Euro Car Parks PCN

[b789]

@johnny p, this is an ANPR/postal NtK, and on the dates given it has been served in time. But that does not make it PoFA compliant. Every mandatory condition in Schedule 4 paragraph 9 still has to be met.

The strongest point I can see is that the NtK fails PoFA Schedule 4 paragraph 9(2)(e)(i).

That paragraph requires the notice to invite the keeper to pay the unpaid parking charge, or, if the keeper was not the driver, to give the name and address of the driver and pass the notice to the driver.

ECP’s notice does not properly do that. It only tells the recipient to provide the driver’s details if they were not the driver. It does not contain the required statutory invitation to the keeper to pay the unpaid parking charge. Generic payment instructions elsewhere on the notice are not the same thing as the mandatory PoFA wording.

So the position is:

• The driver has not been identified.
  
• The keeper should not identify the driver.
  
• The NtK is not PoFA compliant.
  

Therefore Euro Car Parks cannot hold the registered keeper liable. They can only pursue the driver, who they do not know.

The next step is a simple keeper appeal. Do not embellish it. Do not talk about who was driving. Do not say “I parked” or “we parked”. The registered keeper should appeal as keeper only, stating that the NtK fails PoFA 9(2)(e)(i), no driver has been identified, and there is no keeper liability.

However, be realistic. ECP will almost certainly reject the initial appeal. POPLA are also poor on 9(2)(e)(i), so do not expect this to be resolved at appeal stage just because the point is correct.

That does not mean it should be paid.

If ECP continue, the usual path is useless debt recovery threatograms, then most likely a county court claim, usually issued through DCB Legal. If/when that happens, the claim must be defended. Provided it is defended properly (which is where I come in), DCB Legal discontinuance before any hearing is, in practical terms, about as close to certain as these things get. I would put it at greater than 99% probability.

So the real question for your friend is simple: are they prepared to see this through, or will they eventually panic and pay, allowing themselves to be plucked like low-hanging fruit from the gullible tree, out of ignorance and fear?

The initial appeal should be this:

PCN reference: [xxxxx]
Vehicle registration: [xxxxx]

I appeal as the registered keeper. No admission is made as to the identity of the driver and no driver will be named.

Your Notice to Keeper does not comply with Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. In particular, it fails paragraph 9(2)(e)(i), because it does not properly invite the keeper to pay the unpaid parking charge. Merely giving general payment instructions is not the statutory invitation required by PoFA.

As Euro Car Parks has failed to comply with the mandatory requirements of Schedule 4, you cannot hold me liable as keeper. You may only pursue the driver, who has not been identified.

Please cancel the charge. If you reject this appeal, you must issue a POPLA code.

Yours faithfully,

[Keeper’s name]

I wouldn’t put any more effort into an initial appeal that is going to be rejected, no matter what. Come back when it is rejected and you have a POPLA code.