Nobody needs to know about useless debt recovery letters. Shred them and make hamster bedding from them. Never, ever communicate with a powerless debt collector. All they have the power to do is make the low-hanging fruit on the gullible tree pay up out of ignorance and fear. Ignore them.
Whilst it is too late to appeal now, you should have come when you received the Notice to Keeper (NtK) from APCOA. This could very easily have been dealt with a simple appeal telling them to go sit on a sharp stick and rotate because there is no Keeper liability and they have no idea of the drivers identity (unless the Keeper blabs it to them, inadvertently or otherwise).
You have two choices and as long as you follow the advice, you will not be paying a penny to APCOA.
First choice is to ignore everything from now on. As already mentioned, you can safely ignore all DRP letters. APCOA are benign and do not litigate. They will eventually give up.
Second choice is to send a formal complaint to APCOA simply telling them to back off. They are obliged to consider a complaint as an appeal. However, any comms with APCOA must ONLY be from the Keeper with no legal obligation to identify the driver.
Subject: Formal Complaint Regarding Misuse of Keeper Details and Misleading Debt Recovery Letters
Dear APCOA Parking (UK) Ltd,
This is a formal complaint from the Registered Keeper regarding the repeated harassment via Debt Recovery Plus (DRP) letters concerning an alleged breach of contract at Heathrow Airport.
Let’s get one thing straight: Heathrow Airport is not relevant land under Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (PoFA). Therefore, any attempt to hold the Keeper liable is legally baseless. You are not entitled to pursue the Keeper, and there is no obligation whatsoever to identify the driver.
Your conduct—passing Keeper data to a third-party debt collector despite knowing PoFA does not apply—is not only misleading but arguably an abuse of process. These DRP letters are not only unenforceable but also bordering on harassment.
I expect this matter to be closed immediately, with written confirmation that no further action will be taken against the Keeper. Any continued misuse of personal data will result in a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and a possible claim for breach of data protection rights.
Kindly advise whether you wish to escalate this further or admit the inevitable and cease contact.
Yours sincerely,
[Your Name]
Registered Keeper
PCN: [PCNnumber]
VRM: [Vehicle Registration Mark]
