Heathrow Drop-Off PCN Appeal (2026)

1. What is a Heathrow drop-off PCN?

APCOA manages Heathrow's terminal drop-off charging service for Heathrow Airport Limited. A notice for an unpaid terminal visit is a private Parking Charge Notice, not a council Penalty Charge Notice.

• Terminal drop-off charge: £7 per entry, payable by midnight the following day.
• Parking Charge Notice: £80, reduced to £40 if paid within 14 days.
• Coverage: terminal drop-off areas at Terminals 2, 3, 4 and 5, operating 24 hours a day.
• Enforcement: number-plate cameras; no payment machines or barriers at the drop-off area.

Check the location on your notice. This guide concerns terminal drop-off charges, not a separate short-stay, long-stay or hotel car park dispute.

2. Check the terminal visit and payment record

Start with the registration, terminal, date and camera time printed on the notice. Match them against your journey and payment confirmation. A payment for a different registration, visit or location needs explaining; a bank debit alone may not identify which terminal visit was covered.

• Payment made: locate the confirmation reference and the visit or registration attached to it.
• Vehicle details disputed: compare the camera image with your vehicle and registration.
• Discount claimed: obtain the approval and the record connecting it to this visit.
• Signs disputed: identify the approach used and the payment terms visible from that route.

3. APCOA's appeal deadline and the 50% discount

APCOA's Heathrow help centre says to appeal within 28 days of the notice being issued. The notice's 14-day discounted-payment window is a separate deadline.

Before choosing whether to pay or appeal, check the amount and deadline on the notice. Read any rejection for the payment offer then available. Parking Mate UK's £9.99 service fee is separate from the APCOA charge.

4. Evidence to include with your Heathrow appeal

Send the complete notice and the records that address its allegation. Organise them by the visit date so the payment, vehicle and drop-off location can be checked together.

• Every page of the APCOA notice and its camera photographs.
• Drop-off payment confirmation, transaction reference and registration entered.
• Any account or payment error message recorded at the time.
• Blue Badge discount approval and the registered drop-off visit, where relevant.
• Photographs of the terminal approach and disputed signs.
• Earlier correspondence from Heathrow or APCOA about the same visit.

5. Grounds to check before challenging the charge

The appeal should explain why this charge should be cancelled, supported by the documents for this particular terminal visit.

• Payment was made but not matched: identify the transaction and explain any registration or visit-record discrepancy.
• An approved discount or exemption applied: show the approval and its connection to the vehicle and visit.
• The vehicle or visit is wrong: identify the difference between the notice, camera photograph and journey record.
• The relevant terms were not adequately communicated: show the approach and the specific sign or payment instruction in dispute.
• Liability has not been established: distinguish the driver from the registered keeper and check the legal basis relied on in the notice.

Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 excludes land where parking is subject to statutory control from its definition of relevant land. For an airport case, check the exact land and applicable controls before relying on keeper liability. That question is separate from whether the driver complied with the advertised terms.

6. Blue Badge discounts and other exemptions

Heathrow offers a 100% terminal drop-off discount for Blue Badge holders through its approval and visit-registration process. Holding or displaying a badge alone does not establish that a particular visit was registered.

Heathrow also lists qualifying exempt and discounted vehicles. Electric vehicles do not receive a general exemption. Check the published criteria against the vehicle and visit, then include the relevant approval or vehicle record in your appeal.

7. How to submit a Heathrow APCOA appeal

Use APCOA's dedicated Heathrow drop-off PCN portal with your notice reference and vehicle registration. The published postal alternative is: APCOA Parking, PO Box 5767, Dingwall, IV15 0AX.

• Identify the PCN reference, terminal visit and reason you dispute the charge.
• Attach the payment, discount or other evidence supporting your explanation.
• Retain the submitted appeal, attachments and confirmation.
• Save APCOA's response and any POPLA verification code.

APCOA's help centre states that it responds within 28 days of receiving an appeal. Keep the submission receipt so the response can be tracked against that date.

8. If APCOA rejects the Heathrow appeal

POPLA independently reviews private parking appeals after the operator's rejection. Its 10-digit verification code is valid for 28 days from issue. Submit the appeal and supporting documents within that window.

Send us APCOA's rejection and code. We prepare and submit the POPLA appeal using the payment, signage, discount or liability issues supported by your case, then comment on APCOA's evidence pack.

9. Heathrow drop-off appeals in POPLA's 2025 report

POPLA lists APCOA Heathrow TDOC separately in its October 2024 to September 2025 reporting period.

• 189 appeals submitted.
• 116 appeals decided: 19 allowed and 97 refused.
• 65 appeals reported separately as not contested.

These figures refer only to the APCOA Heathrow TDOC row, not all APCOA or airport appeals. Submissions, decisions and uncontested appeals are separate reporting measures, not one matched cohort.

10. Your Heathrow appeal, submitted for you

You can appeal directly to APCOA and POPLA without paying Parking Mate UK. Our £9.99 service is for motorists who want their terminal visit, notice and evidence reviewed and the appeal prepared and submitted for them.

The work starts with your APCOA notice and payment or discount records, not a generic airport appeal template. If the first appeal is rejected, the same case continues through the POPLA submission and evidence comments.