Armtrac Issued PCN for Rockpool Car Park, Cornwall - Outside the Relevant Time Period?

weddax

Hi, firstly - apologies if everything here has already been covered on the forum. I’ve done some searching and read through the newbies thread, which is an amazing pool of resources, and very much appreciated, but I find it quite difficult to take in and understand such a huge amount of information, so there’s a pretty good chance I missed something. 

I received a PCN in the post on 15/06/22 relating to a vehicle (of which I am the keeper) that was parked in the Rockpool car park in Godrevey Towans, Cornwall on 25/05/22 for just an over an hour without paying. I also received a follow-up reminder notice last week informing me that the 14-day discount offer has expired, and that the keeper of the car now has to pay the full £100 within the time period. 

I have tried making a complaint to the Rockpool café, but it seems as though they do not actually own the car park, and so take no responsibility for the clearly scummy tactics employed by Armtrac. 

So, today I delved into the section about POFA, specifically that the company has 14 days to deliver you the notice, beginning with the day after that on which the specified period of parking ended. As mentioned, the contravention date was 25/05/22, and according to the first PCN letter, the notice was issued on 08/06/22... Which would appear as though they JUST met the 14 day deadline, BUT according to POFA, it is only presumed to be delivered on the second working day after which it was posted, so am I right in believing that they have failed to comply with POFA? 

As yet, I have not made an appeal (I know, my bad - things have been pretty crazy this past month, and I’m terrible with life admin!), but I’m not sure if I even can do so now, as it actually states on the back of the letter that I can only appeal up to 21 days from the issue of the notice (I wrongly assumed it would be the full 28 days). 

My main question would be, if they haven’t complied with POFA, and can no longer pursue the keeper of the vehicle for the money, what is my next step? Do I try and use the appeal section on their website to inform them that they have not complied with POFA? Do I bring it up in a complaint (It seems like by-post is the only way I can do this)? Or do I just ignore it for now? 

Thanks in advance for any help! Let me know if you need any more details. 

Le_Kirk

In the NEWBIE sticky there is a section in Blue Text for you to use as an initial appeal.  Send it unchanged from the keeper but you could add a one-liner that the PCN is not POFA compliant therefore they cannot chase the keeper.

Not_A_Hope

Did the driver not pay for parking? Armtrac in Cornwall have form for claiming drivers did not pay when actually it is their pay machine / instructions that are at fault. Some request or only ask drivers to enter 3 digits of their VRM and then send a PCN because not all the VRM has been entered.

You will find plenty of recent examples on the forum 

weddax

Le_Kirk said:

In the NEWBIE sticky there is a section in Blue Text for you to use as an initial appeal.  Send it unchanged from the keeper but you could add a one-liner that the PCN is not POFA compliant therefore they cannot chase the keeper.

Thank you, I'll try that.

Not_A_Hope said:

Did the driver not pay for parking? Armtrac in Cornwall have form for claiming drivers did not pay when actually it is their pay machine / instructions that are at fault. Some request or only ask drivers to enter 3 digits of their VRM and then send a PCN because not all the VRM has been entered.

You will find plenty of recent examples on the forum 

Unfortunately, I think this is a case of the driver forgetting to pay the parking ticket.

weddax

Le_Kirk said:

In the NEWBIE sticky there is a section in Blue Text for you to use as an initial appeal.  Send it unchanged from the keeper but you could add a one-liner that the PCN is not POFA compliant therefore they cannot chase the keeper.

So, I attempted to use their appeal form on their website, but it's saying 'Unfortunately you are unable to appeal this charge at this time.', so I'm assuming I'm too late to appeal.

Umkomaas

weddax said:

Le_Kirk said:

In the NEWBIE sticky there is a section in Blue Text for you to use as an initial appeal.  Send it unchanged from the keeper but you could add a one-liner that the PCN is not POFA compliant therefore they cannot chase the keeper.

So, I attempted to use their appeal form on their website, but it's saying 'Unfortunately you are unable to appeal this charge at this time.', so I'm assuming I'm too late to appeal.

Probably. But send one via first class post, with a free Certificate of Posting from your Post Office counter. 

You won't be successful in your appeal - almost no one ever is - but should this parking charge evolve into a court claim, at least you can show that you have engaged with Armtrac's processes. Failure to engage might be deemed 'unreasonable' by some judges, which wouldn't help you too much!

Jenni_D

BTW you're right about the NTK being late ... issued on 08-Jun for an event on 25-May means it was deemed delivered (assuming it was posted that day, and first class) on 10-Jun; to be POFA-compliant it would have to have arrived by 09-Jun latest.

Coupon-mad

Have you seen my posts including one 5 minutes ago about Rockpool?

What makes you think the driver never paid? Surely they did pay the £1, and it was just that the keypad failed to take the full VRM?

Do not pay Armtrac.

weddax

Umkomaas said:

weddax said:

Le_Kirk said:

In the NEWBIE sticky there is a section in Blue Text for you to use as an initial appeal.  Send it unchanged from the keeper but you could add a one-liner that the PCN is not POFA compliant therefore they cannot chase the keeper.

So, I attempted to use their appeal form on their website, but it's saying 'Unfortunately you are unable to appeal this charge at this time.', so I'm assuming I'm too late to appeal.

Probably. But send one via first class post, with a free Certificate of Posting from your Post Office counter. 

You won't be successful in your appeal - almost no one ever is - but should this parking charge evolve into a court claim, at least you can show that you have engaged with Armtrac's processes. Failure to engage might be deemed 'unreasonable' by some judges, which wouldn't help you too much!

Okay, I'll give that a try. I have a feeling I'm on my 28th day today, so it's unlikely I can claim I engaged with their processes in the required time, will that not reflect badly?

Jenni_D said:

BTW you're right about the NTK being late ... issued on 08-Jun for an event on 25-May means it was deemed delivered (assuming it was posted that day, and first class) on 10-Jun; to be POFA-compliant it would have to have arrived by 09-Jun latest.

Ahhh, thank you for confirming this!

Coupon-mad said:

Have you seen my posts including one 5 minutes ago about Rockpool?

What makes you think the driver never paid? Surely they did pay the £1, and it was just that the keypad failed to take the full VRM?

Do not pay Armtrac.

I've just seen the one about Sennen car park. I'm pretty sure the machine at Rockpool asks for your full VRN, at least I'm pretty sure it has every time I've used it. I'll double-check next time I'm in the area.
From what I can gather, the Rockpool cafe claim they don't own the car park, I'd be interested to know who does.

I just have a feeling the driver forgot to pay because they're an idiot... They haven't been driving long, but I'm sure they won't be making that mistake again.

Coupon-mad

. I'm pretty sure the machine at Rockpool asks for your full VRN, 

You haven't read my posts about it then. That is not what I am saying. It's nothing to do with what it asks for. It's how the machine is configured.

Read my recent posts about Rockpool (search the forum). More than one.

Don't judge the driver till you've asked them!

I know 100% from a reliable source that a machine there only allows 3 characters to be input. I need someone to record evidence of it though.

Umkomaas

Okay, I'll give that a try. I have a feeling I'm on my 28th day today, so it's unlikely I can claim I engaged with their processes in the required time, will that not reflect badly?

Their timescales are those they make up themselves. Don't worry about the fact you're just outside of them, no Judge will judge you on that!  It's on the PPC it will reflect poorly if they refuse to deal with it because of some arbitrary deadline they've set.  Send it off in the next couple of days.