Strange APCOA Penalty Notice - please help.

Fruitcake

What a bunch of absolute cobblers, lies, and bad grammar.

"You may are legally liable ... "

There can be no such assumption in law that the keeper is the owner, just the same as former barrister and senior PoPLA assessor said that there can be no presumption in law that a keeper is the driver.

More complaints to the BPA are required about that misleading statement.

Coupon-mad

This is the same as all the other APCOA railway penalty threads and much has already been said that would help you.

Half_way

Take the advice on here, and also post it on the railway forums "disputes nd prosecutions " board here https://www.railforums.co.uk/forums/disputes-prosecutions.152/

 As quite a few with knowledge of the rail industry post there, do not id the driver ( even if known) and make sure that you draw their attention to the (ahem) worrying term You may are legally liable as highllighted by fruitcake , plus add some nonsense about being worried that if you dont paythe  owner of the Railways, APCOA  you could  be comitting a criminal offence.

 That rail forum needs much more so called Byelaw 14 stuff - they may also point you back here

KeithP

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Coupon-mad

These cases are so easy and @BrownTrout has responded on APCOA railway threads,.as have I.   This is nothing new or different for the forum.   Just read other similar threads.

It is normal for them to call it a penalty because they are alleging the case is brought under byelaws.

Load of tosh of course and very easy to push over.

andrewfordays

Happy Monday everyone, hope you had a great weekend.

Regarding the google maps link, it was to show that the car wasn't even in a parking space but on a double yellow line on the left-hand side as you look at the picture.

I've done a draft of my response below, would someone mind letting me know this is all ok to send today. 

Note: I have underlined changes to the standard template for ease.

Many kind thanks

Re PCN number:  XXXX

I dispute your 'Penalty Notice', as the keeper of the vehicle. I deny any liability or contractual agreement and I will be making a complaint about your predatory conduct to your client landowner.

There will be no admissions as to who was driving and no assumptions can be drawn. Since your PCN is a vague template, I require an explanation of the allegation and your evidence. You must include a close up actual photograph of the sign you contend was at the location on the material date as well as your images of the vehicle.

There is currently no evidence that a car was parked in a parking space, only of a car clearly in motion having picked up a passenger from the train.

If the allegation concerns a PDT machine, the data supplied in response to this appeal must include the record of payments made - showing partial VRNs - and an explanation of the reason for the PCN, because your Notice does not explain it.

If the allegation involves an alleged overstay of minutes, your evidence must include the actual grace period agreed by the landowner.

Coupon-mad

You could add: The POFA does not apply because this is byelaws land and there was no breach.  There are also no signs in your images which appear to show the car driving in a lane on the public highway.

andrewfordays

Perfect, thank you.

Will let you know how I get on

andrewfordays

Just had the below back as an unsuccessful appeal.  Was I naive to believe the fact that the car wasn't even in a car parking space would mean they would accept their mistake and move on? 

As you can see in their response below they haven't even acknowledged that the car wasn't even parked in the car park?! What is the best next step?  Do I really have to appeal to Popla? Also, can I counter in some way?  This is not only really stressful but taking up a lot of time fighting against something where there has been no wrongdoing at all.

Many kind thanks

Andy

Thank you for your appeal received 29 March 2022 against the above Penalty Notice. Having carefully considered the evidence provided by you, we must advise your appeal has been unsuccessful on this occasion.

Please note, this is a Penalty Notice issued on Railway land as a breach of the terms and conditions of parking has occurred, and you have confirmed to us that you are the registered keeper of the vehicle in question and therefore you are liable for this Notice.

The Railways byelaws state: In England and Wales

(i) The owner of any motor vehicle, bicycle or other conveyance used, left or placed in breach of Byelaw 14(1) to 14(3) may be liable to pay a penalty as displayed in that area.

For further clarification, the owner, in relation to a vehicle, means the person by whom the vehicle is kept, which in the case of a vehicle registered under the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 (c. 22) is presumed to be the person in whose name the vehicle is registered. If the Penalty Notice remains unpaid, APCOA Parking is entitled to pursue you as the keeper through the Magistrates Court by way of a private criminal prosecution for payment of the Penalty Notice.

This penalty notice was given for 'Use of Private Car Park without making a valid payment'. There is adequate signage

upon entry and throughout this car park. All payment options are advertised on site and multiple signs within the car park inform drivers that they will be issued with a Penalty Notice if they fail to make a valid payment for the duration of their stay.

Both APCOA and the landowners have a legitimate interest in charging motorists who contravene parking restrictions, which extend beyond the recovery of any loss. The interest of the landowners is provision and efficient management of parking. The interest of APCOA is income from the charge, which meet the running costs of a legitimate scheme plus a profit margin.

After reviewing the evidence, we can confirm the signage complies with the guidelines laid out in the British Parking Association’s (BPA’s) Code of Practice. Signage displaying the terms and conditions of parking has been installed in clear and prominent positions.

Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the motorist to ensure that they seek out, read, and comply with the terms and conditions of parking that are in place. By parking on site in breach of these terms and conditions, it has been agreed that the charge detailed on the signs will be paid.

We would also like to point out that a contractual agreement was entered into APCOA when the vehicle was parked on site, in which it was agreed that the terms and conditions displayed on the signage would be adhered to. Those terms and conditions included incurring a charge for failing to park within the restrictions applicable to the site. There was no obligation to park on site should the terms and conditions of parking not be accepted.

As your vehicle was parked in contravention of the terms and conditions of the site we are satisfied that the notice was correctly issued in accordance with the BPA code of practice, and therefore not able to waiver the charge on this occasion.

Therefore you now have a number of options:

Pay the Penalty Notice at the discounted price of £60 within 14 days. Please note that after this time the Penalty Notice will increase to £100.

How to pay

Online at https://pcnpayments.apcoa.co.uk
Or send a Cheque or Postal Order made payable to APCOA Parking (UK) Ltd to: APCOA PARKING, PO BOX 222, LOWTON WAY, HELLABY, SHEFFIELD S98 1NX.

You have now reached the end of our internal appeals procedure. You now have the option to make an appeal to POPLA - The Independant Appeals Service. You can do this within 28 days of this letter by completing the online appeal form at https://www.popla.co.uk quoting the verification reference number XXXXXXX. Please be advised that if you opt for independent arbitration of your case, the Penalty Notice will be considered at the full amount of £100. If you require a hard copy of the POPLA form please contact our customer service centre on 0345 301 1151 where one of our customer service agents will be happy to assist you.

By law we are also required to inform you that Ombudsman Services (www.ombudsman-services.org/) provides an alternative dispute resolution service that would be competent to deal with your appeal. However, we have not chosen to participate in their alternative dispute resolution service. As such should you wish to appeal then you must do so to POPLA, as explained above.

If you choose to do nothing, we will seek to recover the monies owed to us via our debt recovery procedures and may proceed with Court action against you.

Yours Faithfully

Appeals Department APCOA Parking (UK) Ltd

Castle

Edit your post as you have left your POPLA code showing.