Brittania Parking PCN Final Reminder - Advice needed

Cornersoul

I would appreciate some advice here please.

I received a Notice To Keeper from Brittania Parking dated 01/12/23 for an alleged breach of car park terms in Southend on 04/10/23 for overstaying by an hour on my 5 hour parking voucher. 

I wrote and posted a letter to Brittania on 19/12/23 using the template on the MSE parking ticket page on the website refuting the charge on the basis that the PCN was issued over 14 days from the alleged contravention (see copy and paste below). I didn't use the Brittania appeals link as advised as option 2 on the MSE website page.

I have just received PCN Final Reminder dated 20/12/23  from Brittania. My question is what should I do now? Should I repost the letter below using the Brittania appeal link? Or wait for them to reply to my original letter (see copy and paste below) which they have not acknowledged receipt of? I'm a bit confused by the advice on the front MSE website page and what I've been reading on the forum here. Any clear advice on how to proceed from here would be really helpful. Many thanks. 

 Paste of letter dated sent by me on 19.12.2023

"Britannia Parking

County gates House

7th Floor

300 Poole Road

Poole

BH12 1AZ

19.12.2023

Dear Sir or Madam,

 Ticket number: xxxxx

Vehicle registration number: xxxxxx

You issued me with a parking ticket on 1st December 2023  believe it was unlawfully  issued. I will not be paying your demand for payment for the following reason.  

·       The notice to keeper is incorrect
The Notice to Keeper failed to meet the obligations of Schedule 4 of the POFA Act 2012 for the following reason.Your notice to Keeper arrived late as it was dated 01.12.2023 and the date of the alleged contravention was 04.10.23. This is over 15 days following the alleged parking office, which means the Notice to Keeper failed to meet the obligations of Schedule 4 of the POFA Act 2012 (see below).

Schedule 4 paragraphs 8(5) or 9(5) specify the time limits for serving a Notice to Keeper. If this is not complied with then the registered keeper cannot be held to account for the alleged debt of the driver.

A Notice to Keeper can be served by ordinary post and the Protection of Freedoms Act requires that the Notice, to be valid, must be  delivered either

·       (Where a notice to driver (parking ticket) has been served) Not earlier than 28 days after, nor more than 56 days after, the service of that notice to driver; or

·       (Where no notice to driver has been served (e.g ANPR is used)) Not later than 14 days after the vehicle was parked

If you choose to pursue me please be aware that I will not enter into any correspondence and this will be the only letter you will receive from me until you answer the specific points raised in my letter. 

Yours faithfully "

Fruitcake

Plan A is always a complaint from the keeper to the landowner and the keeper's MP. If you haven't done this, then you should do so now.

The parking forum advice in the sticky Announcement for NEWBIES is always to use the parking company's appeal portal, not to post an appeal, so I'm not sure why you thought you should use the latter method.

Did you send the appeal from a Post Office counter and obtain a free proof of posting? If not, you have no proof that you sent it, and the PPC will simply deny they ever received it.

If you did obtain a free proof posting receipt, then you should complain to the PPC in the first instance, including a copy of the appeal and a copy of the receipt.

Where did the alleged event occur? It may have cropped up here before.

You should get photos of the site and signage, paying particular attention to the name of the company on the signs to see if it matches exactly the name of the company on the NTK. They don't always.

Coupon-mad

Just go online now and put that appeal in like you should have done all along.

Do it now.  

OBVIOUSLY NOT TICKING 'DRIVER'!

No-one is advised on this forum to post any appeal, especially not just before Xmas!  Please stay on this forum not the (still fairly awful) MSE 'guide'.

Cornersoul

Thanks. Should I appeal using the text I sent in my original letter?

Fruitcake

You can either amend the word, "unlawfully" from your initial appeal, because it is unlikely to have been unlawful, and re-submit it using the appeal portal, or you can submit the template in blue text you will find in the sticky Announcement for NEWBIES.

It would also help us to help you if you would answer the questions you have already been asked.

troublemaker22

You haven’t shown us the PCN. But if it’s a typical Britannia one the deadline for appealing it was yesterday. The fact that you are still asking questions the next day is not a good sign. Go ahead and try anyway (don’t let another day slip). Hopefully your original postal appeal was received before yesterday and Britannia won’t lie about it. 

Otherwise, the POPLA route is likely to be closed to you. But don’t be discouraged as this forum helps countless victims who missed out on POPLA to defeat the likes of Britannia without the assistance of POPLA. 

Please now provide the material we need in order to help you. Please show us both sides of the notice. Redact your name, address, vehicle number and any reference but leave the dates showing. Photos of signage too as and when you can get them 

troublemaker22

For what it’s worth you can email a copy of your original postal appeal to parkingcharges@britannia-parking.co.uk and Parkingcharges@britpark.com with a covering message saying “Please find attached a copy of my appeal that was posted to you on 19.12.2023.”

Cornersoul

troublemaker22 said:

You haven’t shown us the PCN. But if it’s a typical Britannia one the deadline for appealing it was yesterday. The fact that you are still asking questions the next day is not a good sign. Go ahead and try anyway (don’t let another day slip). Hopefully your original postal appeal was received before yesterday and Britannia won’t lie about it. 

Otherwise, the POPLA route is likely to be closed to you. But don’t be discouraged as this forum helps countless victims who missed out on POPLA to defeat the likes of Britannia without the assistance of POPLA. 

Please now provide the material we need in order to help you. Please show us both sides of the notice. Redact your name, address, vehicle number and any reference but leave the dates showing. Photos of signage too as and when you can get them 

Many thanks for your help and others on here. You're correct I have missed the appeal deadline. I've just sent an email as you suggested confirming that I sent my posted appeal letter on 19th Dec and attaching a copy. I will post the scans of the the letters from Brittania below. 

Cornersoul

I cannot get photos of signage etc until next Friday. 

Coupon-mad

But why haven't you appealed using the webpage stated on the back of the PCN?

Cornersoul

Coupon-mad said:

But why haven't you appealed using the webpage stated on the back of the PCN?

Because I originally followed the advice written on the MSE website page not the forum. It says to not do that. I only found the forum section after I'd sent the letter as advised below.

The no-nonsense approach – tell 'em you won't pay

With this approach you're not going to follow the parking company's appeals route. Instead, you're simply going to treat the ticket like any other invoice, and write back to tell the company politely but firmly you're not paying and why you think it's unfair.

While this is a perfectly legitimate approach to take, it's best for those who are confident and are in some ways willing to take on the system. In the extreme, you might have to be prepared to go to court, as if you refuse to accept the parking firm's complaints system, it's only recourse is to take you on legally.