The parking company’s claim is incorrect and misleading. The DVLA allows private parking companies to obtain keeper details under the reasonable cause criterion, but this does not mean they can assume the keeper was the driver. The DVLA has previously confirmed that providing keeper details does not imply driver liability.
There is no six-month time limit for issuing a private parking charge under contract law. They may be confusing this with statutory penalties (e.g., council-issued PCNs) or criminal offences, which have a six-month enforcement period. For private parking, the limitation period is generally six years under the Limitation Act 1980.
Historically, the British Parking Association (BPA) required its members to issue a postal Notice to Keeper (NtK) within 7 months of the alleged parking contravention if they were not relying on the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (PoFA) to establish keeper liability. This timeframe was specified in the BPA's Code of Practice and applied to operators seeking to enforce parking charges through means other than PoFA.
If they are not relying on the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (PoFA) for keeper liability, then they can only pursue the driver. Their reference to "assumption" is likely an attempt to misuse Elliott v Loake (1982), which does not apply to private parking cases. If they continue to claim this, a complaint to the DVLA and their ATA (BPA or IPC) would be advisable.
