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Received a parking ticket from UKPC for slightly exceeding a bay in a free car park. There was plenty of space, and my young son was desperate for the toilet, so my parking wasn’t perfect.
I decided to appeal and submitted a form via their online portal. Weeks passed with no response, so I assumed the appeal was successful, and the matter was closed.
Info supplied
I am writing to formally dispute the Parking Charge Notice (PCN) number [PCN Number] issued on [Date of Issue] for the vehicle registration number [Vehicle Registration Number].
I acknowledge that my vehicle was parked slightly over the bay markings. However, I would like to highlight the following mitigating circumstances:
Free Parking: The car park in question is typically free of charge, and there was no loss of revenue to your client.
Urgent Need: My son required urgent access to toilet facilities, necessitating a quick stop at the nearby Next or Costa Coffee.
Minimal Impact: The car park was not busy at the time, and my parking did not impede any other vehicles or cause any inconvenience to other users.
Given these circumstances, I believe the issuance of a £60 fine is disproportionate and unfair. I kindly request that you review the evidence and cancel the PCN.
I have attached a copy of the PCN for your reference. Please contact me if you require any further information.
Then, out of nowhere, I received a bailiff letter demanding £170.
UKPC provides a phone number, but it's fully automated—no way to speak to an actual person. Their website also offers no access to the appeal I submitted.
Shouldn’t there be a process they must follow?
Acknowledgment of the appeal?
A response to the appeal?
A chance to speak with a representative?
It feels incredibly unfair—threatening bailiff letters with zero communication or recourse.
Has anyone dealt with this before? Any advice? -
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Well, you committed a few basic errors including identifying who was driving and admitting that you breached the contractual terms. You were obviously under the assumption that UKPC and any of the other unregulated private parking companies give a single iota about your mitigating circumstances. They are ex-clampers whose customer service ethos is on a par with the Taliban's care about women's rights.
It is not a "fine". They would love you to think that but as they are simply an unregulated private parking company, they have zero statutory authority to issue fines or penalties. What they have sent you is a Parking Charge Notice (PCN) issued as postal Notice to Keeper (NtK). In other words... it is simply a speculative invoice for an alleged breach of contract by the driver.
The charge is not £60. It is £100, with a 40% mugs discount to persuade all the low-hanging fruit on the gullible tree to pay up out of ignorance and fear. The same gos for the useless debt recovery letter you have received The debt collectors are powerless to actually do anything as they are not a party to the contract allegedly breached by the driver. You can safely ignore all debt recovery letters. Shred them and use them hamster bedding or whatever. We do not need to know about useless DRA letters.
However, you are where you are now and we can deal with this as follows.
As you never received a response to your appeal and we already know that UKPC issue NtKs with defective wording regarding appeal and payment timelines in breach of the BPA/IPC Private Parking Single Code of Practice (PPSCoP), you need to submit a formal complaint. In your case, whilst an initial appeal is never accepted, they were required to provide a POPLA code for a secondary, supposedly independent, appeals process.
WE can draft a suitable formal complaint to UKPC requiring them to do a bit of work and provide evidence of their posting of the appeal response with the POPLA code and to explain their breaches of the PPSCoP. However, be aware, that they are still going to push this all the way to a debt claim in the small-claims track of the county court. That is easy to defend and I can say with better than 99% certainty that they will discontinue before it ever gets as far as a hearing.
So, are you prepared to fight this and win? -
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First off, I really appreciate you taking the time to respond—your insight into how these companies operate has been an eye-opener. It’s clear UKPC relies on intimidation rather than legitimacy, and I have no intention of rolling over.
So yes, I’m absolutely ready to fight this. If they want to push it all the way to a claim, so be it—I’ll be waiting.
What’s my next step? I gather I need to send a formal complaint to UKPC demanding proof of their appeal response and the missing POPLA code. Do you have a template or key points I should include to make it as effective as possible?
Also, I’ll be lodging a complaint with the BPA regarding their failure to follow proper procedures. Anything else I should do at this stage?
Thanks again for your time—I’m all in on this fight. -
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You should send your formal complaint as a pdf attachment in an email to complaints@ukparkingcontrol.com and also CC in yourself.Quote
[Your Name]
[Your Address]
[City, Postcode]
[Your Email]
[Your Phone Number]
UK Parking Control Ltd
Eastcastle House
27/28 Eastcastle St
London
W1W 8DH
[Date]
By email to: complaints@ukparkingcontrol.com
Subject: Formal Complaint Regarding Failure to Respond to Appeal & Unlawful Escalation to Debt Recovery
PCN Reference: [PCN Number]
Vehicle Registration Number: [Vehicle Reg]
Date of Alleged Contravention: [Date]
Dear Sir/Madam,
I write to formally complain about your handling of my appeal against the above-referenced Parking Charge Notice (PCN). My appeal was submitted via your online portal on [Date], yet I received no response from UKPC. Instead, I have now received a demand from a debt recovery agency demanding an inflated amount of £170.
This raises serious procedural concerns and breaches of the Private Parking Single Code of Practice (PPSCoP), which UKPC, as an Approved Operator, is bound to follow.
1. Failure to Respond to My Appeal in Accordance with the PPSCoP
The PPSCoP requires operators to provide a clear appeal process and respond within 28 days. Specifically:- Clause 8.4.1(b) states that an operator must respond to an appeal within 28 days or, if delayed, acknowledge receipt and confirm the timeframe for a final decision【30:1†source】.
- Clause 8.4.6 requires that if an appeal is rejected, the operator must provide a clear option to either pay or escalate the appeal to the relevant Appeals Service (POPLA for BPA members)【30:0†source】.
- Clause 8.4.9 explicitly states that debt recovery must be suspended if an appeal has been lodged and should not resume until the appeal process has been concluded.
Given that I submitted my appeal and did not receive a response, UKPC has violated all of the above provisions.
2. Demand for Proof of Dispatch of Rejection Notice
If UKPC claims that it sent an appeal rejection letter, I require you to provide proof of posting, in accordance with Clause 8.1.3, Note 2, which states:"A notice sent by post is to be presumed, unless the contrary is proved, to have been delivered on the second working day after the day on which it is posted. Therefore, parking operators must retain a record of the date of posting of a notice, not simply of that notice having been generated (e.g., the date that any third-party mail consolidator actually put it in the postal system.)”.
I demand that UKPC provide either:1. A verifiable proof of posting, not just a system-generated record; OR
2. A declaration confirming that no rejection was issued, in which case the appeal must be reinstated and treated as pending.
3. Unlawful Escalation to Debt Recovery in Breach of PPSCoP
The PPSCoP makes it clear that enforcement proceedings must be suspended once an appeal is lodged, meaning UKPC has acted unlawfully by passing my case to debt recovery. In addition to the breach of Clause 8.4.9 (suspension of enforcement pending appeal), UKPC has also violated:- Clause 8.4.10, which requires a minimum 28-day period for payment following an appeals rejection.
- Clause 10.1, which states that operators must undertake reasonable endeavours to establish correct correspondence details before escalating to enforcement【30:3†source】.
Since I have never received an appeal response, UKPC has no lawful basis to escalate this matter to a debt recovery agency.
4. Resolution Sought
To rectify this matter, I demand the following:1. Provide a new POPLA appeal code or confirm that the PCN is cancelled. Since any previous code would have expired due to UKPC’s failure to respond, a new code is required.
2. Provide proof of postal dispatch of any appeal rejection notice. A hybrid mail receipt or system log is insufficient; I require proof of when UKPC's mailing agent entered the letter into the postal system.
3. Immediately cease and withdraw all debt collection activity, in accordance with PPSCoP requirements.
If I do not receive a satisfactory response within 14 days, I will escalate this complaint to:- The British Parking Association (BPA), highlighting UKPC’s failure to adhere to the PPSCoP.
- The DVLA, as UKPC’s failure to comply with the PPSCoP constitutes a breach of their Keeper at Date of Event (KADOE) contract. This means that UKPC has unlawfully obtained and used my personal data from the DVLA, which warrants an investigation and potential suspension of their access to DVLA data.
I expect a response within the stated timeframe. If you require further clarification, you may contact me at the details provided above.
Yours sincerely,
[Your Name] -
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No response to the email above, but just recieved a final reminder.
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Remind them that they have not responded to your formal complaint and have now escalated enforcement by sending a final reminder. They are therefore in breach of the PPSCoP section 11.3 because they have not even acknowledged the complaint within 14 days of receipt. You have proof of sending the email because you CC'd in yourself and that was received and shows the operators correct email address for complaints as per their own complaints policy. Also, remind them that failure to now respond will also lead to a formal complaint to the BPA and a request for sanctions.
As you now need to remind them that the have not responded to your formal complaint, you should also send a formal complaint to the DVLA about their failure to comply with the PPSCoP which means that the have therefore also breached the KADOE contract and re therefore handling your DVLA data unlawfully. -
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@b789 i cannot thank you enough for your support in this matter.
Received this email from UKPC today.
Good afternoon,
Please be advised your appeal has been responded to your email address as requested by yourself in your appeal with a final letter on 14/01/25, please find a copy attached for your perusal.
Please note our appeals process does state to check your junk/spam inbox.
Please be advised we have reviewed the parking charge and can confirm in this instance it has been cancelled.
Thank you.
Kind regards
Complaints Department
DDI: 0333 220 1070
UK Parking Control Ltd
PO Box 1608
High Wycombe
HP12 9FN
Many thanks!
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