Appealing to POPLA with the 'one size fits all" template

Wells19

My dad has appealed to a parking charge he received from GroupNexus after going over his stay by 4 minutes. He appealed in writing and explained the situation but didn't state who was driving. The appeal was refused and he's been referred to POPLA to take it further. 

Only yesterday did i read up on this site and had a look at the Newbies pinned post. I'm thinking of using the 'one size fits all' template that's supplied in the pinned post

"I dispute your 'parking charge', as the keeper of the vehicle. I deny any liability or contractual agreement and I will be making a complaint about your predatory conduct to your client landowner.

There will be no admissions as to who was driving and no assumptions can be drawn. Since your PCN is a vague template, I require an explanation of the allegation and your evidence. You must include a close up actual photograph of the sign you contend was at the location on the material date as well as your images of the vehicle.

If the allegation concerns a PDT machine, the data supplied in response to this appeal must include the record of payments made - showing partial VRNs - and an explanation of the reason for the PCN, because your Notice does not explain it.

If the allegation involves an alleged overstay of minutes, your evidence must include the actual grace period agreed by the landowner."

Only problem now is the i need to appeal to POPLA, and this template is really meant for the company that issued the parking charge.

Should i still send this to POPLA?

Wells19

Or am i best to just contact my MP / the landowner (struggling to find who actually own the land).

Le_Kirk

Plan A can be used any time (but before POPLA) so do that now. The time for the one size fits all template is gone as your Dad has appealed.  Look at the third post of the NEWBIE sticky where you will find examples of POPLA appeals.  Don't miss the deadline for the POPLA appeal.

Coupon-mad

A PCN cannot be issued for a 4 minute overstay. Impossible (unless it was a short stay 'drop off point', where oddly, the BPA say no grace period is allowed). 

So I think he's misunderstood the reason for the PCN. Or, you've added 4 minutes to the '10 minutes grace' and called a 14 minute overstay a '4 minute' one?

It's more likely a VRM keying error if not an overstay.  Does he have the pay & display ticket? Or was it not pay & display?

Did they offer to settle at £20?

You have also misunderstood and missed the POPLA Appeal section of the NEWBIES thread (the third post on that thread). You don't use the short, first stage template appeal for second stage POPLA.

Wells19

Coupon-mad said:

A PCN cannot be issued for a 4 minute overstay. Impossible (unless it was a short stay 'drop off point' (where oddly, the BPA say no grace period is allowed). 

So I think he's misunderstood the reason for the PCN. Or, you've added 4 minutes to the '10 minutes grace' and called a 14 minute overstay a '4 minute' one?

It's more likely a VRM keying error if not an overstay.  Does he have the pay & display ticket? Or was it not pay & display?

Did they offer to settle at £20?

You have also misunderstood and missed the POPLA Appeal section of the NEWBIES thread (the third post on that thread). You don't use the short, first stage template appeal for second stage POPLA.

Well, originally we didn't suspect it was because of the overstay.

The machine wasn't pay & display, it's the system where the camera picks up your reg number at the entrance and you select it on the pay machine after your stay.

When my mom went to the machine, she thought it was a cash and card machine but it was card only so she had to cancel it. She then went to another machine that would accept cash and paid the £3.20 for 4 hours. She originally had a code for free parking from Tesco, but that ended up invalid because she had already entered it on the first machine, so she had to pay the full price. It was after they talked to the parking attended about the problem and getting a refund that stalled their time being there. They was unable to get a refund in the end because my mom was in pain and couldn't stand for much longer after walking around the shops for so long, so they ended up accepting the price and paying the £3.20 for 4 hours. 

My mom vividly remembers selecting their car on the screen and knows that she didn't select the wrong one. A family member thinks that it could be that she cancelled on the first screen and because of this, GroupNexus see it as someone cancelling a payment. But she paid on the second screen, so this shouldn't be the reason.

They haven't been offered to settle at £20, the charge is now up to £100.

I've contacted our MP, and i was trying to find out who the landowner is. But if this isn't an overstaying situation like you say, then finding out the grace period from the landowner will do nothing. I've also told our MP that the problem was that they overstayed, but again, if this isn't true as to why they were charged then i'll have to send him another email.

Wells19

I'm going to appeal to POPLA too, and will have a look at the guide you posted and that Le_Kirk mentioned.

Wells19

Oh, and the reason for thinking it might be because of an overstay is because the amount of time they stayed there says 4 hrs 4 mins and they paid for 4 hours. I suspected that GroupNexus could be ignoring the grace period, because they do seem like the kind of company to do that. But maybe not

Fruitcake

The NTK will give the reason why it was issued. Show us both sides of it after redacting all personal data, but leave all dates showing.

A PoPLA appeal should include but not be limited to all the standard points from the third post of the NEWBIES

Not the landowner
No standing to issue charges in their own name
Inadequate signage
Frustration of contract (for example, payment or VRM machine failure)
No breach of parking terms occurred 
BPA CoP failures

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

Show us your draft appeal before you submit it.

Wells19

Fruitcake said:

The NTK will give the reason why it was issued. Show us both sides of it after redacting all personal data, but leave all dates showing.

A PoPLA appeal should include but not be limited to all the standard points from the third post of the NEWBIES

Not the landowner
No standing to issue charges in their own name
Inadequate signage
Frustration of contract (for example, payment or VRM machine failure)
No breach of parking terms occurred 
BPA CoP failures

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

Show us your draft appeal before you submit it.

Here is the first parking charge they received. The other side has no relevant info but i'm posting it anyway since you asked.

Also, In the reply to the appeal, they stated "We have consulted our records and can find no evidence of a parking fee being paid for your vehicle registration or anything similar", which is false. 

I will post a draft before i submit the POPLA appeal, but i need to get my head around how to put one together first. 

I'm also about the email the shopping centre which they parked at, to see if they can cancel the parking charge. 

Coupon-mad

The reason for the PCN is in those first 3 lines above the car images, and it is NOT overstay.

Did Mum & Dad keep the payment receipt in the car so they can prove she paid cash?

Wells19

Coupon-mad said:

The reason for the PCN is in those first 3 lines above the car images, and it is NOT overstay.

Did Mum & Dad keep the payment receipt in the car so they can prove she paid cash?

Yeah, i realise that. But overstaying was another reason we thought of simply because mum actually paid.

They didn't receive a receipt from the machine and when talking to the parking attendant, he assured them that they didn't need one.  He was obviously wrong