I just get the feeling that the language chosen on their website is designed to trick you into admitting that a contravention has taken place.
If they tried to argue that selecting that you were the keeper on their online form meant you were admitting some sort of liability for the charge itself, I think a judge would take a very dim view of it in court.
Looking at the time the ticket was purchased, all I can assume they've done is issue the charge because the ticket was purchased more than 5 minutes after entering the car park, which is at best sharp practice, and clearly ridiculous in an ANPR car park where there's no need to display a ticket anyway, and where the driver left after around 3 hours despite paying for 24.
Thanks for uploading the notice - if you are the registered keeper of the vehicle (i.e. the V5C is in your name), then in addition to the driver having paid, you cannot be liable as the keeper, as they have sent the notice too late to be able to recover the charges from you under Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (there's a link to it in my signature). You could appeal along the lines of the below:
Dear Sirs,
I have received your Parking Charge Notice (number: ______) for Vehicle Registration Mark ______. I was not the driver at the time of the parking event. There is no requirement for me to name the driver and I will not be doing so. I am appealing in my capacity as the registered keeper on the following grounds:
- The driver paid the required parking tariff
I have attached a copy of the parking ticket purchased from the ticket machines in the car park, clearly showing that the driver purchased 24 hours of parking upon entry to the car park, more than sufficient to cover the 3 hours 4 minutes that the vehicle was on-site. As such, your claim that the driver parked without payment of the parking charge is incorrect.
- No keeper liability - Failure to comply with the requirements of Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act
You have failed to comply with the requirements of Schedule 4 of The Protection Of Freedoms Act 2012 (PoFA) namely, but not limited to, failing to deliver the notice within the relevant period of 14 days as prescribed by section 9 (4) of the Act.
Date of event: 10 October 2023
Date of Issue: 26 October 2023
Date of presumed service: 30 October 2023 (PoFA para. 9(6) refers).
Elapsed period between event and giving of notice: 20 days.
The notice was clearly given 6 days outside of the relevant period of 14 days required for keeper liability as prescribed by PoFA. You cannot, therefore, transfer liability for the alleged charge from the driver at the time to me, the keeper.
I do not expect to hear from you again, or your debt collectors, except to confirm that no further action will be taken on this matter and my personal details have been removed from your records. If you do not accept this appeal, you must issue a POPLA code.
Yours etc.
