POPLA decision Parking Fine

Chabs2023

Hi all,

I recently appealed a Premier Park Ltd PCN to POPLA (code 7883458) and unfortunately my appeal has been rejected.

Case background:

• Date of PCN: 6th June 2025 at 13:07. & 7th of June 

• Allegation: overstayed maximum 3 hours (stayed 3 hrs 21 mins).

• Grounds of appeal I raised:
  • Signage wording is ambiguous (“no return within 1 hour” vs “max stay 3 hours”).
  • Overstay included time queuing to exit due to Eid congestion – not actual parking.
  • JD Gym (onsite) had broken showers, causing long delays and queues.
  • Exceptional circumstances (partner 8 months pregnant, religious holiday, congestion).
  • Received a second PCN the following day – unreasonable enforcement.
  • Charge not a genuine pre-estimate of loss.

POPLA Assessor’s summary:

• They accept signage was clear enough.

• They say grace period is only 10 minutes, but I was 21 minutes over.

• Mitigating circumstances (Eid traffic, gym issue, delays) cannot be considered if a contract was breached.

• They confirm Premier Park has authority from the landowner.

• They rely on ParkingEye v Beavis to justify the £100 charge.

• Therefore, the PCN was issued “correctly” and appeal refused.

My concerns/questions:

1. POPLA admit a grace period of 10 minutes is allowed, but I was 21 minutes over, most of which was spent trying to exit due to congestion – is there any way this could still be argued?

2. Do Premier Park normally pursue court after a POPLA loss?

3. Should I now prepare for potential Letter Before Claim and small claims proceedings?

4. I’ve read that Premier Park sometimes struggle with landowner authority/contracts – worth a SAR request to see if their contract is watertight?

5. I have a second PCN from the following day – should I fight that separately or treat it differently?

I want to decide whether to pay or hold out and be ready for court. Any advice on next steps would be much appreciated.

Also what do I do now? 

Thanks in advance.

Gr1pr

Our advice is to always let the court decide,  not pay  ( there are few people on here who would tell you to pay , definitely not me , court is where you get a fair impartial outcome  )

Chabs2023

Hi Gr1P so Popla are ordering me to Pay so how do I take it in court?

Gr1pr

I doubt that they ordered you to pay, order is a strong word, not applicable here

A judge can order you to pay, they have the legal authority to do so, neither the parking company or popla or me can ORDER you to pay

Let a judge decide,  in court,  is my reply to you 

You dont take it to court,  its up to the private parking company to do so

As for any other pcns   ( including this one  ) plan A in the newbies sticky thread in announcements near the top of the forum by coupon mad is your BEST option

Get the business or landowner or landlord or management company to cancel the pcn, rather than appeal 

Chabs2023

So my understanding is:

• POPLA has refused my appeal, but that’s not an order.

• If Premier Park want to pursue this further, it’s up to them to decide whether to take me to court.

• I don’t take it to court — they do.

My worries are:

• Will I suddenly get bailiffs turning up, or is that only if I lost in court and then refused to pay?

• What kind of official form would I receive if Premier Park actually decided to take me to court?

• Should I just ignore the “debt collector” threat letters in the meantime?

I just want to be clear on the process and what to expect next.

Thanks for any advice.

Chabs2023

and would the cost be more? 

Gr1pr

Chabs2023 said:

So my understanding is:

• POPLA has refused my appeal, but that’s not an order.

• If Premier Park want to pursue this further, it’s up to them to decide whether to take me to court.

• I don’t take it to court — they do.

My worries are:

• 1a)  Will I suddenly get bailiffs turning up, 1b) or is that only if I lost in court and then refused to pay?

• 2) What kind of official form would I receive if Premier Park actually decided to take me to court?

• 3) Should I just ignore the “debt collector” threat letters in the meantime?

I just want to be clear on the process and what to expect next.

Thanks for any advice.

Correct for the top 3 bullet points , as for the points I numbered

1a) definitely not 

1b) depends on the total figure but the threshold is £600 , so it can happen if several pcns are involved,  not 1 or 2

2) an N1SDT court claim pack from the CNBC in Northampton using MCOL 

3) correct,  post 4 in the newbies sticky thread in announcements near the top of the forum by coupon mad 

Coupon-mad

My concerns/questions:

1. POPLA admit a grace period of 10 minutes is allowed, but I was 21 minutes over, most of which was spent trying to exit due to congestion – is there any way this could still be argued?

   Yes. In court you get a fair hearing and this is 'frustration of contract' a legal doctrine which a judge cannot agree either party should make money from.

   
   

2. Do Premier Park normally pursue court after a POPLA loss?

   Not often at all. You'll get laughable £170 threatograms. See the pretty pictures in Post 4 of the NEWBIES thread.

   
   

3. Should I now prepare for potential Letter Before Claim and small claims proceedings?

   Not really. Live your life. Ignore the threatograms. Do nothing unless you move house but that's common sense to update them, so you see every letter and don't get a CCJ for missing a claim form.

   
   

4. I’ve read that Premier Park sometimes struggle with landowner authority/contracts – worth a SAR request to see if their contract is watertight?

   SAR doesn't get landowner authority because a SAR only gets your data. But surely that agreement was attached to their POPLA evidence pack (ONLY if you challenged landowner authority in your appeal)?

   
   

5. I have a second PCN from the following day – should I fight that separately or treat it differently?

   Same.

   
   

   My worries are:

   • 1a)  Will I suddenly get bailiffs turning up, 

     Impossible.

     
     

     1b) or is that only if I lost in court and then refused to pay?

     Yes and only if a debt exceeds £600 which even 2 PCNs wouldn't.

     
     

   • 2) What kind of official form would I receive if Premier Park actually decided to take me to court?

     A claim form, like you will surely have seen pictures of in EVERY claim thread around yours today. Read a few claim form threads!

     
     

   • 3) Should I just ignore the “debt collector” threat letters in the meantime? 

     Yes - but do the Public Consultation PLEASE!

     See next post.

Coupon-mad

This month, we need you:

PLEASE bookmark this thread below and do the government's Public Consultation if you haven't done it yet. Their proposals are wrong. We must stop them.

See this thread: -

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6617396/parking-code-of-practice-consultation-8-weeks-from-11th-july-2025/p1

We need every poster to come back & complete this vital Consultation before the deadline! Just 2 weeks left but please don't rush it. You can do some then save it and come back to it as you have time.

We understand that you may need some pointers. It looks laborious, we get that.

So to try to help, I've written some guidance on that thread.

Any questions on the Consultation please ask - on the dedicated thread - but I've covered up to question 20 already in that first post, openly telling everyone what I'm going to put and/or what sort of evidence you might wish to use for your response, if you agree with what we'll be saying from our experience.

Whilst your answers must of course be your own, there are vital points to safeguard motorists interests to make, that many people may not think of without our guidance because we see cases every day and we know the legal background. 

However, people like you have lived & breathed the intimidation, greed and unfairness first hand so your voice is needed!

Chabs2023

Thank you for your time and effort on this