No Grounds For Appeal - Should I Just Pay? | POPLA | Welcome Break (Oxford-Waterstock)

BrokenOutspoken

Hi all,

First post on the forum, would appreciate some advice. Received the following PCN for an overstay at Welcome Break (Oxford) and followed the Newbies Guide by sending an appeal (because it wasn't a "golden ticket") combining the template from Parking Cowboys with some other points on the forum, which was rejected and a POPLA code issued.

Looked through the POPLA examples on the Newbies Guide, but the signs are clearly visible on entry and throughout the car park (with the £100 highlighted), and the overstay was well outside any grace period (over an hour).

Can't decide what grounds to appeal to POPLA with; should I just pay the £100?

Thank you

Coupon-mad

What happened when you emailed the MSA Manager? Welcome Break sites all have a webpage with contact details.  Many cancel PCNs.

Half_way

So your vehicle overstayed at a motorway service area ( do not id the driver)

What type of overstay are we talking about long ( as in many hours) short as in a hour or less?

I'm guessing the reason the vehicle overstayed was as a result of following government advice to take a break - and in my opinion a 2 hour limit is woefully short, the idea behind, or promoted to be behind the 2 hour limit is to stop motorists clogging a car park ( i have yet to find a motorway MSA with a full car park) or to stop people using the sites as a lift share/park and ride to get to work.

 If that was the aim then the limits would be 6 hours .

Also is the car park private property?

So how long was the overstay?

 did the driver need a rest - in other words it would have been unsafe to continue the journey?

You have lots to go on in a defence/complaint

And if you want to avoid the hell holes that are motorway service areas, i would highly recommend this website for alternative - and cheaper places to stop - with higher quality food etc

https://www.justoffjunction.co.uk/

BrokenOutspoken

Thank you both for your advice

Coupon-mad said:

What happened when you emailed the MSA Manager? Welcome Break sites all have a webpage with contact details.  Many cancel PCNs.

I'll try contacting them to see what they say, but I saw this post on Pepipoo (forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=101094&view=findpost&p=1105389) which made me feel like they'd just kick me back to POPLA

Half_way said:

So your vehicle overstayed at a motorway service area ( do not id the driver)

What type of overstay are we talking about long ( as in many hours) short as in a hour or less?

Haven't ID'd the driver and it was a long overstay (almost 3 hours)

Half_way said:

If that was the aim then the limits would be 6 hours .

Also is the car park private property?

I don't know if the car park is private property, it was just the car park for the MSA

Half_way said:

So how long was the overstay?

 did the driver need a rest - in other words it would have been unsafe to continue the journey?

You have lots to go on in a defence/complaint

The vehicle overstayed because the driver needed rest, but the signage indicates that they should have paid £15 to stay there between 2 and 15 hours; wouldn't that invalidate the appeal?

Trainerman

So, the driver needed a rest? Was he/she ill? The central question for me is why did the driver not pay? Was it because the signs were insignificant/obstructed/difficult to read?

Coupon-mad

Always try the MSA complaint route before POPLA.

Jenni_D

Are you sure it was £15? That sign you've posted suggests it could be £1.50 or even £150 - it is far from clear.

Coupon-mad

It would be around £15 at a MSA.

Jenni_D

I know that; you know that. But the sign isn't at all clear, what with it having a stuck on number 5.  

BrokenOutspoken

Thank you all so much!

Emailed Welcome Break and they cancelled the PCN as "a gesture of goodwill"

Checked the ParkingEye website and the outstanding balance is £0.00

Fantastic result, have a beautiful weekend

Coupon-mad

BrokenOutspoken said:

Thank you all so much!

Emailed Welcome Break and they cancelled the PCN as "a gesture of goodwill"

Checked the ParkingEye website and the outstanding balance is £0.00

Fantastic result, have a beautiful weekend

Easy when you know how!  Great news!