Free Traffic Legal Advice
Live cases legal advice => Private parking tickets => Topic started by: Bhpcn on March 02, 2026, 10:31:33 am
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Will do, thank you!
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Yes - send to POPLA using the code which they provided.
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I sent the above off and received a reply which suggests it needs to go to POPLA, what do you think?
Reference: Parking Charge Notice - 539430/739720
POPLA Ref: 6060756175
Dear Sir / Madam,
Thank you for your further correspondence in relation to the Parking Charge incurred on
22 February 2026 at 14:36, at Farmfoods Brierley Hill car park.
After reviewing the case we can see that you have already been provided with a POPLA
reference and notification that the appeal has been rejected.
If you do not agree with this decision, then you are able to submit an appeal to POPLA
using the POPLA reference quoted at the top of this letter. Further information and
instructions of how to make an appeal can be found within the rejection notification and
via POPLA’s website www.popla.co.uk.
As you have reached the end of our internal appeals process, we kindly advise that any
further appeal points you wish to make are raised within an appeal to POPLA.
Alternatively, a payment can be made by telephoning 0330 555 4444, by visiting
www.parkingeye.co.uk/payments or alternatively by posting a cheque/postal order to
Parkingeye Ltd, PO Box 117, Blyth, NE24 9EJ. Please ensure you write your reference
number on the reverse of any cheque/postal order so the payment can be allocated.
Yours faithfully,
Parkingeye Team
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POPLA Appeal.
I am making this appeal as the Registered Keeper of the vehicle in question.
The driver is not known to the parking operator.
Having examined the NtK, I can see that the notice is not compliant with PoFA as it is missing both key wording and a legal choice which must be presented to the vehicle keeper.
PoFA Schedule 4 Paragraph 9(2)(e) specifies the following;
THE NOTICE MUST 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; or
(ii)if the keeper was not the driver of the vehicle, to notify the creditor of the name of the driver and a current address for service for the driver and to pass the notice on to the driver;
So, in order to be compliant, we are looking for a paragraph within the NtK which sets out the section of mandatory wording which is then immediately followed by the two limbed legal choice required by 9(2)(e)(i) and 9(2)(e)(ii) - the two limbs of the legal choice should be separated by the Boolean operator "OR" and the two limbed choice must be presented as 'an invitation to the keeper'.
PLEASE DO NOT CONFUSE THE REQUIREMENTS OF 9(2)(f) WITH THOSE OF 9(2)(e) / 9(2)(e)(i) / 9(2)(e)(ii) - 9(2)(f) represent 'warnings to the keeper' and NOT 'an invitation to the keeper'.
So, in accordance with POPLA Appeal Rules, I will put forward my appeal points which I require the parking operator to specifically rebut;
Appeal Point One.
The NtK does not meet the requirements of PoFA Schedule 4 Paragraph 9(2)(e) - Demonstration of compliance is easily established since the NtK is available for examination - I therefore ask the operator to supply a copy of their NtK, to the POPLA Assessor, which includes an orange rectangle highlighting both the required mandatory wording and the subsequent two limbed legal invitation to the keeper, separated by the word "or" which 9(2)(e) requires.
Appeal Point Two.
In particular, the NtK does not set out the 'invitation to the keeper to pay the unpaid parking charges' as required by 9(2)(e)(i) - I once again ask the operator to prove compliance by providing a copy of their NtK which highlights (using a yellow rectangle) the first limb of the legal choice which requires the NtK to invite the keeper to pay the unpaid charges.
Please do not confuse the driver with the keeper when making responses.
Both of these appeal points relate to 9(2)(e) and there is no need for the parking operator to demonstrate compliance with other sections in an effort to skip over the missing components of 9(2)(e).
Please respond using the point numbers above as to demonstrate specific rebuttal as required by POPLA.
Best wishes,
xxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx
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For the record, I'm quietly confident that we can word a single appeal point POPLA appeal which they will find very difficult to rebut.
I can come up with something.
Give me 24 hours or so.
Any update, a slam dunk POPLA appeal based on POFA wording non-compliance would be pretty useful in a number of current cases?
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Thanks so much!
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I can come up with something.
Give me 24 hours or so.
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Just wondered if anyone’s had chance to look at this yet please?
I’m 50/50 on just paying it to avoid the stress of it but that’s exactly what they bank on, isn’t it?
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Hello again!
As expected, the appeal has been denied. I’ve pasted the response below (cut out the bit re how to pay as didn’t seem relevant) - if anybody is able to suggest the next step please, would be appreciated!
Thank you for your appeal in relation to the Parking Charge incurred on 22 February 2026
at 14:36, at Farmfoods Brierley Hill car park.
We have reviewed the details outlined in your appeal, but we are not in receipt of
sufficient evidence to confirm that the terms and conditions were not breached. The
signage displayed on site confirms that there is a maximum stay time in operation. Our
records confirm that on the date of the event, the maximum stay time allowed was
exceeded.
We are writing to advise you that your recent appeal has been unsuccessful and that you
have now reached the end of our internal appeals procedure.
If you wish to have your case independently assessed, please be advised, there is an
independent appeals service (POPLA) which is available to motorists who have had an
appeal rejected by a British Parking Association Approved Operator. Contact information
and further information can be found enclosed. See also www.popla.co.uk
By law we are also required to inform you that Ombudsman Services (www.ombudsman-
services.org/) provides an alternative dispute resolution service that would be competent
to deal with your appeal. However, we have not chosen to participate in their alternative
dispute resolution service. As such should you wish to appeal then you must do so to
POPLA, as explained above.
Please note, if the Parking Charge was issued in Scotland/Northern Ireland, only the
driver can appeal to POPLA (Parking on Private Land Appeals).
As a gesture of goodwill, we have extended the discount period for a further 14 days from
the date of this correspondence. If you appeal to POPLA, you will not be able to pay the
discounted amount in settlement of the Parking Charge, and the full value of the charge
will be outstanding. In addition, if your appeal to POPLA is unsuccessful, you will no
longer be able to pay the discounted amount and the full value of the charge will be due.
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For the record, I'm quietly confident that we can word a single appeal point POPLA appeal which they will find very difficult to rebut.
Let's deal with that once you reach that stage.
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I appreciate everyone’s advice so far, I’ve sent off the appeal response mentioned above. I know nothing is a failsafe argument to get it cancelled but it’s worth a try!
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Unfortunately it's far from that straightforward and trying to suggest it is wont help people get their PCNs cancelled. All it does is give people the belief they have a slam dunk reason an appeal would be granted when the reality is the opposite.
Everyone who comes here seeking advice essentially has two options available to them; just pay the invoice or embark on a challenge, the first stage of which is an appeal.
Any appeal has to have grounds. I'm happy to be corrected but the strongest ground in my opinion is the fact that the document they have received is defective insofar as it cannot transfer liability from keeper to the unknown driver due to the omission of mandatory wording.
If it ends up before a District Judge it's quite a compelling argument if you ask the parking company's legal representative to highlight exactly where clause xyz is on their documentation.....I suspect that's why so many of these cases get canned at the point of paying the court fee.
I have tried to caveat advice elsewhere on this forum with "you should expect any appeal to fail" so if I have given any impression otherwise I apologise.....I personally think the whole appeals process (primary and secondary) to be a charade but it's one of the hoops to jump through to reach the end goal.
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Unfortunately it's far from that straightforward and trying to suggest it is wont help people get their PCNs cancelled. All it does is give people the belief they have a slam dunk reason an appeal would be granted when the reality is the opposite. Generally this type of appeal is only useful if the keeper is going through the motions of running the clock down to (hopefully) a discontinuation before court.
I've also had formal legal advice regarding the specific wording of a PCN to make it POFA compliant and that advice was not the same as one other regular poster had. We really wont know until a judge rules on a claim relying on this particular point and even then it is only applicable to the claim being considered and does not set a precedent for other claims.
If there are better grounds for appeal it is better to use them especially in a first stage appeal.
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On what grounds do you suspect the PCN has been incorrectly issued?
There is no invitation to the RK to pay the invoice.
Use the appeal above and it'll quickly move to step 3 in DWMB2's post above. If you're happy to play the waiting game hoping they will discontinue before court then that's fine. If you want to make it go away at first or second appeal stage you'll need something a lot stronger than telling Parking Eye they don't know how to word a PCN.
But the issue is that ParkingEye don't - their invoice fails to include the mandatory invitation to keeper to pay the charge required by POFA Schedule 4, para 9(2)(e).
POFA isn’t optional. If any of the statutory elements are missing, the NTK is non‑compliant and keeper liability cannot be created. In this case, the NTK simply does not contain the required invitation to the keeper to pay the charge or to name the driver.
That is a complete POFA failure, not a stylistic one. ParkingEye are therefore limited to pursuing the driver only, and as they do not know who that is, the keeper cannot be held liable.
Whether they discontinue before court is up to them, but the legal position is straightforward: no POFA compliance = no keeper liability.
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The driver of the vehicle absolutely did overstay, though it wasn’t their fault. Could they potentially ask the vendor who was running late to cover the costs, yes I suppose so.
But then, having heard in the past about PCNs being scare tactics for lack of a better phrase, I thought I’d turn to people with more experience than me to see if it was easily contestable rather than asking a small business to pay up.
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On what grounds do you suspect the PCN has been incorrectly issued? From what you've told us so far you simply overstayed the free stay period breaching the car park rules, hence the PCN.
Use the appeal above and it'll quickly move to step 3 in DWMB2's post above. If you're happy to play the waiting game hoping they will discontinue before court then that's fine. If you want to make it go away at first or second appeal stage you'll need something a lot stronger than telling Parking Eye they don't know how to word a PCN.
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@Bhpcn to give you a brief overview of the process you can expect challenging the notice:
- Initial appeal: Probably (almost certainly) rejected. If so:
- POPLA appeal: Probably (less certainly) rejected. If so:
- Debt Collector letters: Probably for some months. These can be ignored. Probably followed by:
- Letter of Claim: Either from ParkingEye directly, or solicitors acting on their behalf. Then:
- Court Claim: If handled by the third party DCB Legal, this will probably be discontinued. If ParkingEye run the claim themselves, they're more likely to go all the way to a hearing.
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I am the registered keeper.
As your notice is not PoFA compliant I will not be accepting any liability for the outstanding parking charges.
The driver is not known to you and I will not be providing any driver details.
Your options are;
Cancel the notice
OR
Waste further money by providing a POPLA referral code.
I am sorry that I am unable to help you further.
Many thanks,
xxxxxx xxxxxxxx
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Apologies - see below!
https://image2url.com/r2/default/images/1772451220654-07e9a401-0735-47e0-ba6c-a1a5f73320f6.jpeg
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And the back of the PCN please?
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Should be the signage as well, this is from Google Earth so a year old though.
https://image2url.com/r2/default/images/1772450214510-29f51f6c-2a83-4277-a918-462320496383.blob
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I was struggling to upload a pic on here - hopefully the url below works!
https://image2url.com/r2/default/images/1772449892769-873ce397-90ec-4c4a-83b7-7450b9f8e68e.jpeg
I had an appointment at a neighbouring unit, the PCN states Farmfoods so I assume it’s owned by them, but there are 3-4 different shops on the car park.
I can go back there and take a picture of the signage if necessary!
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Can you post up a copy of the PPN with personal details redacted?
Also, photos of the signage.
Who does the car park belong to, is it Farmfoods?
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Welcome to FTLA.
To help us provide the best advice, please read the following thread carefully and provide as much of the information it asks for as you are able to: READ THIS FIRST - Private Parking Charges Forum guide (https://www.ftla.uk/private-parking-tickets/read-this-first-private-parking-charges-forum-guide/)
Our normal first bit of advice is to contact the landowner and ask them to intervene, although from your account it's not immediately clear what 'appointment' the driver could have had at a Farmfoods store...
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Morning,
I’ve received a PCN in the post today from parking eye as the registered keeper of the vehicle in question, would appreciate any advice please!
On 22nd February, the driver entered the car park and found a space, parked up, and went for their appointment. The appointment ran over due to the vendor running late, and when the driver left the car park they had exceeded the maximum parking period.