Popla Reviews 

I always try to see the good in people and organisations but have to admit I am struggling with this one. Several weeks after contacting POPLA, I was sent an email stating my appeal was ‘unsuccessful’. The report made no reference to anything I had said explaining the circumstances; it just repeated what the parking company had said previously. All references to myself were disparaging whilst all references to the parking company were congratulatory. The language used was unpleasant; it felt as if I was on trial for a crime, rather than trying to discuss a £5 parking fee! Try as I might, I cannot see that this was an independent review. I am now in a position where I will have to pay an outrageously inflated parking fee, or battle the matter in court, which will cause several more months of stress. How on earth have I ended up in this position when I have done absolutely nothing wrong??!!
NOTE TO POPLA: Please don’t give the standard lie in response to this review (saying you are sorry I have not had a positive experience when you clearly are not sorry as you are the author of this outcome) and stating that you only look at the contractual position. Instead, tell me what I should have done. The machines did not work and the telephone payment facility did not work (I provided evidence of multiple attempts). What should I have done? Or was I damned from the moment I drove into the car park?

AWFUL COMPANY — AVOID

Awful people. I appealed a parking charge that was issued because I made a genuine mistake with one letter of my vehicle registration when paying for my parking.

They reviewed my appeal and acknowledged that I was a genuine customer and had actually paid for my parking, yet they still decided to uphold the charge.

If they can see that the payment was made and that the incorrect registration was clearly just a genuine human error, I cannot understand why they feel it is reasonable to continue pursuing the charge.

Absolutely awful customer service and completely unreasonable.

AVOID THEM AT ALL COSTS.

Don't bother with the appeals process. No matter how much evidence or how many valid points you raise, POPLA seems determined to side with the parking company.
It's hardly surprising when POPLA is funded through the British Parking Association, which represents the parking industry. Calling it "independent" is questionable when the industry ultimately funds the appeals system.
Where is the fairness and transparency for the consumer? Motorists are expected to have confidence in an appeals process that has financial links to the very industry it is supposed to scrutinise. Even if POPLA says its adjudicators are independent, there is still a clear question over whether the system is genuinely impartial and whether consumers are being treated fairly.
The lack of transparency around how the funding works and the relationship between POPLA, the BPA and parking companies does little to reassure motorists. The consumer has no choice but to use the system provided, while the parking industry has an established financial relationship with it.
A genuinely independent appeals service should be completely separate from the parking industry, transparent about its funding and structured so there can be no reasonable perception that the interests of the industry are being protected over the consumer.
At the end of the day, consumers deserve a fair and transparent appeals process — not one where they are left questioning whether the system is truly independent.

This company popla is not independent tribunal and as far as I am concerned they are hand in hand these private car parking companys, So it's off to court for me with my paid receipt for the car parking, They take the word of a car parking management company over the word of a customer that a machine was working when it certainly was not, This is a disgraceful excuse of a so Independent Tribunal service,This service need a independent tribunal investigating them as there decisions are not Neutral. A weak reply in your defence, It's not the first time I have gone to a tribunal, I am not wet behind the ears, your services needs investigating as you are making a decisions on hear say from a company and not looking at paid receipts as proof of payment,I am questioning your services as one sided service, Your rating is 1 on trustpilot, How long is it going to take before your services are questioned over your decisions and fairness of a independent decision.

POPLA only defends the parking industry. I was fined by Parkmaven. I had paid, but their machine didn't provide receipts. I sent them a screenshot of my credit card account showing the payment, but this was rejected as insufficient evidence. POPLA were just as bad: though the charge was that I had not paid at all, which was clearly wrong, POPLA said the screenshot was not enough to prove I had paid the right amount. That was not the basis of the fine, and it would have been easy to check from the tariff. The parking industry is a cartel of crooks and POPLA are in their pay.

Car park payment was made on Ringo. The Ringo App was clearly indicated. The signage also indicated a PayByPhone App. The Ringo payment was accepted by GPS for the car park using its unique code and stating the name of the carpark but only the PayByPhone code was printed on the carparks sign. As we had not paid by PayByPhone the appeal against the charge was rejected by POPLA. They used the excuse that as I am the Keeper and driver of the car but the payment was made by my wife my appeal was also rejected!!!!! The evidence was absolutely clear that the mistake was that of Eurocarparks. Should I pay the fine??? I have absolutely no faith in POPLA and assume that they are biased towards the parking company.

I was parked on site WHERE I WORKED FOR OVER A YEAR. Never received a parking ticket and then received 4 at the same time towards the end of my working time there. As I had left employment by the time the tickets came through I could not go through the usual process and had to go through Popla. After explaining what had happened clearly and provided the evidence of the fact I had permission to park there they rejected all 4 of them with a stock basic answer with no real reason. I am appalled by the service i received from Popla. It is clear they are hand in hand with the parking fines. Do not waste your time with this. I had clear evidence of having permission and they still refused. This company is an embarrassment and should be investigated. I would like to see how this company is run.

This organisation are not behaving as an independent organisation should behave. They make decisions to the benefit of the dodgy parking companies.
In my case I didn't enter a car park at all, nor did I park my car, but was deemed to have as I was on hospital grounds for 35 minutes, waiting around, this isn't even accurate. What an utter load of tosh, and completely pointless exercise appealing to these people.
Independent, no chance. Needs closing down. Letter to my Member of Parliament next, see if they can get through.

Extra, In response to the comment from Popla.
I didn't park, which part of that don't you understand Popla? I didn't enter any car park, nor did I park in a parking bay anywhere. You agaim prove that you pay no attention to what the driver says. What an appalling organisation you are!!

Utterly useless organisation. I am furious because I genuinely thought they would show some vague interest in my case - but clearly it’s yet another “independent” organisation that’s totally out of its depth.
I send a detailed case on some crook parking companies, the parking company reply back with evidence, I comment on why their evidence is shady… the reply from popla? We can’t comment on new evidence? So what exactly is the point? If a parking company is sending over their evidence that I can disprove, but popla can’t use my comments, what’s even the point of popla? Don’t waste your time. Dreadful

I lost my appeal as I stated that the signs about charging were not visable from the side I came in on and sent photos clearly showing this, it was ignored as i used google street view. This is wrong as its the same view as now clearly showing no signs why was i not informed to visit to take photos as up to date map view is not acceptable how stupid.
I do not believe they are a neutral as state

For a parking fine at Aldi even though I definitely put in my reg and had proof of my shopping which they said would be absolutely efficient evidence to cancel the fine. Gone through the appeal sending every bit of evidence needed and today get told they reject it and I still have to pay. Both parking eye and POPLA are
Companies making alot of money even when you provide evidence. Has anyone taken these to court?

I wish I could give POPLA zero stars. I went into the process believing it was an independent appeals service, but the outcome received was so heavily skewed in favour of the BPA operator that it would be laughable if it weren’t so serious.

The assessor ignored key evidence, accepted the operator’s assertions without scrutiny, and even made factual assumptions that were never supported by the operator’s own documents. The most astonishing part came afterwards: in response to my formal complaint, POPLA admitted that the operator had not proved they held written landowner authority — a mandatory requirement under the BPA Code of Practice. Despite this, POPLA simply assumed the operator must have consent anyway. That alone tells you everything you need to know about the direction of their bias.

Other issues raised were skipped over with no real engagement with the evidence submitted. The whole process felt predetermined, as though POPLA’s role is to rubber‑stamp operator PCNs rather than genuinely assess their validity.

If you’re expecting an impartial, evidence‑based review, prepare to be disappointed. POPLA may claim independence, but my experience shows a system that consistently defaults to the operator’s narrative, even when the operator fails to meet the most basic evidential requirements.

**UPDATE** POPLA has just replied to a complaint stating "the assessor should have explained this within his rationale and I am disappointed that was not discussed". This review should not be characterised as disagreement with the outcome but of the process.

Agree with all the other comments , waste of time appealing through POPLA. My experience recently was parking at Britania west quay Southampton . I arrived and wanted to pay for 2 hours parking but the machine only let me pay until 8 pm which I paid , ( I arrived at 630pm) the signs said from 8 pm , 1 hour was free and after that an evening tariff was needed. I arrived back at 830pm. Then get a parking ticket for £60. The signs were incorrect and I have heard of 100s of other people getting a fine for the exact same situation. It's been highlighted by trading standards and in all the local papers. They have since had to change their signs as there were so many complaints about them. Many people are now trying to complain and have the fines they have paid refunded.

Despite this I received an email from popla today saying my appeal had been declined and I now have to pay the higher fee of £100.
It's disgraceful and if I don't pay I will no doubt get letters threatening me with court and an escalating parking fines.
POPLA have not looked at my case at all I sent in clear photos of the signs saying 1 hour free from 8 pm ( nothing about this not being the case if you were arriving earlier than this with a paid ticket) and the parking ticket I was able to buy until 8 pm. The signs have since been changed , this in itself and the 100s of other people who have received tickets in the same situation proofs that the signs were incorrect and definitely not clear, and investigations by trading standards and yet POPLA have still said I need to pay this fine.

Work for privateland,and dont even listen to people that gave mobility issues..Blue badge or crutches...yet ask for someone else to look at it,same person looked at it again.

10 minutes grace 4 minutes over £100 !!

No fair justice, private land carry on robbing people..Cost of living .
Dont matter to anyone .

Disgusting

Ring there number to talk to some about a parking charge at a car park own by to operators no separating payed for parking but with the wrong operators but they took more than 28 days to tell me so could not appeal so no ten didget number so if you want to talk to popla about this then ring our number ? and No you can't talk to any one??????? So I guess I'll pay the charge because they are no help. CANT TO THE CAR PARK OPERATORS, CANT TALK TO POPLA ,CANT TALK TO A PERSON ANYMORE JUST AUTOMATED VOICES THAT TELLS YOU NOTHING WANTS THE POINT OF APPEALING TO POPLA???? DO THEY GET A CUT OF THE CHARGE ??? Update oh my word they sent me an automated message giving me the number to there automated telephone service and as I said I don't have a ten digit number I need to speak to a human being????????.

Popla - no car registration link to payment- you can’t pay unless you have entered a registration and as already evident from other people no account taken of payment confirmed with bank statement
Clearly some technical issue and yet the appeal doesn’t address this - how is this an appropriate appeal process then? Unethical.

POPLA acknowledged every single ground of my appeal in detail and then dismissed every one of them with the same blanket response — the signs were there and no registration was entered. There was no genuine engagement with the circumstances whatsoever. A 13 minute overstay caused by a 15 minute service delay by the retailer, an operator who rejected my appeal without requesting any evidence, and a retailer who admitted in writing they had previously intervened in exactly these situations — none of it mattered. The outcome was predetermined. An independent appeals service should engage with the merits of a case, not simply rubber stamp the operator’s position. A complete waste of time.

UPDATE following anticipated POPLA reply:

Thank you for confirming what I suspected throughout this process. POPLA cannot overturn a charge based on mitigating circumstances. Given that the vast majority of appeals involve exactly that, your service provides the appearance of independent oversight without the substance of it. Motorists have no genuine recourse if the operator simply follows process, justified or not. That is not a consumer protection service. It is a system designed to favour operators. As said, a waste of time, and well you know it.

I appealed a parking charge issued by VARS after parking for more than one hour at a Starbucks car park. One of the main reasons for my appeal was simple: there were no clearly visible signs in the car park showing the restriction.

VARS then submitted photographs which supposedly proved that the signage was there.

The problem? I challenged those photographs because, in my view, they did not accurately represent the car park at the time of the alleged parking contravention. Some appeared to be edited, outdated or otherwise misleading.

I raised this directly with POPLA and specifically questioned the authenticity and reliability of the photographic evidence.

What did POPLA do?

Apparently nothing.

They simply accepted the operator's case and rejected my appeal without properly addressing one of the most serious points I had raised.

If a parking company is relying on photographs to demand money from somebody, surely the absolute minimum an independent appeals service should do is establish:

When were the photographs taken?
Do they actually show the car park as it was on the date of the alleged contravention?
Have the images been edited or altered?
Can the operator provide the original photographs and metadata?
Why do the images not match what was actually visible at the site?

Instead, my concerns appeared to be brushed aside.

I then complained to POPLA specifically asking why this issue had been ignored. Even then, I could not get a proper explanation as to why disputed photographic evidence was apparently accepted without the operator being required to properly answer the allegations made against it.

That is what I find most disturbing about the whole experience.

POPLA presents itself as an independent appeals service, yet from my experience it felt more like a box-ticking exercise where evidence from the parking operator was accepted while a motorist raising serious concerns about that evidence was simply ignored.

I am not asking POPLA to automatically believe me over the parking company. I am asking them to do what an independent appeals service is supposed to do: scrutinise the evidence.

If someone specifically alleges that photographs supplied as evidence are inaccurate, outdated, edited or misleading, how can that simply be ignored?

What is the point of an appeal if the most important part of your argument is not even properly addressed?

This experience has seriously damaged my confidence in POPLA's independence, fairness and competence.

Anyone receiving a private parking charge should take their own dated photographs and videos of the entire car park immediately. Do not assume that photographs subsequently supplied by a parking operator will necessarily show the site exactly as you saw it.

And do not assume that POPLA will thoroughly investigate questionable evidence simply because you have brought it to their attention.

A deeply disappointing appeals process and, in my experience, nowhere near the level of scrutiny I would expect from an organisation deciding whether consumers should be liable for parking charges.

POPLA are a waste of time. I received a Parking Charge for overstaying 10 min while parked in a car park for 3 hrs. I had used that time to setup up payment method and find a parking spot. I appealed to POPLA and they still rejected my case.

Reply to POPLA: what a load of rubbish.

This company is funded and appeals are paid for by the parking enforcement boneheads themselves. It is therefore highly biased in their favour and I doubt if they have ever upheld an appeal from a member of the public. They take a hard line to extract money for their customer who is the parking enforcement operator. Do not bother to appeal. Allow the case to go to court (if ever) and present your evidence before the judge. Parking operators use scare tactics before proceeding with court action (very few cases go to court - it is expensive for the operator and a gamble as they may never get their money back) so do not be alarmed. I have learned from experience so stick to your guns and keep hold of your evidence to present to the judge!