POPLA denied appeal

Khaggis

thats exactly what info i was looking for. thanks all. Managed to get hold of the landowner today. he said he doesnt think he can get the fine cancelled now as i have already appealed so he cant just say i work for him or what not but he's going to try. is that right or can they cancel anything?

Coupon-mad

It depends what his contract with the PPC says.  Landowners enter into some truly stupid and deluded ones that lose them customers.  Depends if his contract says he has a ‘right’ to cancel or whether the tail can wag the dog.

Khaggis

Hey guys, back for advice. 

So they recently sent me a notice before court letter. I read the dedicated section regarding that, and decided to send them a letter trying to settle outside of court. The letter I wrote was as follows (trying to sound professional)

Dear Sir/Madam,

              R.E. Ref: XXXXXX/XXXXXX, dated 19/06/2021 

I am writing to make a formal offer to settle the aforementioned parking fine.

In the strongest possible terms, I reiterate that I do not accept any liability regarding this issue and believe ParkingEye to be acting disproportionately and unreasonably. However, as a firefighter, my shift pattern is irregular, thus making attending court difficult, and I firmly believe that litigation is not in the best interest of either party or the court itself. 

As per Part 1.1(2)(b) of the Civil Procedural Rules (CPR), both myself and ParkingEye are duty-bound by the Overriding Objective to avoid unnecessary costs, and (c) dealing with cases in a way that is proportionate to (i) the amount of money owed and (ii) the importance of the case. 

My case (being one minute over the grace period upon leaving, and being timed from the moment of entering the car park, not from the purchase of my ticket), is not of interest to the public, we do not require a precedent to be set, nor is the case of particular complexity. 

To deal with this issue expeditiously and fairly (CPR Part 1.1 (2)(d)) and as a gesture of goodwill to prevent less than desirable litigation, I am willing to make a formal offer to settle. My offer stands at £15, payable directly to ParkingEye, within 72 hours of receiving formal acceptance.  This is fifteen times more than the hourly parking rate, and I believe this to be more than fair for a one minute overstay.

Sincerely, 

(Khaggis)

I sent this via recorded delivery postage last week.
Today I received an email from them which is clearly a generic letter as they've not even bothered to name me:

Reference: Parking Charge Notice - XXXXXX/XXXXXX

Dear Sir / Madam,

We write further to your recent correspondence which concerned the above referenced

Parking Charge. We recently sent you a Letter Before Claim which informed you that this

Parking Charge remains outstanding and had now been processed for further action.

We note from your reply to our Letter Before Claim that you dispute the outstanding sum.

We can confirm that we have now reviewed your correspondence but it is our position

that the Parking Charge remains due.

We can confirm that £100.00 remains outstanding and that full payment is required within

the next 14 days to prevent further action. We are prepared to take legal action if

necessary and should court proceedings be issued, further costs will be incurred. These

will include, but are not limited to, the court claim issue fee and the solicitors costs referred

to within the Letter Before Claim.

Yours faithfully,

ParkingEye Team

Where do I go from here? I'm in the mindset that I'm thinking of fighting them in court if they do escalate it to that level because I think I stand a decent chance and I'm willing to bet the extra 80 in costs if they try to take me. So do I reply to them and say "ok, I'm not paying for something that I feel is unfair and unjustified. See you in court" in so many words, or do I just ignore it and see if they go through with their bluff?

Anyone that's read my situation will hopefully agree that the charge should not have occured as I did pay and left within the the BPA allocated timeframe (there was originally a clause that gave you 5 minutes upon entering to get your ticket but I think they've removed that now) and I'm hoping the judge will see that too. But need advice from you guys again. Sorry for such a long post. Thanks again for bearing with me 😊.

Coupon-mad

I hope you headed that offer 'without prejudice, save as to costs'?

Khaggis

Coupon-mad said:

I hope you headed that offer 'without prejudice, save as to costs'?

I did not. Should I have? Or am I being dense here right now? Lol

Redx

Cannot be used in court if it's headed , without prejudice !  ( So it's now their evidence )

Dense is one word , I can think of a few more , lol 😜😜😜

Khaggis

Redx said:

Cannot be used in court if it's headed , without prejudice !  ( So it's now their evidence )

Dense is one word , I can think of a few more , lol 😜😜😜

What do you mean exactly? Surely of want to use it on court as proof that I've tried to settle outside of court because the judges hate these kinds of trials?

D_P_Dance

Read some of these.

https://www.google.com/search?q=without+prejudice+save+as+to+costs&oq=without+prejudice+&aqs=chrome.2.69i57j0i433i512j0i512l8.10697j1j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Khaggis

Would it be worth sending another offer for the value of 24 hours parking and heading it with the above mentioned. I've not long came off the phone to my unions legal advice team and they basically said it's one of those things that you can't predict they may drop it they may take me to court. I don't particularly want to pay the 100, but I sure as shot don't want to pay even more if I go to court and lose. 

Redx

We cannot predict it either , but since the pandemic started , court is more likely

If you want a judge to see it , that's your choice

But like your Union said , it's all judge bingo , chance , so speculating is futile