Lost POPLA appeal for APCOA Farnham station car park PCN

volvo_driver_180

Hi, newbie here.

I've managed to lose an appeal* against a PCN issued by APCOA at Farnham station despite following lots of very helpful advice on this forum.

Am I correct to say that the advice is still to just ignore anything further at this stage? My wife is the registered keeper of the vehicle in question and will want to pay rather than receive letters from debt collectors, regardless of their validity.

Thanks

*Appeal decision wording is here:
"When assessing an appeal POPLA considers if the parking operator has issued the penalty correctly and if the driver has complied with the rules of the car park. This penalty has been issued for a breach of the Railway Byelaws. The operator is not using a contract to hold the appellant liable. Section 14 (4) of the Railway Byelaws allows the operator to hold the owner of a vehicle liable for the penalty and not the driver of the vehicle. The operator obtained the appellants details from the DVLA and the appellant has not presented any evidence which proves that they were not the owner. As the byelaws hold the owner liable the operator is not required to use the Protection of Freedoms Act (2012) to hold the appellant liable. This means any references to the Protection of Freedoms Act (2012) are not relevant as it is not being used. The Railway Byelaws Section 25 (1) advises that the Railway may use authorised person to issue penalties as agents of the Railway operator. The parking operator has provided a copy of its contract with the Railway operator which confirms that it has a valid contract in place for the management of the land. This also meets the requirements of Section 14 of the Single Code of Practice which requires the operator to have an agreement in place before it starts management of a site. The operator is not required to provide an unredacted contract. This means that APCOA can issue penalties on behalf of the Railway and that payment of these penalties can be made to APCOA as an agent of the Railway operator. The appellants right to challenge the penalty in a court is unaffected by the penalty being issued by a parking operator and not directly by the Railway Operator. The signs advise that failing to pay for parking will result in a penalty of £85. The operator has provided a list confirming that no payment was made. As the driver did not make a valid payment for their use of the site, I must conclude that the penalty has been issued correctly and, on this basis, I am refusing the appeal."

ChirpyChicken

ignore, will time out 6 months from the date of the  PCN

volvo_driver_180

Thanks for replying.

Is it really that simple? Are we talking loads of threatening-sounding letters or does it just peter out from here? The alleged contravention was on 6th August so six months is early Feb - do I have to do anything when I hit that point?

(Sorry for so many questions)

Ralph-y

just ignore all the debt collector rubbish .... if .... if you get a court letter come back ... but as above it will be unlikely 

The utter garbage in that popla reply is beyond belief a chimp could do better 

ChirpyChicken

volvo_driver_180 said:

Thanks for replying.

Is it really that simple? Are we talking loads of threatening-sounding letters or does it just peter out from here? The alleged contravention was on 6th August so six months is early Feb - do I have to do anything when I hit that point?

(Sorry for so many questions)

A few letters and yes its that simple

Coupon-mad

My wife is the registered keeper of the vehicle in question and will want to pay rather than receive letters from debt collectors, regardless of their validity.

No she won't! Nobody would do that.

Think of us as scam interceptors, stopping the public from being duped & ripped off. If she's already wasted weeks on POPLA she's probably half way to the 6 months already.

What's not to like?! 

 

Car1980

Tell her it's a scam and if you pay a debt collector via one of their letters they simply put you on a sucker list, share your details and you receive even more of them, just as you would if you clicked on a link to pay in an email.

volvo_driver_180

Thanks - I'm reassured but she's still wavering!

The problem is, her job is such that if it got anywhere near the going to court stage it would be extremely embarrassing at best, and career-ending at worst. So it's just not worth the risk if there is any possibility of that happening.

Is there any legal basis for it to be fine doing nothing with no consequences? Because if it's just that no-one has even seen it happen, but technically could happen, she will probably just pay it now. She's already a bit sceptical of my strategy after I asserted, based on the helpful advice on the main thread here, that it would almost certainly be overturned on appeal to POPLA.

ChirpyChicken

volvo_driver_180 said:

Thanks - I'm reassured but she's still wavering!

The problem is, her job is such that if it got anywhere near the going to court stage it would be extremely embarrassing at best, and career-ending at worst. So it's just not worth the risk if there is any possibility of that happening.

Is there any legal basis for it to be fine doing nothing with no consequences? Because if it's just that no-one has even seen it happen, but technically could happen, she will probably just pay it now. She's already a bit sceptical of my strategy after I asserted, based on the helpful advice on the main thread here, that it would almost certainly be overturned on appeal to POPLA.

sorry she is over thinking it
It will not happen , APCOA do NOT issue summons in the magistrates court for byelaw cases
what legal basis are you looking for exactly i get asked this a lot, people get themselves really twisted up in stuff when they dont need to

So lets make it simple
APCOA will NOT issue a summons in the magistrates court
6 Months from the date of the case this times out and the case is statute barred

That is the end of the matter

Tell her to come here, and pray please tell me what career would be "career ending" if someone got a claim for a byelaw issue or a county court claim.  That really is quite intriguing 

Coupon-mad

APCOA never sue anyone.

And with a Penalty Notice, they can't.

She can't still be wavering!

Come on, from one woman to another: IGNORE APCOA. You are NOT risking a CCJ.

Still unsure that we are right...how about advice checked this summer by Martin Lewis?

Just click on the little red 'MSE link' in the small 'Parking Ticket Appeals' banner at the top of this page which leads to the MSE Guide to fight PCNs.

Same info is shown in both this forum and in that Guide, as regards the debt recovery letters being a futile stage and risk-free. Consistent advice here is easy to find and not just from random strangers. The MSE Guide is official 'Martin Lewis backed' advice.