Gatwick - change to T's & C's

mrpsmith

Apparently we are now responsible for ensuring that their cr*p ANPR camera - which have been proven to be unreliable - are able to read our number plates…

We're emailing to let you know that we have updated the Terms and Conditions for the Airport Drop-Off zones, and the facility to pay by AutoPay. These changes provide greater clarity on customer responsibilities when using the drop-off zones and how charges are administered.

Key updates include:

• Vehicle registration responsibilities: Drivers are now expressly responsible for ensuring their vehicle registration number plate is legal, visible, and readable at all times, including by the airport's Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) systems.

ghz

Erm, changing the terms is one thing… But how is it legally okay to update them and not bother informing us for almost a week? Email sent by them on 21 September, quote:

The revised Terms and Conditions became effective on 15 September 2026. Your continued use of the Airport Drop-Off zones and/or the AutoPay payment facility following the issuance of this notice will constitute acceptance of the revised Terms and Conditions.

One would think we'd at least match "underdeveloped" countries where a 30-day advance notice is standard requirement before new terms kick in.

daveyjp

And my response to Gatwick?

"What if my plate isn't legal, visible and readable?" Will you tell my mum or something just as scary?

eddddy

FWIW, I think this is targeted at people who use Ghost Number Plates or Stealth Number Plates which are specially designed to evade ANPR cameras.

It seems that an investigation suggested that 6% of vehicles visiting Gatwick used these types of number plates.

And a different investigation seemed to suggest that 40% of minicabs in London had this type of number plate, to try to evade congestion charges, tolls and airport drop off charges.

prowla

As I understand it, ghost plates have some form of reflective surface which covers the letters and that therefore breaks the rule "The characters must not be removable or reflective." in https://www.gov.uk/displaying-number-plates/rules-number-plates .

Whether it's up to a private organisation to specify something has to be legal is a question.

It could be an attractive option to have James Bond style number plates which could rotate between road-legal for general use and ghost for on private land.

James_Poisson

That is utterly stupid it is as stated by Prowler embedded in law what standards a number plate must conform to, an idiotic letter from a PPC is totally irrelevant.

That just says make sure our unregulated, uncalibrated ANPR system can read your VRN or we will stamp our feet and cry as we won't be able to trap you!

So if a leaf or piece of paper blocks some of the digits and if they can't read the VRN what are they going to do about it?

As for responsibilities they never fulfil their responsibilities only to their profit stream.

I would just cancel my auto pay tell them to remove my details and to poke their ridiculous T&C's.

eddddy

prowla said

Whether it's up to a private organisation to specify something has to be legal is a question.

Assuming an airport has the same rights as any other landowner, they can impose whatever conditions of entry they chose.

An airport can say "You must have ANPR readable number plates to come onto our land"

Just like a car park owner can say "Your vehicle must be under 6ft 6ins to come into our car park"

Or a bank or supermarket can say "You must remove your crash helmet before coming onto our property"

Or a restaurant owner can say "You must be wearing a shirt before coming onto our property"

Obviously, there's the question of how they enforce those terms and conditions, etc.

prowla

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82144556#Comment_82144556

Sure they can say what they like, but the law beats any of their stipulations and it already defines the rules for number plates.

cooldude255220

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82144564#Comment_82144564

Just because something is the law, it doesn't mean Gatwick can automatically rely on it. Hence them wanting to change their terms, which I must say I find entirely reasonable, so I'm not sure what's with the overreactions in this thread.

And whether a plate is road legal is a different question to whether it conforms to whatever requirements you contractually agree to. And yes, the contract can include different, or more onerous terms, than the existing legislation.

James_Poisson

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82144576#Comment_82144576

Gatwick aren't changing the terms a daft PPC is, and it is more about the ridiculousness of the notification, amongst other issues, I don't have an autopay account so it doesn't apply to me.

Le_Kirk

If their ANPR cameras can't read your (or anybody's) VRM, who are they going to write to?