Parking Charge Notice claimed sent, but not arrived, within 14 days

Bagpus1

Hello,

A Parking Charge Notice to Keeper was delivered today, 11/08/22, on behalf of NCP.

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The date of incident was 24/07/22. This is the first notification and no windscreen PCN or similar was served at the time. My understanding is that service of the PCN by post has to be within 14 days of the incident, with day 1 being the day after the parking period ended, as per the below:

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(4)The notice must be given by—

(a)handing it to the keeper, or leaving it at a current address for service for the keeper, within the relevant period; or

(b)sending it by post to a current address for service for the keeper so that it is delivered to that address within the relevant period.

(5)The relevant period for the purposes of sub-paragraph (4) is the period of 14 days beginning with the day after that on which the specified period of parking ended.

(6)A notice sent by post is to be presumed, unless the contrary is proved, to have been delivered (and so “given” for the purposes of sub-paragraph (4)) on the second working day after the day on which it is posted; and for this purpose “working day” means any day other than a Saturday, Sunday or a public holiday in England and Wales.

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Unfortunately the envelope is not stampmarked, and even though the claimed "Date of sending this notice" is 04/08/22, it was only delivered today 11/08/22. The latest the Parking Charge Notice to Keeper could have been delivered on time was 07/08/22.

Reading similar advice in the past here and elsewhere, my proposed response is as follows:

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Dear Sirs,

I have just received your Notice to Keeper xxxxx for vehicle VRM xxxx today, 11th August 2022.

You have failed to comply with the requirements of Schedule 4 of The Protection Of Freedoms Act 2012 namely, but not limited to, failing to deliver the notice within the relevant period of 14 days as prescribed by section 9 (4) of the Act. You cannot, therefore, transfer liability for the alleged charge from the driver at the time to me, the keeper.

There is no legal requirement to name the driver at the time and I will not be doing so.

Any further communication with me on this matter, apart from confirmation of no further action and my details being removed from your records, will be considered vexatious and harassment. This includes communication from any debt collection companies you care to instruct.

Yours etc

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Would this be a reasonable line to take in appealing?

Thanks in advance for any guidance.

Fruitcake

Whilst the issue date was the 4th, both the PoFA 2012 and the Interpretation Act assume delivery will have been made on the second working day after posting, which would have been Monday the 8th, which is day 15, therefore too late for keeper liability to apply.

I suggest the keeper sends the template in blue text you will find in the sticky Announcement for NEWBIES, and add a paragraph stating the above. By using the template the keeper will be letting the PPC know they are getting forum help, and by quoting the PoFA and Interpretation Act there can be no doubt it arrived too late, even if the actual arrival date is mentioned.

KeithP

Looks good to me.

As you say...

If the NtK was posted on Thursday 4th August, PoFA states that it can be deemed delivered two working days later - Saturdays and Sundays are not working days.
The NtK is deemed delivered on Monday 8th August.

The NtK needed to arrive with the keeper on or before Sunday 7th August to be able to hold the keeper liable.

Grizebeck

MothballsWallet said:

@Fruitcake and @KeithP - could the PPC try using the CWU strike action as a mitigating factor?

Although the most recent dates I saw Royal Mail mention on the Twitters weren't in last week.

No has no relevance what so ever

KeithP

MothballsWallet said:

@Fruitcake and @KeithP - could the PPC try using the CWU strike action as a mitigating factor?

Although the most recent dates I saw Royal Mail mention on the Twitters weren't in last week.

There's nothing in POFA that allows for that.

Umkomaas

NCP are not even attempting to invoke keeper liability via PoFA. Their 'Please be warned .... ' paragraph is not PoFA compliant, nor do they even state within it that they will use PoFA to pursue the keeper.

Simple blue text initial appeal from the NEWBIES FAQ Announcement, first post, with the following added sentence:

'As your Notice to Keeper does not comply with the strict requirements of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (Schedule 4), and as the Registered Keeper of this vehicle I have no liability for this charge, you should immediately cancel the charge and confirm that you have done so.'

Coupon-mad

What he said. ^^^^^

It's not a POFA PCN anyway. What is the common fixation with the 14 days we see so often here?

A non-POFA PCN is still a non-POFA PCN even if it had arrived within a week

Bagpus1

Thanks all. Had some guidance here and elsewhere that have given me multiple lines to appeal this. I have submitted the appeal and will let you know how I get on.

Bagpus1

Appealed on the basis of 14 days period. Received e-mail today confirming that the PCN has been cancelled!

Fruitcake

Well done, and thanks for letting us know.