Britannia parking charge notice- genuine mistake

a1t2l3

Hi everyone. Firstly thank you all for the time you put into advertising people like me. I have read the newbie info before posting my question here. 

I have recently received a parking notice (first one in my life) from Britannia for £85, but if paying in 14 days, it was £50. As I never risk not paying when parking anywhere, I quickly went on the app and saw that I have actually payed, so I quickly appealed. 

They rejected my appeal as I sent the wrong details: the PCN was for the 19.02 and the “evidence” I sent was for the 19.01. While waiting for the appeal, I received a final warning. 

Once I realised my mistake, I went on the app again and indeed there was no payment on the 19.02, but I know I was in that parking lot as I have an appointment on that date, just like I did on the 19.01. I then remembered that my husband came to the appointment and I left him my phone to pay for the parking. He said he did- only think I can think of, is there was bad connection and the payment didn’t go through. 

I go to that parking lot at least 2-3 times a month for the last 10 years and never had an issue. 

I honestly cannot afford to pay the £85 atm. I can’t appeal again, so what happens next? Will I get a court order and be made to pay? Will people come to my door demanding I pay £85? 

Friends have advised me to just ignore the final warning, but I’ve never been in trouble before and don’t want to start now. 

Thank you in advance for taking the time to respond to my enquiry. 

Gr1pr

They should have included a Popla appeal code with the rejection, so do you have it. ?

Nobody will come knocking , but a shame that you didn't come here for advice before appealing 

What you can or cannot afford is not relevant in these cases, its a civil dispute about the alleged breach of the parking contract on that private land 

They could issue a civil court claim against the keeper or driver, which has a statute date of 6 years from the date of the contravention , if lost in court then a court order would happen, so the advice by your friends is not necessarily good advice ( will they assist you in a future court claim. ?  I doubt it. )

a1t2l3

Thank you Gr1pr. 

I didn’t think I did anything wrong at the time, hence why I appealed it immediately, and why I didn’t pay attention to the actual dates (19.1 and 19.2), because the timings were the same. My appointments were at the same time on both dates, so I arrived in the car part at approximately same time on both dates. 

I do have the Popla code. Should I appeal again with them? I have until tomorrow to pay in full (the £85).

Gr1pr

We don't know what valid points there may be for your further appeal to Popla, or defence in a court claim ?

Post redacted pictures of both sides of the PCN and pictures of the signage on site too if possible ASAP, we need to see dates and times etc, it might help if you have details of payments made too 

Post a copy of the appeal that was made to Britannia, plus a redacted copy of their reply as well 

Mistakes and mitigation rarely win these cases , so almost full disclosures are needed before advice can be given 

a1t2l3

(Image removed by Forum Team)

 Hope this makes sense. The order of the pictures is not chronological I’m afraid.

Gr1pr

What is the date of the rejection. ?

The paid for evidence is indeed for January, but the pcn is for February, so that evidence you showed them was irrelevant 

The February PCN shows the vehicle on site for 11 minutes, it also mentions EXPIRED TICKET, but clearly no ticket or payment appears to have been bought, which you stayed earlier, no payment, no ticket, so no expired ticket 

It seems to me that the pcn should be for non payment on 19 February 2024 , being onsite for a consideration period that was exceeded and no payment to cover it. ?

a1t2l3

I tried to be concise in my first message. The appointment I normally have takes 10 minutes, so I took the 30min free from the machine. Because they were running late with the appointment, when I went in, I left my phone to my husband so in case I’m late, he can pay online for the parking. I was late, he said he paid, so after the appointment we decided to grab a coffee as we had time (so we thought). 

I do know now that the “evidence” I provided was not relevant, as I mentioned in my previous post. It was me rushing to provide evidence that I always pay for parking. I just didn’t realised that I mixed up the dates. Had I looked carefully, I would of know that somehow after 10 years of paying parking in that spot, my payment didn’t go through.

KeithP

You have clearly shown your PoPLA verification code - twice in fact - thus making it very easy for someone who may not have your best interests at heart, to file a rubbish appeal on your behalf.
Also visible is your PCN number.

a1t2l3

I cannot edit this to remove the info. Anyone knows how I can remove the picture?

Gr1pr

a1t2l3 said:

I tried to be concise in my first message. The appointment I normally have takes 10 minutes, so I took the 30min free from the machine. Because they were running late with the appointment, when I went in, I left my phone to my husband so in case I’m late, he can pay online for the parking. I was late, he said he paid, so after the appointment we decided to grab a coffee as we had time (so we thought). 

I do know now that the “evidence” I provided was not relevant, as I mentioned in my previous post. It was me rushing to provide evidence that I always pay for parking. I just didn’t realised that I mixed up the dates. Had I looked carefully, I would of know that somehow after 10 years of paying parking in that spot, my payment didn’t go through.

Look at the February PCN again, it shows 11 minutes between entry and exit, less than any free 30 minute ticket, nevermind the attempt to pay that didn't go through which you thought had done so would have extended the parking contract if it had gone through 

Yes the 30 minute ticket expired according to your account, but your account appears to show time on site at say an hour or two, or more, but the PCN shows time on site at 11 minutes. !  None of it computes even if we start over and ignore the previous visit in January 

a1t2l3

You are right. I assume that is to say that they waited for me 11 minutes to come and remove the car? 

I remember a while ago I asked one of the wardens how long they allow someone to get to the car once the parking expired. He said 11 minutes. Would the timings reflect that?