UKPC charge for "commercial vehicle" parking

Umkomaas

While unsuccessful, what a great synopsis and beautiful layout. Very readable. There’s a good lesson there for POPLA in how to produce a professional piece of work, rather than the standard amateur slab of unreadable word spaghetti. Don’t understand their rational. 😉

Le_Kirk

Don’t understand their rational.

Love it!

LoneStarState

I see you tried to find a landowner/managing agent without luck. Did you ever originally contact Legal and General? Even though there's stories about selling to AMRO, the redevelopment seems to be in stages and isn't slated to fully complete until 2028/29. It seems that specific retail park is likely still under ownership of Legal and General Investment Management. Were the units either side of Sports Direct still vacant as advertised for rent here below?:

Shop to rent | 1, Laompit Vale, Lewisham, SE13 7SN, Lewisham Retail Park

The listing gives L&G Investment Management as the landlord.

Bazarius

It’s not the end of the road.

You should now send UKPC the proof you forgot to upload to POPLA. The POPLA assessor specifically noted that the evidence wasn’t attached, so UKPC now have the information they should have considered before issuing or pursuing the PCN. With this evidence in hand, they can cancel the charge rather than wasting time and money pushing a hopeless case towards court.

By doing this, you’re showing that you’ve taken reasonable steps to resolve the matter. If they ignore you or fob you off, you’ll be able to demonstrate a course of conduct from this point onwards amounting to harassment and misuse of your DVLA data.

Remember: they should have checked with the DVLA for this information before issuing the PCN.

NotMyName51

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82087561#Comment_82087561

Thank you. I have emailed the UKPC complaints email address with the evidence and mention in my email other features associated with passenger vehicles, such as:

• it being a Tourneo, not Transit
• full glazing around the vehicle
• multiple rows of passenger seating
• twin sliding passenger doors providing access to the rear seating areas
• a tailgate
• a panoramic glass roof

I pointed out that the presence of business decals does not alter a vehicle's legal classification, design, construction, or type approval. An M1 passenger vehicle remains an M1 passenger vehicle regardless of whether it displays business branding, personal graphics, or no graphics at all.

The signage relied upon by UKPC simply states "No Commercial Vehicles". It does not define that term, nor does it state that vehicles displaying business branding are prohibited. It does not state that vehicles used in connection with a business are prohibited. I point out that if UKPC intends the restriction to extend beyond vehicles that are objectively commercial in nature, that definition is not communicated to motorists and invite them to review their position and cancel the PCN.

Let's see what they come back with (if they come back with anything).

NotMyName51

Hi all,

After emailing the evidence to UKPC, I have just had a response from them:

"Thank you for your email.
We received your appeal on 26th February 2026. A letter was sent on 9th March 2026 requesting further information. After no payment or further appeal was received, a final letter was sent on 31st March 2026. Subsequently, an appeal was submitted to POPLA. A letter was sent on 27th July 2026 stating that POPLA had found in our favour. Please see the attached PDF copies of these letters.
Entrance signage advises motorists that terms of parking apply, and that notices within the car park should be checked to identify the full terms and conditions. These notices are numerous and placed appropriately throughout the car park. It is ultimately the responsibility of the motorist to ensure they identify the terms of parking, and then decide whether to park their vehicle, or leave the site if they are unable to meet those terms.
Please note UKPC are only authorised by the client to manage the parking on site and at this stage can only assess whether or not a parking charge was issued correctly or not. If you have any issues regarding the terms and conditions, we advise that you contact the property management for this site.
A commercial vehicle is generally defined as a vehicle for business purposes, whether they are branded or non-branded, such as for transporting goods, carrying equipment, or paying passengers. Types of commercial vehicle include trucks (from light-duty to heavy-duty), buses, vans, delivery vehicles, taxis, and specialized vehicles like tankers and refrigerated trucks.
The parking charge remains outstanding.
Payment can be made online at www.paycharge.co.uk or by calling 03445 455 450.
Thank you."

I love how they rely on how a commercial vehicle is "generally" defined as a vehicle for business purposes. How would they know what purpose my vehicle serves? It is registered as my personal vehicle and insured with pleasure and business. By that definition, how would they know when a dual purpose vehicle was used for private or business purposes? My vehicle does not transport goods, carry equipment or paying passengers. The sign depicts a twin axle vehicle and states "no commercial vehicles" without any further clarification that any vehicle that may or may be used for business purposes some of the time is also banned.

This is my proposed response to them which I'd appreciate your thoughts on (and whether I should respond at all or just sit back now):

Dear UK Parking Control Ltd,

Thank you for your response.

I note that despite being provided with evidence that the vehicle is registered by the DVLA as an M1 passenger vehicle, UKPC has elected to maintain the parking charge.

Your response states that a commercial vehicle is "generally defined as a vehicle for business purposes". However, UKPC has provided no evidence whatsoever that the vehicle was being used for business purposes on the date in question.

The vehicle is registered as my personal vehicle and is an M1 passenger vehicle. It is not a goods vehicle, van, taxi, delivery vehicle, or vehicle used transporting goods, carrying equipment or carry paying passengers. The fact that a vehicle displays business branding does not establish that it is being used for business purposes at any particular time or at all.

Indeed, under the definition provided in your email, whether a vehicle is commercial would appear to depend entirely upon the purpose of a particular journey. UKPC has no evidence regarding the purpose of the journey undertaken on the date in question and is therefore in no position to determine whether the vehicle was being used for business purposes.

Furthermore, the signage relied upon by UKPC does not state "No vehicles used for business purposes". It states "No Commercial Vehicles" and depicts a twin-axle commercial vehicle. It does not define the term, nor does it inform motorists that UKPC considers an M1 passenger vehicle displaying business branding to fall within that prohibition.

I therefore remain firmly of the view that no breach occurred and that the parking charge was not correctly issued.

My position is now fully set out and no further correspondence is required. Should UKPC believe it has a viable cause of action, it should issue proceedings and allow the matter to be determined by the court. Otherwise, I invite UKPC to cancel the Parking Charge Notice.

Yours faithfully,

NotMyName51

Hey all. I did send that email I shared a couple of weeks ago. I have now received another letter, but this time from ZZPS and I wonder if I should

a) simply ignore all future correspondence because I have provided my evidence and have made my point clear or

b) send ZZPS an overview of the information and evidence provided to UKPC.

Your views are very welcome.

Gr1pr

Ignore ZZPS , the letters may change to Oak Legal in the future

jelly0109

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82087527#Comment_82087527

I got 6 parking fines, which came in the post all at once, at the same car park. I emailed the CEO of Legal and General to complain, resulting in all parking fines cancelled. I definitely think contacting Legal and General is worth a try.