Free Traffic Legal Advice

Classification: Official

Our ref: <snip>

Dear <tango33>

Thank you for your recent correspondence. 

We value people contacting us with information. This helps us to tackle anti-competitive behaviour and protect people and businesses from being disadvantaged by unfair practices. 

Please be aware that the CMA has no powers to take action or open a case on behalf of an individual customer or business to intervene or adjudicate in disputes. The CMA cannot provide legal advice or guidance on compliance with the law on an individual basis. We also can’t say whether a specific situation could breach the law.

What happens now?

Our Intelligence Team will now analyse your enquiry using our published prioritisation principles.  We prioritise the cases that are most likely to make a real difference for people and the UK economy based on our available resources and the likelihood of a successful outcome. 

Can I get an update on my enquiry? 

We are unable to give you an update on your enquiry. We find all enquiries useful to inform our current and future work. However, we offer no guarantee as to where or how your enquiry may be used.

Will the CMA investigate my enquiry?

We review all the enquiries that we receive. This helps us to understand:

    whether different industries in the UK economy are competitive
    if competition law is being broken
    if shoppers or businesses are being disadvantaged.

Even if we don’t immediately investigate your enquiry, it may lead to us taking further action in the future.

Do I need to do anything else?

You do not need to do anything. If we need further information, we will contact you.

Thank you again for taking the time to contact us.

Yours sincerely

Carol Sampson (she/her) | Enquiries Admin Officer | Strategy, Communications and Advocacy | Competition and Markets Authority
The Cabot | 25 Cabot Square | London | E14 4QZ
           http://www.gov.uk/cma  | @CMAgovUK

Dear <tango33>,

Thank you for your email regarding Flexible Resolution Services (FRS).

ADR has been designed as a way to resolve disputes between a business and a customer. It can be used when things go wrong and when it is not possible for the parties involved to resolve it themselves. It is when a third, independent, party can become involved in the dispute, who looks at both sides of the argument to come to a conclusion.

The aim of ADR is to resolve disputes at a lower cost, although many ADR bodies offer their service free to a consumer. ADR is also quicker and more informal than it would be to pursue legal action through the courts. ADR can be a very successful mechanism for resolving disputes and we can report that several thousand people each year use ADR, although it is not guaranteed to be successful for the consumer in every instance. Those who make use of ADR are still able to pursue their complaint through the courts should they wish to do so.

ADR has been designed with an aim to put the parties back into the position they would have been in should the issue have not occurred. It will usually take into consideration any applicable law and codes of practice that may be relevant. ADR schemes will rarely offer any sort of compensation, but rather offers remedies such as a repair, replacement or refund, as prescribed by the law.

I can confirm that FRS are one of the approved ADR bodies, overseen by CTSI. I understand from your email that you feel the signage at the site did not communicate any contractual terms and consequently, did not constitute an offer. You further assert that the operator's evidence has not successfully rebutted this position. In addition, you believe that FRS has breached Articles 7(1), 9 (2) and 11 of ADR legislation.

Thank you for providing this information and rest assured that we will now address the issues that you have raised with FRS directly and take further action with the body, as necessary. Any non-compliance issues that are identified will be treated as commercially sensitive and, whilst they will be reported to the Department of Business and Trade (DBT), we are unable to share them any further.

In our role as Competent Authority, we oversee CTSI approved ADR bodies to ensure that they are compliant with the requirements which are set out in the legislation. In the event that we were to find an ADR body to be non-compliant with the legislation, our first step would be to work with the ADR body directly to resolve the issues. We would aid them to amend their processes as necessary, in order to reach full compliance. This is also something that would be closely monitored with the body, in order to ensure their maintained compliance. All approved ADR bodies are audited biennially by CTSI, to ensure their continued compliance.

Should you be dissatisfied with the outcome reached by the ADR body, you may wish to seek legal redress through the courts. You can find out more information by clicking https://www.gov.uk/make-court-claim-for-money.

You can also seek the advice of the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline. You can call them on 0808 223 1133 or view their website by clicking https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/get-more-help/if-you-need-more-help-about-a-consumer-issue/. They will also be able to give you information on your consumer rights.

If we could take this opportunity to thank you for the information you have provided, this is very helpful for our ongoing monitoring of the CTSI approved ADR bodies. We trust this correspondence has explained our role as Competent Authority and that you find the information useful.

Kind regards,

<snip>
ACS & ADR Coordinator

Email: <snip>@tsi.org.uk
Web: www.tradingstandards.uk

Dear <tango33>,

Thank you for your email regarding POPLA.

The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) is the government-appointed Competent Authority for approving and overseeing approved Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) bodies in the unregulated sectors, under the Alternative Dispute Resolution for Consumer Disputes (Competent Authorities and Information) Regulations 2015. We act as the Competent Authority on behalf of the Secretary of State. We can only assess complaints where there appears to be evidence of a breach of the ADR legislation.

We are unable to consider matters relating to POPLA, as they are not one of our approved ADR bodies. However, POPLA outsources its ADR to Flexible Resolution Services (FRS), which is an approved ADR body under our oversight.

From the attachments you provided, it appears that your complaint was handled by FRS. Could you kindly confirm whether your concern relates specifically to FRS's ADR process?

I look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards,

Jane ....
ACS & ADR Coordinator
Email: ....@tsi.org.uk
Web: www.tradingstandards.uk

Dear <tango33>

Thank you for your recent communication, I am sorry that you have been unhappy with our service. I can see that your concerns have not been fully addressed within our previous responses and understand why you have felt the need to escalate further.

You have raised concerns that the parking signs only list actions not permitted and not an offer to park with a corresponding charge if violated. You state that the wording implies that the £100 is a consequence of breaking the rules and not a fee for a parking service.

The signage describes the site as a car park, and the contract between the landowner and parking operator says parking is permitted within marked bays for permit holders. This suggests parking is permitted is designated areas but not in general. However, the signs in the car park do not set out the terms allowing parking, only the parking prohibitions.

From the evidence available, I am not satisfied that the operator rebutted your appeal reason that there was no contract on offer. I would also agree that on this occasion, the comparison with Beavis Vs ParkingEye was not appropriate. Neither the terms nor reference to the amount is relevant to the grounds of appeal.

I agree that we made the wrong decision on this appeal and feedback will be provided both to the individual involved and the wider team.

We consistently review the quality of the decision making through regular quality assessments completed by our most experienced assessors and Coaches. We use the trends and insights from both our assessment and customer feedback to work on continuously improving our knowledge, systems and processes.

I sincerely apologise once again for the error in judgement on this occasion.

I trust that my response answers your concerns and thank you for taking the time to raise your concerns. Your feedback is vital to improving our service.

Kind regards


Helen

Leader
flexibleresolutionservices.co.uk

You can identify the driver at any point up to the issue of a claim. However, in order to do so, you must provide a valid name and a serviceable address. What do you Ean by being able to "trace" the driver?

If you don't follow the advice given then don't expect much more. You were advised to send the formal complaint to POPLA. You didn't.

As you have been advised, a POPLA decision is not binding on you. All you can do now is either identify the driver and proverbially throw them under the bus or just ignore everything until if/when they send a Letter of Claim (LoC). You can safely ignore all debt recovery letters. They are powerless except to try and make the low-hanging fruit on the gullible tree pay up out of ignorance and fear.

Hi <tango33>

Thank you for your contact.

As POPLA has now reached its final decision our involvement in your appeal ends. There is no further appeals process available to either party.

If your appeal has been unsuccessful; and you wish to continue to dispute the issue of the parking charge notice, there may still be options available however POPLA is not able to be involved.

For confidential and impartial advice, you may wish to contact Citizen’s Advice Bureau on 0800 144 8848 or 0800 702 2020 if you live in Wales or 0800 028 1456 if you live in Scotland.

Kind Regards,

Anthony
POPLA Assessor