NTK received from Britannia parking after 60 days

ac1970

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82154446#Comment_82154446

ignore them? So do nothing at all?

Woodstok2000

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82154450#Comment_82154450

Ignore them, but dont do nothing - follow plan A and appeal to the landowner. Follow the newbies thread.

ac1970

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82154449#Comment_82154449

SHOULD WIN? Surely if they have not issued the NTK within the law then it’s guaranteed isn’t it? If not, why not?

Gr1pr

They will argue that they believe that the driver was the keeper, so these companies chase it on that basis

Hence why any appeal should be carefully worded

ac1970

I know about plan A and since it is a retail (supermarket) it is likely to fail.
Please confirm what I should do about the NTK. Ignore it or appeal it based on the failure to comply?

Coupon-mad

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82154446#Comment_82154446

No they won't. POPLA doesn't buy that. There are no worries whatsoever.

@ac1970 and @splatt30 this is as easy as pie. splatt30 you don't need a thread.

The keeper cannot lose as long as they don't tick driver or say who was driving.

Here's one a relative of mine used to kill all ten non-POFA Britannia PCNs he had stupidly accumulated:

Dear Britannia,
Under contract law there is no lawful presumption that the keeper was the driver. This was tested on appeal and your mates at VCS lost (VCS v Ian Edward).

Send me my POPLA code, or cancel.

The case law is against you and your ilk.  In April 2023, His Honour Judge Mark Gargan sitting at Teesside Combined Court (on appeal re claim H0KF6C9C) held in Vehicle Control Services Ltd v Ian Edward that a registered keeper cannot be assumed to have been driving. Nor could any adverse inference be drawn if a keeper is unable or unwilling to nominate the driver, because the POFA does not invoke any such obligation.

HHJ Gargan held:

35.1. "The finding I make is consistent with the underlying purpose of Schedule 4 to the Protection of Freedoms Act, namely, that it was necessary to bring in keeper liability pursuant to that legislation, because liability could not be established.  If this were not the case car parking companies could simply have obtained the details of the registered keeper, launched proceedings and waited to see whether or not there was a positive defence put forward, and in the absence of a positive defence they would have succeeded. If the court took such an approach, it would have been imposing a duty on the registered keeper, to identify the driver or at least set out a positive case in order to avoid responsibility himself. In my judgment that was not the position before ... [the POFA] ... was in force; 

35.2.  my decision preserves and respects the important general freedom from being required to give information, absent a legal duty upon you to do so; and 

35.3.  it is consistent with the appropriate probability analysis whereby simply because somebody is a registered keeper, it does not mean on the balance of probability they were driving on this occasion..."

You must show this reply to POPLA in your evidence pack, if you persist. Send me a rejection or acceptance of my appeal by return.

Woodstok2000

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82154454#Comment_82154454

But they have issued it within the law. They're asking you to identify the driver. You can refuse, and that should be the end of it but they may continue to send threatening letters.

Gr1pr

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82154462#Comment_82154462

The Latter, as advised by Coupon Mad above

Coupon-mad

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82154462#Comment_82154462

I've confirmed how to win. 100% win on appeal. There was no need for anyone to tell you to ignore it. It is a BPA AOS member so the keeper appellant can't lose.

🙂

ac1970

Thanks all.

So is this appeal text ok?

Dear Britannia Parking,

Re: Parking Charge Notice [Insert PCN Number]

Vehicle Registration: [Insert VRM]

I am writing to formally appeal this Parking Charge Notice as the Registered Keeper of the vehicle.

I challenge this charge on the grounds that you have completely failed to establish keeper liability under Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012.

As this alleged incident was detected via ANPR, a valid Notice to Keeper must be delivered to the registered keeper within 14 days of the event. Your notice was dated 47 days after the event and received 60 days after the event, which completely misses the statutory deadline.

Furthermore, as the Registered Keeper, I do not know who was driving the vehicle at the specific date and time of the alleged offence. I am under no legal obligation to identify the driver to a private operator, and because you have failed to comply with POFA 2012, you cannot hold me liable.

Please cancel this notice immediately, or alternatively, provide me with a valid 10-digit POPLA appeal verification code so that I may escalate this matter to the independent ombudsman.

Yours faithfully,

[Your Name]

Registered Keeper