How to appeal a Heathrow Airport drop-off charge
Heathrow charges £7 every time a vehicle enters a terminal drop-off zone, and APCOA runs the charge for the airport. It is barrierless: cameras read your plate and you pay online or by phone by midnight the next day - so the most common charge is for a forgotten payment, an £80 Parking Charge (£40 within 14 days) that you can appeal.
- Airport
- Heathrow Airport
- Drop-off run by
- APCOA
- How it works
- Barrierless ANPR - pay online by the deadline (a missed payment becomes a charge)
- Drop-off fee
- £7 each time your vehicle enters a terminal drop-off zone, 24 hours a day. Heathrow publishes no time limit, but paying does not allow you to wait before or after dropping off - checked 27 September 2026; confirm the current fee on the airport's website
- Free alternative
- the Park & Ride car parks (formerly Long Stay) are free for the first 29 minutes
- Type of notice
- Private Parking Charge Notice (a contract dispute, not a statutory PCN)
- Appeal route
- Appeal to APCOA Parking within 28 days; if it is rejected you can escalate free to POPLA (Parking on Private Land Appeals), as APCOA Parking is a BPA member. How it works: POPLA appeals
Drop-off fees change frequently - always confirm the current price and terms on the airport's official website, and use the exact appeal channel and reference printed on your notice.
Forgot to pay the Heathrow drop-off charge?
The deadline. The charge has to be paid by midnight the day after your visit - online, by phone or with autopay, not at a machine.
Paying late. Heathrow’s pages don’t offer a way to pay after that: its terms say that failing to pay results in a Parking Charge Notice, which the drop-off page puts at £80, reduced to £40 if paid within 14 days.
What happens next. At a camera-enforced drop-off the notice is posted to the registered keeper. If you think you have grounds, appeal before paying - paying is usually treated as accepting the charge. Appeal to APCOA Parking within 28 days; if it is rejected you can escalate free to POPLA (Parking on Private Land Appeals), as APCOA Parking is a BPA member.
To avoid it next time, set up autopay on a Heathrow drop-off account.
Forgetting to pay isn't a defence on its own, but it isn't the end of the story either - check the grounds below, especially whether the charge and its deadline were clearly signed before you stopped, and the “relevant land” point on keeper liability.
Sources: heathrow.com drop-off page, heathrow.com terms - checked .
The rules at Heathrow Airport
What is published about dropping off, paying and enforcement at Heathrow Airport - mostly from the airport's own pages, terms and byelaws, plus official registers such as the parking trade bodies' member lists. Each point links to its source and the date we checked it.
- Paying
- If you pay after dropping off, you must pay online, by the automated phone line or through AutoPay by midnight on the next day; there are no barriers and no payment machines in the zones.
Source: heathrow.com · checked
- Penalty
- Not paying in time results in an £80 Parking Charge, reduced to £40 if paid within 14 days.
Source: heathrow.com · checked
- Who enforces
- The contract is with Heathrow Airport Limited, and APCOA Parking (UK) Limited runs the drop-off charge for Heathrow, handling payments, refunds and challenges.
Source: heathrow.com · checked
- Trade body
- APCOA Parking (UK) Ltd is listed on the British Parking Association's Approved Operator list, so an appeal it rejects can go to POPLA.
Source: britishparking.co.uk · checked
- Waiting and pick-ups
- Pick-ups and waiting are not allowed in the terminal drop-off areas, and vehicles left unattended there may be towed.
Source: heathrow.com · checked
- Blue Badge holders
- Holders of a valid UK or EEA Blue Badge can get a 100% discount for the vehicle that drops them off, including a taxi, but they must first set up a Blue Badge account and confirm each visit before it or by midnight the day after.
Source: heathrow.com · checked
- Byelaws
- Heathrow publishes its byelaws (Heathrow byelaws 2014). Breaking them can lead to a fine in the magistrates' court. That is a separate process from the private drop-off Parking Charge.
Source: heathrow.com · checked
Drop-off at each Heathrow terminal
The charge is the same at every terminal: £7 each time your vehicle enters a terminal drop-off zone, 24 hours a day. Heathrow publishes no time limit, but paying does not allow you to wait before or after dropping off. What differs is the way into each drop-off zone.
Terminal 2 drop-off at Heathrow Airport
Follow Constellation Way and take the up ramp to the Terminal 2 drop-off area.
Source: heathrow.com drop-off page - checked .
Terminal 3 drop-off at Heathrow Airport
Follow Cosmopolitan Way on to Camborne Road, where there are four drop-off lanes.
Source: heathrow.com drop-off page - checked .
Terminal 4 drop-off at Heathrow Airport
Follow Stratford Road; at the top of the ramp there are three drop-off lanes. The Departures-level drop-off stays open while the terminal is redeveloped.
Picking up is different here: since the Terminal 4 multi-storey car park closed on 23 June 2026, collections outside Arrivals use a separate Priority Pick-Up area, reached via Salisbury Road and charged by time (£7 up to 10 minutes, £14 for 11–29 minutes, £25 for 30–60 minutes, up to £200 a day). Blue Badge discounts don’t apply to it, and a missed payment brings the same £80 Parking Charge. Park & Ride Zone A is free for the first two hours.
Sources: heathrow.com drop-off page, heathrow.com Changes to Terminal 4, heathrow.com Priority Pick-Up - checked .
Terminal 5 drop-off at Heathrow Airport
Follow Wayfarer Road; at the top of the ramp it splits into two drop-off lanes.
Source: heathrow.com drop-off page - checked .
How Heathrow compares on price
Heathrow alongside the 5 airports nearest to it in headline drop-off price, cheapest first - and the free alternative at each. Compare all 28 UK airports.
Swipe the table sideways to see who enforces each charge and what a missed payment costs →
| Airport | Drop-off from | Time included | Free alternative | Enforced by | If you don't pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AberdeenBarrier | £7 | 15 min | the long-stay car park is free for up to one hour, with a free shuttle bus to the terminal | Not published | Paid at the exit barrier - no PCN scheme published |
| GlasgowBarrier | £7 | 15 min | the long-stay car park is free for up to an hour for pick-ups and drop-offs, with a free shuttle bus to the terminal | Not published | Paid at the exit barrier - no PCN scheme published |
| HeathrowCameras | £7 | per visit | the Park & Ride car parks (formerly Long Stay) are free for the first 29 minutes | APCOA | £80 (£40 within 14 days) if not paid by midnight the next day |
| LiverpoolBarrier | £7 | 10 min | Drop-off 2, about a seven-minute walk from the terminal, is free for up to 20 minutes - but only once every two hours | Vehicle Control Services | Paid on exit - red-route PCNs from VCS (amount not published) |
| SouthamptonBarrier | £7 | 10 min | there is no free on-airport option while the long-stay car park is closed - Southampton Airport Parkway station is immediately adjacent and avoids the forecourt entirely | APCOA (airport roads) | £80 (£50 within 14 days) for dropping off on the airport roads |
| BirminghamCameras | £8 | 15 min | the Drop Off car park, about 400 m (a 5–10 minute walk) from the terminal, is free for up to 10 minutes - but not if you return within the hour | APCOA (site restrictions) | £100 (£50 within 14 days) for breaching the site restrictions |
Headline kerbside drop-off prices, each verified against the airport’s own published tariff or a dated published guide. The oldest figure in this table was last checked . Longer stays cost more, and several airports raised prices twice in 2026 - confirm on the airport’s site before you travel. “Cameras” means you pay online afterwards (miss it and you get a Parking Charge Notice); “Barrier” means you pay on exit.
Grounds for challenging a Heathrow drop-off charge
Pick the ground that genuinely fits - a focused, evidenced argument beats a scattergun one.
- Airport forecourts and access roads are frequently not "relevant land" under Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, so the operator often cannot hold the registered keeper liable and must identify the actual driver - a strong ground where you were not driving or will not be named.
- A genuine payment was made or attempted within the deadline - keep the card statement line, the app confirmation, or a photo of the payment screen and its timestamp.
- The ANPR cameras misread your registration, or logged a missed entry/exit, producing the wrong vehicle or an impossible duration.
- You did not actually stop - a drop-off charge applies to stopping in the zone, not to driving through, and cameras can wrongly capture a vehicle that only passed.
- The signage did not clearly display the charge and its terms where you could read and accept them before entering the zone, so no contract was formed.
How to appeal, step by step
- 1
Check which notice you have
Confirm whether it is a drop-off Parking Charge Notice (for example a missed online payment), a no-stopping/red-route charge, or a council or byelaw matter, and note exactly which company or body issued it. The issuer's trade body decides the escalation route.
- 2
Gather your evidence
Collect the notice, your registration, the date and time, any payment proof (card statement, app confirmation, screenshot with a timestamp), and - if you can - a photo of the signage and the charge it displayed.
- 3
Pick the strongest ground
Choose the ground that fits - the Protection of Freedoms Act "relevant land" point, a payment you did make, an ANPR misread, that you did not actually stop, or unclear signage.
- 4
Appeal within the deadline
Appeal to APCOA Parking within 28 days; if it is rejected you can escalate free to POPLA (Parking on Private Land Appeals), as APCOA Parking is a BPA member. Do not pay while you intend to appeal - paying is treated as accepting the charge.
- 5
Generate your appeal letter with AppealIQ
Enter the details and your chosen ground, and AppealIQ writes a formal, persuasive appeal letter for your Heathrow charge. Your first letter each calendar month is free; after that, extra letters are £2.99 each, paid once - there is no subscription.
Heathrow drop-off charges - frequently asked questions
I forgot to pay the Heathrow drop-off charge - what happens now?
The charge has to be paid by midnight the day after your visit - online, by phone or with autopay, not at a machine. Heathrow’s pages don’t offer a way to pay after that: its terms say that failing to pay results in a Parking Charge Notice, which the drop-off page puts at £80, reduced to £40 if paid within 14 days. At a camera-enforced drop-off the notice is posted to the registered keeper. If you think you have grounds, appeal before paying - paying is usually treated as accepting the charge. Appeal to APCOA Parking within 28 days; if it is rejected you can escalate free to POPLA (Parking on Private Land Appeals), as APCOA Parking is a BPA member. To avoid it next time, set up autopay on a Heathrow drop-off account.
How much is the drop-off charge at Heathrow?
£7 each time your vehicle enters a terminal drop-off zone, 24 hours a day. Heathrow publishes no time limit, but paying does not allow you to wait before or after dropping off. Drop-off fees change frequently - that was the rate when we last checked (27 September 2026), so always confirm the current price on the airport's official website. There is a free alternative: the Park & Ride car parks (formerly Long Stay) are free for the first 29 minutes.
Why did I get a Parking Charge Notice at Heathrow?
Heathrow’s terminal forecourts have no barriers or payment machines: £7 is charged every time you enter a drop-off zone, and if you pay afterwards it must be online, by the automated phone line or through AutoPay by midnight the next day. Miss that and an £80 Parking Charge follows, reduced to £40 if paid within 14 days. A Blue Badge discount only applies if the Blue Badge account was set up and the visit confirmed in time.
Can I appeal a Heathrow drop-off Parking Charge Notice?
Yes. Appeal to APCOA Parking within 28 days; if it is rejected you can escalate free to POPLA (Parking on Private Land Appeals), as APCOA Parking is a BPA member. Never pay if you intend to appeal - paying is usually treated as accepting the charge. Strong grounds include the Protection of Freedoms Act "relevant land" point, a payment you did make, an ANPR misread, or that you did not actually stop.
Can AppealIQ write my Heathrow appeal letter?
Yes. Enter the charge details and the ground that fits, and AppealIQ drafts a formal, persuasive appeal letter to APCOA (or for the relevant appeals service). Your first letter each calendar month is free; after that, extra letters are £2.99 each, paid once - there is no subscription.
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AppealIQ generates draft letters to assist your appeal. It is not legal advice. An airport drop-off charge is a private Parking Charge Notice - a contract dispute, not a statutory council fine - so always use the operator's appeal channel and the reference printed on your notice, and mind the deadline.