Parking Charge Appeal

Olliehiggins

Hi - my local station has 2 car parks, which unbeknownst to me, are operated by 2 separate companies. I parked in one and paid the other, and received a parking notice from the car park I parked in as I hadn't paid. I didn't realise the car parks were operated by separate entities, so appealed attaching the invoice (paid via the app). It was only on receiving the rejected appeal that I realised that there were 2 different car park operators.

I've since been on a local rail users Facebook group and asked the question, and it turns out a lot of people have done the same; I even found one on this forum from 2021, so a longstanding issue. My question is, do I have any grounds to appeal to e.g., POPLA, given technically I did not pay the correct car park operator, so as far as they're concerned I have parked without paying.

I suppose my only defence could be that it isn't clear - there is a large car park and a small car park (about 10 spaces) right next to each other, I assumed the large was an overspill of the small. There is a sign on exiting the large car park that you can pay online if in a rush. As you then walk to the station you have to go through the smaller car park, and there is a huge sign you pass just before getting on the platform with details of the app and how to pay (for the small car park). There's no notice to say there are 2 separate car park operators, make sure you pay the right one etc., and it appears this is a common and longstanding issue. It feels unnecessarily ambiguous and the cynical part of me thinks they do this on purpose to increase their income through parking fines.

Fruitcake

Plan A is always a complaint to the landowner and your MP, and it is never too late to do so.

Which PPC issued the PCN? This will determine what action you may want to take.

In any case, if the driver didn't know they should have paid a different company, then the signage must have been inadequate.

In future, always read the signs, and never reveal the driver's identity, especially if the site is not relevant land, such as a railway asset, where bylaws apply and therefore the vehicle keeper cannot be held liable.

Please also sign the petition linked from the post below, and get all your friends and family to do the same.


Parked in a disabled Bay, no ticket - Page 3 — MoneySavingExpert Forum

Getting MPs involved is the only way the unregulated private parking industry will ever be brought under control, to stop this sort of thing happening.

Gr1pr

1) Name the parking company that issued the PCN  ?

2) Did you reveal who was driving   ?  Yes or No   ?  Ideally it's No

Any subsequent appeal might be based on no landowner authority and poor and inadequate signage,  unless they don't know who was driving,  in which case use no keeper liability as well as the other 2

Popla, if available,  may conclude that the pcn was correctly issued,  user error 

Olliehiggins

Thanks - It's Britannia parking that issued the PCN. I can't recall if I admitted I was driving, I likely used language such as 'i paid using the app', not sure if this is explicit - it's my wife's car I was driving for reference, she is the registered owner. Not sure if that's relevant.

Gr1pr

She is the Registered KEEPER,  so presumably Britannia Parking sent HER the pcn and presumably the rejection and Popla code were sent to HER, not you  !

She was not the driver so she may be able to construct a good Popla appeal based on no keeper liability,  no landowner authority and poor and inadequate signage 

At the moment you are a stranger to the pcn,  if the correspondence is only to the RK

Coupon-mad

Olliehiggins said:

Thanks - It's Britannia parking that issued the PCN. I can't recall if I admitted I was driving, I likely used language such as 'i paid using the app', not sure if this is explicit - it's my wife's car I was driving for reference, she is the registered owner. Not sure if that's relevant.

It's very relevant.

The postal PCN would have arrived to your wife, but it sounds like you appealed it in your name and the rejection/ POPLA Code letter is addressed to you? Oh dear. That's thrown away the protection she had.

Just ignore Britannia now. Sit tight. Do nothing except the below.

By going confidently into the 'ignore' stance, the only steps to take (because you MUST check every letter) are:

- Tell them if you move house within 6 years.

- Ignore the tedious £170 threatograms shown in pictures in the 4th post of the NEWBIES thread.

- Come back if you get a solicitor's LBC as per the 2nd post of the NEWBIES thread.

Nobody pays a penny and no hearing is even needed in most cases. Search the forum and read a few cases as they are easy to beat by waiting for a claim form - it is easier than appealing!

There is no risk AT ALL in defending a court claim. No CCJ. No bailiffs.

Coupon-mad

Gr1pr said:

She is the Registered KEEPER,  so presumably Britannia Parking sent HER the pcn and presumably the rejection and Popla code were sent to HER, not you  !

She was not the driver so she may be able to construct a good Popla appeal based on no keeper liability,  no landowner authority and poor and inadequate signage 

At the moment you are a stranger to the pcn,  if the correspondence is only to the RK

I doubt it. I think the OP appealed in their own name, which nobody should ever do with a private PCN.  Never mind.

Gr1pr

I too am beginning to doubt that the rejection went to the RK, just the original NTK PCN letter,  meaning that if the driver appealed and if the driver received the rejection,  the best and possibly only winning point was binned  ( POFA  )

The driver should not have got involved,  other than researching the topics

I agree that in that case they should now ignore it until the Letter of Claim stage 

Fruitcake

Get photos of the signs and signage at the location for reference if a court claim is ever issued.
It's important to check the name of the parking operator on the signs, because sometimes Britannia issue charges/claims when a different company is named on the signs.

Please do make the complaints and sign the petition.