Free Traffic Legal Advice

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.

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.

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

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:

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.

@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 👍🏽