Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.

Messages - ZigZagZog

Pages: [1]
1
https://news.sky.com/story/money-live-consumer-personal-finance-tips-sky-news-latest-13040934?postid=11649589#liveblog-body

A record number of private parking fine were successfully appealed to the industry body last year, the Money blog can reveal.

Britons submitted 107,202 appeals via the POPLA process in the year to October 2025, the first time ever that's breached 100,000.

And there was a significant rise in cancelled fines as the impact of a new appeals charter was felt.

The numbers are...

39,522 appeals were uncontested by operator and therefore cancelled;
14,578 contested appeals were successful;
53,102 were refused.
That means 50.5% of appeals resulted in cancellation.

POPLA also asked operators to cancel 343 fines as a gesture of goodwill due to mitigating circumstances. This worked 201 times.

Many of the appeals centred on motorists not understanding the rules - either because they were unclear or because of misinformation online.

"Confusion is clearly profitable," said consumer disputes expert Scott Dixon, who frequently points out that private parking tickets are invoices, not fines.

"It's mindblowing how many people just pay it without question because they think it's a 'fine' - that's part of the business model.

"That explains why parking charge notices (invoices issued by parking firms) look similar to penalty charge notices (council fines)."

The government is still consulting on the introduction of its own code of practice.

POPLA said it saw "significant activity" with appeals on keying errors, airport drop offs, liability and where AI was used by the operator.

In a bid the end confusion among motorists, it clarified the rules in a few common areas.

Not paying in time

Car parks increasingly require payment within a set number of minutes, but motorists may be hampered by poor mobile signal or issues with apps.

Fines should often not be issued where full payment has eventually been made, POPLA has clarified...

In February 2025 the Private Parking Scrutiny and Advice Panel (PPSAP)... updated the appeals charter to include that motorists using private car parks equipped with camera technology - such as Automatic Number Plate Recognition or CCTV monitoring - should no longer receive a parking charge provided they pay for the full duration of their stay before leaving the car park.

Keying errors

This is a topic we explored here earlier this year...


POPLA said...

If a motorist has made a simple error, such as transposing 0 for an O, parking operators are expected to identify this and not issue parking charges. If an operator does issue a parking charge, they should cancel it in full when a motorist appeals.

If a motorist makes an error that a parking operator cannot identify, for example they enter several digits incorrectly, the operator is entitled to charge up to £20 to cover administration costs.

We've seen a lot of appeals where operators have met the expectation of offering a reduction to £20, but the motorist has rejected this offer and appealed to POPLA. Many motorists believe the parking charge must be invalid - or the operator wouldn't be offering a reduction. This often results in worse outcomes for the motorist - because if they have made an error when inputting their registration, it's likely their appeal will be refused and they will become liable for the full parking charge.

Airport drop-offs

POPLA said it had seen an increase in appeals due to recent changes from barrier-controlled exits to barrierless systems, along with the shift to payment after exit within a specific timeframe. It added...

With these car parks, motorists are often expected to pay online by midnight the day after their visit to the drop off zone. Many motorists forget to pay by the deadline. Our advice to motorists when visiting airport drop off zones is to ensure they read the terms and conditions and make payment promptly - the longer it is left, the easier it is to forget.


Liability disputes

Many appellants say they were not the driver at the time of the incident and contend that the parking operator cannot hold them liable.

But POPLA said...

Parking operators can transfer liability to the vehicle's keeper if the keeper fails to identify the driver after receiving an enforceable notification.

Parking operators are experienced at sending notices to keepers and, generally, notices tend to contain accurate information and are sent within relevant deadlines.

If a vehicle keeper was not driving the vehicle at the time of the alleged improper parking, they can provide the parking operator with the details of the person who was driving to stop liability transferring to them.

If they don't want to do this, they can seek details from the driver and include appeal details relating to what happened on the day and why they believe the parking charge is invalid or unfair.

3
Sorry for huge gap in replying.

I did not get it in writing but have heard nothing from ALDI since. It's coming up to 6 mths now since the PCN was sent to the RK, can they safely assume this matter is dead?

TIA.

4
No, sorry. I meant for that to go in Private parking tickets, I must have clicked the wrong section.

Do you have the power to move it or should it be deleted & I'll start over?

6
Wesley, a young manager at the store who is clearly destined for greatness cancelled the PCN on the spot with no quibbling or snivelling. He said the cancellation letter from PE would take a couple of weeks but I was NOT to pay anything in the meantime.

How refreshing.

7
Parking Eye, working for Aldi in Wokingham (Wellington Rd, Wokingham RG40 2EX) have sent the registered keeper a £70 PCN for, AFAICT, not entering the vehicles reg # in their after checkout terminal. The car was in & out of the carpark in 15 minutes. PE have provided clear photos of the car arriving & departing 15 minutes later, which makes me wonder why they needed me to checkout on their terminal in the first place!

I've read the READ THIS FIRST page & know I'll probably have to take photos of the signage, redact & post the PCN, appeal to PE, appeal to POPLA, write to my MP, get the PM involved & all the rest of it (this isn't my first PCN rodeo) but before starting down that road I wondered what the panel think my chances are of encountering a store manager with a little bit of common sense & having this charge cancelled?

8
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/08/08/tfl-speeding-driver-fights-court-case-lbc-host-iain-dale/

Victory for driver fighting speeding charge could lead to 60k convictions being overturned
Previous motorists prosecuted include LBC radio presenter Iain Dale

Gareth Corfield Transport Correspondent
08 August 2025 8:41pm BST

A senior Transport for London manager has claimed that there is no need to tell motorists whenever speed limits are temporarily lowered.

Gerard O’Toole, the authority’s network regulation manager, told a court that he believed details of “emergency” cuts to speed limits did not have to be made available to the public – even though such orders effectively create new criminal offences.

Mr O’Toole was giving evidence during the trial of John Dunlop, 55, who is accused of breaking a temporary 40mph speed limit imposed on the A20 near Sidcup, south-east London, last year.

As many as 60,000 motorists have been prosecuted for speeding along the same stretch of road between late 2023 and early 2024, campaigners have previously said. Victory by Mr Dunlop could potentially lead to the conviction of these drivers being overturned.

Those previously prosecuted include LBC radio presenter Iain Dale, who said last year that the case against him collapsed after a police witness failed to attend court.

Normally the speed limit on that stretch of the A2, which is the main road between south-east London and Kent, is set at 70mph. It was lowered at short notice in October 2023 after standing water formed on the carriageway, causing a traffic safety hazard.

Mr Dunlop’s defence is that temporary speed limit signs put up by TfL contractor FM Conway were below the legally required minimum size.

He also claims they were positioned too low down at the sides of the road for motorists to see them, as traffic sign rules require.

Mr Dunlop, of Chislehurst, Kent, also claims a temporary traffic regulation order (TRO) made by TfL, giving precise details of where the speed limit had been dropped, could not be read by any member of the public despite putting drivers in legal peril if they broke it.

At Bromley magistrates’ court on Friday, Mr O’Toole was asked by Mr Dunlop’s counsel Chris Jeyes: “You recognise, undoubtedly, that making a traffic order is making a serious step? It may criminalise actions that may not otherwise be criminal?”

The TfL manager, who was wearing a grey suit, rimless glasses with black arms and white-soled shoes, replied “Yes”, later adding that for temporary TROs: “There’s no statutory requirement on us to publish them.”

When asked if he believed that the Openness of Local Government Regulations 2014 apply to TfL – a law which says public authorities must make formal records of their decisions available to the general public – Mr O’Toole answered: “The openness regulations, yes, they apply to Transport for London. Obviously they don’t apply to the making of traffic orders. Because traffic orders have their own legislation and own set of statutory guidance.”

Mr O’Toole also said that TfL had taken out advertisements in local newspapers the Bexley News and the News Shopper saying that the speed limit on the A20 near Sidcup had been lowered.

District Judge Sarah Turnock adjourned the case until Nov 13.

10
The Flame Pit / Re: Finding pepipoo - contact made.
« on: April 07, 2025, 11:52:02 am »
What happened to the old PPP site?

I only realised it was defunct after I referred someone there for help with a private parking ticket.

12
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/02/12/five-minute-parking-rule-scrapped-private-car-parks/


Victory for drivers as five-minute parking rule scrapped

Private car park users have been ticketed for failing to pay quickly enough after arriving


Gareth Corfield
Transport Correspondent
12 February 2025 6:22am GMT

Motorists will have more time to pay for car parking as the controversial five-minute rule is scrapped in a rare victory for drivers.

Private car park users have been ticketed for failing to pay within a certain time – usually five or 10 minutes – after arriving at a car park.

A woman was taken to court last year by a private parking company which demanded she pay £1,906 after poor mobile phone signal meant she repeatedly took more than five minutes to pay after entering a car park in Derby.

Now, however, the industry’s two trade associations have said their code of conduct would be updated to provide a “safeguard” when motorists experience delays in making parking payments.

The British Parking Association (BPA) and the International Parking Community (IPC) said drivers should no longer be issued tickets for using privately owned car parks where a fixed camera monitors when cars enter and exit, as long as they pay before they leave.

The change, which will not apply to council-run car parks or those where wardens are deployed, is being made by a panel established by the industry bodies last month. It comes after The Telegraph revealed in January that the changes were set to be announced.

Will Hurley, the IPC chief executive, said: “It is crucial that there is a mechanism to identify and resolve issues quickly.

“I am pleased that the panel has acted swiftly to introduce safeguards for motorists. It is important drivers play their part by reading and following instructions on signage when parking their vehicle.”

Andrew Pester, the BPA chief executive, said: “It is a real testament to the [panel] that this change has been implemented so efficiently.

“The parking sector is always striving to ensure it operates in the interest of compliant motorists and to ensure that parking is fairly managed for all.

“This change is another important step in achieving this.”

Motoring groups, however, repeated previous calls for a legally binding, Government-backed code of practice to be introduced to regulate private parking operators.

The RAC says the change is 'the latest attempt to make the private parking industry look fair'
The RAC says the change is ‘the latest attempt to make the private parking industry look fair’ Credit: Moment RF
Jack Cousens, the AA head of roads policy, said: “This change to the self-authored code by private parking operators only highlights the urgent necessity to implement the Government-backed code of practice alongside a truly independent single appeals process and oversight board.

“Until the statutory system is in place, drivers will continue to receive aggressive letters from shark-like companies that scare people into payment even though they may have done nothing wrong.”

Simon Williams, the RAC head of policy, said: “This is the latest attempt to make the private parking industry look fair.

“As there’s no information on how the change will work in practice, we fear it will make little difference to drivers.”

A bill to enable the introduction of a Government-backed code for private parking companies received Royal Assent under the Conservative government in March 2019. It was withdrawn in June 2022 after a legal challenge by parking companies.

This code included halving the cap on tickets for most parking offences to £50, creating a fairer appeals system and banning the use of aggressive language on tickets.

The BPA and IPC’s own code of practice was introduced in June last year.

Private parking businesses have been accused of using misleading and confusing signs, aggressive debt collection and unreasonable fees.

Drivers in Britain are being hit by an average of more than 41,000 parking tickets a day by private companies.

Some 3.8 million tickets were handed out between July and September 2024, according to analysis of Government data by the PA news agency and the RAC Foundation, a motoring research charity.

Each ticket can be up to £100, meaning the total cost to drivers may be near £4.1 million per day.

Pages: [1]