CPS PCN in Belfast

JezzaP01

Aye up folks,

My mate received a PCN for overstay while I was with him in Belfast today. It came for CPS - Car Park Services Ltd.

Any advice on how I should go about avoiding it?

Fruitcake

The keeper should complain to the landowner, and the NI Consumer Council, and their NI MLA (Member of the Legislative Assembly) representative, without revealing the driver's identity.

Other than that, they are safe to ignore it. This assumes that the vehicle is registered in Norn Iron.

Coupon-mad

Totally ignore private PCNs in NI.

JezzaP01

Thanks both. I assume your opinion is based on recent 2024 experiences? He is a business owner and it is a company vehicle so he doesn't want anything coming back on the company!

Coupon-mad

Based on over 15 years of doing this and sure knowledge that nothing happens in NI.

No law changes in that time nor due now. He is nailed on safe.

Unless the fleet manager/company on the V5C is stupid enough to pay private PCNs just because they'll get silly £170 demands...?

If so, he responds to hook it to him.  Unless the owner is him or his company on the logbook in which case he ignores and laughs.

Johnersh

The point is this…. If they *know* who the driver is, they can bring a claim for breach of contract. But that’s difficult because the law across the UK makes the driver responsible for all driving matters not the keeper. That is quite different to other jurisdictions.

the Protection of Freedom Acts Sch IV was new insofar as it permitted a keeper to be liable for a PCN (but only where the driver was unknown, untraced and unnamed). That legislation does not apply in NI. And since the Assembly have spent much of the last decade arguing amongst themselves/not sitting, that is unlikely to change any time soon. If you go to legislation.gov.uk you can toggle on the jurisdiction button that shows that this applies only in England & Wales.

depends if the company is willing not to name the driver….

H