Many thanks b789 for all your reassurance and assistance on this. APCOA have cancelled the charge, no further action needed. What is interesting is that it states that payment WAS made on the day (the driver no longer recalls this but believes that it was one of those scenarios where VRM is entered on a system inside the premises being visited) but was recorded as being payment at a weekend/evening rate. If it was VRM then there was something wrong with the system, and if it was "pay and display" (driver may have, concerned about not having entered the VRM at time of ENTRY, decided to also pay - APCOA Pay and Display machines do offer an "after the parking" option for forgetful people) this should not have been possible. None of this was mentioned on the initial communication. But regardless, it is all dealt with now. They deny GDPR breaches. The correspondence is reasonably polite.
"Incident type New Request
Categorisation Customer Service Centre (UK) - UK Customer Complaints
Incident date 03/04/2025 15:37
The update 28/04/2025 04:17 PM Jason Winstanley:
Thank you for your patience whilst APCOA conducted a full investigation into the handling of your complaint and Parking Charge LU00217221. I can confirm that our investigations have been completed, and we present our findings below.
Timeline of events established during investigation:
16/01/2025 at 10:52:56 - Vehicle registration number YG12BBF was captured on ANPR cameras entering Edward Barnsley Car Park, Loughborough University.
16/01/2025 at 12:02:18 -
Payment was made for Vehicle registration number YG12BBF at Edward Barnsley Car Park, Loughborough University using the Night & Weekend Tariff.16/01/2025 at 12:05:15 - Vehicle registration number YG12BBF was captured on ANPR cameras exiting Edward Barnsley Car Park, Loughborough University.
22/01/2025 - APCOA requested registered keeper details from DVLA for vehicle registration number YG12BBF in relation to Parking Charge LU00217221.
23/01/2025 - DVLA supplied register keeper details to APCOA for vehicle registration number YG12BBF.
24/01/2025 - Parking Charge LU00217221 issued to the registered keeper via postal letter. The right to appeal offered for 28 days and Parking Discounted to £25 for a period of 14 days.
03/03/2025 - Parking Charge LU00217221 passed to Debt Recovery Plus as no contact made with APCOA by the registered keeper.
12/03/2025 - Formal complaint received from
- (registered keeper of vehicle) and assigned the incident reference A0325-21345. Complaint related to Parking Charge LU00217221.
13/03/2025 - Complaint reviewed by Complaint Handler.
complaint incorrectly catagorised and moved to email inbox for London Luton Airport Drop Off (LDO) Team by the Complaint Handler.24/03/2025 - Response issued by APCOA's LDO Team advising that they could not locate the Parking Charge on their system. Believing that the Parking Charge reference may have been typed incorrectly, a request was made for the correct reference number.
25/03/2025 - Response received from [keeper] and case was assigned a new incident reference A0325-40547. It was confirmed in your email that the Parking Charge reference already supplied is correct and the vehicle registration numb er YG12BBF was supplied.
In this email, you also stated that the Parking Charge was delivered after the 14 days outlined in POFA 2012 had expired and therefore the parking Charge was not compliant with POFA 2012.01/04/2025 - The LDO Team discovered that the Parking Charge relates to a visit to Loughborough University and that they could not assist you any further. As a result, your complaint was passed back to the UK Complaints Team to investigate and respond.
03/04/2024 - A further complaint was received from you in regard to a GDPR/KADOE breach.
07/04/2025 - Second complaint reviewed by Complaints Handler and passed to APCOA Data Protection Office (DPO) for investigation due to alleged GDPR/KADOE breach. As complaint related to a data breach and had possible DPO implications, A
PCOA worked to current legislation which allows up to 1 calendar month from the date the complaint is received to investigate and respond.
25/04/2025 - DPO investigation completed and it was concluded that no data breach had occurred. Second complaint passed to Complaints Supervisor to review, investigate and respond. Holding email issued at 14:28 by Complaints Supervisor advising that a full response will be issued to the complaint by close of business on 28/04/2025.
25/04/2025 at 17:40 - Complaint was followed by you stating that no acknowledgement had been received and a request was made for a full written acknowledgement and response.
In response to your allegations and the points raised in your multiple emails, please see below.
Regulatory Authority
I can confirm that APCOA are members of the British Parking Association (BPA) and agree to adhere to the Sector Single Code of Practice which replaced the BPA Code of Practice in June 2024 (amendments made in February 2025).
Improper assumption of keeper liability
While the V5C document does indicate that being the registered keeper is not proof of ownership in itself, there is a legal presumption that the registered keeper is the owner of the vehicle unless evidence to the contrary is provided. This is reflected in the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994, which defines an “owner” as the person by whom the vehicle is kept. In the case of a registered vehicle, this is presumed to be the person in whose name the vehicle is registered.
Accordingly, when investigating a breach of the terms and conditions of parking, and in the absence of any information suggesting otherwise, it is both reasonable and appropriate for us to correspond with the registered keeper as the presumed owner of the vehicle. Under contract law, the driver can be liable as they are present when the parking contract is both offered and accepted.
Alleged breach of KADOE
Our access to DVLA data is governed by the Keeper at Date of Event (KADOE) contract, which permits APCOA to request the registered keeper’s details for the purpose of enforcing parking terms and conditions or pursuing relevant offences.
APCOA conclude that your details were obtained legally and in-line with KADOE as we hold a legitimate interest in pursuing Parking Charge LU00217221 after vehicle registration number YG12BBF was parked in breach of the terms and conditions of use at Edward Barnsley Car Park, Loughborough University.
Parking Charge LU00217221 issuance timescales/POFA 2012
It is important to note that the Sector Single Code of Practice states that 'A notice sent by post is to be presumed, unless the contrary is proved, to have been delivered and so “given” on the second working day after the day on which it is posted; and for this purpose “working day” means any day other than a Saturday, Sunday or a public holiday'.
As set out in the timeline above,
Parking Charge LU00217221 was issued 8 days after the date of contravention on 24/01/2025 via postal letter and was assumed as received on 28/01/2025, the second working day. In total, the Parking Charge was issued and assumed as delivered in 12 days from the date of contravention.Alleged GDPR Breach
After a full investigation by APCOA's DPO, we can confirm that whilst your initial complaint was unnecessarily assigned to another department, this was kept within APCOA's Customer Service Centre and not shared to any offsite APCOA departments. We can also confirm that no duplicates of your personal details were created when assigning your complaint to another department. Whilst this may constitute an element of oversharing your data, this does not constitute a breach of your personal data. Your complaint in regard to this matter has been duly noted and will additional GDPR training be given to the Complaint Handler in question.
Handling of your complaint
After a full review of all emails both sent and received in relation to your complaint,
I conclude that your complaint could have been handled in a more timely manner. APCOA set high standards for the dealing and resolution of all customer complaints and it appears that our handling of your complaint is below our usually high standards. As a result, an internal investigation has been launched into the manner in whcih your complaint was dealt with by the Complaints Handler. Whilst we cannot comment on internal investigations and their outcomes, rest assured that we are taking this very seriously and we will ensure that the relevant action is taken to ensure that all future complaints are handled to the standard that APCOA work to.
APCOA would like to to take this opportunity to offer our sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused over the handling of your complaint.
What led to the Parking Charge being issued to you
As set out in the timeline above, your vehicle parked at Edward Barnsley Car Park, Loughborough University for a total of 1 hour 12 minutes 19 seconds on 16/01/2024, which was a Thursday.
Whilst we appreciate that parking payment was made by you on this date, we must advise that Edward Barnsley Car Park, Loughborough University is strictly permit permit holders only between the hours of 6am and 6pm on weekdays (Monday to Friday). This is clearly stated on the the signage displayed around the site. Please see attached photographs of the signage in place at this car park for your records.
Conclusion and resolution
Due to the delayed response and resolution to your complaint, I can confirm that APCOA have cancelled Parking Charge LU00217221.
This case has been retracted from Debt Recovery Plus and will not be pursued from the date of this email. No further action is required from you and should another letter be received from Debt Recovery Plus, this does not need to be actioned. In the highly unlikely event that you receive more than one letter from Debt Recovery Plus demanding action on this case, please contact me immediately via this email trail.
Kind regards,
Jason Winstanley
Complaints & Administration Supervisor
APCOA"
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