Legal

Privacy Policy

Last updated: July 2026 | Appeal Specialists - appealspecialists.co.uk

1. Introduction & Legal Framework

Appeal Specialists ("we", "us", "our") is strictly committed to protecting the privacy and security of your personal data. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, process, store, and share your personal information when you engage our legal consultancy services or use our website (appealspecialists.co.uk).

We process all personal data strictly in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018, and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR).

2. Data Controller & Contact Information

Appeal Specialists acts as the Data Controller for the personal data described in this policy. We are registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) under registration number [ICO Registration Number Placeholder]. Our Data Protection Officer (DPO) is responsible for overseeing questions in relation to this privacy notice.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, or wish to exercise your legal rights, please contact our Data Protection Team at:

Email: legal@appealspecialists.co.uk

3. The Personal Data We Collect

To effectively challenge parking charges, PCNs, and motoring offences, we must collect specific categories of personal data. We limit our collection to what is strictly necessary:

3.1 Identity & Contact Data

• Full legal name, title, and date of birth
• Residential address (as registered with the DVLA)
• Primary email address and telephone numbers

3.2 Vehicle, Offence & Evidentiary Data

• Vehicle Registration Mark (VRM), make, model, and registered keeper details
• Driving licence number and penalty point history (where relevant to Tier 2 motoring offences)
• Precise details of the alleged offence (location, date, time, duration)
• Photographic evidence of the vehicle, parking signage, and site conditions

3.3 Case Management & Correspondence Data

• Copies of all issued notices (PCNs, NIPs, Letters of Claim, County Court Claims)
• All correspondence between you, the issuing authority, and our consultancy
• Formal representations, statutory declarations, and tribunal appeal bundles drafted on your behalf

3.4 Financial & Transactional Data

• Payment confirmation and transaction history (Note: We do not store full credit card numbers. All payments are processed via our PCI-DSS compliant partner, Stripe)

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under the UK GDPR, we must establish a lawful basis for processing your data. We rely on the following bases:

Processing Activity	Lawful Basis
Auditing notices and providing our fixed-fee appeal management services	Performance of a Contract (Article 6(1)(b))
Submitting representations to operators, councils, police, or tribunals on your behalf	Performance of a Contract / Legitimate Interest to defend legal claims
Retaining financial records for HMRC accounting purposes	Legal Obligation (Article 6(1)(c))

5. Third-Party Data Sharing & Disclosure

To execute our services, we act as your authorised representative. This inherently requires us to disclose your personal data to specific third parties. We will only share what is strictly necessary:

• Issuing Authorities: Private parking operators, local councils, and police constabularies.
• Debt Collection Agencies (DCAs): Such as DCBL or ZZPS, strictly for the purpose of demanding they cease harassment or halt unlawful debt recovery activities against you.
• Independent Tribunals: Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) services including POPLA, the IAS, London Tribunals, and the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.

Anti-Sale Guarantee: Appeal Specialists absolutely does not sell, rent, or trade your personal data to any third party for marketing or commercial purposes under any circumstances.

6. Data Security & Storage

We have implemented robust security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used, or accessed in an unauthorised way. This includes end-to-end encryption of case files, restricted access controls (limited strictly to personnel working on your case), and secure, UK/EEA-based cloud storage environments.

In the event of a suspected personal data breach, we have procedures in place to notify you and the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) where we are legally required to do so.

7. Data Retention Periods

We will only retain your personal data for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, regulatory, tax, accounting, or reporting requirements:

• Active Case Files & Legal Correspondence: Retained for 6 years following the closure of your case. This allows us to defend against any delayed County Court claims brought by operators within the standard 6-year statutory limitation period.
• Financial & Transaction Data: Retained for 6 years as required by UK tax law (HMRC).

8. Your Legal Rights (UK GDPR)

Under data protection laws, you have comprehensive rights regarding your personal data, including the right to:

• Request access to your personal data (a "Data Subject Access Request").
• Request correction of any incomplete or inaccurate data we hold about you.
• Request erasure of your personal data ("the right to be forgotten"), subject to our overriding legal right to retain data to defend against legal claims.
• Object to processing of your personal data where we are relying on a legitimate interest.
• Request the restriction of processing of your personal data.

To exercise any of these rights, please email legal@appealspecialists.co.uk. We provide this service free of charge and aim to respond within 30 days.

9. Complaints & The ICO

If you have any concerns about our use of your personal information, you can make a complaint to us at the contact details above. You also retain the right to complain to the UK's supervisory authority, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO):

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Helpline: 0303 123 1113 | Website: ico.org.uk

10. Updates to This Policy

We regularly review and update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in the law, our services, or our data processing practices. Any updates will be published on this page immediately.