Time pressures, threats of debt collection, Parking Charge Notices are a pain in every driver’s backside, however did you know if they don’t get the paperwork to you within 14 days, you can rip into small pieces and hang it in the Netty!
First things first, a Parking Charge Notice, or PCN, issued by a parking company is not a fine. They’re deliberately made to look, read and feel like one for one simple reason, so you cough up. They’re nothing more than an invoice with strings attached.
Whether it was Teesside Park, Marton Shops or somewhere similar that you overstayed, or didn’t even pay, these A4 sheets of paper are useless if they’ve used ANPR cameras to trace the car keeper (owner) and send the bully-boy paperwork through the post late.
But don’t confuse them with tickets issued by police or local councils, they are fines and have to be paid. Likewise, we are not talking those nice little yellow plastic bags stuck on your windscreen – they operate a little differently. This article is talking, the notices received through the post with a photograph of your car, called a Parking Charge Notice.
The key point of this is, by law, if the parking company used cameras to confirm a parking infringement and trace you as the owner of the vehicle, they MUST send these notices within 14 days of the alleged parking infringement, with Day 1 starting the day after the parking incident – this is called the Relevant Period.
The law in question is the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, an act of Parliament designed to protect use of evidential material, which the DVLA database data falls under. The parking company’s own association guidelines also state its members must comply with these timelines, and if not they face internal sanctions that could lead to loss of access to the DVLA system to trace car “keepers” (owners).
And this is the final point, using ANPR cameras, these companies can only send these notices to the ‘keeper’ of the vehicle as they do not know who was driving the car at the time. Under no circumstances admit who was driving, as this 14 day timeline relates to the parking company getting details of the keeper of the car, not the driver.
If your notice is issued beyond Day 14, you can write to the company and state that as they’ve issued the notice outside of the relevant Period, as per the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, there is no longer any Keeper Liability in this matter and request the ticket be cancelled.
You can almost guarantee they’ll still try to chase you for the money, then it’s your call how long you want to fight the good fight, but legally they cannot enforce the ticket. Oh yes, and why not point out that if they insist, you’re happy reporting them for being in breach of The Private Parking Sector Single Code of Practice.