Debt Recovery Plus - Luton Airport drop off - (£25 "goodwill") 6th reminder

missofcheese

First post here - read most on Newbies thread, most on PCNs...

But there was no PCN, but the 5th and 6th reminder from a debt collector!

Background story: back in July 2025, I dropped off my mum at the London Luton Airport, where they installed a new no-barrier system and got caught by forgetting to make the online payment by midnight.

When I realised that (3 days later!), the calendar feature on their payment website had already been greyed out, and I was unable to pay the fee on the specific day. I then proceeded and emailed their customer service, "playing dumb" and saying:

I'm trying again to pay for the express drop off at LTN Airport for the date 10/07 - approx 20:30.

Registration: XXX

I'm not sure why it is not allowing me to do so on the system. Please, am I able to do it over the phone, as online doesn't seem to go through? 

Please let me know the best option. 


That email was not only not answered, but not even acknowledged by an automatic response. Again, simply forgot about the whole matter.

Currently: Fast forward 4 months, now in November, I went to collect my post from an old address (I have moved twice within 18 months, and didn't realise changing address on my DL doesn't do much, and I forgot to change it on V5). To my surprise (apart from another charge from McDonald's...), I have received the 5th and 6th reminder from the debt collector - Debt Recovery Plus.

My action: I immediately contacted the specific LTN Airport drop-off customer service (as in land owner), explaining the situation and sharing the email chain with my initial (unanswered) email that I have ATTEMPTED to pay the fee, however, not only I DID NOT receive the original PCN, but now I'm also threatened with a debt collector for £165.

The response I received: This time, their response was less than 24 hours! And received a "goodwill" gesture of a reduced PCN to £25.

"Thank you for contacting Luton Express Drop Off Customer Service Department.

 

We sincerely apologise for the delay in response to your email dated 13/07/2025. This was not received by ourselves and we can only apologise for not responding sooner.

 

Upon review, we can confirm that a parking charge was issued due to non-payment within the required time frame of midnight the following night of your visit on 10/07/2025.

 

This initial letter allowed up to 28 days for an appeal to be submitted, or for payment to be made. As no action was taken toward the charge, this continued to progress and has now been referred to Debt Recovery Plus, which is why you have received correspondence from them. We do acknowledge that you did not receive this.

 

Due to this, we are willing to offer you the opportunity to settle the Parking Charge at the reduced rate of £25.00, payable within 14 days.

 

To make payment, please contact our customer service department XXX

Once payment has been received, we will instruct Debt Recovery Plus to close the case and take no further action. If you have already made a payment to Debt Recovery Plus, we will request that a full refund is processed.

 

For future reference, payments for the Luton Express Drop Off zone must be made by midnight the day after visiting. Payments can be made online on our website lutondropoff.apcoa.com or by calling our customer service team. You may also set up Autopay via our website, which will automatically charge you within 12 to 24 hours for any future visits to the drop-off zone."



Here is my question - I did, in fact was forgetful here, at no point I disclosed a driver, however, as this PCN is so outdated, I'm fighting whether I just pay the £25?

Any advice would be appreciated! (especially that I'm now also at the appeal stage for an overstay at McDonald's and MET Parking!).

missofcheese

Here are the Debt Recovery Plus letters:

Gr1pr

Which parking company are chasing the dropoff fee error  ? Is it Apcoa   ( Luton Airport   ?  )

How much is the dropoff fee that wasn't paid   ?

Ignore the powerless debt collectors letters,  as per post 4 in the newbies sticky thread in announcements 

No debt collectors can do anything other than send scary looking letters,  especially DRP LTD, so ignore them 

If you have moved, ensure that each and every private parking company has your current address,  by emailing the DPO at each one, including MET, because you dont want letters going to an old address 

missofcheese

Gr1pr said:

Which parking company are chasing the dropoff fee error  ? Is it Apcoa   ( Luton Airport   ?  )

How much is the dropoff fee that wasn't paid   ?

Ignore the powerless debt collectors letters,  as per post 4 in the newbies sticky thread in announcements 

No debt collectors can do anything other than send scary looking letters,  especially DRP LTD, so ignore them 

If you have moved, ensure that each and every private parking company has your current address,  by emailing the DPO at each one, including MET, because you dont want letters going to an old address 

Yes, correct - LTN Airport is under APCOA Parking (UK) LTD.

The drop off / pick up fee is: £7 for 10 minutes

My biggest concern is that I've never received any PCN, no evidence, no photos, no nothing. Maybe being petty here, but surely this seems outrageous, paying (even) £25 for thin air? Got 14 days to pay.

What is the best way to act on removing my old address from their database (APCOA and MET)? Just contact their customer service? Would I provide my new address?

I appreciate the guidance!

Gr1pr

So if your V5c was still registered to the old address,  the RK was and is legally responsible for updating the V5c log book as well as their driving licence promptly,  the punishment for not doing so can be a real fine capped at £1000, so inform the dvla ASAP if not done already , to avoid that real fine

You cannot blame any private parking company,  police, Dart charge,  council etc for using an out of date address obtained by legal means from the DVLA database,  the consequences can be expensive and entirely of your own making if you are the Registered Keeper   ( sorry to be so blunt   ),  the RK needs to own the error,  if true, but paying private parking companies is optional,  as is ignoring them and ignoring the debt collectors 

This problem is usually avoided if mail redirection is in place whilst completing all the admin in moving 

If they offered a settlement figure of £25 to close the matter,  compared to £7 that should have been paid,  then you are dithering over an £18 difference , so doesn't seem a bad offer to me to end this saga with Apcoa, or the alternative is ignore Apcoa and ignore the powerless debt collectors anyway,  definitely no paying DR plus regardless of your decision 

Email the DPO with a Data Rectification Notice and add proof of address,  especially if your V5c is currently up to date, adding a copy your V5c as proof,  possibly add 2 recent but suitably redacted utility bills as well, stating that they  MUST ERASE  your old address under the GDPR rules

Ps, if you disagree with drop off fees, sign the petition 

Half_way

Its really important not to attempt to name the driver at airport, railway or port/harbour sites

missofcheese

Really appreciate that @Gr1pr ! I have now settled on the £25.00 and received confirmation:

"Thank you for contacting Luton Express Drop Off Customer Service Department. Upon review, we can confirm that payment has been received and allocated to your parking charge. Therefore, no further action is required.  
We will instruct Debt Recovery Plus to close the case and take no further action." 


I have applied to change the address on the V5C. The first thing I did after coming back from collecting the post from the old address.

I have also contacted APCOA, Debt Recovery Plus and MET Parking Services DPOs to request "Data Rectification and Erasure". I only hope that they will not cause problems that it's done via email. Although I attached two pieces of POA.


Now off to fight PCN overstay at McDonald's and already sent the complaint to the new CEO (but obviously they forwarded it onto the Customer Services)...

Hoping for a Christmas miracle at this stage!

Coupon-mad

You don't need a miracle and didn't need to pay the APCOA one. You should have ignored DR Plus. Nothing would have happened.

Just ignore the MET one except to ensure the old address is erased. Come on, you do not pay unfair private parking charges all the time that the rogue industry remains unregulated.

This is stated not only here in the forum but also in the official 'MSE Guide'.

Just click on the words underneath the little red 'MSE link' in the small 'Parking Ticket Appeals' banner at the top of this page which leads to the MSE Guide to fight PCNs.

Same info is shown in both this forum and in that Guide, as regards the debt recovery letters being a futile stage and ignoring these demands being risk-free as long as you don't miss or ignore a Court Claim (easy to defend).

Consistent advice here is easy to find and is not just from random strangers on a forum. We know what we're doing. The MSE Guide is official 'Martin Lewis backed' advice.