Parking charge notice to keeper

Dont_like_bullies

Will be appealing a parking charge notice to keeper issued in respect of an NCP operated NPRS car park, would appreciate any view as to whether I am going in too strong as they do have my hackles up. intended appeal is as follows:

I dispute your 'parking charge', as the keeper of the vehicle, as you have failed to comply with the requirements of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 to legally establish any keeper liability, this being because you have not delivered your “parking charge notice to keeper” within the 14 days after any alleged parking violation prescribed by POFA 2012 paragraph 9(5).

Your notice clearly states that the date of the incident was 6th February 2019 and that your notice was sent on 25th February 2019 and I therefore regard the notice as having been illegally issued. Furthermore, I would expect an organisation the size of NCP should be fully aware of the law relating to the issue of parking charge notices and should have set a parameter on their systems to prevent notices from being illegally issued. Not having done so indicates to me that you have little regard for the law and that this notice has been knowingly illegally issued with the intent of extorting money (with the threatened menaces of recovery actions) to which NCP have no legal right and I therefore perceive this to be an attempt to fraudulently intimidate me into making a payment to you that has no legal justification.

I therefore deny any liability or contractual agreement and, unless this appeal is accepted, will be making a formal complaint about your predatory conduct to your client landowner and my MP drawing their attention to what I consider to be a widespread and systemic attempted fraud.

I am willing to confirm that I was not the driver of the vehicle at that time as I was at home, and can easily provide documentary evidence to that effect as I have an electronic receipt from HMRC for a tax return I filed for a client company at 17:05 on 6th February 2019, I will not however be making any admissions as to who the actual driver was (as is my right) and no assumptions can be drawn.

twhitehousescat

providing that the vehicle in question is owned by you (not hire/lease) and you have sight of your v5 showing YOUR address , send the following


Dear NCP

I am the owner of <insert VRM>

I am in receipt of your PCN reference <insert PCN number>

You have failed to deliver the Notice to Keeper within the prescribed period as defined by Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedom act. As NCP Ltd. have failed to meet that requirement liability cannot be transferred to the Registered Keeper.

There there is no legal requirement for me to name the driver at the time of the alleged incident and I shall not be doing so.

Yours etc.


Then sit tight. NCP are a BPA member then you will get a POPLA code - come back if you do.


post edited to remove company aspect (sorry)

Coupon-mad

@Dont like bullies: It's not illegal or fraudulent to send a non-POFA notice, late.

Was it addressed to a company, then?

Dont_like_bullies

Thanks that is helpful - I was a little riled as, although i won't fall for their tricks, I am mindful that there must be countless thousands of people intimidated enough to just pay up

Dont_like_bullies

No - not a company just an individual. I must presume that this is a POFA notice as there is no other way any liability could legally pass to the registered keeper other than via POFA

twhitehousescat

however if it was not received within 14 days it cannot be pofa compliant , hense my reply above

Coupon-mad

A late PCN is a non POFA notice (they are allowed, but can only hold a known driver liable) and you will win as long as the driver is never implied.

Dont_like_bullies

Point taken thanks
I was a bit angry though that it should be the easiest thing in the world for them to amend their system to prevent notices being sent that are more than 14 days after the incident - they have had 7 years since POFA to get it right but obviously still haven't and one can only presume that they are deliberately and knowingly sending late notices in the hope that a proportion of people just pay.

To my mind I still struggle to see how it could not be attempted fraud

Coupon-mad

No, we WANT them to continue to send late NTKs; it's a good thing!

And they are not doing this deliberately - probably just got behind - and even if they were sending these out as standard, they certainly can send a non POFA one to enquire who was driving. It is OK, it is not fraud. It is a notice saying the driver is liable.

It is GOOD because you 100% win as long as the driver is never implied. You can use the template from the NEWBIES thread and no need to mention the late NTK/date yet. That comes at POPLA stage.

Dont_like_bullies

Agreed thanks for your help and advice - I certainly agree that we wouldn't want them to get their act together and start sending on time notices. I was already totally convinced mine is a no lose situation but was maybe getting a bit too carried away trying to make them feel uncomfortable.

Still say though that these would be easily averted if they just tweaked their system to stop late notices being sent - not having built in that safeguard indicates to me that they just don't care and are happy to continue disregarding the law since it just bolsters their income if some people are panicked into paying

Coupon-mad

Yes that's true, I am sure. PPCs do not care about anything except money.