Free Traffic Legal Advice

First, read https://www.ftla.uk/private-parking-tickets/read-this-first-private-parking-charges-forum-guide/

Second, post up what you’ve received, with only your personal details obscured, as per the advice.

Thirdly, don’t call anyone, ever. Email or post only.

Fourthly, if the driver is identified, a case can be brought for six years.

These unregulated private parking firms rely on the recipients of their Parking Charge Notices (PCNs) being low-hanging fruit on the gullible tree who can be intimidated into paying up out of ignorance and fear. The first sign of a gullible recipient is when they refer to a PCN as an "offence" and/or a "fine".

I will give you £100 for every occurrence of the word "offence" or "fine" you can show me on any correspondence from them. A PCN is simply a speculative invoice for an alleged breach of contract by the driver. No offence and no fine.

Now we must first establish why you may not have heard anything about this until now. In the majority of cases, it is because at the time of the alleged contravention the Keepers address had not been updated after a move. Many Keepers don't realise that updating their drivers licence does not automatically also update their V5C.

So, before we move on, is your V5C up to date with your current address? Was it up to date with the correct address on or around the end of January, beginning of February 2024?

That letter is only a reminder that their speculative invoice has not been paid. As you know nothing about that invoice (PCN) there are some steps you can take. However, please confirm whether the V5C was up to date with the correct address where you were residing at the time of the alleged contravention.

When you've done that we can proceed.

Have you got out the paper V5C document and checked it?

I don't say this because I doubt you, but you'd be amazed how many cases we've seen over the years where people are sure their car is registered to the correct address, then get the V5C out and spot a typo, or realise they never received one at all.

In which case you submit the following formal complaint to ParkingEye:

Subject: Formal Complaint and Late Appeal – Parking Charge [707348/407430] – VRM [ABC1234]

Dear Sir or Madam,

I write as the registered keeper of vehicle [VRM], in relation to your “Final Notice” dated 13 November 2025, reference [707348/407430], regarding an alleged parking event at Aldermoor Way, Bristol on 29 January 2024.

This is the first correspondence I have ever received about this matter.

I have lived at my current address since 2015. I have owned this vehicle since 2019 and my V5C has shown this same correct address throughout. Despite this, I have never received any earlier Parking Charge Notice, Notice to Keeper, or reminder from ParkingEye concerning this vehicle or this location.

Accordingly:

1. I have had no prior knowledge of any alleged parking event or “offence” until receiving this Final Notice almost two years later.

2. I have been given no fair opportunity to see your evidence, to challenge the charge, or to identify the driver if I had wished to do so.

3. You cannot rely on Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (PoFA) because no Notice to Keeper was ever served on me. I do not accept that mere assertion that a letter was “sent” is sufficient to establish service when I have a long-standing, stable address and have received other mail without any difficulty.

For the avoidance of doubt, I expressly rebut any suggestion that a Notice to Keeper was properly “given” or delivered to me. Any statutory or common-law presumption of delivery is rebuttable, not absolute. On the facts here it is rebutted. I have lived at this address since 2015, my V5C has shown this same address since 2019, and I have not experienced any systematic problem with lost post. In that context, my clear evidence that no Notice to Keeper or earlier Parking Charge Notice has ever arrived is sufficient to displace any bare assertion that a letter was “sent”.

You are therefore put to strict proof that any Notice to Keeper was actually posted and properly addressed. In particular, I require disclosure of:

– the exact name and address used (including postcode and any flat/building numbers);
– the date and time of alleged posting;
– the class and method of postage; and
– copies of any batch posting records, certificates of posting, or mailshot logs evidencing that the document left your possession correctly addressed and prepaid.

You are also reminded that paragraph 8.1.2(e), Note 2 of the Private Parking Single Code of Practice (Version 1.1, 17 February 2025) makes clear that any presumption of delivery is subject to contrary proof and that parking operators must retain a record of the date of posting of a notice, not merely the date on which it was generated or handed to a third-party mail consolidator. If you are unable to produce proper posting and address records, that will support my position that no Notice to Keeper was ever “given” in accordance with PoFA.

In the absence of such proof, you cannot establish that a Notice to Keeper was ever “given” in accordance with Schedule 4 of PoFA, and you have no lawful basis to pursue me as keeper.

For the avoidance of doubt, I am not admitting to being the driver and I am not identifying the driver. In the absence of a properly served Notice to Keeper, there is no lawful basis to pursue me as keeper.

Given the above, I require that you:

1. Cancel this Parking Charge immediately, as it has been pursued in an unfair and unreasonable manner, without proper notification or any prior chance to appeal.

2. In the alternative, if you refuse to cancel, please treat this as a formal complaint and a late appeal caused entirely by your failure to serve the original Notice to Keeper, and provide the following within 30 days:

– A full copy of the original PCN / Notice to Keeper (both sides) you say was issued in 2024;
– Copies of all subsequent letters you claim to have sent;
– Copies of all images, ANPR records, and site photographs that you intend to rely on;
– The date on which you obtained my data from the DVLA and any evidence that the address you used matches my V5C;
– Confirmation whether you are asserting keeper liability under PoFA 2012, and if so, an explanation of how you contend PoFA has been complied with given that no Notice to Keeper was ever received.

Please also confirm that no further action, including referral to debt recovery or initiation of court proceedings, will be taken while this complaint is under review and until you have provided the information requested above.

If you choose to pursue a claim despite having failed to serve any Notice to Keeper or give me any opportunity to appeal, I will draw this correspondence, and the requirements of the Private Parking Single Code of Practice, to the court’s attention and invite the judge to find that your conduct has been unreasonable.

I look forward to your prompt response.

Yours faithfully,

[Name]
[Postal address as per V5C]

Do I need to send this using a tracked service so I can prove they received it?

No, if they refuse to sign for any recorded delivery then all you'll be left with is proof they haven't received it.

Just email it and CC yourself in.

There’s no email contact on the letter, I assumed I’d need to post it!

Many thanks