NCP - Greater Anglia parking

Lordturpin

Looking for some help please -

As a registered keeper of a car that was believed to have a parking season ticket (but didn't) i have now received many many PCN. 

Their was a huge delay on the NCP side issuing the PCNs (3 months) and what was received was just a final notice to pay the £100, nothing prior and thus no link to appeal shows when NCP website takes me to the Greater Anglia site  - see below link to NCP apology/explanation.

National Car Parks Ltd. have identified an issue with the automated despatch of the Parking Charge Notice (PCN) letters with the PCN reference beginning with ‘GA’.  This has resulted in the delay in the despatch of the letters informing customers of the contravention. Parking Charge Notices offer a period where a customer can settle the matter at a discounted rate (14 days from receipt of the letter). The issue has led to a number of letters arriving with the customer with the discounted offer period either already expired or expiring within a few days from receipt of the letter.

NCP would like to apologise for the confusion this has caused. We will ensure that all of our customers who have been impacted are given the opportunity to settle that matter or appeal as they feel appropriate. NCP will be writing to every customer that has had a notification issued over the last 4 weeks. We will be extending the discounted period for 3 weeks as from the date of the new letter.

NCP will be monitoring the situation closely and will be putting additional safe guards in place to rectify this one off issue.

Once again we would like to apologise for the upset that this has caused.

Carpark is ANPR style btw so nothing ever put on car windshield etc

Obviously the delay in sending the PCN to the registered owner for 3 months meant that the expired season ticket issue was not flagged and the vehicle kept parking at car-park for many months.

Looking for some help how to progress ?!

troublemaker22

NCP railway car park tickets are easy to beat provided you don't reveal who was driving the vehicle on each occasion.  You need to go through the formal appeals process for each ticket individually and NCP will either cancel them individually or give you a POPLA Code for each one and POPLA will order cancellation of each one.  The precise appeal wording of your appeal will depend on whether NCP has issued 'Parking Charge Notices' or Railway Byelaws 'Penalty Notices'.  Show us a sample, and I will post a suitable appeal template. 

Lordturpin

Thank you very much - below is the wording on PCN letter

Parking Charge Notice number: GAxxxxxxx
Vehicle registration number:       xxxxxxx

Date of incident:                     9th November 2023
Date of sending this Notice:  15th February 2024

The cost: £100

14 day discount period cost: £60

Pay by date: 29th February 2024

Dear XXXXXXX

This notice serves to inform you that an outstanding Parking Charge of £100 remains unpaid.

This charge relates to the period of parking specified in this document, the charge having been incurred due to the following breach of the car park terms and conditions of use:

No Payment, and liability for the same having been brought to the attention of the driver by clear signage in and around the site (XXXXX Train Station) at the time of parking. The breach relating to the period of parking was recorded by an approved ANPR camera.

To date you have not complied with our request for you to supply the name and address of the driver of the vehicle on the date of incident, or to pay the outstanding amount, or to make a representation against the PCN.

The original discounted offer has now expired and you are therefore requested to pay the full amount still outstanding of £100, by no later than 14 days from the date on which this Final Reminder letter is given.

If you do not pay the amount as above in the allotted time, then your details will be passed to our Debt Collection Agent who will seek to recover from you the amount still outstanding as well as the debt collector's fees.

Legal action may be taken against you, which would include a claim through the County Court for; the parking charge, the debt collector's fees, the court costs and any interest which may have been incurred. For more information on court claim procedures, please visit www.gov.uk.

This notice is deemed to have been given to you on the second working day after the date of sending above.

troublemaker22

I appeal as keeper.  I am not obliged to identify the driver and I decline to do so.  You cannot transfer the driver's liability (if any) to me as keeper because the location in question is excluded from the definition of 'relevant land' in paragraph 3 of Schedule 4 to the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 ('POFA').

Furthermore, even if (which is not the case) the location is relevant land, your PCN is not POFA-compliant because (without limitation) it was delivered after the end of the 'relevant period' as defined in POFA paragraph 9 and does not contain the mandatory wording required by that paragraph.

I require you to cancel the PCN or issue a POPLA Code so that POPLA can order you to cancel it. 

Rinse and repeat for each PCN.  If you get any rejection letters, come back here for more elaborate wording for the POPLA appeal(s).  If the initial appeals succeed, be sure to report that here for the benefit of others.

Lordturpin

I will do - Thank you once again - i will be back..

Debszzzz2

Just had three PCNs cancelled for another user on another forum with this response to NCP:

I am the registered keeper. Your NtK is for an alleged breach of contract on land that is under statutory control making it impossible to hold the keeper liable. NCP have no hope at POPLA or in court, so you are urged to save us both a complete waste of time and cancel the PCN.

NCP cannot hold a registered keeper liable. As a matter of fact and law, NCP (as a longstanding BPA Parking operator) will be well aware that they cannot use the PoFA provisions because this is not 'relevant land'. If the landholder wanted to hold owners or keepers liable under Railway Byelaws, that would be within the landowner's gift and another matter entirely, but not only is that not pleaded, it is also not legally possible because NCP is not the Station owner and your 'parking charge' is not and never attempts to be a penalty. It is created for NCP’s own profit (as opposed to a byelaws penalty that goes to the public purse) and NCP has relied on contract law allegations of breach against the driver only. The registered keeper cannot be presumed to have been, nor pursued under some twisted interpretation of the law of agency.

As I only ever received the Final Reminder letter on dd mmm yyy I have therefore submitted a Subject Access Request to receive a copy of the original NtK to which I await a response. In the meantime I would suggest that you refer to the BPA CoP paragraph 23.8 and reissue the original NtK and start the clock running again at which point I will submit an appeal and if rejected, you will be required to provide me with a POPLA code where we both know an appeal by the keeper will be upheld.

I advise you to consider this correspondence as an official complaint, not an appeal and, as such, requires a response within the required timescale that can be escalated to the BPA if necessary.

Lordturpin

Update - 10 tickets cancelled - all issued 3 months after the alleged Date of Incident..!  ridiculous 

 Thank you

Thank you for your correspondence in relation to the .above case.

 

We are writing to let you know that we have reviewed the circumstances of this case and have decided to accept your representation. The Parking Charge Notice (PCN) has been cancelled.

 

Please note that this decision is for this. contravention only and should not be considered in relation to any PCNs, which may be issued in the future.

 

This case is now closed and no further action will be taken

Coupon-mad

Easy when you know how!

  

Lordturpin

Just one follow up - 1 ticket hasn't been cancelled oddly

Date of Incident - 30th Oct 2023
Date of sending this Notice - 15th February 2024



They came back with below ? Whats best pls ?

                                                                                                                                      28th March 2024

Dear Mr xxxxx xxxxxxxxx

 

Thank you for your appeal received on 13th March 2024 regarding the above detailed Parking Charge Notice.

 

We have reviewed your case and considered the comments you have made. Your appeal has also been considered in conjunction with the evidence gathered by our Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras, which record your entry and exit times. Our records show the notice was correctly issued as payment was not made for your parking session. 

 

You now have 14 days from the date the letter is received to pay at the discounted rate of £60. If after 14 days payment hasn't been made the charge will increase to the full rate of £100.

 

Therefore to make payment please visit www.gaparking.co.uk/pcn. Once full payment is received the case will be closed.  

 

You have reached the end of our internal appeals procedure. NCP will not assess further appeals in relation to this matter. However, in line with our Accredited Trade Association (ATA) membership we are required to provide you with an Independent Appeals Service. If you wish to appeal your case further you can now only do so to Parking On Private Land Appeals (POPLA) provided by Ombudsman Services on instruction of the British Parking Association. All information on how to appeal to POPLA is provided on their website; www.popla.co.uk you will need the following 10-digit verification code to submit your appeal; 4380884001.

 

Please note that should you wish to appeal to POPLA you must do so within 28 days from the date of this letter. If POPLA reject your appeal you will be liable for the full amount of this PCN. The discounted amount will not be reinstated under any circumstances. POPLA will also not asses a case that has been paid prior to the appeal being received by them. By law we are also required to inform you, Ombudsman Services (www.ombudsman-services.org) provides an alternative dispute resolution service (ADR) that would be competent to deal with your appeal. However, NCP have chosen not to participate in their ADR service and as such should you wish to appeal further you must do so to POPLA as detailed above.

 

Best regards,

National Car Parks 



Thanks

Coupon-mad

Fine!  Do POPLA.  You know how from the entire POPLA section of the NEWBIES thread.

Lordturpin

OK - POPLA reply done - see below - hope it looks ok before i send

I also just wondered which of the 6 options /reason i choose on the POPLA site -  "OTHER" i assume is correct/best.

Thanks ?

I am the registered keeper of vehicle registration xxx and I wish to appeal a recent NCP parking charge number xxxxxxxx using POPLA verification code xxx

My appeal was refused by NCP on the grounds stated in their appeal reply email dated 28th March 2024.

I am appealing this parking charge principally because there is no possible keeper liability, this was not relevant land, and NCP admit they are not seeking to pursue under Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (“PoFA”), so the charge must be cancelled.

But I have stated the full grounds below:

1. No Keeper Liability

2. No Landowner Authority

3. Inadequate Signage

4. No Acceptance of Terms

5. No Parking for the Stated Duration

1. No Keeper Liability

I am the registered keeper of the vehicle. As registered keeper, I deny any liability or contractual agreement in respect of this parking charge notice as NCP’s claim is against the driver and no claim of keeper liability has been nor can be made.

Note that the site is at xxxxxxxx railway station, and it is contended (and NCP have accepted) that this is not relevant land, since the definition of relevant land in PoFA specifically excludes land where parking of a vehicle is subject to statutory control, such as railway stations which are covered by railway byelaws.

Further, it is noted that the parking charge notice is dated last year, October 2023, yet it was only received in February 2024. This suggests it was in fact sent well after the stated date. Whether the notice was sent on the stated date, or sometime later, this is much later than 15 days after the date of the alleged contravention in October 2023.

It is noted that the parking charge notice also does not include all of the details required under PoFA (including, but not limited to: stating whether a notice to the driver was given or placed on the vehicle; and specifying the maximum additional costs they may seek to recover).

NCP have themselves admitted that they are not allowed to use the provisions of PoFA to establish keeper liability.

In light of the above, there is no legal right to enforce the parking charge against me as the keeper of the vehicle.

2. No Landowner Authority

There is no evidence of Landowner Authority – NCP is put to strict proof of full compliance with the BPA Code of Practice. As this operator does not have proprietary interest in the land then I require that they produce an unredacted copy of the contract with the landowner.

The contract and any site agreement or user manual setting out details (such as any genuine customer or genuine resident exemptions or any site occupier’s right of veto or charge cancellation rights, and of course all enforcement dates/times, permitted waiting periods, grace periods, and the boundary of the site) are key evidence to define what this operator is authorised to do, and when/where.

It cannot be assumed, just because an agent is contracted to merely put some signs up and issue Parking Charge Notices, that the agent is authorised on the material date, to make contracts with all or any category of visiting drivers and/or to enforce the charge in court in their own name (legal action regarding land use disputes generally being a matter for a landowner only).

Paragraph 7 of the aforementioned BPA Code of Practice defines the mandatory requirements and I put this operator to strict proof of full compliance:

7.2 - If the operator wishes to take legal action on any outstanding parking charges, they must ensure that they have the written authority of the landowner (or their appointed agent) prior to legal action being taken.

7.3 - The written authorisation must also set out:

a. the definition of the land on which you may operate, so that the boundaries of the land can be clearly defined

b. any conditions or restrictions on parking control and enforcement operations, including any restrictions on hours of operation

c. any conditions or restrictions on the types of vehicles that may, or may not, be subject to parking control and enforcement

d. who has the responsibility for putting up and maintaining signs

e. the definition of the services provided by each party to the agreement”

3. Inadequate Signage

NCP is put to strict proof as to the adequacy of the signage as well as evidence for the location of the cameras from which the ANPR photographs were taken.

4. No Acceptance of Terms

NCP is put to strict proof that the driver had accepted the terms and conditions at the site. If the signage asserts that drivers agree to be bound by the terms and conditions by the act of parking in the car park then NCP is specifically put to strict proof that the vehicle was indeed parked in the car park (as distinct from dropping off or picking up a passenger, or waiting in a waiting zone, or remaining in motion, etc.).

5. No Parking for the Stated Duration

NCP is put to strict proof that the vehicle was in fact stationary and parked for the full stated duration. It is noted that the site is a railway station and vehicles enter and exit that location for pick-ups and drop-offs of train passengers.

In these circumstances I request that my appeal is upheld and that the Parking Charge Notice is cancelled.

Yours faithfully