-
Hi guys, we have received a PCN yesterday from the vehicle lease provider via email dated 19 May 2025.
The vehicle is a lease vehicle with 4 people who can drive it.
The vehicle was dropping someone off at the airport and stopped at a zebra crossing to allow pedestrians to cross, at this time the passenger exited the vehicle.
It says it is for: the alleged contravention of Dropping off or picking up outside designated areas
at Outside Diamond House (ANPR)
on 09 May 2025
at 03:14
Please see the image of the notice here:
https://imgur.com/gallery/bbwolf-PHTL30w
And the location here:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/ZBpPUHPd4LtC9DrJ8
It was dark so difficult to tell what signage is showing.
It says there are 28 days to appeal, any help on steps to take and possible wording to use for an appeal would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks. -
-
Before you can do anything, as the Hirer of the vehicle, if the lease company has transferred liability to the Hirer correctly, then you must wait for APCOA to issue a Notice to Hirer (NtH) in the Hirers name. If all you have received is a copy of the Notice to Keeper (NtK) addressed to the lease company, then you cannot respond as you are not the Keeper.
Once you receive an NtH in your own name, then it is easy one to deal with… as long as the unknown drivers identity is not revealed. There is no legal obligation on the known Keeper/Hirer (the recipient of the Notice to Keeper or Hirer (NtK or NtH)) to reveal the identity of the unknown driver and no inference or assumptions can be made.
The location is not relevant land which means that if the unknown driver is not identified, they cannot transfer liability for the charge from the unknown driver to the known Keeper/Hirer.
Use the following as your appeal. Do not select anything that identifies the driver, so select "other" or "Keeper or Hirer only" on any dropdown menus. No need to embellish or remove anything from it:QuoteI am the Hirer of the vehicle. APCOA cannot hold a Hirer liable for any alleged contravention on land that is under statutory control. As a matter of fact and law, APCOA will be well aware that they cannot use the PoFA provisions because Birmingham Airport is not 'relevant land'.
If Birmingham Airport wanted to hold owners or keepers liable under Airport Bylaws, that would be within the landowner's gift and another matter entirely. However, not only is that not pleaded, it is also not legally possible because APCOA is not the Airport owner and your 'parking charge' is not and never attempts to be a penalty. It is created for APCOA's own profit (as opposed to a bylaws penalty that goes to the public purse) and APCOA has relied on contract law allegations of breach against the driver only.
The Hirer cannot be presumed or inferred to have been the driver, nor pursued under some twisted interpretation of the law of agency. Your NtH can only hold the driver liable. APCOA have no hope at POPLA, so you are urged to save us both a complete waste of time and cancel the PCN. -
-
Thank you for your detailed response.
We shall await the notice to be sent to us as you mentioned as it has only been sent to the lease company at the moment and appeal once it has arrived. -
-
You may be wise to contact the lease company to double check they have actually nominated you as the hirer
-
-
We have had an unsuccessful appeal with the following response today, any help on the next steps would be greatly appreciated:
Thank you for your appeal received 15 July 2025 against the above Parking Charge Notice. Having carefully considered the
evidence provided by you, we must advise your appeal has been unsuccessful on this occasion.
You were issued a Parking Charge for an alleged contravention at Birmingham Airport. Having investigated further, we have
found that your vehicle was pictured in breach of the terms set by Birmingham Airport.
The area where your vehicle stopped is a red route and has restrictions in place that prohibit motorists from stopping,
loading/unloading or parking in this area. All restricted areas are signposted and clearly state that no stopping is allowed at
any time to drop off, pick up or for any other reason. This was introduced to reduce congestion, improve safety and maintain
the flow of traffic on the approach roads and terminal areas of the airport. It is the responsibility of the driver to make sure
they follow the instructions on the signage.
Your vehicle would have had to pass a ‘No stopping at any time’ sign. There are over 20 signs around Birmingham
International Airport advising drivers that this is a no stopping area.
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.
Therefore, you now have the option to pay the Parking Charge Notice OR make an appeal to POPLA – The Independent
Appeals Service. You cannot do both.
Pay the Parking Charge Notice at the discounted price of £50 within 14 days. Please note that after this time the Parking Charge Notice will increase to £100.
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 051XXXXXXX. Please be advised that if you opt for
independent arbitration of your case, the Parking Charge Notice will be considered at the full amount of £100. 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 -
-
Please show us the notice you eventually received, against which your appeal was submitted. Please also confirm if APCOA included any additional documents when serving the notice. Finally, please confirm that you appealed with the wording b789 provided further up.
-
-
If you used the appeal I advised, unchanged, and have therefore not identified the driver, then you can appeal to POPLA with the following single point appeal:Quote
I am the Hirer of the vehicle. APCOA cannot hold a Hirer liable for any alleged breach of contract on land that is not “relevant land” under Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. Birmingham Airport is subject to statutory control and therefore excluded from PoFA. APCOA has not used PoFA and has not identified the driver.
The burden of proof is entirely on APCOA to establish who the driver was. It is not for the Hirer to disprove anything, nor can any inference be made. APCOA has failed to meet this burden and has no lawful basis to pursue this charge.
The appeal must be allowed. -
-
@b789 I have used exactly what you said word for word and the driver is unidentified. Thank you for your additional information for POPLA. This will be my next step.
[ Guests cannot view attachments ] -
-
@b798 just by way of an update and a thank you, as POPLA have come back to me and said that the parking charge has been cancelled 👍🏽
-
-
Can you please share a copy of the assessment?
-
Agree x 1
View List
Winner x 1
View List