Parkingeye PCN – ANPR, no valid tariff paid – Holiday Inn Lancaster

Background

• I am the hirer, not the registered keeper. The vehicle was rented from Enterprise and the registered keeper is Enterprise.
• Enterprise have written to me to say they passed my details to Parkingeye, and they charged me an admin fee for doing so.
• The Parking Charge Notice then arrived directly from Parkingeye, addressed to me at my home address.
• Nothing else was in the envelope: no copy of the rental agreement, no statement of liability, just the two pages attached.
• I have not responded to Parkingeye or contacted them in any way.

The facts as set out on the notice

• Car park: Holiday Inn Lancaster, managed by Parkingeye Ltd
• Entry: 28/07/2026 at 23:23:38
• Exit: 29/07/2026 at 00:35:11
• Total time in car park: 1 hour 11 minutes
• Date of event: 29/07/2026
• Date issued: 01/08/2026
• Letter dated: 08/08/2026
• Charge: £100, reduced to £60 if paid within 14 days
• Alleged contravention: not purchasing the appropriate parking time, or remaining longer than permitted

What happened

• The driver entered the car park late in the evening to use the electric vehicle charging point, parked in the charging bay, and connected the vehicle to the charger.
• The vehicle remained connected for the duration of the stay and left once charging was complete.
• The driver did not purchase a separate parking tariff.

Attachments

• Both pages of the notice are below, along with the Enterprise letter.
• Name, address, reference numbers and VRM have been removed as per the guidance. All dates and times are left visible.
• I do not have pictures of the car park signage as I do not live near the location.

What I would like advice on

• 1. As the hirer rather than the registered keeper, does this notice do what it needs to do to make me liable? I understand there are extra requirements where a hire vehicle is involved, and no hire documentation was enclosed with the notice, but I would rather have that confirmed by people who know the process than assume it.
• 2. Whether the use of the charging bay is relevant to how this should be handled.
• 3. What my next step should be. I have not appealed and want to get the approach right before I send anything.

 

 

If there were no other docs, they have not complied with the requirements of POFA to transfer liability. Do a search for hirer liability and you should find appeal examples. Appeal as hirer only and only on the POFA point ( or they will just ignore it!). You may have to follow it through to a court case.

If there were no other docs, they have not complied with the requirements of POFA to transfer liability. Do a search for hirer liability and you should find appeal examples. Appeal as hirer only and only on the POFA point ( or they will just ignore it!). You may have to follow it through to a court case.

Thanks Richard, I'll build an appeal now.

This is what has been drafted.

Draft appeal to Parkingeye Ltd (hirer, POFA Schedule 4)

To: Parkingeye Ltd Appeals Department, PO Box 117, Blyth, NE24 9EJ (or submitted via www.parkingeye.co.uk/appeal)

Date: [date]

Parking Charge Notice reference [PCN reference]
Vehicle registration mark [vehicle registration]
Alleged event date [date of alleged contravention]

Dear Sir or Madam,

I appeal against the above parking charge. I appeal in the capacity of hirer of the vehicle. I am under no obligation to name the driver and I decline to do so. I make no admission as to who was driving, and nothing in this appeal should be read as such an admission.

This appeal is made on one ground only: that the conditions in Schedule 4 to the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 for transferring liability to a hirer have not been met, and accordingly no hirer liability arises.

1. The statutory conditions

Paragraph 14 of Schedule 4 permits a creditor to recover unpaid parking charges from the hirer only where the conditions in paragraph 14(2) are met.

Paragraph 14(2)(a) requires that the creditor has, within the relevant period, given the hirer "a notice in accordance with sub-paragraph (5) (a 'notice to hirer'), together with a copy of the documents mentioned in paragraph 13(2) and the notice to keeper".

The documents mentioned in paragraph 13(2) are: a statement signed by or on behalf of the vehicle-hire firm to the effect that at the material time the vehicle was hired to a named person under a hire agreement; a copy of the hire agreement; and a copy of a statement of liability signed by the hirer under that hire agreement.

Paragraph 14(3) provides that, for the purposes of paragraph 14(2)(a), "the relevant period" is "the period of 21 days beginning with the day after that on which the documents required by paragraph 13(2) are given to the creditor".

2. What was served on me

The notice dated [date of notice to hirer] arrived alone. It was not accompanied by a copy of any statement from the vehicle-hire firm, a copy of the hire agreement, a copy of any statement of liability signed by me, or a copy of any notice to keeper.

Paragraph 14(2)(a) requires the notice to be given "together with" those documents, within the relevant period fixed by paragraph 14(3). Service of the notice alone does not satisfy that requirement. Nor can it be satisfied by documents supplied later, separately, or in response to this appeal, because the condition is expressed in those terms and is tied to a period that runs from the date the paragraph 13(2) documents were given to you.

3. The notice does not comply with paragraph 14(5) either

Paragraph 14(5) prescribes what a notice to hirer must contain. The notice served on me does not, on its face:

• inform me that by virtue of paragraph 14 any unpaid parking charges specified in the notice to keeper may be recovered from the hirer, as required by paragraph 14(5)(a);
• refer me to the information contained in the notice to keeper, as required by paragraph 14(5)(b); or
• warn me that if, after the period of 21 days beginning with the day after that on which the notice to hirer is given, the amount referred to in the notice to keeper has not been paid in full, the creditor will have the right to recover it from me, as required by paragraph 14(5)(c).

Instead the notice adopts the language of a notice to keeper, inviting the identification of the driver and specifying a 28 day period. That is the paragraph 9 keeper regime, not the paragraph 14 hirer regime.

4. Conclusion

The conditions in Schedule 4 for recovering a parking charge from a hirer have not been met. In the absence of compliance with paragraph 14(2)(a), no liability arises against me as hirer, and the charge is unenforceable against me. I ask that it be cancelled.

If you contend that the conditions were met, I ask that the evidence be produced with your response rather than for the first time at a later stage.

Parkingeye Ltd is a member of the British Parking Association and is bound by the Private Parking Sector Single Code of Practice (Version 1.1). I would also draw your attention to the Competition and Markets Authority's open letter to private parking operators of 16 July 2026, which raises concerns about operators' handling of appeals, including rejecting appeals inappropriately or prematurely. I ask that this appeal be determined on the ground actually raised.

If you reject this appeal, please confirm the date of rejection and provide the 10 digit POPLA verification code.

Yours faithfully,

[my name and address]

This looks like a standard letter from Enterprise,  they state an Authority Parking Eye is not an Authority and neither is it a fine.
It is an invoice.

Read your hire agreement and see if it refers to a parking charge.  Usually they do not.

If that is the case then chase Enterprise for a refund of the admin fee.  Or a charge back on your card. 

This looks like a standard letter from Enterprise,  they state an Authority Parking Eye is not an Authority and neither is it a fine.
It is an invoice.

Read your hire agreement and see if it refers to a parking charge.  Usually they do not.

If that is the case then chase Enterprise for a refund of the admin fee.  Or a charge back on your card.

Very helpful information, thanks for that. I'll make sure I check with Enterprise. They didn't take my card details when I took the car so they have been unable to charge me automatically for it. Gives me a nice position to be in for asking for information.

Usually the terms refer to such as they quote Speeding, Local Authority Fines.