So I just lost a case for a private ANPR PCN and not sure what went wrong

Demistedstranger1

so I adhered to everything that’s normally stated

Parking eye Ltd relied on the following

1. keeper liability under POFA
2. Clear signage
3. Landowners authority
4. Sum of £30 on top of £100 ticket

judge allowed all those except point 4

Judge maintained that they followed POFA guidelines since it’s an ANPR ticket

I am so confused. My defence was strong but still lost. Any idea why I lost? I’d appreciate your help

Gr1pr

If their case was solid, then you were likely to lose, like Beavis did, especially if it was In-house,

Court is a lottery, Judge Bingo, not everyone wins

What was the alleged breach in the POC. ?

Demistedstranger1

well my chances weren’t great

I relied on not knowing who the driver was and refuted all of the above

Judge stated that ‘since it’s an anpr ticket, they’re not liable to identify who the driver was. Since I am the keeper, I am liable to pay. Parking eye therefore did comply with POFA.’

This is confusing to me. I don’t recall that anpr and paper tickets are treated differently? I want to understand why and also is there a legal defence against that?

Gr1pr

Study the newbies sticky thread in announcements near the top of the forum by coupon mad

Study the law named POFA 2012

If a private parking company like Parking Eye complied with the legal requirements in Pofa2012, they can transfer liability from the unknown driver to the keeper, regardless of who was driving or not

According to the judge, they did exactly that and held the keeper had liability for the actions of the unknown driver

Nothing to do with paper tickets, just Pofa2012

James_Poisson

You say "your defence was strong" but haven't told us what the detail was.

As @Gr1pr stated your understanding of keeper liability was wrong, but if for example, you highlighted that their signage wasn't clear, that needed dated photographs from you taken in the same conditions as the event pointing out the failings.

You also had the chance to debunk their evidence, for example did they provide dated photos of the signage to prove it was compliant, not undated office master copies. Was the POC explicit etc.etc.

Demistedstranger1

detail was as follows

• unclear signage
• driver not identified
• Land owners authority not determined
• Inflated charge
• driver not identified

So they did provide dated photos back to 2022 of the signage along with the site map - the ticket was issued in June 2025

they provided landowners authority

Judge accepted inflated charge and reduced to £100 but with all the other legal costs- it’s gone upto £212- which I have to pay

I thought the points I raised where exactly what was described in newbies thread but I had no idea that keeper is made liable when they can’t determine who the driver is. That’s why I never admitted who the driver was even when judge tried to probe me but I simply said I don’t remember - which I don’t.

Gr1pr

Not being the driver is no defence if the claimant complied with the law, Pofa2012

Clearly the judge decided that there was landowner authority, that the signage was adequate and that the claimant had complied with POFA, therefore your defence was pulled to shreds

Car1980

If it's any consolation, they haven't made a penny. It's cost them more than £100 in paperwork and attending. The other amount was merely recompensing their court fees.

Their sole profit was probably the scam £30, which you rightly had quashed.

The "I can't remember the driver" approach is quite specialised. There is a VCS case about it from a few years ago (which the keeper won).

Remember you name the driver, whoever it may be, up until proceeding are issued.

If you name the driver literally the day before they make a court claim they are snookered.

Demistedstranger1

no way! So I could have named the driver literally yesterday and brought proof of it with me, they wouldn’t have been able to get this issued and had to reissue the charge in driver’s name and repeat the whole process again?

Gr1pr

Correct, if the driver wasn't you, then you always had the opportunity to name the driver from the minute you received the NTK PCN letter in the post right up until they issued the court claim ( but too late once they issued the money claim. )

Pofa2012 would then have protected you, because you would have transferred legal liability to the actual driver, if the driver wasn't you, prior to any legal proceedings

But not yesterday, had to be done before the issue date on the N1SDT claim form

Demistedstranger1

Moving forward and just so I can understand - other than a ccj, can they do anything else to recover the sums that court has issued?