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Successful challenge to StarPark long stay ticket
hamster27
post Thu, 12 Sep 2019 - 17:45
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I parked in a long stay car park next to a railway station, managed by StarPark. It said that I had ten minutes from leaving my car to pay; my train left in five, so I hopped on that and was going to pay on the train. Turn out that finding a space didn't guarantee that I could park in it, but the T&C didn't say that. They told me I had to move my car within 2.5h or I would be charged but I was away from the day.

Appealed to StarPark who turned it down.

Further appealed to POPLA, the adjudicator for this sort of thing, who upheld my appeal: I don't have to pay anything. The thrust of my argument was 'The generally accepted principle of a car park is to find a space and park in it, and there wasn't anything in their T&Cs which indicated that finding a space didn't mean I could park in it'.

Just wanted to post it here in case others are in the same situation. Below is the adjudicator's response.

Hamster

--
My appeal


POPLA response
The appellant has indicated that he was the driver on the date of the contravention. I will therefore be considering his liability as driver of the vehicle. The operator has provided photographic evidence of the signage in place at the site showing the terms and conditions. They state, “FOR MORE THAN 2 ½ HOURS PARKING USE SPACES 1-26 AT THE REAR AND PAY AS ABOVE” and “If you do not obtain a valid permit, you must (a) make a payment within 2 hours 30 minutes of arrival; (b) not overstay the purchased parking time; © provide your full, exact registration number when making your payment”. The operator has provided photographic evidence of the appellant’s vehicle entering the site at 11:06 and departing at 17:48 on 2 July 2019. From this, I am satisfied that the vehicle was at the site for six hours 42 minutes. From the evidence provided I consider that there appears to be a contract between the appellant and the operator, and the evidence suggests the terms and conditions have been breached. I will now look at the appellant’s grounds of appeal to determine if they make a material difference to the validity of the PCN. POPLA is an evidence-based appeals service. All appeals are decided using the evidence and statements from the appellant and the parking operator, using the British Parking Association (BPA) Code of Practice as guidance for an expectation of minimum standards. POPLA’s main responsibility is to determine whether a PCN was issued in accordance with the terms and conditions. When assessing an appeal the burden of proof lies with the operator and it is the operator’s responsibility to provide sufficient evidence in rebuttal of the appellant’s statement. The appellant states that all other car parks work under the principle of find a space and then pay for parking. The appellant states that accordingly he found a space in the correct area of the car park and parked. The appellant states that the terms of the car park say that he should use the app or phone to pay for parking within ten minutes of parking. The appellant states that the car park is next to a railway station and his train was due to leave five minutes after parking, so he boarded the train and used the app to try to pay for parking. The appellant states that he received a message saying that an error had occurred and that he should phone to pay. The appellant states that he did that immediately. The appellant states that when he phoned, he was advised that he could not park in that part of the car park and needed to move his vehicle within two hours 30 minutes, or he would receive a PCN. The appellant states that he was already on the train and unable to return for the rest of the day. The appellant states that there is nothing in the terms and conditions stating that finding a space does not guarantee that it is available. The appellant states that had he known this he would not have parked. The appellant states that the terms of the car park are different from those generally understood at other car parks and they should have been clearly displayed to allow motorists who are unfamiliar with this system to park correctly. The appellant has provided photographic evidence of the signage at the site as evidence in support of the appeal. Section 18.3 of the BPA Code of Practice states, “Specific parking-terms signage tells drivers what your terms and conditions are, including your parking charges. You must place signs containing the specific parking terms throughout the site, so that drivers are given the chance to read them at the time of parking or leaving their vehicle. Keep a record of where all the signs are. Signs must be conspicuous and legible, and written in intelligible language, so that they are easy to see, read and understand”. From the evidence provided by both the appellant and operator I cannot determine that the terms and conditions of the site are easy to see, read and understand. While I agree that the appellant should not have left the car park without making payment for parking. The operator does not make it clear that parking periods in excess of two hours 30 minutes are limited and that parking at the site does not guarantee a extended parking period. Fundamentally, it is the operator’s responsibility to provide sufficient evidence showing the PCN was issued correctly. I determine that on this occasion the operator has failed to do this and as such, I am unable to determine whether the PCN was issued correctly. As such, I will allow this appeal and the other grounds raised do not require any further consideration In conclusion, the burden of proof lies with the operator and I determine on this occasion the operator has failed to provide sufficient evidence demonstrating that the PCN was issued correctly.
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