SABA Train station Parking Charge - Keying error

NickyDe

Hi all,

Looking for some advice on a SABA parking charge at Leighton Buzzard railway station and whether I have any realistic grounds to fight this further, or whether I should just accept the £20 reduced charge they've offered.

On 29 July 2026 I parked at Leighton Buzzard railway station. It's a pay-as-you-leave system and I paid for my parking before leaving.

Not long afterwards I received a Parking Charge Notice from SABA based on the ANPR cameras, stating that I hadn't paid for parking.

I was initially confused because I knew I'd paid. I then checked my parking receipt and realised I'd made a stupid mistake when paying: I'd entered my wife's car registration instead of the registration of the car I was actually driving.

So, to be clear, the correct parking tariff was paid for the visit, but it was accidentally registered against my wife's vehicle rather than mine.

I appealed through PayMyParkingCharge and provided the parking receipt as evidence that I'd paid. SABA rejected my appeal by email on 11 September 2026.

However, because they accepted that this was a registration/keying error, they've offered me a reduced charge of £20, which they say is available for 14 days.

During all of this my wife has tidied my office and unfortunately thrown away the original physical parking receipt. I do still have the corresponding payment transaction showing on my banking app, although obviously that doesn't contain the vehicle registration information that was on the original receipt.

The rejection letter gives me the option of appealing to POPLA.

I'm trying to work out whether there's actually any point in taking this further.

I'm not disputing that I entered the wrong registration. I did. But equally, SABA received the full parking tariff for the exact parking event in question. There was no attempt to avoid payment, no unpaid parking and no financial benefit to me. The only issue is that I accidentally entered my wife's registration when making the payment.

My questions are:

1. Is a POPLA appeal worth pursuing in these circumstances, given that SABA have already reduced the charge to £20 due to the keying error?
2. If POPLA rejected the appeal and I refused to pay the subsequent charge, would I have any realistic defence if SABA eventually pursued it further/court proceedings were issued?
3. Does the fact that the parking tariff was paid in full carry much weight, or does entering my wife's registration effectively kill that argument?
4. Is the loss of the original receipt a major problem? I submitted it with my original SABA appeal, so presumably SABA should already have a copy of it/evidence showing the payment and incorrect registration. I also still have the bank transaction showing that I made a payment on the day.
5. Is there anything else I should be requesting from SABA before deciding whether to pay the £20 or go to POPLA?

I'm not particularly bothered about paying £20 if that's realistically the sensible end of the matter. I just don't particularly like paying a parking charge when I actually paid the correct parking tariff in the first place, so wanted to check whether there is a worthwhile argument before accepting it.

Thanks in advance.

NickyDe

Just following up, I've had a look at the newbies thread and can see it mentions windscreen tickets but not sure if this differs as there was no ticket until I recieved the above letter in the post.

If there's another thread worth reading happy to check it out!

Car1980

It's not POFA compliant on the front at least (29 days not 28. No mention of the assumed service date).

Show us the back.

They use DCB Legal and discontinue claims, although they seem to rarely make them. I'd be inclined to ignore, assuming you haven't revealed the driver.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6648136/substantial-claim-claim-form-received-saba-qdr-harold-wood-rail-car-park-can-you-help

NickyDe

thanks for the reply, I have input the back of the letter below.

However, I did appeal the charge and in my defence informed them that i had paid for parking however input the wrong reg, so technically that is an admission of being the driver I guess..

Car1980

Yep, still nothing to make it compliant.

A passenger may have used the machine, or it may have been so long ago if a court claim ever arrived that you might not be able to remember.

But if it goes to DCB Legal none of it matters because they'll discontinue.

Coupon-mad

I'd say pay the £20.

You won't win this at POPLA.