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#Post#: 83829--------------------------------------------------
Re: POPLA Appeal Advice – Civil Enforcement Ltd
DIR By: steve7765
Date: August 2, 2025, 2:27 pm
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If I contact management and they confirm I was there should I
appeal to POPLA or should they cancel the PCN directly? They
have told me before there is nothing they can do and gave me a
template to appeal with. (not what I have put below).
I am appealing against the Parking Charge Notice issued by Civil
Enforcement Ltd (CEL) on the grounds that CEL has not
demonstrated landowner authority to operate on the site in
question.
1. No Evidence of Landowner Authority
I require Civil Enforcement Ltd to provide strict proof that it
has current, valid, and written authorisation from the landowner
(not merely a managing agent) to issue Parking Charge Notices at
the location stated on the PCN.
This must include the following:
The full, signed contract between CEL and the landowner (not a
site manager or agent).
The contract must show that CEL is authorised to operate, manage
parking, and pursue charges in its own name.
The contract must be valid on the date of the alleged
contravention (7th July 2025).
The BPA Code of Practice (Section 7.1) makes it clear that
operators must have such authority and produce it on demand to
establish their legal standing.
If CEL fails to provide this unredacted evidence, POPLA must
uphold the appeal. Any undated or unsigned documents, heavily
redacted witness statements, or generic templates should not be
accepted as valid proof.
#Post#: 83831--------------------------------------------------
Re: POPLA Appeal Advice – Civil Enforcement Ltd
DIR By: beedmo
Date: August 2, 2025, 2:48 pm
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You have 28 days to submit to POPLA so let's work on it a
little. With POPLA, you have one chance to submit your case and
once its submitted, no further evidence may be submitted. I'd
also wait until you hear back from the gym managers before
submitting. If the operator put someone to work on creating an
evidence rebuttal package, they're going to use the fact that
they've put money into the proccess to attempt to recover the
invoice they've issued - lets not hand them to much ammunition.
That being said, lets go point by point;
Your Introduction
I'd keep the first two sentences. Bin the rest of it. These
companies are not known for their use of discretion - they're
whole bussiness comes from people paying their invoices! If you
hand to them evidence that you knew the proccess, they're going
to use it.
1. No Evidence of Landowner Authority
Yep, fair enough. Be prepared for them to supply the contract
when they provide their evidence.
2. Inadequate Signage – BPA Code of Practice Breach
I'd take out the bit where you admit to knowing the process for
the reasons I've already outlined. I've had a look on google
street view and there does appear to be a sign at the entrance,
however, it appears it can only be seen if you enter the car
park traveling northbound on Maidstone Rd - bare in mind, I'm
going on images from 09/24, If you could supply photos of up to
date signage with timestamps (using an app such as timemark)
this may assist us and your case.
You could add a quote from the BPA code of practice - Clearly a
breach if you can only see from one direction.
--- Quote ---
> The size and positioning of the sign must take into account
the expected speed and direction of travel of vehicles
approaching the entrance and must be visible
> (i.e. not be obscured e.g. by foliage or other objects).
--- End Quote ---
3. No Grace Period Applied – BPA Code of Practice Clause 13
I'm not sure this is relevant really. Generally by grace period,
they mean 10 mins. This is to come in and decide if you want to
accept the terms.
4. The Charge is Not a Genuine Pre-Estimate of Loss and Is a
Penalty
They'll attempt to rebutt this but I don't think it's harmful to
keep it in
5. I Was a Legitimate, Paying Customer
Again, I think it'd be better to remove traces that you're aware
of the process.
6. CEL’s Evidence Must Be Scrutinised for Accuracy and
Timeliness
I'm not sure if this is relevant. This is how POPLA works. The
operator sees your evidence and responds with theirs. Even
though the the assesors are supposed to be independent, I
wouldn't want to taint their view of the case.
This is only how I see it and I welcome anyone else to put their
opinion forward.
#Post#: 83832--------------------------------------------------
Re: POPLA Appeal Advice – Civil Enforcement Ltd
DIR By: b789
Date: August 2, 2025, 3:21 pm
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The POPLA code is valid for 28 days, after service of 5 days.
So, it is valid for 33 days from the date of the initial
rejection. This is not a guess but based actual fact.
GPEOL is not longer even considered. A "grace period" is
different and separate from a "consideration period". Please get
any use of these definitions correct if you are going to use
them. How on earth does a "grace period" apply to a stay of 1:55
when the alleged contravention is "Payment not made/Permit not
obtained in accordance with notified terms"?
There is no longer a "BPA Code of Practice", unless you are
referring to signage. All other references since October last
year are not to the BPA/IPC Private Parking Single Code of
Practice (PPSCoP).
#Post#: 83874--------------------------------------------------
Re: POPLA Appeal Advice – Civil Enforcement Ltd
DIR By: steve7765
Date: August 3, 2025, 7:23 am
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Thanks for your replies.
Since I mentioned the mistake of not registering the car in my
appeal to CEL, if CEL provides this to POPLA they will just view
this this as a breach of contract. Thank you for pointing out
that they don't consider mitigating excuses like honest
mistakes. The only option I have to appeal this is to challenge
whether CEL has legal authority - i.e., that they hold a valid,
unredacted contract from the owner authorising them to issue
PCNs on this site.
But I think that is unlikely to succeed. Between 1 October 2021
to 30 September 2022, POPLA decided in favour of Civil
Enforcement Limited and upheld the validity of the PCN in 83% of
contested cases, and I don't have any other evidential points in
my appeal.
I've previously contacted the management at the site and they
will not contact CEL to cancel it either.
If my appeal is rejected I void the discounted mug charge of £20
and it goes up to £100.
So best option is I accept I'm in a losing battle here and pay
the £20?
#Post#: 83882--------------------------------------------------
Re: POPLA Appeal Advice – Civil Enforcement Ltd
DIR By: b789
Date: August 3, 2025, 8:03 am
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Are you asking us or telling us?
--- Quote from: steve7765 link ---
>
> But I think that is unlikely to succeed. Between 1 October
2021 to 30 September 2022, POPLA decided in favour of Civil
> Enforcement Limited and upheld the validity of the PCN in 83%
of contested cases, and I don't have any other evidential points
in my appeal.
>
--- End Quote ---
Where are you getting that statistic from? It sounds very much
like something CEL have put into one of their letters in the
hope you are low-hanging fruit on the gullible tree.
You have to face the fact that you made a mistake by not
registering your vehicle this time. You knew about the
requirement to register it. You therefore breached the terms and
conditions of parking at that location and the driver became
liable for the charge.
If the management of the sports centre do not care about your
custom, then take your business elsewhere and let them know why.
They are able to get it cancelled but can't be othered. So why
should you.
You can try and fight this but you have already shot yourself in
the foot by identifying the driver. You have very little hope of
winning a POPLA appeal.
SO, if you've been offered a settlement of £20, I would think
that is your best bet and learn a lesson for the next time you
have to interact with an unregulated private parking company. If
you wanted to fight it, you have a much less than 50% of
winning, so cut your losses.
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