Gatwick drop off - £5 Charge for 3 minutes. What if I don't accept the terms?

[JoeyJoeC]

Drove to Gatwick to drop someone off, never knew about the charges, when you find out the actual costs, it's too late and you've already entered the ANPR system.  

 

Am I allowed time to observe the signage and choose not to accept? There's no way not to enter the ANPR zone and check the signage/costs. 

 

Parking company is NCP.

 

[brassnecked]

Wonder if that will fall foul of the minimum grace period of 10 minutes under the new Code Of practice, the online  only payment also dodgy imho. I'm sure the regular's here will be along soon with some thoughts.

[dx100uk]

Fill out our parking ticket sticky please and scan up to one pdf both sides of the PCN/ntk after carefully reading our upload guide 

 

Dx

[JoeyJoeC]

No parking ticket yet but without paying them I would certainly get one. I wanted to see if I have a valid appeal to say I simply don't agree with the terms and conditions. Otherwise I will just pay it.

 

Isn't the grace period for leaving the carpark once paid? 

[FTMDave]

It's absolutely disgraceful if they only tell you how much you have to pay once you're inside the rip-off area.

 

Yes, I suppose you could argue that once you saw the terms you didn't agree and immediately left.

 

Bu realistically the fleecers would issue their £15 charge then increase it to £100 then add Unicorn Food Tax to £160 - is it worth the hassle to save a fiver?

 

This seems to be a particularly British thing to treat car parks as a cash cow rather than as a service for passengers.  I took my son to an Italian airport this morning.  The drop-off area was completely free for 10 minutes.  It would have been damn expensive had I stayed 11 minutes but that's fine, keep it free for genuine drop-offs but hammer those who abuse tje area.  

[JoeyJoeC]

I agree, the charge is £5 for 5 minutes, then £1 per minute after that (they did have it £5 for 10 minutes but reduced it to 5.). There's cars blocking the road waiting to park / parked badly. It's a bit of a mad rush which is understandable. 

 

You're right though, is it really worth the worry? I still parked up and dropped off my passenger after seeing the charge. Just hate what a cash cow it is. Especially when they make the only free option very inconvenient. 

Edited May 16, 2022 by JoeyJoeC

[Ethel Street]

And it's a one-way traffic route isn't it? So even if you did have the vision of a hawk and could read it before passing the ANPR cameras you wouldn't be able to turn round and go back.

[brassnecked]

Entrapment then for the unwary.

[JoeyJoeC]

Would being unable to review the terms and conditions without entering the zone a sure way to win at POPLA should it come to that? 

[honeybee13]

We don't normally recommend appealing to POPLA or the PPC. It can cause more problems than it solves.

 

HB

[JoeyJoeC]

Are those days over? I remember back when the advise was the opposite to cost them as much as possible. Been a while since I watched this forum. Thanks.

[honeybee13]

Yes, advice has evolved as either the rules change or members' experiences are different.

 

HB

[brassnecked]

POPLA are now basically a Fleecer's support mechanism.  However its now a case of do you want to pay, or risk them going throygh the process that might end in court, of course with some factors in play that might not go how they want if their signage and T & C's are blatantly unfair.

[Ethel Street]

Mostly by the time people come here for advice they have already been given a PCN and are being chased by a parking company for payment. You are in a different position, if I read your posts correctly, that you are still in time to pay it, and it's only £5. You haven't received a PCN. So although I share your irritation with this if I were you I'd pay the £5 and avoid the hassle.

 

BTW if a PCN had been issued the rules are different at airports to what they would be in a normal private car park because airports are covered by specific bylaws.. But if you decide to pay it that won't be relevant to you this time.

[JoeyJoeC]

Thanks. I paid it to save the bother. 

[JoeyJoeC]

Just an update in case someone finds this in the future looking for help. NPC said there's a 1 minute grace period. If you drives straight out, you *shouldn't* get charged. 

 

Although I'm still questioning how allowing 1 minute to drive up, pull over, get out, walk to a sign, read it, get back in the car, wait to pull out then drive out is enough time. 

...................

 

Many thanks for your recent correspondence. My apologies for the delay in responding.

 

I can confirm that there is a grace period of upto 1 minute only for the Gatwick Drop Off sites.

 

Please read below for further information.

 

A minimum £5 charge now applies to use the designated drop off zone in both North and South Terminals (if parked for more than one minute)

• £5 for 10 minutes
• £1 for each additional minute up to 20 minutes.
• Maximum charge of £25 and the maximum length of stay 30 mins.

We are currently not permitted to take payments for Gatwick over our customer service line, Payments can only be made via the automated telephone line (0330 174 4503) or through Gatwick’s website.

 

Payment must be made by midnight the day following use of the drop off area. It has come to light however that when making an honesty payment through the website it will allow it to be backdated 3 days from the point of checking.

 

Once the system confirms it is unable to locate your VRM it will then offer an option for you to register your stay, and at this point you can manually enter the date and time of your drop off.

 

Regrettably, if you do not make a payment within the required time frame, a Parking Charge Notice (PCN) would automatically be generated and issued by post to the registered keeper of the vehicle.

 

You have the right to appeal should this happen, and that process is laid out on the back of the notice.

 

Please be aware the customer service department is not part of the PCN appeals office and we cannot involve ourselves with their appeals process and/or decision making. Appeals will not be accepted outside of the process detailed on the back of the notice.

I am sorry for any inconvenience you have been caused.
 

 

[FTMDave]

Thank you for this.  We do indeed have someone who took a wrong turning and drove straight in and straight out - but of course still got the PCN.  The digging you have done will help them immensely