Free Traffic Legal Advice

I am looking for some advice, as my appeal to POPLA was rejected.  To summarise the background, I went into a car park in Carlisle, went in the one side exited and went in the other area , as signs indicated the other area was 24 hour parking and I was to be there overnight.   I then attempted to pay for parking using the APP that was advised on the signage, but my signal was pretty poor and this took sometime, after a failed attempt I went to pay at the machine but realised I had no other means to pay so exited the car park.  The time taken was no longer than 8 mins and I received a penalty notice charge which I appealed, as I did not fully park up and exited once I could not pay.

Can anybody advise if I have exhausted all avenues and will have to pay the £125 they are now requiring.

Would appreciate any help - The letter before county court claim was dated 23.12.24 received today 30.12.24

You definitely did not receive a "Penalty" notice charge. You received a Parking Charge Notice (PCN) in the form a  postal Notice to Keeper (NtK).

There is no "penalty" involved. You received a speculative invoice for an alleged breach of contract by the driver. An unregulated private parking company cannot issue a "penalty".

As above, please show us the necessary details. Please make sure that all dates and times remain unreacted.

POPLA's decision letter and the creditor's evidence?

Thanks.

If the keeper intends to go further then IMO we need far more info about downloading the app and attempts to use e.g. evidence etc.

However, IMO there is an issue of law which arises from the assessor's written decision.

From the SCoP:
Consideration Period
The time the driver:

is in the process of parking..and

is allowed to read and understand the applicable terms and conditions and decide whether to accept them and remain or reject them and leave:

the appellant could have left the site within the 5 minute consideration period of they could not make payment..

I don't read into the SCoP's definition anything to do with time taken to pay, IMO it's purpose is to allow the driver time to park and then decide and any time beyond this for managing a non-user friendly payment site should be added, not subsumed within the 5 minutes.

But CoP matters are not law as such which a judge would take into account. However, as I understand it a consideration period is a legal matter and not simply a construct of the SCoP.

As this event was in August, the SCoP was not yet in effect. The BPA CoP v9 will be the reference but I think the terms are pretty much the same.

When it comes to consideration periods, it is a minimum of 5 minutes.

CPP are part of ParkingEye. Their NtK does not fully comply with ALL the requirements of PoFA. Subsection (i) of paragraph 9(2)(e) is missing making the notice non compliant. However, the OP admitted to being the driver which has blown that useful point out of the water.

As this claim appears to be handled in-house by the PE legal team, it will be interesting to see the claim when it arrives. Any defence will include the useful description of the problems downloading and setting up the app and subsequent frustration of contract.

Unless the signs mention the 5 minute consideration period, then it is a hidden term and can be argued with the CRA as such. This is clearly a vexatious claim and the alleged breach is de minimis.

CPP/PE would be very foolish if they actually let this one get in front of a judge.

OP, did CPP provide an operators evidence pack in the POPLA appeal process? That would have evidence of the actual signage, or at least should have. They have added a fake £25 to the charge which most judges will not allow in the small claims track.