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APCOA parking charge or PCN: who hears the appeal, and when

By Matthew Adeola, founder of Docketory. Law (Honours) graduate who has represented himself in civil proceedings, CCJ removal, and consumer disputes. Not a solicitor.

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Related service: Parking Charge Notice

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An empty, rain-wet station car park at dawn, with a lit old-style lamp post, railings and a footbridge over the platforms in the mist

The short answer

For anyone in England and Wales with a notice from APCOA. A notice issued for a council is a penalty charge notice with the council's own appeal route. APCOA's own parking charge is private: appeal to APCOA within 28 days, then to POPLA, free, within 28 days of a rejection. Docketory drafts and submits both stages; it never files at court or speaks for you.

An APCOA notice is either a council's penalty charge notice or APCOA's own private parking charge, which is not a fine. A private charge is appealed to APCOA first, within 28 days, and then to POPLA, free, within 28 days of a rejection. This guide covers the private charge in England and Wales.

If the charge has already turned into a county court claim form, read A parking company has taken you to court instead. For any other parking ticket, check your ticket free.

Is my APCOA notice a council ticket or a private parking charge?

Both exist, and the notice says which. APCOA enforces parking for councils, and a notice issued that way is the council's penalty charge notice (PCN), a statutory penalty challenged with the council and then at the tribunal. POPLA says "Penalty Charge Notices can't be appealed to POPLA"; our guide to challenging a parking charge notice covers that route.

APCOA also manages car parks at stations, airports, hospitals, and shopping centres, and a notice from one of those is its own private charge. POPLA calls that "a civil charge based on contract law, not a statutory penalty". Read the heading on your notice and whose name sits under it.

Who is APCOA?

APCOA Parking (UK) Limited, company number 02572947, is a private parking operator that has worked in the UK since 1981, the UK company of a European group. Its sites include rail stations, airports, and hospitals, so an APCOA private charge often follows a train, a flight, or a hospital visit.

In the RAC's analysis of the DVLA's keeper data for the first half of 2024/25, APCOA Parking asked for 367,465 vehicle keeper records, fifth among the operators the RAC named. The DVLA gives a keeper's name and address only to an operator in the British Parking Association or the International Parking Community.

Who hears an appeal against an APCOA charge?

APCOA says it is "an active member of the British Parking Association (BPA)", and the International Parking Community's member list, read on 19 October 2026, does not include it. So an appeal against its private charge goes to APCOA first and then to Parking on Private Land Appeals (POPLA), the appeals service for the BPA scheme. The Independent Appeals Service hears only charges from members of the International Parking Community.

How long do I have to appeal, and what is the discount?

APCOA's help centre gives "the right to appeal within 28 days of issuance". Under the private parking single code, a charge may not exceed £100, and at least 40% comes off for payment within 14 days: a £100 charge is £60. Paying and appealing are alternatives, so do not pay a charge you mean to appeal.

What happens if APCOA rejects the appeal?

You can pay, or appeal to POPLA, free, within 28 days of the rejection, using the code in APCOA's letter. POPLA decides on the evidence both sides send. If it allows the appeal, "the charge will be cancelled"; if it refuses, APCOA "will expect payment".

An unpaid charge can then have up to £70 added under the code and pass to a debt recovery agent, with a county court claim as the operator's last step. Our court claim guide picks up there.

Which code of practice applies?

The private parking sector single code, which the BPA and the IPC have shared since October 2024. The government's own code under the Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 is not yet in force: a first code published in February 2022 was withdrawn that June, and a new code was laid before Parliament on 20 October 2026, with no date yet for it to come into force. Our guide to the single code says what applies today.

What to do next

Note the date on the notice: it starts the 14-day discount and the 28 days to appeal. Keep the notice and every letter about it, and do not ignore it. Then check your ticket free: the check says whether the notice is worth appealing, including whether it met the conditions the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 sets before an operator can pursue the keeper.

Docketory drafts and submits the appeal to APCOA and, if it rejects you, the POPLA appeal, under Parking Charge Notice. The price is from £14.99, or £24.99 in all with the POPLA stage. It does not fit a council PCN, or a charge that has become a court claim. Docketory never files at court or speaks for you at a hearing.

Sources

Docketory publishes general information based on real disputes. Identifying details are changed and patterns from multiple cases may be combined. This is not legal advice. For advice on your specific situation, contact a solicitor or Citizens Advice.

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