Honest mistake, should I appeal?

purple256

Hoping to get some advice on my first ever parking fine! 

I've been sent a PCN from Horizon as I parked in there car park for 45 minutes at 8:45am on a Saturday without paying (an honest mistake!). They have ANPR so there's clear evidence. 

The part that I feel is unfair is that you can only pay on exit at the machines and there's no barrier or reminder on exit so easily forgotten (I assume it's set up in this way because it's a lucrative scheme!). We went to pay when we arrived and couldn't, so went about our business and as we were in a rush to leave we totally forgot about paying.

The fine is also £70 (£42 if paid within 14 days) which seems excessive for an honest mistake and a short stay at a quiet time! 

Should I just pay up or is it worth trying an appeal?

Thanks in advance!

Gr1pr

No appeal will succeed 

The charge is below the £85 mentioned in the Barry Beavis case back in 2015 and the maximum has been £100 for more than a decade so there is no legs with that argument 

Does the NTK PCN letter comply with POFA 2012. ?  Yes or No. ?

Study the newbies sticky thread in announcements if you are not sure 

It is a PCN, but it's not a fine, its an invoice 

KeithP

I found this appeal worked very well against a Horizon pcn...

This is an appeal by the Registered Keeper - No driver details will be given. 

Please do NOT try the usual trick of asking for driver details in order to get around the fact that your Notice to Keeper does not comply with Schedule 4 of The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012.

As there is no keeper liability, liability cannot flow from the driver to the keeper and so this will be an automatic win at POPLA. Please cancel this Parking Charge Notice or issue a POPLA code at which point you will auto withdraw.

Within two weeks the following response was received from Horizon...

Dear Appellant,

Parking Charge Notice: 00073****7

Thank you for your recent correspondence regarding the above Parking Charge Notice, which we have reviewed.

I can confirm the Parking Charge Notice has now been cancelled and no further action will be taken in this matter.

Please note that once the Parking Charge Notice is cancelled the contact details are removed from the Parking Charge Notice and will not be retained for any purpose or shared with third parties.  We are, however, required to retain images and appeal correspondence for a period of 2 years by DVLA and the BPA and are not therefore able to delete these from our system. You can review our privacy policy at https://horizonparking.co.uk/privacy-policy/ or you can request that a copy is sent to you in the post by contacting us at the address below, if you have any queries regarding your data.
 

Kind regards,

Appeals Department

Horizon Parking Limited

Coupon-mad

Given how easy Horizon are to beat with that appeal I'm amazed anyone pays them.  

Even when they tried to create a 'POFA worded NTK' they failed. This is already explained in the NEWBIES thread with a link to NTK pictures that points out the new wording fail in Horizon's recent NTK.

purple256

Thanks all. The wording looks slightly different in the notice I've received and I'm not sure if it's compliant or not? I've seen a few cases where Plan B hasn't worked. 

Coupon-mad

Top paragraph on the back gives the 28 day timeline wrongly as starting from two working days after "the date of this Parking Charge".

Compare that to para 9 of Schedule 4.

Not compliant but you'd have to spell it out to a POPLA assessor! IMHO some of them aren't the sharpest tools in the POPLA box.

Gr1pr

Exactly what I just thought whilst checking the pictures 

The invitation to pay is on the front, a lot omit that aspect 

But that top paragraph on the back doesn't reflect what the legislation says 

Clearly they have tried, yet no cigar !

Use the appeal by KeithP 

LDast

Also, 9(2)(a) may have been complied with showing the entry/exit times but 9(2)(b) certainly hasn't.

KeithP

purple256 said:

Thanks all. The wording looks slightly different in the notice I've received and I'm not sure if it's compliant or not? I've seen a few cases where Plan B hasn't worked. 

Well you may not be sure (but others have now put you right on that), but what exactly do you have to lose?

Just send the response I posted earlier - it will either work or it won't. So simple.

purple256

Appeal rejected 


Review of your Appeal

The Parking Charge Notice was issued lawfully and in full and proper accordance with the Code of Practice issued by the British Parking Association (the ‘BPA’).

There are signs located at the entrance to, and within the car park that state the terms and conditions that apply when parking. 

 

As clearly stipulated on signage within the car park, payment for parking must be made for the full duration of the vehicles stay. Our systems do not show any evidence of payment made against this vehicle on the incident date.

The signs throughout the car park are clear and comply fully with the BPA’s prescribed rules and regulations. When parking on private land, it is the driver’s responsibility to ensure they adhere to the terms and conditions of the car park concerned.

As we have not been provided with the name and a serviceable address for the driver/hirer, under Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, we do have the right, subject to meeting the requirements of the Act, to recover from the Registered Keeper the amount that remains outstanding. We have obtained the name and address of the registered keeper of the vehicle from the DVLA for the purposes of enforcing this charge.

 

Given the above, and whilst we have considered your representations carefully, on this occasion your appeal has been rejected

The Charge Amount and Methods of Payment

In good faith, Horizon will hold the charge at the current amount of £42.00 for a further 14 days from the date of this correspondence to allow you further time to pay.

Payment of the outstanding charge can be made using our 24-hour payment line: 020 8106 0789 or online at xxxxx

Pay a Parking Charge Notice

Our payment pages are currently under maintenance and will be available shortly…

horizonparking.co.uk

Alternatively, payment can be made via cheque made payable to Horizon Parking Ltd and posted to Horizon Parking Ltd, Finitor House, 2 Hanbury Road Chelmsford, Essex CM1 3AE

Additional Types of Appeal

You have now reached the end of our appeals procedure. Although we have rejected your appeal, the Parking On Private Land Appeals (POPLA) provides an independent appeals service. To use this service, you must appeal to POPLA within 28 days of the date of this correspondence.

 

For full instructions of how to appeal to POPLA, please visit their website at www.popla.co.uk. If you would rather progress this matter by post, please contact our Appeals Office and we will send you the necessary paperwork.

 

Your POPLA reference number is xxxxxx

 

Please be advised that if you elect for independent arbitration of your case, you will be required to pay the charge at the full amount and as such will no longer qualify for payment at the reduced rate. Please also be advised that POPLA will not accept an appeal where payment is made against the Parking Charge Notice in question.

We are required by law to inform you that Ombudsman Services (www.ombudsman-services.org/) provides an alternative dispute resolution service that would be competent to deal with your appeal; however , Horizon has not chosen to participate in their alternative dispute resolution service. As such, should you wish to appeal then you must do so to POPLA as explained above.

Yours sincerely,

 

 

Gr1pr

So start drafting your Popla appeal