Free Traffic Legal Advice

READ THIS FIRST - Private Parking Charges Forum guide

You can safely ignore any debt collector/Debt Recovery Agent (DRA) letters. Bin them. We don't need to know about them. The DRAs are powerless to do anything except to try and scare the low-hanging fruit on the gullible tree into paying out of ignorance and fear. Never, ever, communicate with a useless DRA. They are not a party to any contract allegedly breached by the driver.

You must ask yourself why you never received the original Notice to Keeper (NtK) or the follow up reminder. In the vast majority of these cases it is because at the time of the alleged contravention, your V5C DVLA data was not up to date, probably because of a precious change of address where you failed to update it. Updating your drivers licence does not automatically update your V5C data.

You can check online and update it easily. However, it won't help you now because MET is only allowed to apply for the Keepers DVLA data once per Parking Charge Notice (PCN).

Please confirm whether your V5C DVLA data was up to date around the time of the alleged contravention. It could be that you changed address a long time ago and never updated the V5C, so please check.

The DRA has found your address by using a credit reference agency search. You do not want MET to hold two possible addresses for you and if your V5C data was not up to date, let us know as you will have to send them. data rectification notice.

Once you have answered that question, we can then proceed on how to deal with the charge. Without seeing the original NtK, we are without some vital facts and we will have to make a forma complaint to MET in order to obtain a copy of it as it is too late to lodger an appeal at this stage.

So, please answer the questions before we move on.

In which case you need to make a formal complaint to MET, which will also be considered as an appeal. I also suggest you create a separate thread for any other PCNs you have. Especially the NCP Gatwick drop off one. No one pays a penny to NCP or any other operator at any airport unless they are truly ignorant and gullible.

If you are sure you registered your vehicle at your current address long before the alleged contravention, the use the following as a formal complaint/appeal:

[Your Name]
[Your Address]

[Your Email]

MET Parking Services Ltd
PO Box 64168
London
WC1A 9BE

Delivery by email to: complaints@metparking.com

[Date]

Subject: Formal Complaint – Failure to Serve Notice to Keeper

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to formally complain about MET Parking Services' failure to serve a Notice to Keeper (NtK) in relation to Parking Charge Notice (PCN) [PCN Number]. I only became aware of this charge upon receiving a letter from a debt recovery agency.

PCN Reference: [PCN Number]
Vehicle Registration: [Vehicle Registration]
Date of Alleged Contravention: [Date]

At no point did I receive an NtK or any reminder from MET Parking. My address as registered with the DVLA has been correct and up to date at all relevant times. Given this, I have serious concerns about whether MET Parking ever posted an NtK at all.

I therefore require you to provide the following:

• A copy of the original NtK that was allegedly issued.
• Strict proof that the NtK was actually posted, as required by the BPA/IPC Private Parking Single Code of Practice (PPSCoP). Specifically, in accordance with Section 8.1.2(e) Note #2 of the PPSCoP:

“A notice sent by post is to be presumed, unless the contrary is proved, to have been delivered on the second working day after the day on which it is posted; and for this purpose, “working day” means any day other than a Saturday, Sunday or a public holiday in England and Wales. Therefore, parking operators must retain a record of the date of posting of a notice, not simply of that notice having been generated (e.g. the date that any third-party Mail Consolidator actually put it in the postal system.)”

Accordingly, you must provide:

1. The date the NtK was physically put into the postal system by MET Parking or any third-party mail consolidator.
2. Proof that the NtK was posted (not just generated), such as postage records, tracking data, or confirmation from your mail provider.

Simply providing evidence that an NtK was "generated" is not sufficient proof of posting under the PPSCoP. If you cannot provide strict proof that the NtK was properly issued and posted, then the presumption of service does not apply.

Please treat this as a formal complaint and respond within 14 days. If you fail to provide a satisfactory response, I will escalate this matter to the British Parking Association (BPA) and other relevant bodies including the DVLA.

I look forward to your prompt response.

Yours faithfully,

[Your Name]

Make sure you send it as a PDF attachment in an email to complaints@metparking.com and also CC in yourself.

If you get any future ones, come here before responding. Obviously, the best way to deal with PCNs is not to get them in the first place, but the second best way is to seek advice.

A swift response (attached)! And a good result. Those buttons on the machine in the leisure centre have seriously deteriorated over the last year or so, but they would have happily taken my cash regardless. There was no addressing the non-delivery of the PCN or reminder though, although they attached PDF copies of both with their reply. We definitely received neither, is it worth pointing that out?

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