Hi,
I’ve been parking at this car park for the past couple of years when attending football matches nearby. Previously, there was a Buzz Bingo Stratford on site, and I would enter my registration number into the machine inside the venue as required. This car park makes most of their money through the football fans paying via the parking app £20 on match days. Thankfully the system at Buzz Bingo prevented me from paying this fee.
Around six months ago, Buzz Bingo closed and the building was being renovated. During that period, I continued to park there on match days and did not pay but did not receive any parking tickets. The building is now called 'Saffron Gallery' in Stratford, but as far as I’m aware, it does not appear to be open to the public.
On the 10th February 2026, I parked there to watch the game and left a few hours later. I received an email with the parking charge from my leasing company on 24/02/26, the ticket was dated 17/2/26 - a parking charge notice from Group Nexus.
I’m wondering if there are any valid grounds on which I could appeal this ticket. Any advice would be appreciated please.
Front:
Image Covered Parking Charge Front hosted on ImgBB
Back:
Image Covered Parking Charge Back hosted on ImgBB
Presume that is not in your name? You need to get the lease co to nominate you as the hirer, and then you will get a PCN in your name. The good news with that is they will almost certainly not comply with the legal requirements to transfer liability to you, and you will be able to fend it off - although you may have to wait it out till a court claim to get there.
You can't do anything until you have a PCN in your name (other than pay it). If the lease company pay it and charge you then you argument is with them and will depend on your lease contract.
If they do decide to formally transfer liability to you they usually don't provide the parking company with all the documentation required and then you can challenge Group Nexus if they try to hold you as the hirer liable. Until then do nothing.
However from your post it appears you've been gaming this car park for sometime, always a dangerous thing to do if you lease your vehicle, many lease companies will pay the charge for you and add on an admin fee for fun preventing you from appealing regardless. So far you've been lucky.
Ok my letter has come in now addressed to me, any next steps please? What do you need to see?
Show it to us and tell us what other documents came with it. There are probably none, but we need to ask.
If it’s a Notice to Hirer, then your appeal can be
The hirer is writing to appeal the above Parking Charge Notice issued by Group Nexus.
The notice states that liability for the parking charge has been transferred from the vehicle hire company to the hirer. However, the notice received does not comply with the statutory requirements for transferring liability to a hirer under Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012.
Where a vehicle is hired, Paragraph 14 of Schedule 4 requires that the parking operator must provide specific documents with the Notice to Hirer in order to transfer liability from the vehicle hire company to the hirer.
These include:
• A copy of the hire agreement
• A copy of the statement of liability signed by the hirer
• A copy of the original Notice to Keeper served on the vehicle hire company
The notice received consisted only of a single A4 letter and did not include any of the documents listed above.
As these mandatory documents were not provided, the conditions required to transfer liability from the vehicle hire company to the hirer have not been met. Consequently, the hirer cannot be held liable for this parking charge.
For the avoidance of doubt, the hirer is under no obligation to identify the driver and will not be doing so.
In light of the above, the hirer respectfully requests that this Parking Charge Notice be cancelled.
with any appropriate modifications.
Don’t expect them to uphold your appeal, but it’s the first step along the process of eventual discontinuation.
No other documents came with it. No notice to hire.
Image lettertome hosted on ImgBB
That’s not a Notice to Hirer, it’s a Notice to Keeper, and you’re not the registered keeper. So ignore my proposed appeal.
we are writing to you because you were the registered keeper at the time of parking
So, to be clear, are we saying that the parking operator has simply issued a second NtK (in the hirer's name) rather than a Notice to Hirer?
In which case, should the OP simply send the notice back to the operator stating that he or she is not the Registered Keeper?
So, to be clear, are we saying that the parking operator has simply issued a second NtK (in the hirer's name) rather than a Notice to Hirer?
In which case, should the OP simply send the notice back to the operator stating that he or she is not the Registered Keeper?
That was my thinking also.
I guess that the only issue with that strategy is that the lease company might kick off, pay the charge and pass this onto the hirer?
Have we ever seen a Group Nexus Notice to Hirer or do they simply not understand the rules and always send NtK's regardless?
https://www.ftla.uk/private-parking-tickets/how-does-the-pcn-deadline-work-while-transferring-liability-from-hertz-to-hirerk/msg102044/#msg102044 also seems to be a NtK sent to the hirer from Group Nexus, yes.
The link is to a longer appeal specifically pointing this out, which could be used with appropriate modifications here.
The earlier appeal was
I am the hirer of the vehicle and I dispute your Parking Charge. I deny any liability or contractual agreement and will be making a complaint about your predatory conduct to your client, Moto Blyth.
What you have sent me is not a compliant Notice to Hirer (NtH) under Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. It is plainly just a copy of the Notice to Keeper previously sent to Hertz, re-addressed to me and still purporting to rely on paragraph 9. That is not how liability is transferred to a Hirer.
You have failed to comply with the strict requirements of PoFA Schedule 4 paragraphs 13 and 14. As your NtH does not fully comply with ALL the requirements of PoFA 2012, you are unable to hold the Hirer 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 Hirer cannot be presumed or inferred to have been the driver, nor pursued under some twisted interpretation of the law of agency. Your NtH 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
In the linked case, Group Nexus rejected the appeal but gave up when a POPLA appeal was filed.
I would recommend an appeal on the lines of the above. Ideally, you want to avoid GroupNexus referring back to the hire company, who may just pay up and try to recover this from you, which is a hassle you could well do without.
I think in the circumstances I would keep the lease company in the loop.
Send an email briefly explaining the situation and ask them to put a note on the account specifically stating that you do not want them paying any parking charges on your vehicle.
Ask that they confirm this by emailed response.
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