Paid With the Wrong
Registration?
You paid, but typed a letter or number wrong, and a parking charge followed. The parking industry has specific rules for exactly this, and for a small slip they are on your side: the charge should be cancelled.
Pay-and-display apps and machines match your payment to your number plate. Get one character wrong and the camera sees a car that has not paid, even though you did.
POPLA, the independent appeals service for British Parking Association operators, sorts these mistakes into two kinds, and the answer is different for each.
Minor and major keying errors
A single character that is easy to mistake, such as 0 for O, I for L or 1 for I. Where you paid the correct tariff, POPLA says operators must cancel the charge entirely.
Several characters wrong, so the operator cannot reasonably tell the payment was for your car. POPLA says operators should offer a reduced administration charge, usually up to £20, instead of the full amount, if you can show you paid.
Source: POPLA, “Keying errors: what happens if you enter your registration incorrectly”.
A new government code, laid in Parliament on 20th October 2026, caps the charge for a wrong registration at £20 on appeal. It is not in force yet, so a charge you have now is judged on the rules above: what the new code changes, and when.
What to do
- Do not pay the charge yet. Paying usually settles it and ends the appeal route.
- Find your proof of payment: the app receipt or confirmation email, or the machine ticket, showing the registration you entered, the date, the times and the amount. A bank statement line helps if there is no receipt.
- Appeal to the operator using the route on the notice. Say the correct tariff was paid, show the receipt, point out the keying error, and ask for the charge to be cancelled. Appeal as the keeper; you do not have to say who was driving.
- If you are offered £20, weigh it before refusing. POPLA warns that an operator does not have to keep that offer open if you appeal to POPLA instead, so a failed POPLA appeal could leave you facing the full charge.
Do you need us?
For a minor keying error with a receipt, honestly, probably not. A short appeal of your own should be enough, and the rules above say the operator should cancel it.
We are worth it if the operator has refused a clear minor error, if your proof is incomplete, or if the notice has a second problem: given outside the Schedule 4 deadline, or missing wording the law requires. Then we write and submit the appeal for £14.99. Other reasons a paid stay gets charged are on paid but still charged.
Wrong registration: FAQ
If it was a minor keying error and you paid the correct tariff, it should be. POPLA says operators must cancel the charge where a driver made a minor mistake, such as typing 0 for O, I for L or 1 for I, and paid the right amount. Appeal to the operator with your proof of payment.
Several characters wrong, so that the operator cannot reasonably tell the payment was for your car. POPLA says operators should then offer a reduced administration charge, usually up to £20, instead of the full charge, as long as you can show you paid.
Think carefully. POPLA warns that if you turn down a reduced offer and appeal to it, the operator does not have to keep the offer open. If the POPLA appeal then fails, you could face the full charge instead of £20. If there is a separate problem with the notice itself, that changes the picture, and is worth checking first.
Usually not for a minor keying error with proof of payment: a short appeal of your own should be enough. We are the option if you would rather not deal with it, if the operator has refused a clear minor error, or if the notice has other defects worth arguing. We handle it for £14.99.
£14.99 flat fee · money back on covered operators. Send us the notice and your payment receipt.