Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hi All, hopefully a relatively simple issue you can assist with.

My parents are currently separated, but not divorced. The separation has not been amicable. The car in question is still registered with the DVLA with my father as the registered keeper, however he has not driven the car in several years nor has he lived at the address listed for about the same amount of time.

The car was parked in a McDonalds car park in Didcot, England, OX14 4TX managed by MET parking with a 90 minute stay limit on the 18th February 2025, we arrived at approximately 16:40 and placed a food order at 16:50, and a second order for Mcflurry's at 17:49 (I have email receipts for both of these). From my recollection we were loading up in the car by around 18:05 at which point we noticed the youngest child had exploded their nappy, and I returned inside the Mcdonalds to change their clothes which I believe is what put us formally over the 90 minute limit. (Note I was a passenger, not the driver)

The original parking fee was sent to the address my Father no longer lives at in his name, as well as the subsequent follow-up letters and a "Debt recovery plus" letter. These letters were only opened today as he has not returned to the address to collect any of his post for a significant time.

My questions are thus:

1. As the fee is directed to my Father who does not live at the address any more, and who was 100% not driving the car that day, should we simply ignore these letters until they attempt proper legal court enforcement, at which point we direct them to my Father's current address, and he will subsequently claim he was not driving that day?

2. If the charge and/or debt collection is eventually directed at the correct driver, would they have any defense against being charged the fee as they only overstayed due to an unforeseen bathroom emergency?

If there's any other information I can provide to help clarify the situation please do feel free to ask. Thank you.

I have included images of two of the letters that were sent, apologies I do not have complete copies of all the documents, this only came to me second hand a short time ago. I can ask for more detailed photos later on if necessary.


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As an aside, if the car is registered to your father at an address at which he can no longer readily receive and respond to correspondence, he should change that ASAP, either by transferring the keeper to someone else if he no longer has anything to do with the vehicle, or by updating the address to one at which he can be contacted. If this had been a speeding ticket rather than a private parking charge, he'd potentially be looking at 6 points on his licence for a S172 'failure to furnish' offence.

The courses of action open here depend on your intended outcome - is your goal to avoid your father paying any money to MET, or to avoid anyone paying any money to MET?

There's a fair chance that either way this is going to result in a court claim (against either your father, or the driver, if your father names them). If said claim is defended with our help, there's a very strong chance based on previous experience that this claim will be discontinued.

Really need to see the original PCN. Note Met only has the keeper's name and address as recorded at DVLA - if they chose to pursue it, the claim will come to him at the old address - ignoring it will lead to a default CCJ. Post the original PCN and next steps can be advised, if it's not POFA compliant a complaint appeal may work, but he should probably  advise them of his new address. Do not tell them who was driving.

Thanks, I will try and get this uploaded tomorrow. They are currently sorting through the pile of unread letters.

Only he can defend himself in court because he is liable,

I don't think we currently know enough about the case to decide if he is liable. He is, however, the person currently being pursued.

Him not being in the loop is not an option

The option to name the driver, and thus take the father out of the loop remains. However this is generally not the preferred option tactically.

SNAFU

OP, your father is still listed as the Registered Keeper (RK) of the vehicle and has not updated the V5C address with the DVLA — which is a legal requirement. Failing to do so risks a fine of up to £1,000 under registration regulations.

In the meantime, all PCN correspondence is being sent to an address where he no longer resides. If a claim is issued and goes unanswered, your father could receive a County Court Judgment (CCJ) by default — even if he never sees the paperwork.

If you’re in contact with him, he needs to take responsibility and decide how he wishes to proceed. He has two initial options:


Only the RK can take any of the above actions. Until one of these is done — especially point 3 — no one else (including the driver) can deal with the PCN.

Point 3 (naming the driver) passes responsibility to someone else for the PCN itself, but does not resolve the issue of points 1 and 2, which still remain relevant for DVLA compliance and future liability.

If he chooses not to name the driver, point 4 allows him to retain control and potentially challenge the charge directly as Keeper.

Until one of these steps is taken, particularly 3 or 4, there is nothing the rest of you can do. The PCN remains his issue to resolve.