APCOA Railway Penalty Notice

DecemberJ

I feel like the biggest idiot having to ask a question in here, but the newbies thread is pretty confusing and my anxiety just makes it harder to absorb/process anything (especially at 1am)

Anyway, I was issued a Penalty Notice at an apcoa railway station car park, which stated I had breached byelaw 14. I had paid for parking but one letter of the number plate I entered was wrong, leading to my car not being registered. Fifteen days later they issued the notice and I received the notice a few days ago. A charge of £100, reduced to £60 within 14 days yada yada… And just to be thorough, I have a screenshot of the receipt page showing parking was paid for under the mis-typed number plate, and it's showing in my bank as having been taken the following day (I used the car park on a bank holiday).

But I read elsewhere that BPA revised its code of practice to account for errors such as mine and that I can successfully appeal and the penalty can be wiped (although the issuing body may still be allowed to cover costs up to £20) and I also just checked, and if I've understood correctly, then APCOA is a BPA member.

(taken from version 8 of the BPA code of practice 17.4)

"These are minor errors where up to one character has been entered
incorrectly, or where the registration has been entered in the wrong
order. If a typing error such as this leads to a PCN being issued and
the motorist appeals, the PCN must be cancelled at the first stage of
appeal."

Does this mean I can just straight-up appeal without having to wait and play games, and APCOA will have to cancel the fine? Or will apcoa still reject my appeal, despite the bpa code, meaning I'd be better off waiting to appeal?

Sorry, just did another search and think I found the answer to the above (leaving it there just in case). Should I still use the template appeal and avoid saying I was the driver? And should I still wait, or can I just appeal asap?

Sorry this was so long, but I'm stressed and would like to end this as soon as possible. I had actually decided I was just going to pay the fine without appealing for the first time ever, because I couldn't stand the anxiety of it hanging over me, but then looked into it and have now seen that I should definitely not pay apcoa.
Thanks for any help, and sorry that it's another one of these posts. I did read, re-read and thoroughly explore the newbie thread. But knowing about the bpa code change, I wanted to be sure of the best action to take.

Umkomaas

You could try an appeal to APCOA, using the initial appeal template from the NEWBIES FAQ Announcement, first post, adding a line that the driver made a minor keying error (give the details) and you expect them to cancel the charge as per the BPA Code of Practice (add the relevant paragraph references). They may respond with some fudged nonsense of it being a penalty charge not a parking charge, but that confirmation will be very useful to you in due course.

Whatever, you do not pay APCOA - they are completely benign, and you'll come to no harm whatsoever with them. If any company makes a parking ticket beatable, APCOA does!

We're always here to provide ongoing guidance and support, no need to stress, sleep easy, it's only APCOA!

B789

You can try the template appeal as mentioned above. However, I wouldn't bother mentioning the keying error unless you want to pay a £20 charge. Whether they cancel on appeal or they issue a POPLA code, you can win this at POPLA based solely on the fact that you are the RK and they cannot transfer liability to the driver.

Just don't give away the identity of the driver by saying something silly like "I parked…". It should always be "The driver parked…" because you are always responding as the RK. The RK and the driver are two separate entities under the law.

Umkomaas

However, I wouldn't bother mentioning the keying error unless you want to pay a £20 charge.

I had paid for parking but one letter of the number plate I entered was wrong,

Single digit out - cancellation, no charge.

17.4 The Code recognises that keying errors can be grouped into 2 main areas;

1. A) Minor Keying Errors

Examples of a minor keying error could include:

• 0 instead of o.
• I instead of L.
• 1 instead of I
• Up to one letter wrong, removed, or swapped
• Up to one number wrong, removed, or swapped
• Numbers and/or letters in the wrong order (but where the correct registration is still recognisable)

These are minor errors where up to one character has been entered incorrectly, or where the registration has been entered in the wrong order. If a typing error such as this leads to a PCN being issued and the motorist appeals, the PCN must be cancelled at the first stage of appeal.

Coupon-mad

Definitely set out the keying error details in the appeal (without saying who was driving).  The PCN must be cancelled.

caprikid1

I just sent them a photocopy of the receipt with a note to say happy to see you in court (-; never heard another word !.

Coupon-mad

caprikid1 said:

I just sent them a photocopy of the receipt with a note to say happy to see you in court (-; never heard another word !.

Yes but that's not relevant to this person, who will get their PCN cancelled anyway due to it being a minor single digit keying error.

DecemberJ

Hi all, just wanted to come back in and thank you for the advice on this. I had the email a few days ago confirming that the PCN was cancelled, and wanted to add that I wasn't even given any kind of charge for admin or whatever excuse they may have created, they just straight up cancelled it.

The online form to appeal was a bit annoying though, all throughout the process the "pay now" or "proceed to payment details" button (or something similar) was present at the bottom of the box in a way that made it more prominent than the "next" button. Obviously it's not going to trick anyone into paying instead of appealing, (I imagine most people would be aware as they were filling their details in that they were about to pay the fine) but if you weren't paying attention it might mean you have to fill in the appeals form again, which would just be annoying.

So, thanks all! In the nicest way possible, I hope not to be back on this part of the forum again anytime soon!

Coupon-mad

DecemberJ said:

Hi all, just wanted to come back in and thank you for the advice on this. I had the email a few days ago confirming that the PCN was cancelled, and wanted to add that I wasn't even given any kind of charge for admin or whatever excuse they may have created, they just straight up cancelled it.

The online form to appeal was a bit annoying though, all throughout the process the "pay now" or "proceed to payment details" button (or something similar) was present at the bottom of the box in a way that made it more prominent than the "next" button. Obviously it's not going to trick anyone into paying instead of appealing, (I imagine most people would be aware as they were filling their details in that they were about to pay the fine) but if you weren't paying attention it might mean you have to fill in the appeals form again, which would just be annoying.

So, thanks all! In the nicest way possible, I hope not to be back on this part of the forum again anytime soon!

Well done!  As we said, they had to cancel.

And we hope you WILL come back once more later this Summer!

We need you - as a genuine PPC victim of sharp practice - to respond robustly to the Public Consultation on the level of parking charges and banning of the false added £70 DRA 'fee' that too many honest motorists currently fall victim to.

It will need consumer input (powerful voices) but change is afoot. It's taken about 5 years to get to this stage:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6333036/breaking-news-government-has-announced-the-statutory-code-of-practice-and-enforcement-framework/p1

And then the industry threw victims' money at it and blocked and delayed it - explained here:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/79310609/#Comment_79310609

Please now Bookmark BOTH threads and set up email alerts on your posting profile, so that you get an email alert when we post there, as we will, once the Public Consultation opens - anticipated in a few weeks...

NOW ANTICIPATED IN JULY/AUGUST!

We need people like you and your driving family & friends to respond in high numbers!

The Public Consultation is coming.  We need the level of parking charges capped (and no £130 rate in London) and the false added fee "extortion" that rips people off and leads to hundreds of thousands of roboclaims and CCJs per annum, must be outright banned.