APCOA Penalty Notice - Hackbridge Railway Station

coffee_boy44

Thanks for the responses all. Seems like there's differences of interpretation, which is unsurprising given it's a ropey area of 'law' that these firms operate in. My take away from both sides is that this will ultimately fizzle out one way or another, whether that's 6 months or not.

With a view to covering off my bases and to have at least made the effort to appeal when given the opportunity, I've drafted a hybrid version below - would be great to have thoughts. For transparency, my Penalty Notice does not mention POFA and I received it 15 days after the alleged offence date (not that it matters given non-POFA).

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I am the registered keeper of the above vehicle and am in receipt of the Penalty Notice you issued. The land in question is subject to byelaws and as such it is not relevant land for the purpose of Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. Please do NOT try the usual Group Nexus Trick of asking for driver details in order to get around the fact your NTK does not comply with POFA. As there is no keeper liability then liability cannot flow from the driver to the keeper and thus is an auto win at POPLA.

Additionally, as a private company, you have no statutory authority to issue or enforce penalties under these byelaws. In the DfTs open letter in 2018 regarding Parking Penalties on Railway land, they specifically state that the ability to render a charge under Byelaw 14(4)(i) is distinct from the general enforcement power in Byelaw 24(1), under which a person can be prosecuted in the Magistrates Courts. A private parking operator does not have the authority to issue Penalty Notices under railway byelaws with the weight of criminal prosecution.

Feel free to contact the driver, who I will not be naming as there is no legal requirement for me to do so. I do not expect to hear from you again, or your debt collectors, except to confirm that no further action will be taken on this matter and my personal details have been removed from your records.

If you prefer you can issue me the POPLA code which I can use to have this cancelled.

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doubledotcom

What have Group Nexus got to do with an APCOA appeal?

coffee_boy44

It's a template wording from this forum - the implication being that [we] are aware of the generic industry ploy of coaxing driver details out of victims to subvert POFA. I believe Group Nexus were particularly shameless in their attempts, so were ear-marked as the face of this tactic.

I believe it also goes in our favour where parking firms and POPLA start to see the exact same wording in appeals - they know where it's coming from and that this individual will be aware of what they (the parking firm) are doing. They'll start to realise that where they see that wording, the victim is going to play chicken...and win.

Coupon-mad

Correct.   

coffee_boy44

@Coupon-mad just using this thread to save starting another.

Are the admins on this forum aware of this ongoing open consultation: 
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/private-parking-code-of-practice/private-parking-code-of-practice

Running until 5th September.

Coupon-mad

coffee_boy44 said:

@Coupon-mad just using this thread to save starting another.

Are the admins on this forum aware of this ongoing open consultation: 
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/private-parking-code-of-practice/private-parking-code-of-practice

Running until 5th September.

There are no Admins here on MSE forum but we are aware, yes. Fully engaged.

I posted this thread just before flying on my holidays in July:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6617396/parking-code-of-practice-consultation-remember-remember-the-5-september-it-closes-next-week/p1

MSE also kindly put the Consultation in the 'MSE Money Tips' email at my behest last week. That goes to almost ten million recipients I think.