one time - that of my car leaving. No reference to the time parked or time entered in the letter. They state I breached T+C s and owe £100.

I bought a ticket at the time but I think something went wrong whilst entering the plate number (I threw away the ticket so cannot be sure). I paid via Contactless Debit card.

I appealed and made rookie error of identifying myself as driver. I provided a bank statement showing the debit and account details so they could check the payment.

The appeal was refused - the statement they gave is provided above. other than that they just said I breached the T+C's.

KeithP

Have you seen post #3 of [URL="https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4816822NEWBIES thread[/URL] yet?

In there you will find many near template points that you might want to consider. Things like poor signage, parking company's right to operate, etc.

Unfortunately, I don't think your appeal is yet a winner.

Also have a look at the many sample PoPLA appeals linked from that mentioned NEWBIES post. Some of them are twenty or more pages and fully illustrated.

Having said that, APCOA are one of the easiest PPCs to beat.