No POPLA received, now being chased by PE, next steps?

pgow

Original event:
Picking son up from PE controlled parking at nursery due to sickness on 20/08/25. Stayed to chat with nursery manager and left 3 minutes over the 20min free period so received a ParkingEye PCN in the post on 25/08/25.

Appeal, sent on 03/09/2025:
Stupidly didn't read the great information here first, so was open and honest about driver, the situation, and why we were 3 min over. Long story short, we explained that son has a lot of medical issues, although at the time no diagnosis. We have since received a diagnosis of a rare genetic disorder which explains a lot. Explained that we needed to console him and provide medication before departing, and this took longer than expected.

Automated response received from that appeal, stating usual 28 day response period, but NOTHING else since. Checked spam etc and zip, nada.
28 days passed, nothing, so tried messaging them on WhatsApp, and an automated thing said wait up to 40 days. On day 43 (20/10/25) I contacted PE through their online contact form as there was no other way to get through to them that I could find. I have a copy of the message saved for records. Effectively stated we havent heard anything from, you havent requested an extension or asked for any further information, so we take it that the matter is closed. But please give us the courtesy of telling us so.
No response received.

Present situation 08/11/25:
Today we received a FINAL NOTICE in the post (see attached if it works) saying; the charge remains outstanding as they brought it to our attention that the appeal was unsuccessful (no they havent), that we were given 28 days to appeal to POPLA and we didn't (no POPLA received), so now we must pay £100 within 14 days.

I've read many threads, but not found one similar enough to know what to do now.
To all the lovely contributors to this forum, please help, what are our options?

Gr1pr

Put a written complaint in using the complaint link on the BPA AOS members list,  stating that the appeal reply was never received,  so not been seen 

State that you will escalate to the BPA AOS compliance team if this complaint is not properly resolved,  as per the BPA guidance 

What happened to plan A   ?  Get it done ASAP and get the pcn cancelled 

Lastly,  I don't think any harm was done in being honest about it in the appeal,  especially if they complied with POFA,  so check your NTK PCN letter for POFA compliance too

pgow

Thank you @Gr1pr. I have submitted a complaint through their website.
Having looked at the BPA Single Code of Practice, I think there are 2 things they have failed at in this case.

1. We stated that our son had complex medical issues and could provide evidence of emails with nursery management. It was clear were claiming some exemption or leniency due to this, but they never requested further evidence when the Code states:
"For example, where there is clear evidence of illness or emergency this should be taken into account when deciding whether to uphold the appeal, offer a reduced settlement or cancel the parking charge."
"Where the operator is not satisfied with the evidence, they should request further evidence from a motorist when it becomes clear they are claiming to meet the criteria."

2. We stated multiple times in the original appeal that we didn't enter the vehicle into the terminal, as the focus was on tending to our son and providing medication, and time got away from us without realising. Again the Code states:
"In considering appeals parking operators must recognise the below case types as mitigating circumstances warranting a reduction in the amount of the parking charge to £20 for 14 days, subject to appropriate evidence being provided.".
"g) where the vehicle would have been permitted to park at the location, but the driver failed to enter their registration into a terminal/device as specified in the terms & conditions."

Against my desire to give them nothing at all, I have offered to pay a reduced rate of £20 which was never offered to us, otherwise I will escalate to BPA AOS compliance as you suggested.

I will update this when I hear back from them, if they even give us that courtesy...

Gr1pr

What about plan A  ?  That is where my focus would aim , straight to the organ grinder,  not the dancing bear  !

pgow

@Gr1pr sorry I only just got your reference to Plan A - i.e. ask the landowner to request its cancellation.
I mentioned the fine (prior to the FINAL NOTICE receipt) to the Nursery Manager and she didn't say anything about 'leave it with us, we'll sort it', so didn't think it was an option.
I will ask them on Monday now that we received the FINAL NOTICE letter, stating that there is nothing fair or correct about this situation, and whether they can add their voice to it to get it cancelled.

Subsequently after submitting my complaint this afternoon, I have looked into the dates PE stated in their letter, and they dont add up whatsoever.
I have sent a follow up complaint reiterating the complaint, and raising (among other things) the date discrepancies:

"You state in your FINAL NOTICE dated 5th of November 2025 that I was "then given 28 days to further appeal to POPLA". 28 days before the 5th of November 2025 is the 8th of October 2025. At approximately 16:00 on the 20th of October I logged into your website, and my case stated it was in the appeals stage. I contacted you through WhatsApp at 16:01 but received an out of office message (screenshot in the PDF attached to the complaint), even though it was still within normal office hours. I then submitted an enquiry through your website at 17:01 that same day (20th of October 2025) to enquire about the status as you had not sent anything to me since the original appeal receipt automated email on the 3rd of September 2025, 43 days prior. Therefore, it is a fact that you could not have rejected the appeal before the 20th of October. And even if you rejected the appeal the second after I logged out of your system, and provided me with a POPLA number, the POPLA appeal window would be open until at least the 17th of November 2025, which is in 9 days time. It is therefore a fact that your timeline of events is a fabrication of pure fantasy and bears zero truth."

I'll post any updates here.

Coupon-mad

You do realise the 20 mins fixed time period is an unfair term that breaches the Equality Act 2010, as you are a carer of a child with protected characteristics? You are legally allowed a reasonable adjustment of time.

prowla

NB. it's not a "fine"; it's an invoice from a private company for an alleged breach of a contract you agreed to.

You're saying that there is a 20 minute "free" time and you stayed for 23 minutes.

The BPA Code Of Practice states that there is a 10 minutes grace time; is there a reason why this is not in-play here?