Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hi all,
I received this PCN in the post from Horizon. I am the registered keeper but was not driving the car at the time of the said offence. Do i have any grounds for appeal here?

No, the notice to keeper must comply with the requirements of PoFA 2012 (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2012/9/schedule/4) to transfer liability from the driver to you as registered keeper, and on one front it was sent in time to reach you within the 14 day requirement.

Horizon’s recent notices appear to comply with PoFA, but someone else may correct me. You have the option of naming the driver if you want to transfer the liability.

Most notices to hirers do indeed fail to comply with the legislation, but that’s irrelevant here I suggest.

Any further advice folks?

It may help you to get more meaningful advice if you can provide more information. To help us provide the best advice, please read the following thread carefully and provide as much of the information it asks for as you are able to: READ THIS FIRST - Private Parking Charges Forum guide.

Assuming the driver was a customer of the shopping centre, trying to contact the management would seem a sensible first step.

Is there any advice when speaking with them and and are they likely to be able to help given Horizon are a private company?

A private company who they hired to manage their car park. Just explain to them that the driver was a customer (assuming that they were, as I said before) and ask them to intervene - if you can provide receipts for things they bought there at the time even better.

Hi all,
I visited the shopping centre and spoke with the car park management office, but they weren't too helpful. They said, i'd need to contact Horizon directly and that they don't have the ability to do anything about it.

Although it might be a long shot, I have reached out to the mall manager to see if he can assist, but still waiting for him to respond. Not sure what else i can do at this point.

Appeal and fight it all the way to a county court claim if necessary. If it does go as far as a court clAim, the odds of ti going all the way to a hearing are very low. Even if it did, they would likely be using the incompetents at Gladstones to file the claim which gives a much grater chance of the claim being struck out because of a failure by them to comply with CPR 16.4(1)(a).

Unfortunately, the Notice to Keeper (NtK) is PoFA compliant which means that even if the driver is not identified, they can still chase the Keeper. But that does not mean that you cannot fight it.

What we are not clear on is why the vehicle was parked without a valid payment for the full duration of the stay. On what grounds do you want appeal this?

The linked thread was argued on a PoFA failure but ultimately was successful at POPLA because the landowner contract they evidenced was not valid and therefore the parking operator could not evidence standing to issue PCNs in the first place. You won't get a chance to try that angle unless you appeal it first and then to POPLA, with no guarantees.