How to appeal your Parking Charge Notice

Nobody likes to get a parking ticket. Being issued with a Parking Charge Notice can be frustrating, and you might feel like it was issued by mistake or unfairly. There might be additional circumstances that you feel haven’t been considered, and you disagree with the decision.

Quality parking management companies offer an appeals process which allows you to challenge a parking charge if you believe it was unfair, an error, or there was a valid reason for violating a parking rule which you’d like us to be aware of.

Are you going to appeal?

Your first step is deciding if you’re going to appeal.

Consider why you received the Parking Charge Notice. If you overstayed on a car park or used a business car park but then went somewhere else, a successful appeal to reverse your parking charge is usually unlikely.

There may have been valid reasons for you being unable to return to your vehicle or staying too long on a site, like an accident for instance. We understand that in difficult moments you’re not as focused on parking and so might decide to appeal.

Something else to consider might be who was driving the car. If someone borrowed your vehicle or was driving on your behalf, you need to decide if you want to pay your Parking Charge Notice and settle the issue with the other driver personally, or appeal and have the car park management company transfer liability to them.

If you don’t want to appeal, you can pay your Parking Charge Notice via our online portal here.

Provide evidence

If you decide you want to appeal, then to help your case, you’ll need to provide evidence. For example, if you received a Parking Charge Notice for staying in a supermarket car park, if you can provide receipts to prove you shopped there this can help demonstrate that you didn’t misuse the site.

You could also submit receipts from a recovery company or breakdown service, a doctor’s note or any other documentation that helps to support your appeal and prove there were mitigating circumstances.

Get in touch

Once you’ve gathered your evidence to support your appeal, the next step is to get in touch.

It may sound old fashioned but appeals need to be submitted in writing. This creates a clear log of communication and avoids details being missed and overlooked – a potential risk during a phone call or conversation when tensions are running high.

Many parking management companies will provide an online portal, allowing you to upload evidence and track the progress of an appeal digitally.

You have 28 days to appeal. Once your appeal has been received the time frame put in place for paying your Parking Charge Notice is effectively paused until the appeal is resolved.

Escalation

Appealing a Parking Charge Notice and proving there were additional circumstances in place doesn’t necessarily mean your parking charge will be cancelled.
In some cases, the appeal is rejected, and your parking charge upheld.

While this can be disappointing, you have options. You can accept the ruling and pay your Parking Charge Notice, or you can further escalate your appeal to POPLA.

POPLA, or Parking on Private Land Appeals, is an independent organisation that allows motorists to contest the decisions of parking operators. POPLA will look at both sides of the appeal, consider the evidence provided and ultimately decide to uphold or overturn the ruling made by the parking management company.

Choosing to appeal a Parking Charge Notice might sound like a daunting prospect, but parking management companies should be committed to fairness. This means that should you have adequate evidence and follow the proper channels you can resolve your appeal quickly.

If you have a Parking Charge Notice that you need to appeal, you can do so here.

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