PCN Horizon Parking

givemestuff999

Hello I am looking for some advice
I overstayed by 1.5 hours in a Tesco car park and was hit with the ANPR so now I have a fine of £60 (£30 if paid within 14 days). Before reading the useful threads on here I foolishly appealed the ticket with Horizon saying there was a medical emergency and I could not return to my vehicle (technically true but no evidence). This was rejected.
I have emailed Tesco to see if they can cancel the PCN on my behalf but just looking for some advice on what to do next e.g. appeal to POPLA but on what grounds? Other than they do not own the land and have no grounds to enforce the fine - is this enough?
Thanks in advance

Le_Kirk

Plan A is always best.  Plan B you have tried and it has been rejected (did you get a POPLA code with your rejection? There is plenty of advice in the NEWBIE sticky third post concerning POPLA appeals.  Try to pressurise Tesco before you complete your POPLA appeal.

Redx

As above , plan A if you want a quick decisive win !! No question

As well as reading the third post in the newbies FAQ sticky thread for examples , read the sticky thread announcement Popla Decisions thread , starting at the end and work backwards , reading all the successful popla appeals for inspiration , basing yours on the best of those examples , using

No landowner authority
Poor and inadequate signage
The BPA CoP , whichever sections apply

Etc

Half_way

As a quick heads up before you need to go further with this:

In almost all cases  never use terms to describe the driver such as I, Friend, Wife, Husband, Sister, Brother, He, She etc , always refer to the car as a third person, so the car entered the car park and was there for X amount of time  ( over)

Also you have not been fined , this is important when dealing with third party's and even more so when dealing with hire company's/leasing company's etc

You also vaguely mentioned a medical emergency, depending upon what this was it could put the Equality act into play

did you say something like this- note this is only a guess as you have been too vague on the important information, yet have mentioned too much of the information that you should not diverge/attempt to guess

Re parking charge notice XXXX

I am the registered keeper of vehicle XXXX which received a parking charge notice for an overstay from your agents, Horizon parking in your car park at Tesco branch name.

 At the time an occupant of the vehicle was dealing with a medical issue - Diabetes which is a protected characteristic under the Equality act, this required the vehicle to remain on site for XX time over the standard limit, extra time to deal with this issue is a reasonable adjustment as specified under the Equality act and i was surprised that your agents have ignored this matter and have continued to purse a parking charge notice, please can you ensure that this parking charge notice is cancelled, as you are jointly liable for the actions of your agents and i would prefer not to have to take this issue further, i look forward to your confirmation that this has been dealt with

Fruitcake

Whilst the initial post is vague, I believe the OP probably revealed the driver's identity in their initial appeal, so even if the NTK was not PoFA compliant, "no keeper liability" has been sunk.

Coupon-mad

OMG this was a cinch to get cancelled simply by appealing as keeper, not getting drawn in to appeal as driver. Gaaahhh!

Get Tesco Head Office in Dundee to cancel it.

givemestuff999

Hi all, thank you for your responses. As I said I foolishly tried to appeal the PCN before reading all your advice (I know, I’m sorry!). Here is the email I sent to Horizon:

To whom it may concern,

Thank you for the letter notifying me of my breach of parking terms. Unfortunately at the time of the breach I was dealing with an unexpected medical emergency which is why I went over the allowed time limit. I’m sure you understand this was unavoidable and I returned to my vehicle as soon as reasonably possible. I have parked at the same location a number of times and never breached the parking rules, unfortunately on this occasion it was unavoidable. As such I would appreciate if on this occasion the PCN could be cancelled. I appreciate your understanding in this matter. 

I technically did not specify that I was the driver, but equally didn’t specify that I was ONLY the keeper of the vehicle. 

I will continue to pressure Tesco and hopefully they can help. When emailing them I was more aware of the language to use and only said I was the keeper, and “the vehicle” breached parking terms. 

I did receive a POPLA reference number so failing anything from Tesco, I will make a POPLA appeal based on HP’s lack of ownership of the land and therefore inability to enforce, as well as lack of adequate signage. 

Regarding the medical issue, I’m reluctant to use this as obviously I don’t have evidence and honestly would rather not disclose the details of my own personal medical history - but will include it in my POPLA claim if necessary. 

Any further advice is much appreciated!
Thanks 

Half_way

The question with the medical issue, is does the medical issue fall under the Equality act, that could be a key consideration.

 If its something like a stubbed toe,  cut finger etc, then it wouldn't, diabetes, crohns disease , disability etc would as they are long term issues.

 

Redx

Your appeal implies you were the driver , so pointless disputing it unless you were definitely not the driver and say so categorically in the popla appeal , meaning no ambiguity can exist

So if you were the driver , you won't get away with dodging that issue by being evasive or by lying !

If the Equality Act does not apply to you , that won't help you either

Meaning all the other advice applies and nothing else to add

You really need to lean on Tesco head office , prove you are a regular visitor and customer etc , loyalty card , anything at all. If you want an easy out. That is it !!  Plan A

givemestuff999

Half_way said:

The question with the medical issue, is does the medical issue fall under the Equality act, that could be a key consideration.

 If its something like a stubbed toe,  cut finger etc, then it wouldn't, diabetes, crohns disease , disability etc would as they are long term issues.

 

Not exactly a stubbed toe but definitely not in the same category as a long term health condition so it’s probably not worth barking up that tree. 

Coupon-mad

But you know which tree to bark up, can't get much clearer with our advice.