Heathrow Drop-off. Autopay Didn't work. Appeal Rejected :(

boatfriendhorse

Hi folks,

I just found about this forum after my appeal was rejected by APCOA :(. I have an AutoPay account setup, so I assumed that it will be deducted when I went on holiday, (a friend dropped me off in my car). When I returned from holiday, not only was I sent a PCN but also the 14day period was past so would have to pay 80£!!!

I appealed thinking it was a straight forward dismissal since they clearly failed to take the payment from the card on file. I attached screenshot of my account with the Car Reg + the Auto Payment details setup. Here is what I wrote:

Dear APCOA Appeals Team,
I am writing to formally challenge this Parking Charge Notice. This PCN was issued in error because I have a fully functioning Heathrow Drop-Off AutoPay account, and my vehicle registration mark ([XXXXXXXXX]) was successfully registered well in advance of this journey.
I have screenshots of my active APCOA Heathrow Drop-Off Portal dashboard showing that AutoPay was fully enabled and my payment method was valid at the time of the contravention. The failure to collect the 7 GBP fee is an error with APCOA’s automated scanning or billing system, not a fault on my part. As the contract terms were fully met on my end, I request that this PCN be cancelled in its entirety.
MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES REGARDING THE 14-DAY DISCOUNT PERIOD:
Please note that I was away on holiday when this PCN was delivered, meaning I was unable to open the letter or respond within the initial 14-day discount window. While my primary position is that this ticket should be cancelled due to the functioning AutoPay account, if APCOA chooses to reject this appeal, I request that the discounted rate of 40 GBP be re-offered. I would be happy to provide my flight itineraries or travel dates as proof of absence if required.
Thank you for your time, and I look forward to your confirmation of cancellation.
Yours sincerely,
[XXXXX]

Here is the response I got:

We have carefully reviewed your appeal, taking into consideration all the points you have raised in relation to this Parking Charge.

On this occasion, your appeal has been unsuccessful for the following reason.

In your appeal, you stated that you have Autopay set up to automatically pay. Upon further review of your Autopay account, we can confirm that a payment for your visit on 17/07/2026 was not successfully processed.

As no valid payment was recorded for this visit, the Parking Charge was issued correctly and remains payable.
We recommend checking that your payment details are up to date and monitoring confirmation emails following each visit to avoid similar issues in the future.
It is therefore our position that the parking charge was reasonably issued because of the above detail, breach of the terms and conditions set out on the signage at this location.

Relavant Dates:

Date of visit: 17 July; Date of PCN: 25 July;

Date of Appeal: 19 Aug; Date of Rejection of Appeal: Sep 3

How should I proceed ? POPLA appeal ?

SacredStephan

When was the last time that Autopay worked successfully for you? Has your card expired since then?

boatfriendhorse

No the card hasn't expired. I've been using it regularly. Last time I used LHR autopay was several months ago though.

Interestingly I just read the Payment details properly in the appeal letter. It seems they are asking to settle this with a 7£ payment now! To be made in 14 days.

I might actually just go ahead and pay that since it seems fair. Should I not do this for any reason ? I don't want them to pursue me for more after I've already paid them 7£.

HoneydewLemon

The driver of the vehicle is liable for the parking charge, so since you weren't driving then you can simply refuse to accept liability. As the alleged contravention occurred on airport land APCOA cannot transfer liability to you, the registered keeper (not relevant land under POFA 2012). You are also under no obligation to identify the driver.

Of course, if they have indeed offered to settle for the original amount of £7 then that actually seems unusually reasonable of them and you might just want to do that, up to you! (I have no idea whether they would still pursue you if you pay that, but surely they couldn't as it would be settled?)

Le_Kirk

The OP's first post indicates he/she was the driver as it was written in the first person. However, I would, after checking with the bank that the original Auto Pay did not work, i.e. £7 has not been taken from the account, pay the £7 since you intended to.

HoneydewLemon

The OP's first post indicates he/she was the driver as it was written in the first person.

- @Le_Kirk

The OP explicitly stated that a friend dropped them off in their car.

Edit: Not that I'm saying that they shouldn't just pay the £7 anyway like you said

Le_Kirk

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82133930#Comment_82133930

Agreed but that it not what the appeal states.

Coupon-mad

As they weren't driving, they can easily win at POPLA by stating there is 'no keeper liability' law applicable to airports and also proving they were the passenger being dropped off for their flight.

Attach the boarding card with name on, and the OP's driving licence (redact the number but show name and picture) as long as they look clearly different from the actual driver in APCOA's images.

APCOA will give up as they can't win.

Which is why they've offered to settle at the £7 drop off fee. We have NEVER seen that before. I wanna see that evidence!

Not typed please…I need the actual email.

Can you screenshot the full email, redact headers and names/refs/car reg identifiers.

This is useful evidence for the Government and MHCLG that the fair thing to do where there is a tariff site, is for appeal rejection letters to accept the tariff as settlement in the first early stages.

boatfriendhorse

Can you screenshot the full email, redact headers and names/refs/car reg identifiers.

@Coupon-mad

Here you go! I had to actually look at the Options closely to actually see that they were offering 7£ to settle it (which is what I am going to do now). The appeals cover letter makes no mention of this 🤷:

Coupon-mad

That's amazing! Never seen that level of fair resolution of an unpaid tariff and it's a shining example to other operators.

The closest we saw was when NCP used to offer the discount for people to settle it at £15 which was offered up front on their NTKs, when they first ran the drop off zone at Gatwick about 5 years or more ago.

Notwithstanding the debate about drop-off fees being a cash cow, that seemed fair-ish because the Airport got their fee (a fiver at the time) and NCP a tenner which easily covered the £2.50 DVLA look up and an auto-generated NTK sent by bulk mail which is about £1.66 I think, even now.

The only thing to quibble about is '14 days from the date of this letter' is short and (with no detriment to APCOA) that timeline could easily be changed to a fairer period, specifically '21 days from service of this letter' just in case you missed the email at first and/or for cases where such a letter is posted.

boatfriendhorse

The cynic in me thinks that they are only offering this option because the AutoPay system failed somehow. They sre being generous because it is their mistake.