Frequently Asked Questions

If you have received a Parking Charge Notice (PCN) and you are looking at appealing, please read these FAQs, which look at the most frequent appeals.

• The PCN has been sent to my old address by mistake

  We receive Registered Keeper details from the DVLA, and it is the responsibility of the Registered Keeper to ensure the address held by the DVLA is up to date and correct. Registered Keepers of vehicles need to ensure their address is updated not only on their driving licence, but also in their log book by completing a V5C form. Details of amending your address with the DVLA can be found via the link below:

  www.gov.uk/change-name-address-v5c

• What if I enter my Vehicle Registration Mark (VRM) incorrectly?

  We have a fair use ANPR policy, meaning if you make a small mistake when entering your registration mark on an ANPR Pay and Display car park, our staff will spot the error and void the Parking Charge Notice (PCN).

  We allow up to 1 digit incorrectly entered, any more than 1 digit incorrectly entered and we will make a request to the DVLA for the Registered Keepers details for non-payment as we can’t link the payment against the vehicle.

  Every contravention is manually checked in our office.

  If you have any problems with entering your VRM please ring our office – 03330 066 316

• I have received a County Court Judgement (CCJ), what can I do?

  If you have been taken to the county court for failing to pay outstanding charges, then you would have been issued with a county court judgement (CCJ) if judgement was made in our favour. This will stay on your credit rating for a long time and will hinder, or even prevent, you getting any kind of credit.

  If you want to settle this debt then you will need to contact Gladstones Solicitors directly on 01565 755088, or via their website –  https://www.gladstonessolicitors.co.uk/

• The parking machine was not working when I parked, however I still received a PCN

  If the machine is not working, it is the responsibility of the driver as to what to do next. The signage on site states that enforcement takes place 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and by choosing to remain on the land, you will be in breach of the terms and conditions which may result in a PCN being issued.

  Our advice is to call our office on 03330 066316 (Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm), or park elsewhere where you can adhere to the terms and conditions.

• What do you do with my personal data?

  The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2018 (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) is a regulation by which the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission intend to strengthen and unify data protection for all individuals within the European Union (EU). We at HX Car Park Management Ltd take the protection of data very seriously and we have implemented a lot of policies and procedures to work in line with GDPR and keep your data safe.

  To view our policies please visit our Privacy Policies page.

• Who has authorised you to issue PCNs on this land?

  We are in contract with the landowner to provide parking enforcement on this land, therefore have a legitimate interest in issuing PCNs when a breach of the terms and conditions occur. As members of the IPC – https://www.theipc.info – we have a strict audit process we must adhere to before we are authorised to issue a PCN. We must submit the following documents to the IPC, prior to enforcing on the land:

  1. Landowner authority – A contract between HX Car Park Management Ltd and the landowner
  2. A site map to show where all our signs will be located
  3. All signage that will be used on the land – All signs are audited separate before this point.

  We often get appeals asking for a copy of the landowner authority, however due to data protection, we can not give this document out.  If PCN reaches litigation and is taken to court, then all the documents will be produced to the court, however a redacted landowner agreement will only be provided to the defendant.

• I’ve received a PCN for a vehicle I sold prior to the contravention

  The DVLA still had you as the registered keeper at the time of the offence. It can take a couple of weeks for the DVLA to update their records. If you have the new keeper details, you can provide these by doing a liability transfer. If you don’t have such details, you will need to contact the DVLA and request, dated, written confirmation from them that you were not the registered keeper at the time and provide us with a copy of this.

• My IAS appeal was declined, why can’t I pay £60?

  If you choose to appeal further to the IAS, the full charge of £100 will apply if an IAS appeal is rejected by the adjudicator as we incur charges for defending the PCN. This is advised in your appeal decline letter following your internal appeal to us.

• I have received a Final Demand but no response to my appeal

  If the appeal has been received, a response will be provided within 28 days, either to your email address or in the post, however it is the responsibility of the appellant to ensure the correspondence details they have provided for their appeal are correct. Be sure to check your junk and spam folders as they may have gone there. If you have checked and still cannot locate a response, call the office on 03330 066 316 to discuss your options.

• I parked and displayed my blue badge (disabled badge), however I still received a PCN?

  Disabled badges, also more commonly known as blue badges, are only valid on the highways in the correct areas (please refer to the handbook that comes with the blue badge for further details).

  Blue Badges do not give you free parking on our sites and full tariffs apply at all times, they do however give you the ability to park in marked disabled bays on sites that have them, as long as you ensure that your blue badge is clearly displayed on your dashboard.

  If you are unsure, please refer to the signage on site when parking your vehicle.

• How can I appeal, and when will I get a response?

  If you have received a PCN, you can appeal directly to us either online here (add link to online appeal) or via the post to our address located on the back of your PCN.

   We will response to your appeal with 28 days via the same method you appealed:

  1. Postal appeals – we will post the response to the address provided in your appeal letter.
  2. Online appeals – we will email the response to the email address provided in your appeal letter.

  It is the responsibility of the appellant to ensure that the correspondence details provided for their appeal response are correct.

  If you do not hear from us within 28 days, please contact us on 03330 066316 – do not assume that if you have not heard from us that your appeal was successful.

• My appeal with yourselves has been declined, can I appeal again?

  If your appeal has been declined by our internal appeals team, then you can appeal further to the Independent Appeals Service (IAS). All information on how to appeal to the IAS will be provided in your appeal decline letter from us.

• How do I make a complaint?

  If you wish to make a complaint, you can do so either in writing to our address on the back of your PCN (FAO Complaints Department) or via email to enquiries@hx-pcn.com.

  However, this is separate to the appeals process therefore if you wish to appeal, you will need to do this separately, details of which our provided on the back of your PCN.

• How can a private parking company request my personal details from the DVLA?

  For a company to be able to gain access to keeper details from the DVLA, they must to be approved by an accredited trade association (ATA). This requires the company to undergo a full audit from the ATA prior to being accepted and then audited every year by the DVLA and the ATA.

  We also have to be registered with the information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). This allows us to request keeper details from the DVLA and to use and store them appropriately in line with the Data Protection Act (GDPR). It also allows us to pursue unpaid charges through debt recovery and the county courts.

• I didn’t leave my vehicle, however I was still issued a PCN

  If you remain on the land for longer than the consideration period without purchasing a pay and display ticket, even if you don’t leave your vehicle, you may be liable for a PCN. All the signage on site advises drivers of the applicable consideration period which is to allow a driver to read the signage and make an informed decision as to whether or not to remain on the land.

• I received a PCN from you, is it legal?

  Many online forums and advice centres will tell you this is just an invoice, and that you don’t have to pay this charge, which is factually incorrect. Charges are issued under a contractual relationship with the driver and/or keeper of the vehicle at the term of the event – the terms and conditions of parking are listed on the signs within the car park showing the contractual rates.

  These charges are in line with the Independent Parking Committee’s (The IPC) Code of Practice, and Schedule 4 of the Protection Of Freedoms Act 2012 (POFA).

  If the driver of the vehicle breaches the terms and continues to park, they are accepting liability and are contractually agreeing to pay a parking charge to ourselves.

  We have a valid contract with the landowner and are a fully accredited operator with the International Parking Community (IPC). This gives us a legitimate interest in the management of the car park, and reasonable cause to request the keeper details from the DVLA to pursue any outstanding charges.

  The majority of the CCJ’s issued against drivers and/or the keepers of vehicles that have unpaid charges outstanding all claim that they read information online so they thought they did not have to pay the charge. 

  Please look into this independently prior to taking advice from people online.

• Can you send me a copy of the contract between you and the landowner?

  We are unable to provide copies of our contracts between us and the landowner/managing agent due to data protection. However, should the case be taken to the county court to recover a debt, a redacted copy will be produced to the courts, or in the litigation process.

• Does your company take photographs as evidence?

  All of our operatives are trained to the highest standard and for each parking charge issued, they take numerous pictures to record the event, all of which are date and time stamped.

  ANPR cameras monitor ANPR sites and these record images of vehicles entering and exiting sites, which are also date and time stamped.

• If I appeal, am I still able to pay the discounted charge of £60?

  If you are not appealing your parking charge, the early payment rate only applies when the payment has been made within 14 days from the date of the PCN being issued.

  If you wish to appeal as you believe the charge has been issued incorrectly and that appeal is declined, you will only qualify for the lower rate discount if your appeal was made within 14 days of the PCN being issued.

• I have not heard back from my appeal and the discounted charge is due to go up, am I to pay it?

  If you have made an appeal within the timeframe of the discounted charge of £60.00, then the PCN will remain on hold at this amount until your appeal has been responded to.

  If your appeal is declined, then you will have a further 14 days to pay the discounted charge. However, if you choose to appeal further to the Independent Appeals Service within this timeframe, you will lose the option of paying the discounted rate and the full charge of £100 will apply.