Brittania Parking PCN Final Reminder - Advice needed

Cornersoul

I have received a reply from Brittania re my appeal letter. Their letter is dated 12/01/24 but I only received it by post yesterday. Can you please me advise me on how I should respond to this please?

Coupon-mad

Well you just win at POPLA citing 'non-POFA innit' as your first point!  So easy.

Cornersoul

Coupon-mad said:

Well you just win at POPLA citing 'non-POFA innit' as your first point!  So easy.

Could you explain this in a bit more detail for a complete newbie please? So I submit an appeal to POPLA citing non POFA as the reason? 

Debszzzz2

Cornersoul said:
Could you explain this in a bit more detail for a complete newbie please? So I submit an appeal to POPLA citing non POFA as the reason? 

You submit an appeal to POPLA as the registered keeper (RK). In law, the RK and the driver are two separate entities. By not relying on PoFA, only the driver can be held liable for any alleged breach of contract. The PPC has no idea who the driver is and no assumptions can be made.

Have you identified the driver to anyone? If not, then you, as the RK, cannot be the person who is liable for the PCN.

If their PPC want to be able to hold the RK liable, they have to strictly follow the law as laid out in PoFA 2012. In this case, they are not relying on PoFA.

Coupon-mad

Cornersoul said:

Coupon-mad said:

Well you just win at POPLA citing 'non-POFA innit' as your first point!  So easy.

Could you explain this in a bit more detail for a complete newbie please? So I submit an appeal to POPLA citing non POFA as the reason? 

The third post of the NEWBIES thread explains how to win at POPLA. This one couldn't be easier, as long as the appellant doesn't imply who parked.

Cornersoul

Here is my draft POPLA appeal based on the advice given here, and doing some searches. Many thanks for help so far, much appreciated. 

POPLA Ref ...................

Brittania Parking PCN no .......................

A notice to keeper was issued on 1st December 2023 and received by me, the registered keeper of ........ on 12th December 2023 for an alleged contravention of ‘BREACH OF THE CAR PARK TERMS AND CONDITIONS’’ at Southend College. I am writing to you as the registered keeper and would be grateful if you would please consider my appeal for the following reasons.

1. The operator has not shown that the individual who it is pursuing is in fact the driver who may have been potentially liable for the charge

 In cases with a keeper appellant, yet no POFA 'keeper liability' to rely upon, POPLA must first consider whether they are confident that the Assessor knows who the driver is, based on the evidence received. No presumption can be made about liability whatsoever. A vehicle can be driven by any person (with the consent of the owner) as long as the driver is insured. There is no dispute that the driver was entitled to drive the car and I can confirm that they were, but I am exercising my right not to name that person.

In this case, no other party apart from an evidenced driver can be told to pay. As there has been no admission regarding who was driving, and no evidence has been produced, it has been held by POPLA on numerous occasions, that a parking charge cannot be enforced against a keeper without a valid NTK.

As the keeper of the vehicle, it is my right to choose not to name the driver, yet still not be lawfully held liable if an operator is not using or complying with Schedule 4. This applies regardless of when the first appeal was made and regardless of whether a purported 'NTK' was served or not, because the fact remains I am only appealing as the keeper and ONLY Schedule 4 of the POFA (or evidence of who was driving) can cause a keeper appellant to be deemed to be the liable party.

The burden of proof rests with the Operator to show that (as an individual) I have personally not complied with terms in place on the land and show that I am personally liable for their parking charge. They cannot.

Furthermore, the vital matter of full compliance with the POFA was confirmed by parking law expert barrister, Henry Greenslade, the previous POPLA Lead Adjudicator, in 2015:

Understanding keeper liability

'There appears to be continuing misunderstanding about Schedule 4. Provided certain conditions are strictly complied with, it provides for recovery of unpaid parking charges from the keeper of the vehicle.

There is no 'reasonable presumption' in law that the registered keeper of a vehicle is the driver. Operators should never suggest anything of the sort. Further, a failure by the recipient of a notice issued under Schedule 4 to name the driver, does not of itself mean that the recipient has accepted that they were the driver at the material time. Unlike, for example, a Notice of Intended Prosecution where details of the driver of a vehicle must be supplied when requested by the police, pursuant to Section 172 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, a keeper sent a Schedule 4 notice has no legal obligation to name the driver. [...] If {POFA 2012 Schedule 4 is} not complied with then keeper liability does not generally pass.'

Therefore, no lawful right exists to pursue unpaid parking charges from myself as keeper of the vehicle, where an operator cannot transfer the liability for the charge using the POFA.

This exact finding was made in 6061796103 against ParkingEye in September 2016, where POPLA Assessor Carly Law found:

''I note the operator advises that it is not attempting to transfer the liability for the charge using the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 and so in mind, the operator continues to hold the driver responsible. As such, I must first consider whether I am confident that I know who the driver is, based on the evidence received. After considering the evidence, I am unable to confirm that the appellant is in fact the driver. As such, I must allow the appeal on the basis that the operator has failed to demonstrate that the appellant is the driver and therefore liable for the charge. As I am allowing the appeal on this basis, I do not need to consider the other grounds of appeal raised by the appellant. Accordingly, I must allow this appeal.''

2. 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

Cornersoul

Just bouncing this for any feedback on my draft POPLA appeal posted above? Many thanks.

 Coupon-mad said:

Cornersoul said:

Coupon-mad said:

Well you just win at POPLA citing 'non-POFA innit' as your first point!  So easy.

Could you explain this in a bit more detail for a complete newbie please? So I submit an appeal to POPLA citing non POFA as the reason? 

The third post of the NEWBIES thread explains how to win at POPLA. This one couldn't be easier, as long as the appellant doesn't imply who parked.

Coupon-mad said:

Cornersoul said:

Coupon-mad said:

Well you just win at POPLA citing 'non-POFA innit' as your first point!  So easy.

Could you explain this in a bit more detail for a complete newbie please? So I submit an appeal to POPLA citing non POFA as the reason? 

The third post of the NEWBIES thread explains how to win at POPLA. This one couldn't be easier, as long as the appellant doesn't imply who parked.

Coupon-mad

You need to add the other usual points from post 3 of the NEWBIES thread. Belt & braces!

Cornersoul

Just got this from POPLA. Brittania have withdrawn their claim. Many thanks for all the help with this.

Dear Mr ******

The operator has contacted us and told us that they have withdrawn your appeal.

If you have already paid your parking charge, this is the reason your appeal will have been withdrawn. Unfortunately, you cannot pay your parking charge and appeal, which means that POPLA’s involvement in your appeal has ended. You will not be able to request a refund of the amount paid in order to resubmit your appeal to us.

If you have not paid your parking charge, the operator has reviewed your appeal and chosen to cancel the parking charge. As the operator has withdrawn your appeal, POPLA’s involvement has now ended and you do not need to take any further action.

Kind regards

POPLA Team

Coupon-mad

Great - as expected with a non-POFA PCN -  but good to see, to encourage others. Thanks for the successful update.