APCOA PCN, wrong registration entered

APCOA PCN, wrong registration entered
Posted by DavCrav on 23 Apr, 2024 23:42
Hello,

I've received a PCN invoice from APCOA for "Use of a Private Car Park without a valid payment/permit", with the standard £50. This is technically the driver's fault, as they entered the number plate in incorrectly. The car number plate starts with two copies of the same letter, and on the small screen in the standard car park poor lighting the driver did not notice that the machine had registered three presses of the button, so ZZ12ABC became ZZZ12ABC. This is, of course, not a valid UK number plate, but I guess the machine allows eight characters for foreign vehicles.

They still have a copy of the ticket, saying payment until 14:59, and the car left at 15:02 (it's a multi-storey car park, so took a few minutes to leave). I know it's within the 10-minutes grace period that APCOA should allow under the BPA code of practice, so that doesn't worry me. The driver has clearly made a genuine attempt to pay, and did indeed pay, so is there a 'gold standard' thing to write in the appeal box?

Here is the front: https://imgur.com/a/WJqy27p
and the rear: https://imgur.com/a/tDgznCq

Edit: If this matters, the car park involved, Didcot Parkway Station car park, appears to be owned by Great Western Railway. As such it's railway land and POFA2012 doesn't apply? This is the first I've heard about this, and so I might well be completely wrong about this.

Edit 2: Having read the BPA code of practice further, I believe this falls under a combination of 13.3 for the grace period and 17.4 for a minor keying error.

#1 Reply
Posted by The Rookie on 24 Apr, 2024 10:36
APCOA will cancel with the forum PoFA appeal for station car parks, but yes, the keying error looks ‘minor’ and should see them cancel anyway.

#2 Reply
Posted by DWMB2 on 24 Apr, 2024 11:09
The grace period point is probably not relevant here - the allegation from APCOA isn't that the driver overstayed, but that they didn't pay. It's clear from your account that they did, albeit whilst making a minor keying error when inputting the vehicle reg. My view would be to make an appeal as the keeper (being careful not to identify who was driving), along these lines, providing a copy of the ticket if their system allows.

Dear Sirs,

I have received your Parking Charge Notice (Ref: ________) for vehicle registration mark ____ ___, in which you allege that the driver has incurred a parking charge. The driver purchased a ticket that covered the full duration of their stay, a copy of which is attached. The driver made a minor keying error inputting the VRM, inputting ____ ___, instead of the correct VRM ____ ___. This falls within the scope of a minor keying error, as specified by 17.4 of the BPA's Code of Practice - the charge should therefore be cancelled.

In addition, I note from your correspondence that you are not seeking to hold me liable as the registered keeper, under Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 ("The Act"). As this is a railway car park covered by byelaws, it is not relevant land for the purposes of the Act.

There is no obligation for me to name the driver and I will not be doing so. For the reasons outlined above, I 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,

If appealing online, be careful there are no drop down/tick boxes that cause you to identify who was driving, and keep a close eye on your spam folder for their response. If they do not respond within 35 days, chase them.

#3 Reply
Posted by DavCrav on 24 Apr, 2024 12:34
Thank you both for your answers, they are very helpful. Indeed, they are arguing non-payment, not overstay. 17.4 should deal with the non-payment argument, and they would have to produce a new NtK for the overstay. They cannot do that, I believe I have read (and it would also fall under 13.3 anyway).

As you said, I did notice that when clicking some boxes in the appeal to test out the system (without submitting anything) that anything other than choosing "Other" adds this extra statement at the top saying that you agree you are the driver and you definitely did it and agree it's your fault, which is added in addition to the chosen reason. This seems highly irregular, but since I have never been invited to pay an invoice on behalf of a driver before, I have not had to deal with any of these people or websites.

I will sort this out this evening, as there is no purpose in delaying it.

#4 Reply
Posted by DWMB2 on 24 Apr, 2024 12:36
Always choose "other" - there's no obligation to use one of their pre-selected reasons, you can explain your reasons for appealing in the body of the appeal.

#5 Reply
Posted by sparxy on 24 Apr, 2024 16:03
Quote from: DavCrav on 24 Apr, 2024 12:34
As you said, I did notice that when clicking some boxes in the appeal to test out the system (without submitting anything) that anything other than choosing "Other" adds this extra statement at the top saying that you agree you are the driver and you definitely did it and agree it's your fault, which is added in addition to the chosen reason.

Is this visible where you are on the page, or only when you scroll up?

#6 Reply
Posted by DavCrav on 25 Apr, 2024 20:07
Quote from: sparxy on 24 Apr, 2024 16:03
Quote from: DavCrav on 24 Apr, 2024 12:34
As you said, I did notice that when clicking some boxes in the appeal to test out the system (without submitting anything) that anything other than choosing "Other" adds this extra statement at the top saying that you agree you are the driver and you definitely did it and agree it's your fault, which is added in addition to the chosen reason.

Is this visible where you are on the page, or only when you scroll up?

It is visible, but I missed it the first time I scanned the page. It says:

"Whilst there are no specific legal grounds which you believe make this notice invalid, nevertheless you believe that it was either unfair or unreasonable to issue the notice and would like the Company to cancel it. You will need to provide very good supporting evidence for this. Some possible reasons that this might be considered are given below, this is not an exhaustive list and you must provide supporting evidence to strengthen your appeal."

Note that clicking anything other than Other means that you agree the notice is legally valid, even when you click on options that suggest the notice is not legally valid. Sneaky.

#7 Reply
Posted by DavCrav on 03 May, 2024 13:30
They graciously decided to cancel my parking charge "on this occasion". They write "Please note that the payment was made for an incorrect Vehicle Registration Number". Amusingly, my number place is ZZ12 ABC, the driver inputted ZZZ12ABC, and they said that the "incorrect" VRN inputted was ZZ12 ABC, so they couldn't even correctly write in the incorrect number. It's an easy mistake to make!