Ocean Parking - appealing a non-POFA PCN for lease car

soilbrother

I lease a car from UK Automotive Solutions.  I am the registered keeper of the vehicle.

Ocean Parking sent a PCN in January to UK Automotive Solutions regarding parking at the Peel Centre in Stockport for ‘Failure to pay for full duration of stay”. UK Automotive forwarded my details onto Ocean Parking and they sent a PCN to me in February.

The PCN is non-POFA. Ocean Parking are members of IPC and appeals have to be made to the IAS.

I should have come to this site and read the advices before appealing to Ocean Parking. I was unaware of the difference between POFA and non-POFA PCNs, and thought that all parking appeals were dealt with by POPLA (not IAS) – my mistake.

I have had experience of successfully appealing to POPLA in the past against Parkingeye using the defence of non-compliance with POFA (specifically, sending a copy of the hire agreement to me). I therefore sent the following appeal to Ocean Parking:

Paragraph 13(2) of Protection of Freedoms Act (POFA) 2012 states

"The creditor may not exercise the right under paragraph 4 to recover from the keeper any unpaid parking charges specified in the notice to keeper if, within the period of 28 days beginning with the day after that on which that notice was given, the creditor is given

(a) A statement signed by or on behalf of the vehicle-hire firm to the effect that at the material time the vehicle was hired to a named person under a hire agreement;

(b) A copy of the hire agreement; and

(c) A copy of a statement of liability signed by the hirer under that hire agreement.

AND

Paragraph 14(2) and (3) of POFA 2012:

(2) The conditions are that —
(a) The creditor has within the relevant period given the hirer a notice in accordance with sub-paragraph (5) (a “notice to hirer”), together with a copy of the documents mentioned in paragraph 13(2) and the notice to keeper;
(b) A period of 21 days beginning with the day on which the notice to hirer was given has elapsed; and
(c) The vehicle was not a stolen vehicle at the beginning of the period of parking to which the unpaid parking charges relate.
(3) In sub-paragraph (2)(a) “the relevant period” is the period of 21 days beginning with the day after that on which the documents required by paragraph 13(2) are given to the creditor.

Ocean Parking were required to send these documents to me no later than 49 days after the parking charge notice was sent to the hire company.

 

Ocean Parking have failed to send all of the documents mentioned in paragraph 13 (2) to me (the Registered Keeper). The only documentation Ocean Parking have sent to me is a Parking Charge Notice. Ocean Parking did not send a copy of the hire agreement to me.

 

As Ocean Parking has not complied with paragraphs 13 (2) and 14 (2) of POFA 2012, please confirm that you will now cancel this charge.

 

The appeal was rejected by Ocean Parking. Amongst the reasons given were:

·         Ocean Parking have not issued this Notice to Keeper using POFA 20212, therefore your claims regarding this are irrelevant.

·         The NTK was issued through ANPR cameras, therefore the liability of the charge was with the registered keeper of the vehicle. It is their responsibility to provide a Transfer of liability if they were not driving the vehicle at the time of the contravention, as has occurred in this case.

·         There is no legal requirement for the hirer to name the driver of the vehicle at the time of the alleged contravention, however if this information is not supplied, the charge will remain in your name, as the hirer of the vehicle.

I have not given them a name of who was driving at the time.

I have read the Newbies notes with regards to the section on company, lease or hire cars. The 3 templates for successful appeals all mention POFA. However, my PCN is non-POFA.

There are details of a successful appeal to IAS regarding lease cars in this thread, but again that mentions POFA, so would this not be an option for me? https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/67815901#Comment_67815901

Ocean Parking appeals have to made to the IAS rather than POPLA. I have not appealed to the IAS and have seen the advices that this is a futile exercise. Please can someone provide some advice as to the best way to proceed from here.

Umkomaas

Please can someone provide some advice as to the best way to proceed from here.

Ignore anything further from Ocean at this stage. Come back on this thread if you receive a Letter of Claim, or a County Court claim from the CNBC in Northampton. 

Inform Ocean of any change of address you make in the next 6 years - you don't want a claim going to a former address. 

Coupon-mad

Yep. Just don't engage unless you move house, or if you eventually get a LBC.

soilbrother

Thanks for your advices. I'll get back in touch if/when I hear anything further.

ChirpyChicken

Please don't waste your /our time telling us about debt recovery letters