Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hi,

Just received a PCN for Parking at Curry's in Northern Ireland, I have a company car, the registered keeper is the company and the PCN has been addressed to the company not to the driver.

I was buying a significant amount of white goods in Currys and then was due to pick up a friend as we both had to be somewhere else, as it took so long for the staff to process the order, I asked my friend to collect me rather than me going to pick him up, so I just left the car and picked it up later. It did not occour to me that I would contravene any parking conditions.

Upon returning to the vehicle, I noticed that a van drew up close by which I now assume was related to the PCN, on the images shown the driver cannot be identified, but I am concerned that this might be possible if the van driver or the CCTV took other photos.

I received a PCN this morning.

This is an extract from the consumercouncil.org relating to NI.

Grounds for appeal
Unlike England and Wales, the Protection of Freedoms Act (PoFA) does not apply in
Northern Ireland. This means that the driver, rather than the registered keeper of
the vehicle, is liable for any private parking charges issued. The onus is on the
parking operator to issue the PCN letter to the driver of the vehicle. As the registered
keeper of the vehicle, you can appeal the PCN by asking the parking operator to
provide evidence that you were driving on the date of the alleged breach, if no
evidence exists, the PCN can be cancelled.
Also, if you feel there are extenuating circumstances involved in your case or that
the PCN has been issued incorrectly, you can appeal the PCN. Valid grounds for
appeals include signage being inadequate on site, errors with ANPR cameras, getting
a PCN for parking in a disabled bay despite having a valid blue badge or if you are an
employee within the grounds of the car park.


I have found this proposed response elsewhere on this forum, would it be valid in NI and is this the best approach to adopt.


Dear Sirs,

I have received your Parking Charge Notice (Ref: ________) for vehicle registration mark ____ ___, in which you allege that the driver has incurred a parking charge. I note from your correspondence that you are not seeking to hold me liable as the registered keeper, under Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 ("The Act"). You have chosen not to issue a Notice to Keeper in accordance with The Act, and it is now too late for you to do so.

There is no obligation for me to name the driver and I will not be doing so. I am therefore unable to help you further with this matter, and look forward to your confirmation that the charge has been cancelled. If you choose to decline this appeal, you must issue a POPLA code.

Yours,


I have attached the two pages of the PCN.

Many thanks

P

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Hi Jfollows

Thanks for the quick reply, so should I try the wording I found on this site, I've also just added some more information to may original post which may be relevant.

P

I considered this however, believe it or not, clamping is legal in NI and this would be a risk.

Perhaps it would be better to appeal?

.

Clamping may be a risk because I use that retail park frequently

Excellent advise, thank you, apologies if I am overthinking this, but I have no frame of reference for this, hence I am asking those who know an awful lot more about this than me, so all advice is very much appreciated as I certainly do not want to pay these people, however, a couple of points if I may,

1. I am the company, I am the sole director, does this complicate things?

2. They actually can go around clamping in Northern Ireland and moreover unfortunately, they do.

Your proposed wording looks excellent, thank you, my main concern lies with point one above.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

P

Thank you, ok, I will give this a go based on B789's proposed wording, all your advice has been greatly appreciated.

P

Is the vehicle registered in the company name or to you as a director? If it is registered in the company name, the registered keeper is a company, not an individual. The company is not liable because PoFA does not apply in Northern Ireland. No driver is identified, and the company does not have to nominate one.

As you've now clarified that you are the company owner, here is the fully revised appeal suitable for submission to (not so) Smart Parking:

I am writing as the authorised representative of the company that is the registered keeper of the vehicle. I dispute your 'parking charge'. The company denies any liability or contractual agreement, and I will be raising a formal complaint with your client landowner regarding your misleading and predatory conduct.

This parking event occurred in Northern Ireland, where the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 does not apply. You are fully aware that PoFA has no legal effect in Northern Ireland, and there is no statutory mechanism that allows you to transfer liability for a parking charge to the registered keeper — whether an individual or a corporate entity.

The company does not and will not identify the driver. No assumptions or inferences can be made, and you have no legal basis to pursue the company as keeper. Liability rests solely with the driver, whom you have not identified — and whom you are not entitled to assume is the registered keeper. In this case, the registered keeper is a company, which, as you must surely be aware, is a legal entity incapable of driving a vehicle. It should go without saying that a company cannot sit behind the wheel, operate pedals, or read your signage.

Furthermore, your Notice to Keeper misleadingly states that an appeal can be made to POPLA. As you are well aware, POPLA does not consider appeals from keepers in Northern Ireland unless the driver has been named. Since the driver has not been identified, POPLA is not an available route in this case. Your reference to POPLA misrepresents the legal position and constitutes a misleading business practice under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

For the avoidance of doubt, you are also put to strict proof that you holds a valid and contemporaneous contract, flowing from the landowner, that authorises you to operate at the site in question and to issue parking charges in your own name. Such evidence must be unredacted, identify the contracting parties, and confirm the clear authority granted to Smart Parking to pursue charges through the courts, if necessary.

As Smart Parking have no hope of pursuing this matter any further, I suggest you cancel the PCN, delete the company's data from your systems and save everybody any further waste of time. No further correspondence will be entered into unless it confirms cancellation of this notice.

The car is registered in the company name, my name does not appear, I was concerned that they would just look at companies house to identify me, but I may well be overly concerned.

This is excellent advice, thank you.

P