APCOA Penalty Notice at Railway Station

nopcns

Just submit a POPLA appeal on Friday, 3rd May. In your POPLA appeal, one of the points you should raise is for APCOA to provide strict proof that it does have a contractual right with the landowner/TOC to pursue the keeper through the Magistrates court by way of a Private Criminal Prosecution. The odds are that they have no such contractual right.

Point out to the assessor that APCOA are also full of male bovine excrement when they say "...the owner, in relation to a vehicle, means the person by whom the vehicle is kept, which in the case of a vehicle registered under Vehicle and Excise Registration Act 1994 (c. 22)  is presumed to be the person in whose name the vehicle is registered." Have a look at your own V5C and show the assessor where it states very clearly on the front of the V5V the the "document is NOT proof of ownership"

Camelot2193

Thanks, but is there a template for what i should be saying when I appeal for a second time at all?

KeithP

Camelot2193 said:

Thanks, but is there a template for what i should be saying when I appeal for a second time at all?

The third post of the NEWBIES thread explains exactly how to compile a winning PoPLA appeal.

Coupon-mad

Camelot2193 said:

Thanks, but is there a template for what i should be saying when I appeal for a second time at all?

Yes. Exactly where you'd expect to find it, as KeithP says.

I'm not sure how much clearer we can make it that the resource for all stages is the NEWBIES PLEASE READ THESE FAQS FIRST thread, but we are always open to feedback and I edit the NEWBIES thread regularly.

Camelot2193

Hi all, many thanks so far. POPLA Appeal was submitted and now APCOA parking have submitted their evidence. I am told I have 7 days to provide comments on the operator evidence:.

Here are some of the points APCOA have made made in their evidence:

"The appellant appealed denying liability and refusing to name the driver. The appeal to APCOA was rejected as:

a) This is a Penalty Notice issued for a breach of the Railway bylaws, as such, keeper liability applies.
b) A valid payment allocated to the VRM in question was not detected by the ANPR cameras for this vehicle to be parked on the day in question through the Connect online payment system.
c) As this site is monitored by ANPR, payment must be made as instructed upon the tariff board displayed within. The payment must be allocated to the VRM of the vehicle being parked for the duration of the stay.
d) The contravention is ‘Use of Private Car Park without making a valid payment’. The vehicle was on site over the allowed 20 minutes to drop off and pickup. As the vehicle was on site for over 5 hours, a payment to park should have been made.
e) This site is cashless, there is no option to pay via a Machine. Payments at this location can be made via ScanPay or APCOA Connect. The options available via Connect are; App, Phoneline, and Web.
f) A search of the payment system was performed, and it was found that no payment was made. 
g) Terms of parking and tariffs are advertised via the signage. If the driver did not wish to pay the appropriate tariff, then there was no obligation to remain parked on site. h) It is the driver’s responsibility to source, read and understand the terms of parking displayed prior to leaving their vehicle unattended. The vehicle should have left the parking location if this was not possible.

The motorist has now appealed to POPLA on additional grounds. In response to point 1, please see Section C of this pack for the compliant Notice to Keeper. In response to point 2, this is a Penalty Notice issued under Railway bylaws, keeper liability applies. The appellant mentions PoFA 2012, we can confirm that this Penalty Notice was not issued under the conditions laid out in the Protection of Freedoms Act (PoFA) 2012. This is a Penalty Notice issued on Railway land as a breach of the terms and conditions of parking has occurred, and we have confirmed that the appellant is the registered keeper of the vehicle in question and therefore liable for this Notice. The Railways byelaws state: In England and Wales (i) The owner of any motor vehicle, bicycle or other conveyance used, left or placed in breach of Byelaw 14(1) to 14(3) may be liable to pay a penalty as displayed in that area. For further clarification, the owner, in relation to a vehicle, means the person by whom the vehicle is kept, which in the case of a vehicle registered under the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 (c. 22) is presumed to be the person in whose name the vehicle is registered. If the Penalty Notice remains unpaid, APCOA Parking is entitled to pursue you as the keeper through the Magistrates Court by way of a private criminal prosecution for payment of the Penalty Notice. In response to point 3, the relevant LOA is included in Section F of this pack. In response to point 4, as evidenced in Section E of this pack, there is adequate signage upon entry and throughout this car park. All payment options are advertised on site and multiple signs within the car park inform drivers that they will be issued with a Penalty Notice if they fail to make a valid payment for the duration of their stay. The vehicle entered onto private land in full acceptance of the terms of parking clearly displayed. Signage at the site is adequate, and a tariff and terms of parking are given. For the reasons given above, APCOA believe this notice was issued correctly, and should stand."


 Any advice on where to go with this now would be appreciated. Apparently as this Penalty Notice issued for a breach of Railway bylaws the keeper liability applies?

Thanks

Coupon-mad

But this is true in every APCOA Penalty case.  They sometimes win at POPLA but the point of doing it is to waste time and get over the six month line.  Nobody pays.

Have you read some other APCOA Penalty threads?

They are always the same.  Doesn't matter whether you win or lose at POPLA.  The 'penalty' times out after 6 months. Nowt happens.

lily10

I had the EXACT same case as yourself in Yeovil Station car park. My POPLA appeal failed. I then received 4 debt collector letters which with the advice in this forum I confidently and safely ignored. The 6 month time out date passed back in January. I have never heard anything since.
Just keep going with the advice in this forum. 

Coupon-mad

@lily10 and @Camelot2193 please can you both take part in this - URGENT - to help push the regulation of the parking industry and new appeals service over the line?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6528490/official-dluhc-paid-research-have-you-ever-appealed-a-parking-charge-notice#latest

Please earn yourself £60 and help regulate the parking industry.  This is an official thing and MSE Towers has agreed I can share it...

Short notice but do the survey now (and then a short & friendly video call next week) to tell the Government's consultancy outsourced firm your experience of 'appealing'.

Camelot2193 do not wait for your POPLA outcome. Too late by then.  The Government want their researchers to talk to people by next week.