Heathrow Airport Drop Off Parking Charge

Hi all,

Had a parking charge from APCOA in the post as i forgot to pay.

Is the following appeal still valid? Thank you.

I appeal as keeper. I am not obliged to identify the driver and I decline to do so. I appeal on the following
grounds :-

1. You are unable to transfer liability to the keeper pursuant to Schedule 4 to the Protection of Freedoms
Act 2012 ('POFA') because the drop off zones at Heathrow are not 'relevant land' as defined in POFA.
2. Even if (which is not the case) the land in question is relevant land your notice does not conform to the
requirements set out in POFA paragraph 9(2)(f).
Furthermore, as keeper I am entitled to all the defences available to the driver including (without limitation)
the following:
3. The parking charge is not notified until after the contract is entered into and under the principles set out
by the Court of Appeal in Thornton v Shoe Lane Parking, does not form part of the contract between the
driver and APCOA.
4. The signage is not compliant with the BPA Code of Practice.

Any one of the above reasons is alone sufficient to require cancellation of the PCN.

I require you to cancel the PCN or issue a POPLA Code so POPLA can order you to cancel it.

There are much more concise appeals based simply on not being “relevant land” which seem to suffice and can be found on the forum. Personally I think that if you appeal on multiple grounds they tend to ignore the points they can’t rebut and simply respond to the subset of points they can. However it’s APCOA so your appeal will probably work if you want.

Do you have a better template i can use please?

sorry to bump this, but any help with a better appeal template would be appreciated. thank you and sorry again.

Let us know what else you've found having had a more thorough browse of the forum. There are several examples within the first 3 most recent pages of threads.

I am the registered keeper. APCOA cannot hold a registered keeper 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 Heathrow Airport is not 'relevant land'.

If Heathrow 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 registered keeper cannot be presumed or inferred to have been the driver, nor pursued under some twisted interpretation of the law of agency. Your NtK 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.

That looks like the appropriate response to me.

If i went through terminal 4 dropoff twice within an hour at Heathrow and don’t pay it, can I use this appeal procedure twice when i get the letter(s) in the post?

Yes - they are regarded as separate contractual events.