Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hi,

On 22nd August, DRI picked up a friend from East Midlands Airport at the rapid/pickup drop-off point. Upon completing the pickup, DRI proceeded to the exit of the car park expecting to use the payment machine on exit. Upon exiting it became clear that the payment machine was no longer present. DRI spent a sum total of 2 minutes and 22 seconds in the rapid pickup zone. On 4th September, TRK received a parking charge notice from APCOA (
https://imgur.com/a/5QalYa7) indicating that payment for the use of the pick-up zone should have been made online or by phone and that a £100 (£60) fine is now payable.

DRI had no idea the conditions of using the car park had changed (on 1st May 2025 it seems) since their last visit and assumed that the time spent at rapid pickup was within the grace period that previously applied.

TRK believes the fine is unreasonable and wholly disproportionate and would like some advice on how to dispute this on behalf of DRI.

Kind Regards,
TRK

Thanks for your quick reply. To be clear, my desire to follow the canonical appeal process is more to bolster the defensibility of any such claim that may arise rather than borne of any realistic hope of an admission of error. At this point it sounds like the sensible course of action will be to wait for the if and when of a claim letter landing on my doorstep and to remain indifferent to any/all interim correspondence from SIP. Also, thanks for the tip re: recorded delivery; I'll bare that in mind for the future.

Regards,
TRK

Hi,

Thanks for your quick reply. I guess my aim here is to make a clear and defensible appeal from the outset regardless of the anticipated futility of the appeal process. Should the case find it's way to court, I'd like to believe that evidence of adherence to correct and due process throughout weighs in my favour. Thanks again for taking the time to reply to mine and all of the other cases on this forum. Your help is invaluable! I shall keep the post updated with the state of progress of this case.

Many Thanks,
TRK

Hi,

Thanks for your help and review of this.

I have a screenshot of the driver's bank statement only (see here: https://imgur.com/a/S8Nbbxk ); indicating the technical error. At the time of payment, the payment machine indicated that the payment was approved and thus there was no reason to capture a photo. Are you able to confirm that this is sufficient evidence to challenge the PCN?

Many Thanks,
The Registered Keeper

Hi,

On the 9th March the driver of the vehicle (indicated in the NtK notice here: https://imgur.com/a/OjsKHdw) parked at the SIP Car park, Spaniel Row , Nottingham.

Upon arrival the driver parked and then proceeded to pay at the ticket machine located at the car park entrance. The driver estimated the stay to be not longer than 2 hours and purchased a ticket in accordance with this expected duration (see here for prices: https://imgur.com/a/DfzQXky). At the time of purchase, the machine indicated that no ticket would be provided. The driver used a contactless debit card to make payment and upon completing the transaction, the on-screen display of the payment device indicated that the payment had been approved. Approximately one hour later the driver returned and left the car park.

On the 16th March the registered keeper of the vehicle received a parking charge notice related to the stay of the vehicle on the aforementioned date. Upon subsequent consultation with the driver it became apparent that, in spite of on-screen indication to the contrary, the contactless payment met with a technical error as evidenced by the driver's bank statement (see here: https://imgur.com/a/OYR1v4D) and thus payment for the stay was not taken.

Based upon the above evidence of technical payment error, the keeper of the vehicle believes that the parking charge notice was issued in error and would like to ask the advice of the forum on how best to proceed to challenge this.

Best Regards,
The Registered Keeper