Penalty notice from APCOA parking - Railway byelaws

brg190_pete

Hi

We have received a penalty notice from APCOA Parking in my wife's name, as she is the registered keeper.  The notice refers to 'use of private car park without a valid payment/permit', and relates to a stay in Bracknell station car park.  It states that she was in breach of the Railway Byelaws.  It states that my wife is legally liable as the owner even if she was not the driver.  The evidence provided is a picture of the car, and a close-up of the registration number, leaving the car park.

My wife appealed with the following information:

• my husband (me) was driving; 
• we bought a parking ticket for cash; 
• we thought the ticket was a bit odd, as the expiry time was 23.59 on the following day; 
• a photo of our number plate is not evidence that we did not buy a ticket; 
• we wonder if the machine incorrectly issued us with a ticket for the following day; 
• please review CCTV and look at the records from the ticket machine as evidence for what we are saying.

My wife then received a letter from APCOA asking for proof that a valid payment was made.  We responded as follows:

• My wife stated that it was me who was driving the car, and that she wished to discharge her liability by naming me as the driver.  She asked that APCOA cancel the penalty and issue a new one to me.

• I then said: the parking ticket was paid for in cash, and as the ticket has since been discarded, there is no further evidence to provide; the ticket did look a bit odd, as the expiry time was 23.59 on the next day; was there a fault with the machine and it issued a ticket for the next day and this is why your system is showing that we did not have a valid parking ticket for our stay? 

• I continued: as this is a penalty in respect of parking on private land, it is being raised under contract law (now not sure if this is right?), and the burden of proof lies entirely with you to prove a breach occurred. A photo of the car leaving the car park is obviously not proof we did not buy a ticket.  The ticket machine should show that we purchased a ticket using our registration number. 

• If you want to pursue this further, then you must prove I have breached your terms and conditions by providing both of the following: first, a clear time-stamped image of the vehicle showing that there was no parking ticket in the window; and second, logs from the ticket machine showing all tickets, with registration numbers, issued in a half hour slot during which we arrived.  

• Finally, I said that the penalty notice seems to have been incorrectly issued.  My wife is not legally liable, as she was not the driver.  Your notice should have said that you did not know who the driver was, and invite the keeper to pay or pass on details of who was driving.  There was nothing in the notice about this.

Frustratingly, APCOA are still responding to my wife, with: appeal unsuccessful.  At the time the ANPR camera observed your vehicle they noted it was parked without a valid payment (they haven't provided evidence of this, just a shot of our car leaving the car park from a distance and a close-up of the registration number).  As the owner of the vehicle, you are liable for the charge as it is a Penalty Notice issued under railway byelaws.  The railway byelaws state that the owner of a motor vehicle left in breach of Byelaw 14(1) to 14(3) may be liable to pay a penalty.  If the Penalty Notice remains unpaid, APCOA Parking is entitled to pursue you as the keeper through the Magistrates Court by way of a private criminal prosecution.  

Apologies for the length of the above, but I want to give as full a picture as possible.  I understand I may have weakened our position by naming myself as the driver, but, if I leave this in my wife's name, she will be intimidated by these letters and will just pay, whereas I am an awkward !!!!!! who will argue!

I know the next step is an appeal to POPLA.  Will they actually be fair, as I believe they are funded by the parking companies?

I should be grateful for comments on the following:

Given that my wife has named me as the driver, are APCOA not obliged to discharge her from liability and re-issue a ticket to me?  So far, they have just ignored this point and continue to pursue her.

Have I got good grounds for an appeal?  I know that I cannot provide any evidence, as we paid in cash and have since discarded the ticket, but how is a photo of our car in the dark leaving the car park, and a close-up of the registration number, evidence that we did not pay?  Is the onus on APCOA to prove I did not pay, rather than on me to prove that I did?  I understand that APCOA will need to provide an evidence pack to POPLA, surely the picture they have sent of our car leaving the car park is not sufficient?

I am a little confused as to whether this issue is civil / contractual or criminal.

Any help or guidance much appreciated, as would be any links to the outcomes of similar cases.  And indeed links to any technical material that I should be reading.

Many thanks
Peter

Gr1pr

So APCOA and Bracknell station 

Its definitely a PENALTY NOTICE issued under bylaws. ?  ( not a Parking Charge Notice under civil law. ?  )

Penalty Notice is bylaws,  Parking Charge Notice is contract law.  ( Civil law. )

Being the Registered Keeper does not prove Ownership,  the V5c clearly says so on the bottom of the front page

If the vehicle is on HP via Toyota Finance for example,  they own it , not your wife. !

What is the date that is on the PN. ?  Incident date. ?  and Issue date. ?

Ps, never discard rceipts until at least 6 months time has elapsed,  especially proof of payment  !

brg190_pete

Hi Gr1pr

Thanks for the reply.  Yes, definitely a penalty notice issued due to being in breach of railway byelaws, so assume this is a criminal rather than civil matter?

I understand the distinction between registered keeper and ownership, I think a lot of the wording from APCOA is questionable to say the least.

Incident date 30/11/25; date of issue of notice 10/12/25.  I think this is all within time.

Lesson learned re keeping receipts!

Gr1pr

Regardless of Apcoa wording,  dont believe everything you read from private parking companies, get independent advice 

My query about dates is due to POFA2012 changing on boxing day 2025

Which TOC operate Bracknell. ? ( or is it TfL. ?  )

MSE told people not to throw away parking ticket receipts almost 10 years ago  !  That article should be revamped. !

brg190_pete

Looks like SWR operates Bracknell.

Any comments on the queries raised in my OP much appreciated!

cooldude255220

As it stands, they still have their sights set on the keeper, so an appeal to POPLA may well be worthwhile. 

However, in order to best assist, we need to see the NTK. Can you upload a redacted copy of it with personal details removed? We can then look to see in what ways it's defective with the requirements under POFA.

My understanding is that the APCOA NTKs are not POFA-compliant. Therefore an appeal to POPLA (who are generally fair) on that point should resolve the matter in the keeper's favour. The other question - as aluded to above - is whether or not (based on when the parking was) the car park is relevant land for POFA. Pre-boxing day it wasn't; post-boxing-day it may be. 

I should also point out that, given that you have been named as the driver, they may instead turn their attention to you once the POPLA appeal is determined if it doesn't go in their favour. And in that case, they won't be relying on POFA if they decide to pursue you as the driver so you won't have that avenue open to you. You would therefore be needing to look at other reasons why their claim is invalid if they do decide to take you to Court. That said, I don't think APCOA have a history of actually issuing proceedings so you may be okay. 

Coupon-mad

POFA isn't relevant to a PN where the incident took place before boxing day. 

Also the 14 day period isn't relevant either, with a PN.

The POPLA Appeal should be done on the LAST DAY POSSIBLE (that's day 33 not day 28) and it should concentrate first on saying that the appellant believes that the operator only has a contract to issue parking charge notices here, not penalties.

cooldude255220

Coupon-mad said:

POFA isn't relevant to a PN where the incident took place before boxing day. 

Also the 14 day period isn't relevant either, with a PN.

The POPLA Appeal should be done on the LAST DAY POSSIBLE (that's day 33 not day 28) and it should concentrate first on saying that the appellant believes that the operator only has a contract to issue parking charge notices here, not penalties.

Is it correct to say that, for railway parking events post-boxing-day, which consist solely of a contractual breach (as opposed to it being an obstruction), a PN is not valid? Because the bylaws were amended to the effect that:

(i) a traffic sign does not include an object or device for conveying the rules of a contractual parking scheme; and

(ii) an instruction does not include any instruction conveying the rules of a contractual parking scheme.

Coupon-mad

Yes. We won't see any more PNs at Railways.

ChirpyChicken

Coupon-mad said:

Yes. We won't see any more PNs at Railways.

Be interesting to see what the likes of northern and emr do at their own managed stations

Coupon-mad

Yes indeed.