Free Traffic Legal Advice

Yes, it needs to arrive or be deemed to arive by 4/7, so if dated 7/7 it clearly can’t.

Presumably the first PCN issued and the V5C is correct so it wasn’t sent somewhere else first. Usually they don’t bother checking anyway.

They print the usual rubbish about “we may recover from you, the keeper, on the assumption that you were the driver” and whilst they can assume what they like, this assumption has no legal force because of the PoFA 2012 failure.

An appeal will probably lead to a rejection, followed by a rejection at the IAS, followed by a county court claim. I’m not sure how much history exists on the forum for London Parking Solutions, but many cases get discontinued if defended prior to the claimant having to pay the court fee. In particular, they seem to engage DCB Legal who almost always discontinue, but warn your friend that whilst the begging letters from DCBL can be ignored, DCB Legal and its Letter of Claim should be responded to. And that the driver should never be identified, and that no telephone calls should be made or accepted.

Plus no “period of parking” as you also note. So a simple defence based on this and the issue date will suffice in due course.

An obvious point, that you're probably experienced enough to be aware of, but your friend could also approach the management of Tesco, assuming the driver of their car was a customer. Anecdotally, supermarkets are better than most at intervening on behalf of customers.

OK, so if you follow and stay on top of the court process, it goes roughly like:
Letter of Claim, respond denying the claim and why in summary
N1SDT county court claim form, file optional Acknowledgment of Service (probably not necessary in this case) followed by defence, keep a watch on the deadlines for these. 14+5 days from the date on the N1SDT if just filing a defence.
Directions Questionnaire, N180, nominating defendant’s local court and a hearing in person. Instructions for its completion here if you search, can be sent by email and should include the claimant on copy.
Mandatory mediation session at which £0 is offered.
Attempts by DCB Legal to call which should be blocked/ignored.
Allocation to local court with dates and deadlines. Hopefully (not always) the payment deadline precedes the deadline for submission of papers.
Claimant discontinues rather than pay the court fee.

DCB Legal, and others, initiate county court claims in the knowledge that these either result in payment or a judgement in default because the defendant ignores them. Those that are defended properly aren’t worth their while pursuing.

Thank you for your appeal against the above Parking Charge. Having noted your comments, and checking the evidence gathered when issuing the Parking Charge, we are satisfied that the Parking Charge has been issued correctly and your appeal is rejected for the reason(s) detailed below: We have carefully considered the points you have raised but are unable to cancel the Parking Charge. When submitting an appeal, motorists are asked to confirm whether they are appealing as the driver or the keeper of the vehicle. In your appeal, you
confirmed that you were the driver. As a result, we have considered your representations on that basis. Your appeal relies on the provisions of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. However, this Parking Charge was not issued under those provisions and
liability is not being pursued on that basis. The correspondence issued clearly states that it is a non-POFA Parking Charge. As you have confirmed that
you were the driver, your comments regarding the timescales for correspondence and the requirements of Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act
2012 are not applicable to this case. The Parking Charge was issued because the vehicle was parked without a valid virtual permit in accordance with the terms and conditions displayed at
the site. Having reviewed the available evidence, we are satisfied that the Parking Charge was issued correctly and it therefore remains payable. We now require payment of the parking charge to be made within 28 days of this letter. The parking charge is £100.00; however, as your appeal was
received within the initial 14-day period, a reduced amount of £60.00 will be accepted if paid within 14 days from the date of this letter. If you believe this decision is incorrect, you are entitled to appeal to the Independent Appeals Service (IAS). In order to appeal, you will need your Parking Charge number and your vehicle registration. Appeals must be submitted to the IAS within 28 days of the date of this letter. Please visit www.theias.org for full details.

Thoughts please