OPS PCN - Refused transfer of liability (drivers address outside UK)

Half_way

Throw in data protection/GDPR in that as you have supplied them with a serviceable address of the driver, they no longer have any just cause to contact you with regards to pursuing this parking charge notice

KeithP

thisisaPPCsworld said:

I can't see an email address on any of their correspondence, and on their website the only options are to transfer liability or appeal a charge. Would either of these serve the correct purpose?

They do have an email address in their Complaints Policy webpage - 
 complaints@oneparking.co.uk

Is that suitable?

la531983

thisisaPPCsworld said:

Coupon-mad said:

Which site is it about? Vantage Point Brighton?

Do not post a letter. Use email.

The site in question is Llangrannog, Wales.

In which case ask for all documentation to be sent in Welsh as well as English.

Fruitcake

la531983 said:

thisisaPPCsworld said:

Coupon-mad said:

Which site is it about? Vantage Point Brighton?

Do not post a letter. Use email.

The site in question is Llangrannog, Wales.

In which case ask for all documentation to be sent in Welsh as well as English.

... and do the asking in Welsh. 

thisisaPPCsworld

So I have an update on this and am now unsure of what to do.

Sequence of events so far is as follows:

- Received parking charge notice in the post

- I returned the slip to name the driver / transfer liability (I was not the driver and the name and address provided is the genuine US address of the driver)

- Received letter from OPS stating that because the address is outside the UK they are unable to transfer liability

- I returned correspondence outlining the wording of PoFA and the BPA AoS Code of Practice (this received no response)

- Received final demand for payment from OPS

After receiving the final demand for payment I emailed BPA (AOS@britishparking.co.uk), FAO Gemma Dorans. Response is below (it was not from Gemma Dorans, if that matters):

Dear ###,

Thank you for your email.

I can confirm that One Parking Solution Ltd is a member of our Approved Operator Scheme which means that they are required to adhere to our Code of Practice.

Our role as an Accredited Trade Association is to investigate alleged breaches of our Code of Practice by members of our Approved Operator Scheme where evidence can be supplied and we are unable to become involved in individual ticket disputes or hear appeals.

Please be advised that when a Parking Charge Notice is issued by a member of our Approved Operator Scheme, a motorist will have 28 days to appeal this via the operator's internal appeals procedure if they believe that it was issued either unfairly or incorrectly; the process should be outlined in the Parking Charge Notice. The operator has 35 days to respond.  If the appeal is rejected the operator should provide details on how to further appeal to the free and independent appeals service, POPLA. A further appeal is available via POPLA for 28 days following the operator rejecting the appeal.

Regarding your query, please be advised that an operator often cannot transfer liability to an address abroad as legal proceedings cannot be issued to an address abroad. A serviceable address can be considered a UK address.

Regarding your letter, we have noted that you have not received a response and you believe your charge is escalating incorrectly.  It is possible a response has been sent but not received by you.  Therefore, we would urge you to submit a formal complaint to the Operator using their internal complaints process which can be found athttps://oneparkingsolution.co.uk/complaints-policy/ to explain you have not had a response.  If you are unhappy with the response to the complaint, we can investigate from there.

Re. the part bolded in italics - how is this so? I feel like this is fundamentally untrue. Legal proceedings absolutely can be issued to an address abroad. If OPS are unable to do so, that is not the problem of the RK, surely?

I would like to take this to POPLA, but I don't believe I can now that the 28 day deadline for appeals has passed. I didn't appeal in the first place because I didn't believe it was my responsibility as I wasn't the driver. The driver didn't want to appeal from my address because not only do they not live there, they were imminently returning to their home in the US. Furthermore, how is it possible for the driver to appeal when they are not currently held as liable according to the parking operator who refused to transfer liability???

What what be the best course of action? I don't mind arguing my case in court but I don't know how much evidence would be required and how likely I would be to win.

I have seen examples of POPLA deciding against the parking operator in this situation, but as mentioned, I don't know if POPLA is still an option or not.

Thanks for your time!

Johnersh

Regarding your query, please be advised that an operator often cannot transfer liability to an address abroad as legal proceedings cannot be issued to an address abroad. A serviceable address can be considered a UK address.

Well I can smell that like a fart in a crowded lift. 

Practice Direction 6B of the Civil Procedure Rules (Google it) sets out very clearly the procedure for service outside the jurisdiction. They can take steps to serve abroad, they just don't want to.

"Current address for service" is defined in PoFA Sch IV. (It's right at the top - Google it).

It is absolutely silent on where the service address must be. That is unsurprising. Parliament *could* have legislated that the keeper must reside in England or Wales, but it did not do so. Accordingly, it must be assumed that the claimant can in fact issue abroad. The defendant has therefore fully discharged his obligation.

There is now no right in law to pursue the keeper, who has complied with that requirement. The continued pursuit of him is misconceived and, I might suggest, could give rise to adverse costs for unreasonable behaviour were proceedings to be issued, not least because their correspondence appears to intentionally misstate the law.

You can muck about with getting it all correspondence in Welsh based on that one case, but I'd go in hard with facts and give them an "exhortation to leave" if it were me.

Umkomaas

More ridiculously is the BPA reply, on two fronts:

Regarding your query, please be advised that an operator often cannot transfer liability to an address abroad as legal proceedings cannot be issued to an address abroad. A serviceable address can be considered a UK address.

Utter rubbish, as per @Johnersh post above. I'd write back and ask them from where they draw that conclusion, then hit them with @Johnersh's observations (if you don't know, he's a lawyer). 

It is possible a response has been sent but not received by you.

There are numerous 'possibilities', but the BPA does not seem to recognise that their esteemed member either CBA, or found the correspondence too difficult to handle! 

Fruitcake

Court Procedure Rules Part 6 covers the service of documents for court claims. It allows for claims to be served outside the UK.

The PPC and the BPA are lying.

Half_way

Landowner complaint, breach of GDPR by their agents for whose actions they, the landowner are jointly liable for?

thisisaPPCsworld

Thanks for the replies.

I'll leave it and see what they do. I was sure I was not in the wrong about this.

If they serve a claim, will it come from a third party or the 'legal team' of OPS?

Cheers