Parking Charge Ltd - withdrawal of discounted amount after POPLA appeal

colin1501

I received a parking charge notice from Parking Charge Ltd (PCL) a little while ago.  The charge was £100, or a discounted amount of £60 if paid within 14 days.  I did not pay, but submitted an appeal to PCL within the 14 day period.  PCL rejected my appeal, so I appealed further to Parking on Private Land Appeals (POPLA).  POPLA also rejected my appeal, so I paid £60 to PCL.  PCL now say that the discounted offer is withdrawn if an appeal is made to POPLA, and that they will start recovery proceedings for the remaining £40.  I have written back to PCL  saying that I consider this is completely unjust, as it effectively limits my rights of appeal, and in fact penalises me for submitting an appeal.  I also said that where an appeal is unsuccessful - as in this case - I should not be placed in a worse position after the appeal process is complete than I was before it started.  I went on to say that I considered my £60 was full and final payment against the parking charge notice, and that my letter constituted a formal appeal against their refusal to accept the discounted amount.

I'm keen to stand my ground on this one, but would be grateful for a few opinions on the following:

1 - Are they likely to take recovery action for £40?
2 - If so, what form would this be likely to take?  I obviously don't want to find myself in the position of ultimately having to pay not only the £40, but also recovery/court costs on top.

I know I could avoid all this by paying the £40 now, but it goes against the grain!  Grateful for any thoughts. 

nicestrawb

You've put yourself in a difficult position by paying up in the first place. It does penalise you for making an appeal, but that is what they want and because it's not a regulated industry there are no clear rules, they can make up their own rules which will be in small print somewhere in the documentation you received. That is why people fight them at every corner and never accept any liability for anything. Why did you pay if you don't agree with the process?

The only positive in this case for you is that the remaining amount is so low and probably not worth them chasing, especially if you fight back, but you will need a better case than simply saying you think it's wrong and don't want to...

Half_way

why did your vehicle get a parking charge notice?
who's cat park was it?

Umkomaas

1. Depends what you mean by 'recovery action'. If you mean casting you to debt collectors - highly likely. If you mean sue you through the courts, PCL are not frontline litigators, but they do have 6 years to pursue you, which underlines why we never say never. 

It's a standard part of the process - if a POPLA appeal is made, the full amount is in play. The PPC would have had to pay £30 to POPLA, so would look to recover that amount within the full charge of £100. 

You just need to ride this out and see where that takes you. 

I presume you complained to the landowner to ask them to intervene?

For what reason was the PCN incurred?

colin1501

Thanks for replies so far.  I incurred the PCN at Hever railway station.  I was there to collect someone off a train, so only assumed I would be there for a few minutes and didn't pay the £2.50 charge (you're allowed 30 minutes to collect/drop off).  In the event, there was disruption to the train service meaning that nothing arrived.  The information on the platform screens was unclear, and due to a poor mobile signal I had trouble contacting the person I was there to meet.  It was not until an hour later that I succeeded in contacting them and arranged to meet them elsewhere.  Yes, I should probably have paid after 30 minutes, but my mind was on other things.  I explained all this to POPLA, but it didn't cut any ice with them.

Half_way

too many uses of the word " I"  there, 
four entities:
the driver, who could be any one.
An occupant of the vehicle, who from your use of the word "I"  could be you
The registered keeper, who received the parking ticket
and the vehicle, it was the vehicle that parked and entered the car park, not I, he, she, uncle, aunt, mother etc


with railway car parks its important not to guess the name of the driver

nicestrawb

My guess is though that in both appeals, the word "I" was used a lot already...

There can surely be no harm in contacting the landowner and telling them all of the above. I have no doubt they will sympathise with your case and tell the PPC to get off your back (esp since you have paid up to some extent already). Even if the PPC refuses by saying it's too late, that will still be in your favour since it's the landowner who ultimately... owns the land...

D_P_Dance

If a train is delayed surely the parking periods shouldbe extended.  Of they were to take you to court for thebalance I predict that they would struggle.

Coupon-mad

You could have won this with one email, had you come here first and not appealed as driver.  They could not have win at POPLA v a keeper.

Have you paid the £60? That was pointless because it is normal in private and local authority PCNs that the discount is not available after second stage appeal.  You should have paid nothing and been in the same position you are now.

Sit tight and see what they do.  No throwing good money after bad and next time cone here first and don't appeal as driver.