Author Topic: APCOA PCN at Hospital  (Read 44 times)

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APCOA PCN at Hospital
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So I have just received in the post a PCN from Apcoa for failure to pay for a session at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading. It is a company car, owned by my company. The driver thought that they were covered by a disabled permit, but we had failed to transfer the permit to this vehicle. Barrier went up on exit but subsequent reading of the hospital website suggests this is the case whether payment made or not. The hospital are saying not our problem so need to deal with Apcoa.

PCN:
Image 260603 Apcoa PCN 2 hosted on ImgBB
ImgBB · ibb.co

Image 260603 Apcoa PCN 1 hosted on ImgBB
ImgBB · ibb.co


I'm thinking the response should be to trot on because the NTK is non-compliant with PoFA shedule 4, in particular the clause regarding transfer of liability quoted below, and we are under no obligation to (and will not) identify the driver:

9 2 (f) warn the keeper that if, after the period of 28 days beginning with the day after that on which the notice is given—

(i) the amount of the unpaid parking charges specified under paragraph (d) has not been paid in full, and

(ii) the creditor does not know both the name of the driver and a current address for service for the driver,

the creditor will (if all the applicable conditions under this Schedule are met) have the right to recover from the keeper so much of that amount as remains unpaid;

I don't have photos of the signs at the car park but doubt that is relevant.

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Re: APCOA PCN at Hospital
« Reply #1 on: »
Are you the registered keeper of the car?
If not, you need to get the keeper to respond to APCOA to identify you as the hirer, and respond to a Notice to Hirer sent to you in due course. This notice will fail PoFA 2012 paragraphs 13 & 14 which will be a clearer, more definitive and simpler appeal point.
You should also note that it is our experience that APCOA do not take people to court.
The notice you have posted contains instructions on how the registered keeper should identify the hirer. This gets the registered keeper off the hook also.
« Last Edit: Today at 03:46:01 pm by jfollows »

Re: APCOA PCN at Hospital
« Reply #2 on: »
The company is the registered keeper. It is not a hire/lease car so paragraphs 13 & 14 od PoFA don't apply AFAIK. I am one of the owners/directors of the company.

Re: APCOA PCN at Hospital
« Reply #3 on: »
In which case, if the notice is addressed to the company, you could appeal online as the company, along the lines of the below:

Dear Sirs,

We, [COMPANY NAME] have received your Parking Charge Notice (Ref: ________) for vehicle registration mark ____ ___, in which you allege that the driver has incurred a parking charge. We note from your correspondence that you are not seeking to hold us liable as the registered keeper, under Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 ("The Act"). You have chosen not to issue a Notice to Keeper in accordance with The Act, and it is now too late for you to do so.

As a body corporate, we are not and cannot be the driver. There is no obligation for us to name the driver and we will not be doing so. We are therefore unable to help you further with this matter, and look forward to your confirmation that the charge has been cancelled. If you choose to decline this appeal, you must issue a POPLA code.

Yours,

For your benefit, a more obvious PoFA failure than 9(2)(f) is that they have failed to deliver the notice within 14 days. The parking event was on 21/05/26, and the notice was issued on 03/06/26. With notices issued by post presumed delivered 2 working days later, this means it was presumed delivered on 05/06/26, 15 days after the parking event.
« Last Edit: Today at 03:57:22 pm by DWMB2 »

Re: APCOA PCN at Hospital
« Reply #4 on: »
Many thanks. Hopefully they'll accept the appeal. If not the out of time NTK is a sure thing.  :)

Re: APCOA PCN at Hospital
« Reply #5 on: »
Whilst previous performance is not a guarantee of future success, in my experience APCOA do often cancel on first appeal when they realise they're against a well-informed appellant.