Draft letter:
Dear Sir or Madam,
I write as the registered keeper of the vehicle in question to acknowledge receipt of your Letter of Claim dated 27/02/2026.
I firmly rebut the assertion that any sum is owed to your client, Link Parking, and put you on notice that this claim will be defended in full should proceedings be issued.
No Contract Was Formed
For a parking charge to be enforceable, a binding contract must exist between the motorist and the parking operator. A contract requires an offer, acceptance, and consideration. That essential requirement is not met in this case, for the following reasons.
First, on the date in question the car park contained no signage, or no adequate signage, visible to a motorist upon entering the site. There were no pay stations present. In the absence of clear, legible signage at the point of entry, no offer capable of acceptance was communicated to the driver.
Second, and critically, even if signage had been present in adequate numbers, it is submitted that the signs relied upon by your client operate as an absolute prohibition on parking, not as an offer of parking upon stated terms. English contract law does not permit a "forbidding contract": a sign that says in effect "no parking" cannot simultaneously constitute a contractual offer of parking at a specified charge. Such a construction is a legal nullity. Without a valid offer there can be no acceptance, and without acceptance there is no contract. Accordingly, no liability arises.
This argument has been upheld in the county court, including in UKPC v Masterson, where a judge dismissed the operator's claim on analogous grounds. I reserve the right to rely on this and any other relevant authority at trial.
Registered Keeper Position
This letter is written in my capacity as registered keeper of the vehicle. No admission is made as to the identity of the driver at the time of the alleged contravention, and nothing in this letter should be construed as such an admission.
I invite your client to discontinue this matter immediately and confirm in writing that no further action will be taken. Should proceedings be issued, I will defend the claim robustly and will seek recovery of my reasonable costs.