PCN Appeal rejected. Do I pay fine or can I appeal to POPLA?

snc19

Hello everyone,

Looking for some advice.

I received a Parking charge for accidentally forgetting to pay whilst in Wembley:



My friend provided me with a templated response which I used for the appeal:

“I appeal as keeper. I am not obliged to identify the driver and I decline to do so. You are not able to transfer the driver’s liability (if any) to me as you have not served me with a notice to keeper that complies with Schedule 4 to the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (“POFA”) and it is now too late to do so. In particular (without limitation), your notice does not contain the warning required by paragraph 9(2)(f) POFA.

Please cancel the parking charge and remove my personal information from your database."

My appeal was rejected, and they have said that I have two options:

1. Pay the original reduced charge within 14 days beginning with the date of this letter, after which the PCN charge will revert to the original charge detailed on the PCN.
2. If you are not satisfied with our decision, you may appeal to the Independent Appeals Service (POPLA)  However, if you decide to appeal to POPLA, the reduced rate will no longer be available and the full charge will apply if the appeal is not upheld in your favour. 

It was a mistake on my behalf, and I genuinely forgot to pay for a ticket. I am not from London, so I am not used to putting tickets in my vehicle, especially when visiting places of worship.

Do I stand a chance here of getting this ticket voided or should I just bite the bullet and pay?

nopcns

Without seeing the wording on the back of the NtK we have no idea if CEL have fully complied with the strict requirements of PoFA in order to be able to transfer liability from the driver to the keeper. However, they do state that they are relying on PoFA on the NtK. If they have complied with the requirements, then the appeal submitted was futile.

Please show us the reverse of the NtK and we can take it from there. In the meantime, have a thorough read of the Newbies/FAQ thread for advice on where to go from here.

Coupon-mad

It's not a fine.

You don't PAY unregulated firms like CEL.

Please read the NEWBIES FAQS announcement.  See my signature.. 

snc19

@nopcns - sorry, here you go:

Coupon-mad

That is POFA worded.

snc19

@Coupon-mad
Does this mean I can escalate to POPLA and not pay, or should I just bite the bullet and pay?

Coupon-mad

Up to you.



Signs look clear and you don't pay, so very unusually, I'd understand if you pay £60.

Whew! I need a lie down after saying that.

pustit

Whew! I need a lie down after saying that.

I'm not surprised C-m.    Quite a shock to your system!

Coupon-mad

You have to look at it objectively and those signs are OK, and there's no mitigating reason.

So paying is an option.  There's no point being militant in every case IMHO.

With DLUHC regulation coming in we will move to being more pragmatic on this forum in cases like this, albeit one hopes it won't be £100 (or more in London) because the £130 'London weighted' option is extortionate & unjustified.

If the new Code gets the balance right there will be cases like this next year where I think we'll agree paying can be an option.  It's a rare set of circumstances this year though.