APCOA Parking Enforcement Notice (East Midlands Airport)

Andrew2012

Hi all,

Some advice would be appreciated.

I recently took a friend to East Mids Airport and dropped him off near the departures area (he was picking up a passport that had been accidently left on a plane). When I say dropped him off, I didnt even turn off the engine. He got out and I drove away. Approx 30 seconds was needed and the engine was never switched off.

About 10 mins later he phoned us to say he had is passport, so we went back to pick him up. Pulled in to a bus stop 30 seca to get in the car. This would be quite legal on the Queens highway, but as it is a privat road open to public use, I would have thought the same rule applies, or is it just highway robbery is another guise.

Two Parking Enforcement Notice's have today arrived in the post, in the form of a letter. It states a charge of £100 x 2 (£200 in total) is payable for dropping off/picking up in a no stopping zone.

The notices were given time stamps of 12:33 and 12:41, does this really warrant a so called fine of £200. The charges will be reduced by 50% if paid within 14 days (£100).

I can see from previous threads etc, that other people have had similar experiences. To respond or not to respond, pay or not pay, that is the questions?

Please help with advice. Thank you

P.S..
I'am retired on ill health grounds and have a moblity car. This is hard to justifie such a large sum of money. How can they do this?

Stephen_Leak

Firstly, the legal stuff.

Any warning signs are usually so badly positioned and worded, that they won’t have created a fair and legally binding deemed contract between the car park owner and the driver in the first place. (The Unfair Contract Terms Act 1997.)

Even if there is a contract, all the car park owner can claim from the driver in damages for any breach of contract is what they’ve lost as a result. If this is a free car park or they paid, this is £0.00. By asking you for more, which is unreasonable, it’s become an unfair contract penalty, which is not legally enforceable. (Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co. Ltd. vs. New Garage & Motor Co. Ltd., House of Lords, 1914.)

Only councils, the police, train operators and Transport for London can impose legally enforceable fines or penalties. Private parking companies can't.

What do I do now?

Don’t appeal. They always reject them. What’s in it for them to let anyone off?

What’s in it for them is information. They need to know the identity of the driver of the vehicle involved at the time, because that’s who allegedly breached the alleged contract. If they don’t know who the driver was, they have to make do with chasing the registered keeper.

With windscreen notices, an appeal letter will tell them your name and address, and maybe that you were driving at the time. If they don’t know who the driver was, they have to buy the details of registered keeper from the DVLA.

With postal notices, they’ve done this already. But they still need to know the identity of the driver.

They sometimes say that they have the right to ask for this information. This doesn’t mean that you have to tell them.

However, even if you’ve written and confirmed who the driver was, it doesn’t make their actions any less unlawful. It just means that instead of unlawfully harassing the registered keeper, they can now unlawfully harass the driver.

What will they do to me?

They will send you a series of letters, then a debt collector and then a solicitor. The debt collector and solicitor are usually also the PPC, but using different headed paper. These will threaten you with all sorts of financial and legal unpleasantness, to intimidate you into paying.

But, they can't actually do anything, for the same reason that a blackmailer couldn't sue their victim if they didn’t pay.

What should I do then?

Continue to ignore everything you get from the PPC and their aliases. Yes, it does seem counter-intuitive to deal with something by ignoring it. Eventually, they will run out of empty threats to intimidate you with, and stop throwing good money after bad.

Half_way

Complete and utter !!!!!!!!, and you should tell them such.

£200 what planet are these imbeciles on?

Not to long ago i posted something from the newsletter thing that east midlands airport send out to people nearby here:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3946097

read through it and you will soon form the correct opinion, if you live in the local area, to show how cudly and freindly the airport is people from East midlands airport will be out and about in the local comunity at certain events, if this happened to me, i would be straight over to the comunity team at one of these events and ( whilst being polite) kick up an almighty fuss, making sure that they get the message that its an unenforcable penalty, and there letters constitute harrasment.

this from the comunity flyer ( http://www.eastmidlandsairport.com/emaweb.nsf/alldocs/2CA5D8C4B8196898802579F200506512/$File/CommunityFlyer.pdf )

Outreach Events 2012 programme Seeking local artists for
This year the team will be out and about in the community meeting DepARTures
people and answering your queries.
Seven sessions will take place offering local people the opportunity to drop
in and meet with colleagues from the Community Relations and Environment
teams, to ask questions and discuss any issues. We look forward to seeing
you there.
Aston-On-Trent, All Saints Heritage Centre
Wednesday 25 April 1600-1900
Diseworth Heritage Centre
Wednesday 16 May 1600-1900
East Leake Library
This event will be held in June, however, at the time the Community Flyer
goes to print we are unable to get confirmation on the library’s newly
revised opening hours. If you would like to come along to this session
please keep an eye out for an information poster in the library or on the
airport website eastmidlandsairport.com/community
Castle Donington Music in the Park
Sunday 1 July 1200-1800
Melbourne Fête and Carnival
Saturday 14 July 1200-1630
Kegworth Library
Friday 7 September 1600-1900
Castle Donington Library
Monday 1 October 1600-1900

and another bit form the comunity flyer...

APCOA Services Group, who manage all on-site car
parks will be responsible for the scheme and will use
mobile CCTV cameras to monitor vehicles remotely.
Signage has been installed across the airport site
to advise vehicles that are not permitted to stop in
unauthorised areas. Any vehicles committing offences on
airport roads will be issued with a penalty notice.

An offence usualy means you have broken the law, by stopping on double yellow lines npo law has been broken, further more the lines mean absolutly nothing on private land, and only the courts/police etc can issue a penalty notice, anyone else who tries to issue one is wasting their time.

Coupon-mad

EM Airport seem to think they can issue penalties:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3946097

Using APCOA's fake PCNs and without any bylaws quoted or relied upon, they CANNOT.

Just ignore all these letters,you will get more. Check out the letter-chain to expect now, just play snap with each matching letter:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2214803

You are safe to have a bit of a laugh at their letters - tell your friends & relatives and don't let them think it is anything but a scam. And you and your relatives should watch the Watchdog clip on that last link.

give_them_FA

Ignore it. I was taken to an airport last week by a friend and rather than pay the £1 drop off tax, told him to stop in a safe place on the road, while I jumped out and continued on foot.

I am looking forward to getting the rubbish from the clowns in the knowledge that instead of them screwing me for £1 to get out of the car, it will cost THEM £5 to get my keeper details and write me meaningless letters.

That is the utter CONTEMPT which you should have for these people, Andrew.

Tracey79

Hello

I have just received the same from Apcoa, my dad picked me up from the airport and couldnt find where he had to be so i walked down the road jumped in his car and still drove through and paid £1 to get out, and have had a fine for £100 for stoppping in a no stoping zone ( where did it say this is a no stopping zone?) the trouble i have is that my dads car had broekn down which he then had to use my grandfathers vehicle so now unfortunately my grandfather is receiving the parking enforcvement notice!!!

i am just wondering how everyone else is getting on with ignoring the charges?

thanks Tracey

AlexisV

APCOA have never ever done court.

It's also likely they don't have the necessary landowner rights to make any contractual offer in the first place.

give_them_FA

Take absolutely no notice of them, Tracey. When I go to an airport I deliberately get a ticket just so it will cost them money to follow up. Who the hell do these nerks think they are.

delta_caller

I also have just been issued with a stopping in a no stopping zone fine of £100.00.
The signs are not clear at all where the "no stopping zone" is.
There are some signs that say no stopping area by the bus stops near to the departure terminal on the main road (Viscount road).
I took this as no stopping on Viscount Road which I didn't
The only place that I stopped was a side road (Dove Road) off the main road where I did not see any signs on the turn into this road, and this was for only 10 -15 seconds at the very most to pick up my uncle.
So at the moment I don't know if to appeal or what as I feel that the information available was misleading.

Stephen_Leak

I presume from the road names, that this is also at EMA.

Why would they have clear signs? What’s in it for them to warn people of their traps?

Why do you want to appeal? Do you honestly expect them to let you off? What’s in it for them to let anyone off?

See my post (#2) above.

Coupon-mad

delta_caller wrote: »

I also have just been issued with a stopping in a no stopping zone fine of £100.00.
The signs are not clear at all where the "no stopping zone" is.
There are some signs that say no stopping area by the bus stops near to the departure terminal on the main road (Viscount road).
I took this as no stopping on Viscount Road which I didn't
The only place that I stopped was a side road (Dove Road) off the main road where I did not see any signs on the turn into this road, and this was for only 10 -15 seconds at the very most to pick up my uncle.
So at the moment I don't know if to appeal or what as I feel that the information available was misleading.

There is NO APPEAL with a private parking company at the moment. It's a a scam anyway, they are not going to let anyone off their little protection racket.

Just ignore them like we all do, it's just a few letters.

From October we may change the advice as there will be an appeals procedure for all PPCs and we have plans to use it...never to pay of course, just to use the appeals procedure to make the PPCs cough up £27 plus VAT every time. :cool: