I have drafted an appeal letter, below. I have deliberately left out the keying error and other information that could "muddy the waters", as I don't want to cause confusion to the appeals assessor.
Would you mind reviewing the below and telling if there is anything that I have omitted that would boost the appeal though?
I write to appeal the Parking Charge Notice (reference XXXX) issued by Euro Car Parks Limited (“the operator”). I appeal solely in my capacity as hirer of the vehicle. I do not identify the driver.
Grounds of Appeal: Failure to comply with the statutory requirements for a valid Notice to Hirer under Schedule 4, Paragraph 14 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012.
For a Notice to Hirer (“NtH”) to be valid and capable of transferring liability to the hirer, the operator must comply strictly with the conditions set out in Schedule 4, Paragraph 14 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (“PoFA 2012”).
Paragraph 14(2)(a) requires that the creditor has given the hirer a notice together with a copy of the Notice to Keeper and a copy of the documents mentioned in paragraph 13(2). These are:
• A statement signed by or on behalf of the vehicle-hire firm to the effect that at the material time the vehicle was hired to a named person under a hire agreement;
• A copy of the hire agreement; and
• A copy of a statement of liability signed by the hirer under that hire agreement.
Upon receiving the NtH from the operator, I noted that none of the abovementioned documents were enclosed – neither the Notice to Keeper, hire agreement, or any communications from the hire company. To date, none of these documents have been provided at any point, whether at the time of service of the NtH or subsequently. The operator has therefore failed entirely to satisfy the statutory conditions necessary to transfer liability from the keeper to the hirer.
The operator’s failure to provide the requisite documents means that no valid NtH exists in law. Liability therefore cannot be transferred to me as the hirer, and the charge is thus not enforceable against me.
For completeness, I note that even if the documents had been provided at a later date, this would still not cure the deficiency: Paragraph 14(2)(a) requires the documents to be served together with the NtH, and retrospective provision cannot satisfy that requirement.
I respectfully request that POPLA uphold this appeal and cancel the charge in full.
Supporting Documents Enclosed:
1. Annex A: Copy of the Notice to Hirer as received