Do I Need To Name The Driver Of A Parking Ticket? When you receive a Parking Charge Notice from a Private Parking Company (PPC), there is no requirement that you notify them of who the driver was at the time of the contravention. A Parking Charge Notice is simply a Notice To Driver and will indicate why it has been issued, by whom, and the amount they are requesting to settle the charge.
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What Happens If The PPC Know The Driver Details
The problem is, if the PPC knows who the driver was at the time of issuing the Parking Charge Notice, then they know who entered into a contract with them. This then means they can pursue that person for the charge. If the do not know who the driver was at the time of the parking contravention, then they do not know who to pursue.
Before the inception of The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (POFA), as the PPC was not sure who to go after for the charge, that meant they couldn’t take action through the courts.
What Happens If The PPC Don’t Know The Driver Details
However, the POFA grants them the power to go after the registered keeper of the vehicle if they do not know who the driver was at the time of the parking infraction. This means they now do have someone to take to court if they require. However, there are some procedural steps they must do in order for this to stand:
- The parking infraction must have taken place in England or Wales. This is because the POFA does not apply in Scotland or Northern Ireland;
- The registered keeper must also reside in England or Wales. This is because taking a resident of Scotland to court, in England, requires a lot of legal footwork. This could make the expensive and/or difficult for the PPC, so may not be worth it for them for a small parking infraction;
- All of the procedural steps that Schedule 4 of the POFA outline must be met. This applies in particular the serving of the correct notices (Sec 7-9) with precisely the right information in them. These are outlined in Schedule 4 of the POFA sections 7-9 and focus on the Notice To Driver and Notice To Keeper. This is the part most PPCs get wrong, and by doing so, they prevent themselves from being able to holding the registered keeper liable.
If the PPC are provided the name and address of the driver, they will obviously now know who is liable for the charge. However, this is just one small step for the PPC. In court, the PPC would still have to prove that the amount they are claiming, is the amount they are owed.
It isn’t uncommon for PPCs to not be competent in getting the notices, signage, company name, etc correct, so they have very little leverage in court or during an appeal.
This is usually the case with the independent appeals service known as Parking On Private Land Appeals (POPLA). However, the other independent appeals service International Parking Community (IPC) will the majority of the time side with the PPC. What is a common recommendation is that you still refuse to name the driver, and then appeal as the registered keeper.
What Is Defined As A Keeper And Registered Keeper
It must be noted that sometimes the was Parking Charge Notices, terms and conditions, etc are worded, are done so in such a way in order to cause confusion. One of these tricks is the use of keeper and registered keeper. Schedule 4 of the POFA defines a keeper as:
“Keeper” means the person by whom the vehicle is kept at the time the vehicle was parked, which in the case of a registered vehicle is to be presumed, unless the contrary is proved, to be the registered keeper.
Schedule 4 of the Protection Of Freedoms Act
And registered keeper as:
“Registered keeper”, in relation to a registered vehicle, means the person in whose name the vehicle is registered.
Schedule 4 of the Protection Of Freedoms Act
So as can be seen from the definitions, there is no real difference between using the term keeper and registered keeper.
Is A Registered Keeper The Same As An Owner?
The term owner can also be used as a confusing term by PPCs. The registered keeper and owner can be the same person. Equally, they can be different people. The owner is the person who bought the vehicle or could even have been gifted the vehicle. The registered keeper is the main user of the vehicle.
TLDR: Do I Need To Name The Driver Of A Parking Ticket
- If the Private Parking Company (PPC) knows who the driver was at the time of issuing the Parking Charge Notice, they can pursue them for the charge;
- The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (POFA) grants PPCs the power to go after the registered keeper of the vehicle if they do not know who the driver was;
- In order for them to do this, the specific procedural steps in the POFA must be followed;
- It isn’t uncommon for PPCs to get the notices, signage, company name, etc incorrect;
- The registered keeper, in relation to a registered vehicle, is the person in whose name the vehicle is registered;
- The owner is the person who bought the vehicle or could even have been gifted the vehicle. The registered keeper is the main user of the vehicle.
Sources used to write this article: