The driver parked at Galleria Car park, Hatfield on 16th March, which is operated by Horizon Parking. The car park uses ANPR and pay before return to car. The driver had been there many times and normally when typing in the first few letters of the registration, the payment system would match it to a car that entered the car park that day, automatically complete it, and generate the correct amount to pay. The driver paid for the session and left.
On 4th April, they received a PCN claiming they did not pay for the session, and appealed to the operator with the credit card statement as evidence. The company replied that they couldn't find a payment against the car registration and lowered the fine to £15. The driver appealed again; the company then wrote back:
"After further investigation, I can confirm that payment for parking was made under vehicle registration XX22 however, your vehicle registration is XX22 XXX.
As payment for parking was not made under the correct registration, we were unable to
reconcile the payment that you made with the vehicle you were using, and a Parking Charge
was therefore issued.
The signs throughout the car park are clear and comply fully with the BPA’s prescribed rules
and regulations. When parking on private land, it is the driver’s responsibility to ensure they
adhere to the terms and conditions of the car park concerned.
Given the above, and whilst we have considered your representations carefully, on this
occasion your appeal has been rejected."
The driver was baffled because it was impossible to pay for the session without the system identifying the vehicle and generating an amount to pay. They appealed to POPLA, intending to attach a video they made on a recent visit, showing how the payment system worked (and how it would not generate an amount to pay if the registration was not recognised) as evidence. However, POPLA website did not accept video upload, so the driver included a link to Google Photos to access the video.
Horizon reviewed the video and claimed that the video was not relevant because it was not made during the original visit (but they were missing the point - the point was it was not possible to pay!). POPLA worker rejected the appeal because they cannot access evidence that was not uploaded, and said if the driver had intended to use the video they should have contacted POPLA directly, rather than attaching a link to view it.
The driver received a Parking Charge Final Reminder issued on 14th Sept demanding £95 outstanding charge. If full payment is not received within 14 days (which has passed) this case may be passed to a debt recovery agent which may result in court proceedings to recover the outstanding amount and additional fees may be incurred.
The driver still believes it was system error, but Horizon insisted that there was no error. What is the best option now? Any advice is appreciated.
