APCOA - Entered/departed 20 min free stay car park twice in a day

Phaze100

Thanks @Gr1pr, I can understand why people just pay the fine, the injustice and "not knowing" plays havoc with my anxiety.  I will sit and wait as you advise and come back to the thread to advise on outcome/ask advice.  

fisherjim

Phaze100 said:

Thanks @Gr1pr, I can understand why people just pay the fine, the injustice and "not knowing" plays havoc with my anxiety.  I will sit and wait as you advise and come back to the thread to advise on outcome/ask advice.  

APCOA are not litigious on their own car parks and this is not relevant land anyway so don't fret about it.

1505grandad

"APCOA are not litigious on their own car parks......"

Even so they do very well from their scam (Hansard)  -  at least this OP has not fallen for it.

https://www.ibisworld.com/united-kingdom/market-research-reports/car-parks-industry/#FrequentlyAskedQuestions

What is the market size of the Car Parks industry in the UK?

The market size of the Car Parks industry in the UK is measured at £1.2bn in 2024.

Biggest companies in the Car Parks industry in the UK

Company                                                    Market Share (%)                                                 Revenue (£m)

                                                                     2024                                                                          2024 

National Car Parks Ltd                                                                                                                   180.5 

Q-Park Ltd                                                                                                                                      115.2

APCOA Parking (UK) Ltd                                                                                                                102.6 

Umkomaas

I'm unsure whether the amounts shown reflect actual paid parking as opposed to PCN income. NCP and QPark operate their own car parks (maybe APCOA too?), and while we see numerous NCP PCNs on the forum, I think I've only ever seen one QPark. So, in QPark's situation, I believe almost all of the £115m comes from parking sales rather than 'penalties'. 

LDast

@Phaze100, please stop stressing. The only people who pay anything to APCOA are those that have not discovered this forum and are still considered low-hanging fruit on the gullible tree by APCOA. You are here and receiving advice.

It may be fun to tease APCOA with a response of their "hold" with something along the lines of what you have proposed just to make whoever has to read and make a decision on it, plumb the depth of their intellectual malnourishment and decide whether it is better to give up now or waste both their own time and yours by moving to the next stage, POPLA, where they already know that they are likely to lose.

I would suggest the following in reply to their "hold" request:

Dear APCOA Appeals Dept.,

It is not for me, the keeper of the vehicle to provide APCOA with evidence of your failure to follow the requirements of the BPA Code of Practice (CoP), section 22.2 which requires APCOA to carry out the necessary quality checks of ANPR images before you issue a PCN. Just to enlighten you, the burden of proof is on APCOA to show that the vehicle was parked at the location for the duration alleged.

You have been informed that the vehicle entered at 11:52 on the date in question and departed before 12:02 on the same date. You were also informed that the same vehicle entered the location after 21:12 and departed at 21:32 on the same date. There were two visits, both with different drivers and it is obvious that APCOA have not followed the requirements of the BPA CoP section 22.2 and manually checked for any "orphan images" from what is clearly a "double dip" scenario.

APCOA are now advised to do that manual quality check and search for those "orphan images". I have conveniently provided you with the timeframes that you should search in your ANPR image storage system for those missing images.

APCOA are required to keep detailed records of the manual review process. This includes logs showing the times and dates when the manual check was performed, the specific steps taken during the review, and the personnel involved. If APCOA insist on progressing this PCN, I expect to see evidence of the search for the missing time-stamped "orphan images". I leave it up to you to decide whether I am able to prove otherwise as, already stated, the burden of proof, for now, rests on APCOA and not the keeper of the vehicle.

I expect APCOA to also maintain compliance logs showing adherence to the BPA Code of Practice. These logs should indicate regular manual checks of ANPR images before PCNs are issued and any corrective actions taken in response to identified issues. I will require that evidence should you reject my appeal and this progresses to POPLA.

Please be reminded that in order to operate, APCOA is required to adhere to all relevant regulations, including data protection laws to ensure lawful processing of personal data captured by ANPR systems. APCOA have breached the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) by requesting the vehicle keeper’s data from the DVLA. This is because failing to adhere to the BPA Code of Practice also constitutes a breach of the KADOE (Keeper of a Vehicle at the Date of an Event) contract with the DVLA.

Requesting and processing personal data (such as the vehicle keeper's details from the DVLA) without a lawful basis, which in this case is compromised by not adhering to the BPA Code of Practice, constitutes a breach of GDPR. Specifically, this involves processing data unfairly and unlawfully, violating principles of data protection law.

If you are unsure of the meaning of the previous paragraph, please pass this correspondence to your legal advisors who will be able to clarify to you on what APCOAs next step should be.

I will be reporting this incident to the DVLA, providing details of the breach of the BPA Code of Practice and the resultant misuse of personal data. I will also be filing a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK regulator for data protection.

So, please make a decision on my appeal based on the added information you have been provided with above. Either cancel the PCN or provide me with a POPLA code where we can examine the evidence of this failure to follow the requirements of the BPA CoP section 22.2 and therefore a breach of the KADOE contract which means that APCOA have breached the keepers GDPR and the ramifications of that.

Yours sincerely,

You can do this online through their portal at https://pcnpayments.apcoa.co.uk/pcnonline/index.php and you can also just send it as a letter to the address they provided but get a free "proof of posting" certificate from the Post Office. I you also post it, add to the letter at the bottom that it has been posted with a "proof of posting certificate".

Any thoughts or observations from the others?
 

Half_way

Go for a GDPR breach , 
Failure to ensure accuracy of data 
And inappropriate storage and processing of personal data as a result.

Phaze100

Huge thanks to all, the parking notice has been cancelled.  I did send the letter as per @LDast and APCOA cancelled the charge.  I will spread the word far and wide on how to correctly appeal against these companies and will report them to the DVLA and the Information Commissioner's Office.  There are so many reports on my local town facebook page regarding the same or similar charges being made by Apcoa and I shall do my best to inform people.

Thanks so much for all your guidance, really appreciated.

Gr1pr

Well done 

Just tell anyone affected to come here for advice, especially because cases are dealt with in different ways, plus it will change yet again when the new government regulations kick in , hopefully this year 

LDast

Just for my own amusement, what exactly did APCOA put in their cancellation notice, especially if they referenced anything that was in the letter I suggested you send them?

Knowing how APCOA shrivel away from admitting their intellectual incompetence, I am assuming that they just said something along the lines of "You were a very naughty person to break our rules but, as an expression of goodwill, we are going to cancel the PCN this time. We are lovely cuddly people and you should adore us for this selfless act of compassion."

Phaze100

@LDast - very much a standard reply, you’d think they would’ve apologised 😂