Apcoa Railway Appeal Rejected

niftybadger

Hi,

I received a penalty notice from apcoa for parking at a station. I normally pay for parking, just forgot one day in a rush. They have cameras installed recently and they sent pictures of the car entering and existing the carpark.

I appealed on their website using the following:

This is an appeal by the registered keeper - No driver details will be given. Please do NOT try the usual Group Nexus Trick of asking for driver details in order to get around the fact your NTK does not comply with POFA. As there is no keeper liability then liability cannot flow from the driver to the keeper and thus is an auto win @ POPLA. Please therefore cancel the notice or issue a POPLA code where you will auto withdraw

I just had an email back rejecting the appeal - not referencing anything in my appeal, just saying they reject it due to being unable to locate a valid transaction and referencing their T&Cs

Just want to check my next steps please

Thanks

Umkomaas

Ignore them and any debt collector letters that drop through your letterbox. APCOA never sue (they can't for 'penalty notices, even if they did). You just need to see this through to the 6 months point, then tell them to take a walk!

What was the date of the parking event?  Please confirm that the APCOA charge letter shows PENALTY CHARGE in it. 

doubledotcom

If the notice you've received is styled as a "Penalty Notice" from APCOA, it's important to understand that APCOA is an unregulated private company with no statutory authority to issue criminal penalties. Misrepresenting a private invoice as a statutory fine may constitute fraud by false representation under Section 2 of the Fraud Act 2006. You may wish to report this to your local police force’s Economic Crime Unit, citing the apparent attempt to obtain money through deceptive means. This is not a civil dispute—it’s potentially a criminal matter.

niftybadger

Umkomaas said:

Ignore them and any debt collector letters that drop through your letterbox. APCOA never sue (they can't for 'penalty notices, even if they did). You just need to see this through to the 6 months point, then tell them to take a walk!

What was the date of the parking event?  Please confirm that the APCOA charge letter shows PENALTY CHARGE in it. 

Date of letter was 27/06/2025, with date of "offence" of 02/06/2025

Letter is titled "Penalty Notice" and shows "Penalty Notice Amount: £100"

Thanks I assumed ignoring was the way to go, but I didn't expect them to respond to the appeal

James_Poisson

niftybadger said:

Umkomaas said:

Ignore them and any debt collector letters that drop through your letterbox. APCOA never sue (they can't for 'penalty notices, even if they did). You just need to see this through to the 6 months point, then tell them to take a walk!

What was the date of the parking event?  Please confirm that the APCOA charge letter shows PENALTY CHARGE in it. 

Date of letter was 27/06/2025, with date of "offence" of 02/06/2025

Letter is titled "Penalty Notice" and shows "Penalty Notice Amount: £100"

Thanks I assumed ignoring was the way to go, but I didn't expect them to respond to the appeal

All smoke and mirrors by just ignoring your points they hope you will fold and pay up.

Coupon-mad

Why not just get rid if it by appealing to POPLA, saying that the landowner authority only gives the operator permission to issue parking charge notices, not Penalty Notices?

This has worked before and needs continued testing. Nothing to lose as you'll never pay.

Umkomaas

Coupon-mad said:

Why not just get rid if it by appealing to POPLA, saying that the landowner authority only gives the operator permission to issue parking charge notices, not Penalty Notices?

This has worked before and needs continued testing. Nothing to lose as you'll never pay.

Seconded. ✅