UKPC Worcester Blackpole McDonalds Car Park

[b789]

Thanks for that @Ogrebear. The stronger point remains that UKPC had already moved to debt recovery before the appeal window had expired. The failed portal submission on 17 December simply adds weight to the position that you did try to engage but UKPC’s system appears to have accepted the text and then provided no acknowledgement, no rejection and no POPLA code.

So the practical next step is now to send a formal complaint to UKPC, using the complaint wording drafted below, to complaints@ukparkingcontrol.com and CC appeals@ukparkingcontrol.com and yourself so you retain a clean record of what was sent and when. I would not bother trying to CC a BPA AOS email address because the BPA’s published route for complaints about AOS members is their online complaint form rather than a stated AOS complaints mailbox.

For now, keep a copy of exactly what was submitted through the portal and the fact that no response was ever received. If UKPC fail to deal with the complaint properly, that can then be escalated to the BPA.

Subject: Formal Complaint – Premature Debt Recovery and Appeal Handling Failure – PCN [reference]

Dear UK Parking Control,

I write as Keeper regarding PCN [reference] for vehicle registration [VRM].

This is a formal complaint about your handling of this matter.

Your Notice to Keeper is dated 15 November 2025. On the usual deemed service basis, it would be treated as delivered on 18 November 2025. That means the 28 day appeal period ran until 16 December 2025. However, debt recovery action was commenced before that period had expired. That was premature and contrary to the applicable Code requirements.

Further, an appeal was then submitted through your online portal in the early hours of 17 December 2025. The portal accepted the text entered, but no acknowledgement, no appeal reference, no rejection and no POPLA verification code were ever provided. Your system appears to have swallowed the appeal without any proper response. That is not an acceptable appeals process.

For the avoidance of doubt, the appeal submitted stated that the signage was not clearly visible at night and that the driver had been a customer at the McDonald’s drive-thru and was not parked for the whole of the period alleged.

In the circumstances, I require UK Parking Control to:

1. place the matter on hold immediately;
   
2. confirm why debt recovery was commenced before the appeal period had expired;
   
3. confirm what became of the appeal submitted through your portal;
   
4. and now either cancel the charge or issue a POPLA verification code.
   

If you fail to resolve this properly, the matter will be escalated as a complaint about your handling of the appeal process and premature referral to debt recovery.
Yours faithfully,

[Keeper name]
[Postal address]
[Email address]