Free Traffic Legal Advice

Back again!

Received this parking charge yesterday (6th May). Was in Northampton attending an event for my church (based in London) then a group of us went to eat at Pizza Hut in this retail park afterwards where we spent between £200-£300. I don't have the receipt as we didn't pay individually and the bill was paid in total by someone else. It was dark when we arrived so i honestly don't recall seeing any signs. I've searched on Google maps but the latest images they have are from 2023 and the signs are really not that clear and I won't be able to drive back there to check it out in person for the foreseeable. So my only hope is if there are any flaws on the parking charge that might make it unenforceable. I would as always be very grateful for any advice.

Have you tried Plan A? Find out the landowner or managing agent for Kettering Retail Park and complain to them about this unfair PCN. I’m sure they don’t want their tenants being upset because of multiple complaints from their own customers about being invoiced for £100 for simply being a patron.

At the end of the day, any appeal,is going to be rejected but you have to go through the motions. If the retail park owners/management don’t get it cancelled, then it will likely end up as a claim. However, that is not a bad thing and the most likely outcome of that is either a strike out or a discontinuation.

If you’ve had no luck with Plan A by 28th May, follow this advice:

There is no legal obligation on the known keeper (the recipient of the Notice to Keeper (NtK)) to reveal the identity of the unknown driver and no inference or assumptions can be made.

The NtK is not compliant with all the requirements of PoFA which means that if the unknown driver is not identified, they cannot transfer liability for the charge from the unknown driver to the known keeper.

Use the following as your appeal. No need to embellish or remove anything from it:

I am the keeper of the vehicle and I dispute your 'parking charge'. I deny any liability or contractual agreement and I will be making a complaint about your predatory conduct to your client landowner.

As your Notice to Keeper (NtK) does not fully comply with ALL the requirements of PoFA 2012, you are unable to hold the keeper of the vehicle liable for the charge. Partial or even substantial compliance is not sufficient. There will be no admission as to who was driving and no inference or assumptions can be drawn. GroupNexus has relied on contract law allegations of breach against the driver only.

The registered keeper cannot be presumed or inferred to have been the driver, nor pursued under some twisted interpretation of the law of agency. Your NtK can only hold the driver liable. GroupNexus have no hope at POPLA, so you are urged to save us both a complete waste of time and cancel the PCN.