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PCN Premier Park, Please advise next steps
Hi ho silver lin...
post Sun, 18 Aug 2019 - 17:50
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Hi, I received a PCN letter from Premier Park (ANPR). The background is that £4 was paid for a 4 hour stay in a coastal carpark (whilst on holiday 200 miles away and when going for a circular coastal walk) but without it being made clear that the period of stay is counted from entry and exit from the car park meaning that the duration of my stay was 4 hours 30 mins as measured from the entry photo to the exit photo. The parking ticket purchased from the machine was discarded before the PCN letter was received which was in itself on return from holiday. When the vehicle left the car park there were only one or two cars left and therefore the vehicle was not depriving the owner of the carpark (whoever they may be) of additional income. All facilities in the carpark were closed as it was 7pm at night. A parking charge of £100 (£60 if I had paid early) is unjustified and disproportionate if nothing else. The charge options were £4 for up to 4 hours with the next option being up to 12 hours with no ability to pay (or extend the stay) by mobile phone. Additionally it is believed that it was not clear that ANPR was in use on entering the carpark and the one parking machine was not immediately visible. i can give more details on the location of the carpark if that has any bearing.

If the incident was Day1 the PCN letter that was sent is dated Day 6 after the incident. In response I sent on Day 23 this template letter Parking Cowboys appeal letter template that I found on the Parking Cowboys website. This is the template letter:

LETTER BEGINS

Name
Address
Date

Without prejudice, except as to costs

Parking Charge Notice - Notice to Keeper [Give its ref number]

This letter is a formal challenge to the issue of your Parking Charge Notice - Notice to Keeper as set out in the current BPA Ltd AOS Code of Practice B.22

On (date) I was the registered keeper of a (make and model of vehicle) registration number (reg number).

Before I decide how to deal with your Parking Charge Notice - Notice to Keeper, I should be grateful if you would first answer all the questions and deal with all the issues I have set out below. Once you have done so, I will be able to make an informed decision on how I deal with the matter.

I should be grateful for specific answers to all questions raised. In this respect I remind you of the obligations set out in the current Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct.

I dispute your claim for the reasons set out below. Please note that although I dispute the whole basis of the parking charge, my main concern is its disproportionate and punitive level.

1. Your parking charge amount claim.

Please explain on which of the following grounds your claim is based:

(i) Damages for trespass
(ii) Damages for breach of contract
(iii) A contractual sum
2. Your loss.

If it is your case that that a trespass was committed or that a contract was breached such that your claim is one for damages; please give me a full breakdown of the actual losses which evidences that this parking charge is a true reflection of the damages caused solely by the alleged parking contravention.


3. Your status – the creditor.

Your Parking Charge Notice - Notice to Keeper simply mentions [Insert name of parking company if that is who is named on the PCN/NTK]. Please tell me who is the actual creditor making this £[insert amount] parking charge demand. I need to know exactly who is making the claim and in what capacity.

4. Ownership of premises.

Please tell me who owns the car park as I wish to send them a copy of this letter.
5. Contractual Authority (as required by BPA Ltd AOS CoP B.7)

Please provide me with a copy of the contract between your company and the landowner/landholder that provides the necessary contractual written authority for the issue and enforcement of your Parking Charge Notice - Notice to Keeper.

6. Signage.

If it is your case that a contract has been breached or that a contractual sum is now due, please send me photographs of the signs that you display and upon which you seek to evidence that a lawful and legally enforceable contract was been entered into. Please ensure that the photographs show the terms and conditions in a clear and legible manner. Please provide me with a diagram showing the locations and layout of those signs at the car park. Also provide evidence that the wording is in plain and intelligible language and in sufficiently large print as to be legible to a driver at the car park’s entry point.

7. Summary
I look forward to receiving your acknowledgement within 14 days and as there are no ‘exceptional circumstances’ your comprehensive reply within 35 days (in accordance with the BPA AOS Code of Practice B.22.8). I will then be able to make an informed decision as to how I deal with your Parking Charge Notice – Notice to Keeper.
If you reject this challenge or fail to address the issues that have been raised then, in accordance with the BPA AOS Code of Practice 22.12, please ensure that you enclose all the required information (including the necessary ‘POPLA code’) so that I may immediately refer the matter for their decision.
If you fail to follow any of the procedures outlined in the BPA AOS Code of Practice or your legal requirements under the Protection of Freedoms Act, or the requirements of the Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct then I will make a formal complaint to the DVLA Data Sharing Policy Group, D16.
Please Note: Unless you have specifically requested it and received my express permission, you do not have my authority to disclose or refer this letter or any other communication from me to any other person or organisation.
Yours

LETTER ENDS

I have now received this letter from Premier Park on Day 33 after the incident. It says: 'we note your comments and must refer you to the Protection of Freedoms Act (PoFA) 2012. Schedule 4 - Recovery of Unpaid Parking Charges. We now therefore request that the details of the driver of the vehicle at the time of the contravention are supplied; this must include their full name and serviceable UK postal address. If you are unwilling or unable to provide these details the Registered Keeper of this vehicle will remain liable for this PCN. This information should be provided by (date given to respond by is 7 calendar days after the date on the letter) . If you would like to view our photographic evidence please visit www.pcnpayments.com. If we do not receive this information by this date given the Registered Keeper of the vehicle at the date of the event will be held liable.'

They have not supplied anything else that I requested in the 'Parking Cowboys' letter that I sent them with regard to signage etc. Please advise what my next response should be if any and what will happen next if I do not respond.

I am currently not working and can ill afford £100 so any assistance with challenging this charge is greatly appreciated. I am sure many have said this before but ANPR and the 'parking charges' are the new clamping - as I clearly communicated in a letter to the MP of the constituency in which the car park is located. I received the following response:

'MPs do not have any influence over parking charges in any area, however the Government has recently passed new legislation which will create a new code and regulation for private parking companies. Government officials are currently considering what proposals should be in the code, including accessible displays of terms & conditions. The attached letter from the previous Minister explains further'. The letter was sent as a pdf.

Thank you all in anticipation.

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Hi ho silver lin...
post Thu, 26 Sep 2019 - 10:58
Post #21


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QUOTE (ostell @ Mon, 16 Sep 2019 - 16:47) *
Did you read post #7 or was I just wasting my time ?

POPLA tend to uphold appeals where therePOFA fails are dentified.

You ask for proof of their contract to operate, and a witness statement is insuffucient

Suggest you search for and read other POPLA appeals


Hi Ostell, I did indeed read your posts. Hopefully I have taken on board everything that you advised in what I have posted over the past couple of days. I have just begun filling in the POPLA form on-line. I've gone for 'Other' but only get 2,000 characters so I've put this summary of the five points in this box and will add as an attachment all the detail behind each of the five points. Is that the best way to proceed? I will also add as attachments the PCN and a copy of the sign by the parking machine that I have been sent.

I am appealing the Parking Charge Notice from Premier Park on the following points:

1. Non compliance with PoFA, paragraph 9
2. Signage
3. No Authority
4. ANPR system is unreliable and neither synchronised nor accurate.
5. Non-liability of Registered Keeper
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ostell
post Thu, 26 Sep 2019 - 11:59
Post #22


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You create a document with all your points ( I hope you are going to expand) and insert the images inline at the appropriate point. You create a PDF document and email it to POPLA.

This has been mentioned many times in other threads, it's not unknown for attachments to be "lost"
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Hi ho silver lin...
post Thu, 26 Sep 2019 - 12:35
Post #23


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Group: Members
Posts: 11
Joined: 18 Aug 2019
Member No.: 105,302



QUOTE (ostell @ Thu, 26 Sep 2019 - 12:59) *
You create a document with all your points ( I hope you are going to expand) and insert the images inline at the appropriate point. You create a PDF document and email it to POPLA.

This has been mentioned many times in other threads, it's not unknown for attachments to be "lost"


Full text so far is as follows. I will try and drop in images in line. Any further builds for the text at this stage and in particular on the PoFA section?:

1. Non compliance with PoFA, paragraph 9
2. Signage
3. No Authority
4. ANPR system is unreliable and neither synchronised nor accurate.
5. Non-liability of Registered Keeper

1. Non compliance with PoFA, paragraph 9
The supplied Parking Charge Notice does not comply with the requirements as detailed in the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012; PCN provided as supporting evidence.

As per Schedule 4, Paragraph 9 (2) (a);
“Specify the vehicle, the relevant land on which it was parked and the period of parking to which the notice relates;”
The PCN does not specify the period of parking to which the notice relates. It merely states the times which the vehicle entered and exited the car park; these times do not equate to the start and end of the period of parking

As per Schedule 4, Paragraph 9 (2) (d);
“Specify the total amount of those parking charges that are unpaid”
The PCN submitted does not detail the total amount of parking charges outstanding and unpaid as detailed in the section indicated above.

As per Schedule 4, Paragraph 9 (2) (e) (i);
“state that the creditor does not know both the name of the driver and a current address for service for the driver and invite the keeper— (i) to pay the unpaid parking charges;”
The PCN submitted does not offer the opportunity to pay the outstanding monies for the parking utilised as stipulated in the section above.

As per Schedule 4, Paragraph 9 (2) (h);
“The notice must— identify the creditor and specify how and to whom payment may be made;”
The PCN which was provided does not detail the information required as required and merely stating “that we are authorised to manage” (please see PCN provided as supporting evidence)

The PCN does not meet the legal criteria of the said Act and is therefore invalid.

2. Signage
(a) The carpark is approached via a narrow road and is a no through road meaning that it provides the only entry and exit to the seaside cove where the carpark is situated.
(b) There are no signs on the approach or before entering the car park that indicate that fully automated ANPR is in use and that a vehicle will be photographed on entry and exit and no opportunity to turn around before entering even if there were.

© There are very few passing places and no turning places before entering the carpark as can clearly be seen from Google maps: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?gl=uk&...353875&z=19.
(d) The road down to and away from the carpark is very busy on a sunny summer day with cars/vans even having to reverse back into the carpark to let other vehicles in. On entrance, during a busy period, there is a wait whilst vehicles in the carpark manoeuvre to get out around vehicles waiting for spaces to become free as was the case in point on the day of the parking event in question. At no point during driving around waiting for a space to be free is there an opportunity to read any signage relating to the use of ANPR and yet this waiting period is being counted and deemed as parking (in contravention of PoFA paragraph 9a as detailed above).
(e) When parked there is no directly visible signage regarding the carpark terms and conditions. Once the signage is found by the parking machine to the right of the entrance (not immediately visible or readable on entry to the carpark) again there is no explicit indication that fully automated ANPR is in use, how it operates and the associated terms and conditions and how the parking period is calculated and when it begins and ends.

The BPA code of practice requires that terms on car park entrance signs must be clearly readable without a driver having to turn away from the road ahead, this is clearly not the case at this car park.


3. No Authority
Section 7 of the British Parking Association (BPA) Code of Practice requires parking operators to have the written authority from the landowner to operate on the land. I do not believe that Premier Park has landowner’s authority and, as such, the operator has not met the requirements of this section of the BPA Code of Practice.

Section 7.1 states “If you do not own the land on which you are carrying out parking management, you must have the written authorisation of the landowner (or their appointed agent). The written confirmation must be given before you can start operating on the land in question and give you the authority to carry out all the aspects of car park management for the site that you are responsible for. In particular, it must say that the landowner (or their appointed agent) requires you to keep to the Code of Practice and that you have the authority to pursue outstanding parking charges”.

Section 7.3 states “The written authorisation must also set out:

a. the definition of the land on which you may operate, so that the boundaries of the land can be clearly defined
b. any conditions or restrictions on parking control and enforcement operations, including any restrictions on hours of operation

c. any conditions or restrictions on the types of vehicles that may, or may not, be subject to parking control and enforcement
d. who has the responsibility for putting up and maintaining signs
e. the definition of the services provided by each party to the agreement

Premier Park are required to provide a full copy of the contemporaneous, signed & dated (unredacted) contract with the landowner. Any contract is not compliant with the requirements set out in the BPA Code of Practice and does not allow them to charge and issue proceedings for this sum for this alleged contravention in this car park. In order to refute this it will not be sufficient for the Operator merely to supply a site agreement or witness statement, as these do not show sufficient detail (such as the restrictions, charges and revenue sharing arrangements agreed with any landholder). In order to comply with paragraph 7 of the BPA Code of Practice, a non-landowner private parking company must have a specifically-worded contract with the landowner otherwise there is no authority.

As Premier Park do not have proprietary interest in the land, I demand that they produce an unredacted copy of the contract with the landowner that authorises them to offer contracts for parking in their name, issue Parking Charge Notices and take legal action in their name for breach of contract. I do not believe they have such authority and a witness statement is not sufficient.

Premier Park has no title in this land and no BPA compliant landowner contract assigning rights to charge and enforce in the courts in their own right.

4. The ANPR system is unreliable and neither synchronised nor accurate.
The BPA code of practice contains the following: ''21 Automatic number plate recognition (ANPR)
21.1 You may use ANPR camera technology to manage, control and enforce parking in private car parks, as long as you do this in a reasonable, consistent and transparent manner. Your signs at the car park must tell drivers that you are using this technology and what you will use the data captured by ANPR cameras for.''

Premier Park fail to operate the system in a 'reasonable, consistent and transparent manner'. As Premier Park place no signs on the approach down a single narrow road, with no turning spaces there is no opportunity for drivers in moving traffic at the entrance to be 'informed that this technology is in use and what the Operator will use the data captured by ANPR cameras for'.

Premier Park have failed to clearly inform drivers about the fully automated ANPR and cameras and what the data will be used for and how it will be used and stored. I have also seen no evidence that they have complied with the other requirements in that section of the code in terms of ANPR logs and maintenance and I put this Operator to strict proof of full ANPR compliance.

I require that Premier Park present records as to the dates and times of when the cameras at this car park were checked, adjusted, calibrated, synchronised with the timer which stamps the photos and generally maintained to ensure the accuracy of the dates and times of any ANPR images. This is important because the entirety of the charge is founded on two images purporting to show my vehicle entering and exiting at specific times. It is vital that this Operator must produce evidence in response and explain to POPLA how their system differs (if at all) from the flawed ANPR system which was wholly responsible for the court loss in ParkingEye v Fox-Jones on 8 Nov 2013. That case was dismissed when the judge said the evidence from ParkingEye was fundamentally flawed because the synchronisation of the camera pictures with the timer had been called into question and the operator could not rebut the point.

I also require Premier Park to show evidence to rebut the following assertion that in the case of the vehicle in question being in this car park, a local camera took the image but a remote server added the time stamp. As the two are disconnected by the internet, in a coastal area prone to unreliable connections, and do not have a common "time synchronisation system", there is no proof that the time stamp added is actually the exact time of the image. The operator appears to use WIFI which introduces a delay through buffering, so "live" is not really "live". Hence without a synchronised time stamp there is no evidence that the image is ever time stamped with an accurate time. Therefore I contend that this ANPR "evidence" from the cameras in this car park is just as unreliable and unsynchronised as the evidence in the Fox-Jones case. As their whole charge rests upon two timed photos, I put Premier Park to strict proof to the contrary and to show how these camera timings are synchronised with the actual time of day.

I contend that as well as being unreliable, this is a non-compliant ANPR system being merely a secret spy camera - far from 'transparent' - unreasonably harvesting the data from moving vehicles at the entrance and exit and neither 'managing, enforcing nor controlling parking' since the cameras are not concerned with any aspect of the actual parking spaces, nor any parking event at all.

5. Non-liability of Registered Keeper
As the Registered Keeper of the vehicle, I cannot be held liable for the charges as these are the result of actions by the driver. I refer to Protection of Freedoms Act2012, Schedule 4, paragraph 4 which states in part:

(1) The creditor has the right to recover any unpaid parking charges from the keeper of the vehicle.
(2) The right under this paragraph applies only if—
(a) the conditions specified in paragraphs 5, 6, 11 and 12 (so far as applicable) are met and
(b)the vehicle was not a stolen vehicle at the beginning of the period of parking to which the unpaid parking charges relate.

The following conditions have not been met (with reference to the relevant paragraphs in the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012):

Paragraph 6 (1)(b). The creditor has not given a notice to keeper in accordance with paragraph 9, specifically paragraph 9(2)(f) which I have already referred to in 2.

Paragraph 12. The applicable requirements prescribed under this paragraph were not all met at the beginning of the period of parking to which the unpaid parking charges relate. Notably:

Paragraph 12(2). The prescribed requirements by the BPA, of which the creditor is a member, which refer to the display of notices on relevant land where parking charges may be incurred in respect of the parking of vehicles on the land have not been met as I referred to in 4.

Paragraph 12(3)c. The location of any notices required to be displayed has not been met as I have referred to in 4.


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Hi ho silver lin...
post Thu, 26 Sep 2019 - 15:48
Post #24


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Member No.: 105,302



Help! I am trying to upload the PDF as part of my on-line POPLA appeal but have twice got messages to say an error has occurred while uploading the file and to try again later. I'm using Safari. Should I start again from the beginning and try using Google Chrome instead? Getting a bit concerned as this is my last day for submission. I'm photographing the computer screen to show the date and time of each failed attempt. I have tried calling POPLA but all you get is recorded messages.

UPDATE
By trial and error I have found that the POPLA system will accept a word version of my document minus pictures (it will not accept one including pictures so maybe I have not included the pictures in the right way). It will not accept a PDF either including or excluding pictures. Therefore I have attached a word version minus pictures and attached the photos separately. Unless anyone can provide technical help on how to get to an acceptable PDF including pictures I think given the deadline that I'm going to submit the word doc and photos as separate attachments.

This post has been edited by Hi ho silver lining: Thu, 26 Sep 2019 - 17:30
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Macapaca
post Thu, 26 Sep 2019 - 17:11
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Send it by email to info@popla.co.uk
Include your POPLA code in the subject line.

I had similar problems and they were happy to accept the appeal by email.
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Hi ho silver lin...
post Thu, 26 Sep 2019 - 17:39
Post #26


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Group: Members
Posts: 11
Joined: 18 Aug 2019
Member No.: 105,302



Many thanks. I am going to submit the word doc and separate pictures on-line and for insurance purposes I will email the PDF with the pictures to info@popla.co.uk.

From now on I am going to actively avoid all carparks whenever I can! My top tip is to join the National Trust and then you can use theirs for free.

I will let everyone know how I get on with my appeal and again thank you everyone for all your help. This has been on my mind for sometime and it is no wonder that many people go for the easy option and just pay up.

This post has been edited by Hi ho silver lining: Thu, 26 Sep 2019 - 17:58
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