Question 1

How does Beat It work?

Accepted Answer

Beat It has three steps. First, scan your ticket — upload a photo or type in the details. Our AI analyses your grounds and scores your chances of success. Second, we generate a professional appeal letter tailored to your specific situation, using established legal grounds and knowledge of parking regulations. Third, we get it to the right place: where the authority accepts email we send it for you; where the council uses its own online form, the app guides you through submitting it; and if only post works, we can post it for you or give you a print-and-post PDF. You get notified when they respond.

Question 2

Which councils and authorities can you appeal to?

Accepted Answer

We support appeals to UK local councils (PCNs issued under the Traffic Management Act 2004), private parking operators (BPA and IPC members), and DVLA-linked charges. We also support appeals in Ireland and the USA. Coverage is expanding — if your authority isn't listed, contact us.

Question 3

How long do appeals take?

Accepted Answer

For UK council PCNs, the authority has up to 56 days to respond. In practice, most respond within 4–6 weeks. Private operators (NTK/ANPR) typically respond within 35 days. You don't need to pay the fine while an appeal is in progress — the clock is paused.

Question 4

What if my appeal is rejected?

Accepted Answer

If your informal appeal is rejected, you have the right to make a formal representation, and then if that fails, to appeal to an independent adjudicator — POPLA (for local councils) or the IAS (for private operators). Beat It will help you at each stage. Roughly 40% of all appeals to independent adjudicators succeed.

Question 5

Is Beat It a law firm?

Accepted Answer

No. Beat It is a technology service, not a law firm. We do not provide legal advice. The appeal letters we generate are based on established procedural grounds and publicly available parking regulations. For complex cases involving court action, we recommend consulting a qualified solicitor.

Question 6

How do I cancel my subscription?

Accepted Answer

Go to your account settings and click "Cancel subscription". Your access continues until the end of your current billing period. No cancellation fees. If you have trouble cancelling, email support@usebeatit.com and we'll sort it immediately.

Question 7

How do I delete my account?

Accepted Answer

Go to account settings → "Delete account". This permanently deletes all your appeals, emails, uploaded photos, and personal data within 30 days. This action cannot be undone. Alternatively, email privacy@usebeatit.com and we will process the deletion manually.

Question 8

Is my data safe?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Your data is stored in Supabase (EU-hosted, GDPR compliant). Ticket photos are stored encrypted. We use HTTPS everywhere. We do not sell your data or use it for advertising. Your ticket details are sent to our AI provider (Anthropic) to generate the appeal letter — they do not use API data to train their models. Full details in our Privacy Policy.

Question 9

Which countries do you operate in?

Accepted Answer

Beat It currently supports the UK, Ireland, and the United States. We generate appeal letters in the correct format for each jurisdiction. More countries are being added.

Question 10

What types of tickets can I appeal?

Accepted Answer

We handle: UK council Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs), private parking charge notices (PCNs from ANPR/CCTV), bus lane charges, congestion charge disputes, Dart Charge (Dartford Crossing) notices, and equivalent charges in our supported countries. We do not currently handle speeding fines, red light fines, or criminal traffic offences.

Question 11

How is the success fee charged?

Accepted Answer

The success fee is a flat amount, only charged if your appeal is successful — meaning the council or operator confirms the fine has been cancelled. It's £7 for the one-off (no-subscription) plan, £3 for individual subscribers, and £2 per vehicle for fleet accounts. We track outcomes via the responses we receive on your behalf, and you see the exact amount at the point of sale before you pay. If you don't win, no success fee is ever charged.

Question 12

Can I appeal a private parking ticket?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Private parking tickets (issued by operators like NCP, Euro Car Parks, Excel Parking, etc.) are often easier to contest than council PCNs. Common grounds include inadequate signage, grace periods not observed, vehicle exempt (blue badge, emergency), or the operator lacking DVLA authority. We specialise in these and have a high success rate.

Question 13

I've already paid the fine — can I still appeal?

Accepted Answer

Often, yes. Paying doesn't automatically close the case. We prepare your appeal the normal way and ask the council or operator to cancel the ticket and refund what you paid. If they accept your representations — or, for a UK council PCN, don't respond within 56 days — they must cancel it and refund you. Refunds aren't guaranteed (paying can be treated as accepting the charge), so if you plan to appeal it's best not to pay first — but where a ticket was issued in error it's well worth challenging. Just tell us it's already paid and we word the appeal accordingly.

Question 14

The ticket is for a hire, lease or rental vehicle — can you help?

Accepted Answer

Yes. For most parking and moving-traffic tickets, the law lets the hire company pass responsibility to the person who was actually hiring the vehicle, who can then appeal in their own name. When you tell us it's a hire, lease or rental, we build that transfer-of-liability point into your UK appeal automatically. One exception: bus-lane tickets can't be transferred — for those the law keeps the registered keeper (usually the hire firm) liable.

Question 15

What if my council only takes appeals by post?

Accepted Answer

You're still covered. Most appeals go in online or by email: for email authorities we send it for you, and for councils with their own online form the app guides you through it step by step. If an appeal can only go by post, we can post the letter for you for a small fee, or give you a free ready-to-print PDF to send yourself — all from the Beat It app or website. You're never stuck just because a council only takes post.

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