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I received a PCN from APCOA informing me that i had used a private car park without making a valid payment. The date of the offense was the 4th Aug 2021 and the PCN issued is dated 24th Aug 2021. I appealed with the below letter which was rejected. The main argument was that i received the PCN outside of the required 14day period.
Advice / Help would be much appreciated on how to proceed.
I use this carpark quite often and always pay. If i did genuinely forget to pay i would be happy to offer to pay for the period owed, but these penalties are extortionate, and i don't think represent their losses in any case.
Appeal Letter.
To Whom It May Concern,
I am the Vehicle Keeper responding to the parking charge notice: SW00070704 issued to the vehicle XXXXXXX by
APCOA Parking (Uk).
The keeper can not be held liable for the charge
Your parking charge notice doesn't mention the law required to transfer liability to the vehicle keeper which is the
Protections of Freedoms Act 2012 (POFA 2012) Schedule 4. Because you don't know who was driving, you are
supposed to use POFA 2012 to transfer liability to the vehicle keeper. Your notice doesn't mention POFA 2012, I
therefore deny any responsibility, and I will not be naming the driver.
In a recent court case of Excel Parking Services Limited -V-Mr Lamoureux [2016] Case No. C3dp56q5, the
District Judge Skalskyj-Reynolds stated: There is no reasonable presumption in law that the registered keeper
of a vehicle is the driver. Everybody knows that you cannot assume that the keeper is the driver which is why
most parking companies, such as Parking Eye, always rely on the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 and the notice
should comply. I do not need to confirm or provide any details of who was the driver on the day as the vehicle
can lawfully be driven with permission from the keeper by anyone with adequate insurance. I hope you will honour
POFA 2012 and your operator code of practice by allowing the appeal on the basis that the keeper is not liable.
The parking charge notice arrived more than 2 weeks (14 days) after the driver overstayed
The notice was issued outside the relevant period as defined under POFA 2012 section (5) which states that "The
relevant period for the purposes of sub-paragraph (4) is the period of 14 days beginning with the day after that on
which the specified period of parking ended." Therefore the notice to keeper has not been issued correctly and you
will not be able to transfer the liability to the registered keeper. The keeper is under no obligation to provide any
driver details or accept liability for the notice and the appeal must be allowed.
They have replied with the following - Confirming that the appeal was unsuccessful. But i don't feel it addresses the point i have raised.
Dear XXXXXXXXX
PENALTY NOTICE NUMBER: SW00070704
VEHICLE REGISTRATION: XXXXXXXX
POPLA Verification Number: 0512651016
CONTRAVENTION DATE: 04 August 2021 17:53
Thank you for your appeal received 08 September 2021 against the above Penalty Notice. Having carefully considered the
evidence provided by you, we must advise your appeal has been unsuccessful on this occasion.
Please note, this is a Penalty Notice issued on Railway land as a breach of the terms and conditions of parking has
occurred, and you have confirmed to us that you are the registered keeper of the vehicle in question and therefore you are
liable for this Notice.
The Railways byelaws state:
In England and Wales
(i) The owner of any motor vehicle, bicycle or other conveyance
used, left or placed in breach of Byelaw 14(1) to 14(3) may be
liable to pay a penalty as displayed in that area.
For further clarification, the owner, in relation to a vehicle, means the person by whom the vehicle is kept, which in the case
of a vehicle registered under the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 (c. 22) is presumed to be the person in whose
name the vehicle is registered. If the Penalty Notice remains unpaid, APCOA Parking is entitled to pursue you as the keeper
through the Magistrates Court by way of a private criminal prosecution for payment of the Penalty Notice.
As your vehicle was parked in contravention of the terms and conditions of the site we are satisfied that the notice was
correctly issued in accordance with the BPA code of practice, and therefore not able to waiver the charge on this occasion.
At the time the ANPR cameras observed the vehicle they noted that it had used the car park without a valid payment,
therefore it was parked in breach of the terms and conditions of the car park and a Penalty Notice was issued.
It is the motorist’s responsibility to ensure that they read the terms and conditions on the signage in the car park and that
they have a valid payment for the entire time that they use the car park.
Therefore you now have a number of options:
Pay the Penalty Notice at the discounted price of £50 within 14 days. Please note that after this time the Penalty Notice will
increase to £85.
How to pay
Online at https://pcnpayments.apcoa.co.uk
Or send a Cheque or Postal Order made payable to APCOA Parking (UK) Ltd to: APCOA PARKING, PO BOX 222,
LOWTON WAY, HELLABY, SHEFFIELD S98 1NX.
You have now reached the end of our internal appeals procedure. You now have the option to make an appeal to POPLA -
The Independant Appeals Service. You can do this within 28 days of this letter by completing the online appeal form at
https://www.popla.co.uk quoting the verification reference number 0512651016. Please be advised that if you opt for
independent arbitration of your case, the Penalty Notice will be considered at the full amount of £85. If you require a hard
copy of the POPLA form please contact our customer service centre on 0345 301 1151 where one of our customer service
agents will be happy to assist you.
By law we are also required to inform you that Ombudsman Services (www.ombudsman-services.org/) provides an
alternative dispute resolution service that would be competent to deal with your appeal. However, we have not chosen to
participate in their alternative dispute resolution service. As such should you wish to appeal then you must do so to POPLA,
as explained above.
If you choose to do nothing, we will seek to recover the monies owed to us via our debt recovery procedures and may
proceed with Court action against you.
Yours Faithfully
Appeals Department
APCOA Parking (UK) Ltd
Advice / Help would be much appreciated on how to proceed.
I use this carpark quite often and always pay. If i did genuinely forget to pay i would be happy to offer to pay for the period owed, but these penalties are extortionate, and i don't think represent their losses in any case.
Appeal Letter.
To Whom It May Concern,
I am the Vehicle Keeper responding to the parking charge notice: SW00070704 issued to the vehicle XXXXXXX by
APCOA Parking (Uk).
The keeper can not be held liable for the charge
Your parking charge notice doesn't mention the law required to transfer liability to the vehicle keeper which is the
Protections of Freedoms Act 2012 (POFA 2012) Schedule 4. Because you don't know who was driving, you are
supposed to use POFA 2012 to transfer liability to the vehicle keeper. Your notice doesn't mention POFA 2012, I
therefore deny any responsibility, and I will not be naming the driver.
In a recent court case of Excel Parking Services Limited -V-Mr Lamoureux [2016] Case No. C3dp56q5, the
District Judge Skalskyj-Reynolds stated: There is no reasonable presumption in law that the registered keeper
of a vehicle is the driver. Everybody knows that you cannot assume that the keeper is the driver which is why
most parking companies, such as Parking Eye, always rely on the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 and the notice
should comply. I do not need to confirm or provide any details of who was the driver on the day as the vehicle
can lawfully be driven with permission from the keeper by anyone with adequate insurance. I hope you will honour
POFA 2012 and your operator code of practice by allowing the appeal on the basis that the keeper is not liable.
The parking charge notice arrived more than 2 weeks (14 days) after the driver overstayed
The notice was issued outside the relevant period as defined under POFA 2012 section (5) which states that "The
relevant period for the purposes of sub-paragraph (4) is the period of 14 days beginning with the day after that on
which the specified period of parking ended." Therefore the notice to keeper has not been issued correctly and you
will not be able to transfer the liability to the registered keeper. The keeper is under no obligation to provide any
driver details or accept liability for the notice and the appeal must be allowed.
They have replied with the following - Confirming that the appeal was unsuccessful. But i don't feel it addresses the point i have raised.
Dear XXXXXXXXX
PENALTY NOTICE NUMBER: SW00070704
VEHICLE REGISTRATION: XXXXXXXX
POPLA Verification Number: 0512651016
CONTRAVENTION DATE: 04 August 2021 17:53
Thank you for your appeal received 08 September 2021 against the above Penalty Notice. Having carefully considered the
evidence provided by you, we must advise your appeal has been unsuccessful on this occasion.
Please note, this is a Penalty Notice issued on Railway land as a breach of the terms and conditions of parking has
occurred, and you have confirmed to us that you are the registered keeper of the vehicle in question and therefore you are
liable for this Notice.
The Railways byelaws state:
In England and Wales
(i) The owner of any motor vehicle, bicycle or other conveyance
used, left or placed in breach of Byelaw 14(1) to 14(3) may be
liable to pay a penalty as displayed in that area.
For further clarification, the owner, in relation to a vehicle, means the person by whom the vehicle is kept, which in the case
of a vehicle registered under the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 (c. 22) is presumed to be the person in whose
name the vehicle is registered. If the Penalty Notice remains unpaid, APCOA Parking is entitled to pursue you as the keeper
through the Magistrates Court by way of a private criminal prosecution for payment of the Penalty Notice.
As your vehicle was parked in contravention of the terms and conditions of the site we are satisfied that the notice was
correctly issued in accordance with the BPA code of practice, and therefore not able to waiver the charge on this occasion.
At the time the ANPR cameras observed the vehicle they noted that it had used the car park without a valid payment,
therefore it was parked in breach of the terms and conditions of the car park and a Penalty Notice was issued.
It is the motorist’s responsibility to ensure that they read the terms and conditions on the signage in the car park and that
they have a valid payment for the entire time that they use the car park.
Therefore you now have a number of options:
Pay the Penalty Notice at the discounted price of £50 within 14 days. Please note that after this time the Penalty Notice will
increase to £85.
How to pay
Online at https://pcnpayments.apcoa.co.uk
Or send a Cheque or Postal Order made payable to APCOA Parking (UK) Ltd to: APCOA PARKING, PO BOX 222,
LOWTON WAY, HELLABY, SHEFFIELD S98 1NX.
You have now reached the end of our internal appeals procedure. You now have the option to make an appeal to POPLA -
The Independant Appeals Service. You can do this within 28 days of this letter by completing the online appeal form at
https://www.popla.co.uk quoting the verification reference number 0512651016. Please be advised that if you opt for
independent arbitration of your case, the Penalty Notice will be considered at the full amount of £85. If you require a hard
copy of the POPLA form please contact our customer service centre on 0345 301 1151 where one of our customer service
agents will be happy to assist you.
By law we are also required to inform you that Ombudsman Services (www.ombudsman-services.org/) provides an
alternative dispute resolution service that would be competent to deal with your appeal. However, we have not chosen to
participate in their alternative dispute resolution service. As such should you wish to appeal then you must do so to POPLA,
as explained above.
If you choose to do nothing, we will seek to recover the monies owed to us via our debt recovery procedures and may
proceed with Court action against you.
Yours Faithfully
Appeals Department
APCOA Parking (UK) Ltd
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