Free Traffic Legal Advice
Live cases legal advice => Private parking tickets => Topic started by: gr1688 on December 20, 2025, 01:00:18 pm
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As predicted received a 2nd letter, will ignore for now
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Thanks B789
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Keeper liability does not apply in Scotland, so under no circumstances should you even think of identifying the driver.
You can ignore, or you can send them a response to the effect that you’re not liable and you won’t be identifying the driver.
There are examples here if you search for them (eg “Scotland”) so it shouldn’t be hard to find one, and if you post what you propose to send you’ll get advice here.
PS You never have to identify the driver, be it Scotland or England or Wales or Northern Ireland. It’s just that, in England, the liability can be transferred to the registered keeper if the provisions of the law are followed. No such law exists in Scotland.
Not quite... The Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 is already law because it was passed by the Scottish Parliament and received Royal Assent. However, the parts of that Act which introduce “keeper liability” for private parking charges have not yet been brought into force. In legal terms, those sections exist on paper but are not operational. They only become effective when Scottish Ministers formally commence them, which has not happened yet.
At the moment, Scotland still does not have anything equivalent to Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. That means a private parking company cannot hold the registered keeper liable just because they are the keeper. They can only pursue the driver, and if the driver is not identified, their position is weak.
What is coming, however, is a Scottish version of PoFA-style keeper liability. It will not be PoFA itself, but a Scottish scheme created under the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 that closely mirrors it. Once those provisions are “switched on”, private parking firms will be able to pursue keepers in Scotland in much the same way they already do in England and Wales.
In my view, this is where Scottish motorists were well and truly shafted. Under the glorious leadership of Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish Government agreed to insert PoFA-equivalent keeper liability provisions into Transport (Scotland) Act 2019. As far as I am concerned, this was done with the interests of the private parking industry very much in mind, not ordinary motorists. Once commenced, these provisions will make it far easier for unregulated private parking firms to extract money from keepers who were not driving, and tens of thousands of Scottish motorists will be worse off as a result.
So yes, the law has been passed, but no, it does not apply yet. Your PCN must be assessed under the current Scottish legal position, not under a future regime that has not been brought into force. When that regime does eventually arrive, it will represent a significant and deliberate shift in favour of the private parking industry, and Scottish motorists will feel the consequences, all thanks to the "glorious leader".
As for the ParkingEye PCN, you haven't told us what the alleged contravention is. If the driver was a customer, then the Keeper should try Plan A which is to get Lidl to call off their dongs and get the PCN cancelled. Failing that, the following Keeper only appeal can be submitted:
I am the registered keeper of the vehicle and I dispute your parking charge. I deny any liability or any contractual agreement, and I will be making a complaint about your predatory conduct to your client/landowner.
As this alleged event occurred in Scotland, there is currently no statutory keeper liability in private parking cases. In any event, your Notice to Keeper does not and cannot meet the requirements to transfer liability to the keeper. There will be no admission as to who was driving and you must not draw any inference or assumption.
The registered keeper cannot be presumed or inferred to have been the driver, nor pursued under any misconceived interpretation of agency. Your allegation, if you maintain it at all, is necessarily a contract law allegation against the driver only. If you disagree, kindly refer to the reply given in Arkell v Pressdram (1971).
Accordingly, you have no lawful basis to pursue me as keeper. Cancel the PCN, or confirm in writing that you will cease processing my data and will not contact me further except to confirm cancellation.
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Thanks J
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Keeper liability does not apply in Scotland, so under no circumstances should you even think of identifying the driver.
You can ignore, or you can send them a response to the effect that you’re not liable and you won’t be identifying the driver.
There are examples here if you search for them (eg “Scotland”) so it shouldn’t be hard to find one, and if you post what you propose to send you’ll get advice here.
PS You never have to identify the driver, be it Scotland or England or Wales or Northern Ireland. It’s just that, in England, the liability can be transferred to the registered keeper if the provisions of the law are followed. No such law exists in Scotland.
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Hi,
received a PCN from Parking Eye on a overstay in Lidl Scotland, Is it reasonably safe to ignore this? als, I wasn't using the car it was someone else, do I need to tell them who was driving? ( I do know a bill has been passed re liability, but dont know if it's actually law yet?)
Thanks
GR