Parking at Railway Station - Parking Charge received

NewPieman

Hope someone can advise here. I parked in the car park at Havant Station recently (managed by Apcoa). I arrived (0730), went to work, and when returning and walking back to the car park (at approx 1900), I remembered that I had not paid parking that morning. I opened up the Ringo app, located the car park (in my favourites and made a 1 day parking). Once that was all confirmed (email receipt recieved) I left the car park.
When at home I checked the parking I had paid for and noted that it was for less than normal (£3.90) - there is an "off peak" rate for arrivals after a certian time. I did not notice in the RingGo app whether there was an option to select the Peak (£5.60). I then went back into the App and paid for a full day parking from the next day so the amount received was covered on the day.

Today I have received a Parking Charge from Apcoa (dated 26/10/2026). WIth the entry/exit timestamps of 0736 and 1912.

I assume this should be a standard appeal to Apcoa......explaining genuine error in the morning and I attempted to resolve it before leaving the car park etc.

Thanks for any advice.

Coupon-mad

Nope it won't be straightforward and it is unlikely to win like that but you can try.

At POPLA stage use the usual point seen in other recent APCOA railway cases this year, about them only having authority for issuing Penalty Notices, not contractual parking charge notices.

sheenas

Sadly i feel that these people don't care if it was a genuine error or not. I done the same and my appeal was rejected. Read the advice page for PCN at railway stations are there big differences from the normal rules.

Coupon-mad

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82189522#Comment_82189522

Yes but you know how to win at POPLA by using what I said to this poster to use.

cooldude255220

Draft POPLA appeal below. Make sure you attach the contract as an attachment to your POPLA appeal.

APCOA have issued me - as the keeper - with a Parking Charge Notice which alleges a breach of contract. 

APCOA does not own the land on which the alleged contravention occurred, namely Havant Station Car Park (“the land”). APCOA's authority to operate on the land is therefore governed by its agreement with the landowner, First MTR South Western Trains Limited. That agreement - for parking enforcement services - is lot 2 of 140759, dated 14th May 2025 ("the agreement").

The agreement makes clear that APCOA's authority to operate on the land is limited to issuing Penalty Notices, not Parking Charge Notices. Schedule 2 - which sets out the parking enforcement services to which the agreement relates - refers to "Penalty Notices" at paragraphs 1. 2, 1.3, 1.5. 1.6, 1.9, 1.15, 1.16, 1.17, 1.18, 1.19, 1.20, and 1.28. Conversely, there are zero references to “parking charge” or “PCN”.

At the time the agreement was signed, the railway byelaws allowed for the imposition of Penalty Notices under Byelaw 14(4)(i) and thus the intention of parties - and indeed the wording of the contract - was clearly to allow APCOA to issue Penalty Notices for breaches of those byelaws, not Penalty Charge Notices for alleged breaches of contract. 

However, approximately 7 months later, on 26 December 2025, The Railway Byelaws Amendment Order 2025 came into force, which amended the railway byelaws. The changes included removing Byelaw 14(4)(i), which had the effect of “[removing] liability under the national railway byelaws in England and Wales for station car parking subject to a contractual arrangement”.

When APCOA issued this PCN on 26th October 2026, they were doing so in recognition of the fact that the byelaws no longer allow them to issue Penalty Notices. However, they have failed to vary their agreement with the Landowner to allow them to issue Parking Charge Notices instead of Penalty Notices. 

As the agreement does not confer on APCOA the power to issue Parking Charge Notices for contractual breaches which do not arise from a breach of the byelaws, APCOA does not have the authority to issue such PCNs. The PCN is therefore ultra vires and therefore this appeal must be allowed.

And also, if relevant (it's not clear when the PCN was issued and therefore whether it was issued in time) you could include the below too:

The agreement also requires that APCOA issue and post all Penalty Notices within 7 days of the contravention, excluding Sundays and Bank Holidays. The notice was not issued/posted in time and therefore APCOA did not have authority to issue it for this reason also.

NewPieman

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82189553#Comment_82189553

Thanks for the responses so far………so the event was on 20/10/2026, date of issue of the charge is 26/10/2026 and received today (02/11/2026)

Also based on what was shown in another thread (https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6686055/compliant-ntk-apcoa) - the document looks to be the "newer" version……

Coupon-mad

Doesn't matter.

Use what was advised above and definitely attach that contract to prove your point.

NewPieman

Morning all - preparing the appeal to Apcoa but just thought - is it worth speaking to South Western Railway as per a "Plan A" appeal…..they would have received the appropriate funds (plus an extra couple of quid due to the off peak being paid at first)?

Coupon-mad

Yes, it's always worth a landowner complaint.