Appeal rejected by APCOA - Kingham Station

Bunyip_2

I have only found this forum in the last few hours and therefore (sadly) would have a done a few things differently.

I sent the following letter (below in italics) to APCOA from my wife (driver). However, I am the registered keeper. (Realise that this is incorrect that she sent the letter). However, the letter was emailed at about day 26-27. The PCN was stuck on the windscreen.

The appeal to APCOA was rejected today, by email, but doesn't address any issues and just re-iterates that it was not a marked bay.

APCOA does not have our address (from the appeal).

My questions are:

• Should I appeal to PoPLA now?
• How long should it be before APCOA issue a NTK (given that they cannot find my wife's address)?
• Can I use the absence of a NTK as part of my appeal to PoPLA (looking at the forum stickies it appears that I should)?

Any help with this would be gratefully appreciated.

___________________________________________________________

On the day in question, the station car park was full and there were no parking spaces available in the main body of the car park. As a result, I parked on the verge adjacent to the car park. I was not the only motorist to do so, as several other vehicles were parked in the same area, further reinforcing the impression that parking there was considered acceptable when the main car park had reached capacity.

Before leaving my vehicle, I paid the full parking fee of £6.00 in good faith (attached photograph and can also be seen in the windscreen on the photo taken by the parking attendant), as I fully intended to comply with the parking requirements. At no point was I attempting to avoid payment or gain any unfair advantage.

The position of my vehicle did not obstruct the movement of other vehicles within the car park, impede access to any parking bays, or create a hazard for other users. I took care to ensure that it was parked safely and considerately.

I believe the Parking Charge Notice has been issued unfairly because there was no clear signage indicating that parking in this area was prohibited. In fact, there was a parking tariff sign located immediately adjacent to where my vehicle was parked, which reasonably gave the impression that the area formed part of the station parking facilities. By contrast, other areas around the perimeter of the car park where parking was not permitted were clearly marked with "No Parking" signs (for example the southeast boundary of this area of the carpark). The absence of similar signage where I parked led me to believe that parking there was acceptable.

Having reviewed the photographs taken by your parking attendant, I note that none of them show any signage or road markings indicating that parking in the area where my vehicle was parked was prohibited. The photographs simply show my vehicle in position and do not demonstrate that any clear restriction was in place or visible to a motorist. This further supports my view that the alleged restriction was not adequately communicated.

In addition, the bay markings in the southwest (newer) section of the car park are very indistinct and difficult to discern (attached photo). This further contributed to the lack of clarity regarding where parking was and was not permitted. Taken together with the absence of any prohibitive signage in the area where I parked, the overall layout and markings did not clearly communicate the restrictions to motorists.

As a driver, I relied on the information provided on site. Where restrictions are intended to apply, they should be clearly communicated so that motorists can make informed decisions. In this instance, the signage and markings were, at best, unclear and inconsistent, and I do not believe they adequately informed drivers that parking on the verge in that location was prohibited.

Given that I paid the required parking fee, the car park was full, there was no clear signage prohibiting parking where my vehicle was located, the bay markings in that area are indistinct, my vehicle did not obstruct other users, other motorists were parked in the same location, and your own photographic evidence does not show any visible restriction applying to that area, I respectfully request that you cancel this Parking Charge Notice.On the day in question, the station car park was full and there were no parking spaces available in the main body of the car park. As a result, I parked on the verge adjacent to the car park. I was not the only motorist to do so, as several other vehicles were parked in the same area, further reinforcing the impression that parking there was considered acceptable when the main car park had reached capacity.

Car1980

You've certainly wasted a lot of your time there! How often do you think they allow appeals and forgo the cash they exist to make? They won't address any issues - where's the profit in that?

As it's APCOA, who never make court claims, I would simply ignore them and file the threatening junkmail you will receive over the next few months into a drawer and forget about the whole thing.

Coupon-mad

Oioh that was a poor appeal and why on earth would the driver respond to a letter addressed to you? No driver should ever do that.

Now she will probably get the threatograms instead of you. Hope she's good at ignoring debt threatograms!

"APCOA does not have our address (from the appeal)."

I think you are mistaken.

The APCOA Appeals portal certainly asks for the address of the appellant, so your wife will have typed it in even if she thinks she didn't, and she will now get the daft letters to ignore.

🙂

Umkomaas

Oioh that was a poor appeal and why on earth would the driver respond to a letter addressed to you?

I read it that the driver appealed a windscreen ticket, so no NtK will now be sent.

@Bunyip_2 - did APCOA issue a POPLA code in their email rejection?

James_Poisson

So to get this right; your wife got a NTD on the windscreen and made an appeal by letter attached to or included in an email admitting she was driver but not putting her address.

If she included her name they will just send a NTK to you anyway they will get the address through the DVLA of you the keeper, APCOA aren't the brightest but will probably use the email (which I am surprised they accepted) from your wife as the name of the driver and it won't take Einstein to attach her to your address.

That appeal was never going to win and they always ignore what they want to ignore, it certainly won't get anywhere with POPLA.

Just ignore them as suggested.

Bunyip_2

@Umkomaas APCOA have given a verification reference number. Does this change what I should do?

Umkomaas

The best current advice is to ignore and wait to see what APCOA next move might be. POPLA is much more difficult to get a sensible adjudication from nowadays. We're always here for you to check any new moves from them.

Coupon-mad

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82091645#Comment_82091645

Read post 3 of the NEWBIES thread.

Was it a windscreen PCN?