CP Plus POPLA appeal - company car

friendofbillw2

Hi all

I've been through a number threads, newbies, Edna_Basher replies etc. and can't find anything relevant to the specifics of my case.

Here is the situation.

The car I have access to is leased by my employer from a leasing company.

Parking Charge Notice issued to me by CP Plus for overstaying time at Motorway services (electric car was charging)

I put in the template POPLA appeal. 

CP Plus's response shows that the leasing company (registered keeper) HAS NAMED ME AS THE DRIVER. Everything I can find recommends that the lessee should keep the driver's details a secret, however in this case they have named me.

However, there are a number of people insured to drive the car, not just me, and nobody has any evidence it was actually me driving. It was dark. None of the pictures identify the driver.

So my question is

How do I respond to CP Plus's evidence submitted for the POPLA appeal to have the best chance of POPLA finding in my favour?

Many thanks in advance for your responses


FOBW2

B789

They have not named you as the driver but as the hirer. There is no way they could know who was the driver. If CP Plus are saying that the lease company have "named you as the driver", put them to strict proof. The lease company "saying" that you were the driver is not proof that you were the driver.

Did you receive a Notice to Hirer from CP Plus? If not, then you cannot be held liable as the hirer as their PCN is not PoFA compliant.

You say you are at POPLA stage, did you appeal to CP Plus? If so, did you admit or in any way "suggest" you were the driver? Did you use words such as "I was charging my car..." or "I parked..."? Hopefully, you haven't thrown away the golden ticket.

You should give us a timeline of when the event happened, when you received the PCN/NtH/NtK, what you put in your original appeal, what the PPC response was, what you put in your POPLA appeal and what exactly CP Plus have responded to in your POPLA appeal. Obviously, you can redact your name, VRM and PCN number but leave everything else so that we can get a better idea of what has been communicated and when.

Fruitcake

The lease company may well have named you as the driver, but they cannot know this to be true unless the driver told them, or an employee of the lease company was present at the material time and witnessed the alleged event. 

You must rebut the PPC's comments and state something like the above. The lease company did not witness the alleged event and the hirer/lessee did not name the driver. The charge is being pursued under false information.
The PPC cannot possibly know who was driving and they must provide proof in the form of an eye witness statement or an admission from the hirer/lessee. What the lease company stated is hearsay, and the PPC has failed to prove that the contrary is true, therefore the appeal must be allowed.

If the lease company is a member of the BVRLA (hire/lease vehicle trade association) then a complaint should be made to them that their member supplied false information to a third party.

friendofbillw2

Thanks for the replies. I will draft my response to POPLA on their evidence accordingly.

friendofbillw2

My appeal :

The Appellant comments as follows.

1.       The Operator has been advised that the Registered Keeper is a leasing company.

2.       The leasing company has told the Operator that the vehicle was leased by a customer of the leasing company, but has not identified the lessee.

3.       The Operator asserts that the leasing company stated “The driver was: XXXXX”.

4.       The Appellant asserts that the vehicle was insured to be driven by a number of people, the vehicle is not restricted to Mr XXXXX's sole use.

5.       The Operator is put to strict proof regarding its assertion that the driver was Mr XXXXX.

6.       Unless the Operator has a witness statement from the leasing company, or from one of the leasing company’s employees, or from the lessee, or from one of the Operator’s own employees, that Mr XXXXX was indeed driving the vehicle at the relevant time, the statement from the Registered Keeper is hearsay and therefore inadmissible.

7.       If the Operator cannot prove that Mr XXXXX was indeed driving at the relevant time, it cannot prove that Mr XXXXX entered into any contract with the Operator. Without this proof the Parking Charge is being pursued under false information.

8.       As such, the appeal must be allowed.

The POPLA decision :

POPLA assessment and decision

23/05/2023

Verification Code

1770883050

Decision

Successful

Assessor Name

Jason Cookson-Dean

Assessor summary of operator case

The parking operator has issued the parking charge notice (PCN) as they exceeded the free parking period.

Assessor summary of your case

The appellant has raised the following points from their grounds of appeal: • They state that they were not the driver on the day of the event and the PCN is not PofA compliant. After reviewing the operator’s evidence, the appellant reiterates their grounds of appeal.

Assessor supporting rational for decision

Parking operators can pursue payment of a parking charge from the driver of a vehicle when it was parked or, where the driver’s details aren’t known, either the keeper or hirer of a vehicle in line with a law called the Protection of Freedoms Act (POFA) 2012. Based on the evidence, the driver hasn’t been identified in this case, and the parking operator seems to be pursuing the appellant as the vehicle’s hirer. POFA lets parking operators transfer liability for a charge to the hirer of a vehicle as long as certain rules are followed. The rules include having to obtain specific documents from the hire company and send them to the hirer. There’s no evidence that the required documents were obtained or sent to the appellant in this case, so the parking operator doesn’t seem to have any basis to pursue them for the charge. I must allow this appeal.

Coupon-mad

Brilliant!

KKILP

Hi sorry I am jumping on to your thread as its CP Plus Ltd that had issued a PCN in Barnsley.  My daughter was driving the car, it is registered in my name.  I now have a letter from DB Legal Ltd advising will commence legal proceedings.  I am in Scotland and the parking notice was in England. What are the legalities of this, also they seem to have sent to my new address but the car was registered under my old address as is my drivers licence.  Wondered how they got my new address.  Is this a legal letter they have sent for £170 or can I just ignore it.  It was because my daughter was visitng a friend and they went to some Bingo place and there was nowhere in sight to pay so she thought the parking was free and  then received a letter through post saying she had to pay the £100 charge.  Looking for some advise please 

UncleThomasCobley

KKILP said:

Looking for some advise please 

The first bit of advice is to start your own thread. Piggy-backing onto someone else's thread which has nothing to do with yours just sows confusion.