POPLA update

BrownTrout

We are putting all appeals received after 6 April on hold until things return to normal. If you want to appeal, you must register your appeal now as best you can. Motorists will be given extra time to submit their full appeal later. Full details on FAQ page.

Umkomaas

Will the PPCs put the cases on hold, or will they desperately ship them out to debt beggars to harass and twist the arms of the vulnerable, frightened and traumatised into coughing up, in an attempt to prevent them and their masters going into bankruptcy?

We need to be ready to respond. 

Coupon-mad

Sounds like the whole thing will be on hold and will cause a right old mess, and I don't trust POPLA to be able to recover cases properly and fairly in the end.  But we will see.

Redx

this will end up as bad as the WRIGHT HASSELL debacle a few years ago, trust me

Chiggings

Thanks for this post. Good to know as I've almost finished writing up my apppeal. I'll expect a few debt collector letters instead lol. Will be good for wiping my bum if I'm short on toilet paper!

Coupon-mad

I think everyone should add at the bottom of their POPLA appeal, this:

NB: Due to the coronavirus lockdown stresses and issues, this is a work in progress.   As directed by POPLA on your FAQS page, I  have registered my appeal now as best I can.   I note that appellants will be given extra time to submit their full appeal later and I await POPLA's response telling me when and how I can do this.

Coupon-mad

Just bumping this so people at POPLA stage can take their time right now (April 2020) and put in a holding appeal.

KeithP

Just thought I'd post PoPLA's statement here - just in case it changes or even disappears...

What is the latest update concerning POPLA and COVID-19?

It is vitally important to us that both motorists and parking operators have a full opportunity to submit their respective cases for our consideration. We have heard from both sides the difficulties faced engaging with our appeals process during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the interests of fairness, we have decided to adjourn all appeals received after 6 April 2020. This means that appeals will be put on hold and no action will be taken until things return to normal. It also means operators are not allowed to chase payment while this appeal is registered with POPLA.

We understand that motorists may not be in a position to gather evidence to submit a full appeal right now. Many want to revisit the car park and are unable to do so. However, if you intend to appeal, please submit your appeal now as best you can. We will treat this as your intention to appeal. When we start considering appeals again, we will write to affected motorists and give them additional time to submit their full appeal. If you do not submit your appeal, we may not be able to consider it later.

Please check our website and your inbox regularly for updates.

Thank you and stay safe. The POPLA Team.

https://popla.co.uk/faqs-and-advice

IduntExist

Coupon-mad said:

I think everyone should add at the bottom of their POPLA appeal, this:

NB: Due to the coronavirus lockdown stresses and issues, this is a work in progress.   As directed by POPLA on your FAQS page, I  have registered my appeal now as best I can.   I note that appellants will be given extra time to submit their full appeal later and I await POPLA's response telling me when and how I can do this.

Thanks for this, I'm just finishing my appeal off now and will include this at the bottom. 

I've just found out that the BPA grace periods were removed this year (2020)! this was my second point of appeal based on the newbies info thread. Will this be added there as i never came accross this information when starting my appeal homework? 

Coupon-mad

What does the NEWBIES thread say about grace periods and which bit do I need to edit, is it in the guidance about POPLA in the third post?  I wrote it a long time back, and am happy to edit it if you tell me where you read 'ten minutes'.

Re the BPA arbitrarily and unfairly halving the 'observation period' on arrival, remember that it is still a minimum for POPLA to apply, and means diddly squat as the parking firms are on the BPA Board and they do what they like, it seems. 

Here is a POPLA appeal point I wrote last week for someone in my neck of the woods, about Grace Periods, so feel free to plagiarise this:

1. No fair grace period was allowed and the car left within a very reasonable time.

For years, the BPA CoP has always allowed a minimum of 10 minutes in order for a driver to learn about the terms and decide whether to stay or go. The new BPA CoP for 2020 arbitrarily halved this timeline at the behest of their paying member parking firms and with an astonishing lack of any regard to putting the motorist ‘at the heart’ of their thinking. However, POPLA being an Ombudsman service, will surely be applying the usual considerations they always have done, and bear in mind that this guideline remains a MINIMUM and that factors not limited to the car park and the conditions at the site must be considered.

Five minutes is certainly not a ceiling, by any interpretation, and is not enough at this location, where (talk about the size of the car park, how busy it was...how sparse the signs are...how hard it is to locate the PDT machine if there is one in a hidden corner...the fact the PDT mahcine might only take coins, or it takes more than 5 mins just to read the terms and downloading an app on your phone takes another ten minutesdue to the cumbersome steps to register first and due to the bad reception here, that sort of thing).  

These facts make it extremely hard for any driver to learn that this is a managed car park, read the wordy terms on a sign, get the right change from their car or a shop, or download the app and decide to stay and pay, all concluded within 5 minutes of driving in(!) at a PDT machine that is located in a hidden corner at the far end of this site.   

Are drivers meant to read those terms then sprint along, dodging past shoppers to get to the machine in the corner, hoping there is no queue to pay, then sort out their coins & cross their fingers the machine works quickly, all achieved within 5 minutes of driving past the entrance on the approach road?  The current BPA CoP is not fit for purpose and offers a useless grace period which is not on any signs and which will most likely have already elapsed, since drivers don’t know from the point of arriving that it’s a managed car park, and that their time is perhaps already up by the time they even find a space to park in.

A publicly available article by Kelvin Reynolds, BPA Director of Corporate Affairs, says:

https://www.britishparking.co.uk/News/good-car-parking-practice-includes-grace-periods?fbclid=IwAR347R1ULeXKZvPz7ArWZ3hBl-5-1EV949-dc4oHbU0NQreZcvRZDrqanQg

“The BPA’s guidance specifically says that there must be sufficient time for the motorist to park their car, observe the signs, decide whether they want to comply with the operator’s conditions or drive away...[and this]...might take one person five minutes, but another person 10 minutes depending on various factors, not limited to disability.” 

MistyZ

Blooming heck that's good.