Hi all,

I've been reading the site with great interest since I arrived home from work to find an unwelcome letter from ANPR Ltd. telling me that I had an outstanding parking fine to pay. My case is a bit different to the others I've read on here, so I wanted to ask for advice concerning what to do next.

The letter states that they had attached a parking charge notice to my car at 19.09 on 18/09/2013 and that, since I had not yet paid up, my 'early bird' 50% discount had now expired. However, tonight's letter was actually the first I have heard of this incident. I actually recall what happened on that evening - I went down to my local bridge club, which starts precisely at 19.25. I hadn't eaten, so I had telephoned ahead for a takeaway. I arrived in the (mostly empty) car park in question, parked up (presumably at 19.09 - it can't have been much earlier because I remember being on the last minute that night, and went into the restaurant (which is across the road from the car park). I can't have been away from the car for more than a three or four minutes at most. When I returned there was nothing amiss and no sign of a ticket on the dashboard. I then sat in the car and ate my meal very quickly, before driving away to the bridge club at around 19.22 (for reasons I won't bore you with, I am pretty sure of the timing).

At no time during this incident was there any sign of either a warden or a ticket being anywhere near my car. In fact, all the shops bordering the car park were all long shut by the time of the incident, so I'd be very surprised if there were any wardens still on duty at that time.

Furthermore, the letter I have received clearly states that the "Parking Charge Notice was photographed attached to the windscreen", which is apparently evidence that can be used in a court of law. Given that I was only away from the car for a few minutes, and given that it was after 7pm, I am finding it very difficult to believe that a warden sneaked in, issued the ticket, took the photo, and then either removed it again before I returned from the takeaway, or else the ticket was missed by me and then got lost.

They also say that the debt, currently £100, will rise to £140 after 42 days has lapsed since the issuing of the ticket, and that I should pay up quickly to prevent this. However, since the letter was dated 5/11/13, and the supposed offence committed on 19/9/13, it appears that these 42 days have been and gone. They also state that work regarding a county court summons (preparing and gathering evidence etc.) will be another £70, and that Judgement Enforcement Officers will cost me £135 per visit, per hour (whatever that means). Mercifully, these have not yet been added to my bill...

No photographic evidence has been provided with the letter (it says on the back that "photographic evidence is not for the public domain and is only produced in compliance with pre-county court disclosure and on demand by any of our regulatory bodies". Also, in small print on the back it states that: "You may have received a hand written Parking Charge Notice, which was photographed, attached to your vehicle or alternatively we may have sent you an electronically produced notice using Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR)". However, the main letter clearly states that they have photographic evidence of the former and, as far as I'm aware, today's letter is the first contact I've had with ANPR.

The other thing I should mention is that I haven't been back to the car park to have a look at the wording on the parking signs - I intend to do this tomorrow. I'm also pretty sure that there is no requirement to buy a ticket for that car park - there never used to be and I don't recall a machine - but I am not 100% on this, so will check.

Anyway, sorry for the long-winded account, but I wanted to state all the facts. I am not disputing that I was in the car park, but what seems very unfair is 'damages' of potentially £140 or more for something which clearly caused no damage whatsoever, since the car park was mostly empty and the businesses it services were all shut!

I was wondering if I can contest this and, if so, what my best line of defence would be? Thanks in advance for any advice, it's much appreciated!!

Tbh your case is no different to all the others. What you need to do is first of all is do a very simple appeal to anpr. Don't write an essay. Short and sweet.In your letter say you require a popla code if it is rejected

They will write to you declining your appeal asking you to reconsider your appeal(they have changed their letter slightly) and say is it wise to appeal blah blah blah.

Tell them you still wish to appeal to popla . You will get a popla code( check in your initial letter there is no verification code)

When you get your letter from anpr come back and people will give you the winning popla appeal forumula, which is lack of contract and not a genuine pre estimate of loss

Ps in your appeal to anpr you could simply say you did not see the sign

In your appeal write stating this is the first you have heard of this as the keeper, don't admit to being the driver write as the keeper, ie; "the car was parked" not "I was parked"!

Thanks for the help everyone. I will get the ball rolling with the initial appeal.

I've just visited the car park to have a look at the signs and there are two ANPR signs up, the wording inconsistent between the two. The sign at the entrance I came in by is also partially obscured by a tree (presumably it would have been even more obscured in September, and it was also dusk at the time). It isn't particularly noticeable anyway. The main feature of the sign near the entrance I entered by are the words 'Free Parking Whilst On the Premises' - everything else is in small print (including a description of which shops are included as being 'on the premises').

Am I right in saying that the grounds for my appeal would be:

1. Inconsistent and obscured signage.

2. That no photographic proof has been provided that they gave me a ticket as stated (I was only away from the car for a few minutes so any lurking warden would have had to have been pretty quick and dishonest enough to remove the PCN from my car again after he'd taken the photo). I do not think that this photo exists.

3. That the charge they are levying is effectively a penalty in all but name, and vastly disproportionate to any damages that my presence in an empty car park after 19.00 could possibly have caused. In the small print they attempt to justify this by saying that the the damages they incur are the result of how much the local proprietors will charge them as the result of a me parking there.

ANPR have recently lost two POPLA appeals on the grounds that they could not prove what their "losses" were. And it's been proved (by a letter from Bradford Town Council) that they never pay the landowner those so-called damages.

Deleted

Sounds good to me.

Let us know the response. I want to see their new letter style:)

One more question I have is how long do I have to submit my appeal? Specifically, the alleged offence was nearly two months ago, but the first time I heard about it was last night. There was definitely no ticket issued on the evening in question. Has anyone heard of a case where the parking attendants have deliberately issued a ticket, photographed it and then removed it again to prevent early payment and the opportunity to appeal to POPLA? Is this something they could conceivably do and what defence would I have against this? Either this has happened or else they have deliberately lied about having photographic evidence of the PCN on my windscreen.

It will be inferred from your letter that you were the driver and you may well leave yourself open to being pursued using the pre-POFA system. I suggest you therefore delete your draft above. You appeal to ANPR is far too detailed and wordy and you are inviting them simply to reply to your points the implication that if the information you have requested of them is provided that you will pay. What you actually want is a straightforward rejection from ANPR so you can make use of POPLA. I suggest you change the wording to:

Dear Sir

 

I refer to your letter of (date) which relates to a Parking Charge Notice No XZXZXZXZXZ issued on (date).

 

For the avoidance of doubt I am the owner of the vehicle concerned.

 

The claim is denied and the issue of the PCN is therefore appealed on the following grounds:

 

1. At the time the vehicle was parked such signs as there are were not visible in the poor light and were obscured by foliage. That as a consequence no contract was formed and there can be no basis for the issue of your PCN. In any event, if the signs had been seen, which is denied, they are contradictory and are printed in such small print that they cannot reasonably form the basis of a contract.

2. Your claim for £100 is unreasonable, cannot be justified and represents a penalty charge.

 

If you reject this appeal please supply a POPLA code by return so that I might immediate refer matters for their consideration.

 

If you fail to follow any of the procedures outlined in the BPA AOS Code of Practice or your legal requirements under the Protection of Freedoms Act, or the requirements of the Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct then I will make a formal complaint to the DVLA Data Sharing Policy Group, D16.

 

Yours faithfully,

Go with Old Snowy's appeal and delete yours from here. As I said in an earlier post do not identify yourself as the driver!

please see my response to james on my thread

Thanks again all, this is all seems like really sensible advice. I've just used Old Snowy's text as a basis for my appeal letter, but just have a couple more minor questions:

1. Should I be using the phrase 'without prejudice' at the top of the letter? I've seen conflicting advice about this.

2. Should I mention that the letter is the first time this matter has come to my attention, given that they claim that they have a photograph of the PCN on the windscreen? I am worried that they might try to get out of giving me a POPLA appeal number because too many days have elapsed since the alleged offence. This is the thing that worries me most, but how could I appeal earlier if I didn't know about it?

1. No

2. No just go with snowys letter

Forget the "without prejudice", it is irelavant that they say they have a photo of the PCN on the screen what is important is that there was none on the screen when the driver got back to the car. The first you knew about this was when you received the NTK. Simply emphasize that.

A lot of ANPR ltd,s PCN's are self ticketers ie: someone a resident or an owner sticks the PCN on, they then get a cut if the PCN is paid. However they don't usually want to become involved in a confrontation so disappear sharpish.

Send your appeal, you will receive a rejection asking you to reconsider going to POPLA, within that rejection they will hide the POPLA code. So make sure you come back when you receive the rejection letter.