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Total Parking Solutions PCN without a valid permit - Yeovil
Posted by sunshine35 on 16 Apr, 2025 21:45 -
As the registered keeper of a vehicle, I had a PCN arrive on 12/04/25.
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The driver had taken a child to a school cross country event, held at Yeovil Recreation Centre. The school had advised to park in the althetics arena car park. No further instruction was given and driver was unaware of what constituted the athletics arena car park before arriving on site. Aerial view of car park
To note, there are 2 car parks - one with tarmac and lines marked which is owned by the athletics arena (ok to park in), one which is stony and been made into more of a car park since this aerial picture has been taken, with wooden fencing to help cars park to make full use of the space. Last year, this stony car park had been fine to park in. This year, Yeovil College have use of this car park. It is staff only permit parking until 4pm (unsure of the start time).
On arrival at 3.40, the driver did not notice any signage before going into the stony car park. Cross country events are busy with lots of people arriving and the driver was taking care not to hit anyone.
There were spaces in the athletic arena car park but with traffic behind the driver and people everywhere, the driver felt pressure to get parked quickly. The driver drove into the stony area of the car park and parked.
When leaving the car, the driver was informed that they had entered a staff only permit area 20 minutes before the permit requirement was lifted. The driver stayed as they had been picked up by ANPR on arrival and felt it would make no difference to leave.
The driver spoke to the cross country event staff who directed the driver to the athletics arena staff. They told the driver that if any fine arrives, bring it to them and they will sort it with the College.
PCN arrived on Saturday. As the registered keeper and person with the PCN, I managed to visit the athletics arena staff on Tuesday this week, who took details and said they'd speak with the college. They told me that it was the first fine that had come to them and they had been expecting more. When they realised that parents were parking in the Yeovil College car park before 4pm, they sent someone down to stop anyone further.
Had an email from the athletics arena staff saying they had spoken to the College and been told that because it was an external company that enforces the notices, there was nothing the College could do and I'd be welcome to appeal to the company if I wish.
Now. Technically the driver did park somewhere without a permit. They were assured that it would be sorted and as it was a community event and 20 minutes before the permit rules lifted that it would seem unreasonable to fine - however, the driver was skeptical as the parking company would have had no knowledge of these circumstances. I as the registered keeper am surprised that the College has done nothing to help from their end.
Part of me really wants to give in and pay the fine - especially at the reduced rate - as I don't want the chance of anything hanging over me as the registered keeper. I'm unsure if I have any ability to appeal as registered keeper based on the circumstances? I am keen that it doesn't get to debt collector stage...
Advice welcome, thanks in advance. -
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You need to make those Google Drive links public so they can be accessed without signing in.
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Ah sorry I thought I had! Is it working now?
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The NtK is not PoFA compliant. Date of alleged contravention Monday 24th March. Date of issue of the Notice to Keeper (NtK) Friday 4th April. Deemed date the notice was "given", Tuesday 8th April. That's 15 days. PoFA paragraph 9(4) requires the NtK to have been "given" to the Keeper within the "relevant period" if the creditor wants to be able to hold the Keeper liable because they do not know the identify of the driver. If you look at PoFA paragraph (5) states: "The relevant period for the purposes of sub-paragraph (4) is the period of 14 days beginning with the day after that on which the specified period of parking ended."
So, without reading the story you have provided as background, the Keeper cannot be liable for the charge and they have no idea who the driver is unless you, the Keeper, blab it to them, unintentionally or otherwise. So, in the words of Dad's Army... don't tell 'em your name Pike!
Easy one to deal with… as long as the unknown drivers identity is not revealed. There is no legal obligation on the known keeper (the recipient of the Notice to Keeper (NtK)) to reveal the identity of the unknown driver and no inference or assumptions can be made.
The NtK is not compliant with all the requirements of PoFA which means that if the unknown driver is not identified, they cannot transfer liability for the charge from the unknown driver to the known keeper.
Use the following as your appeal. No need to embellish or remove anything from it:QuoteI am the keeper of the vehicle and I dispute your 'parking charge'. I deny any liability or contractual agreement and I will be making a complaint about your predatory conduct to your client landowner.
As your Notice to Keeper (NtK) does not fully comply with ALL the requirements of PoFA 2012, you are unable to hold the keeper of the vehicle liable for the charge. Partial or even substantial compliance is not sufficient. There will be no admission as to who was driving and no inference or assumptions can be drawn. TPS has relied on contract law allegations of breach against the driver only.
The registered keeper cannot be presumed or inferred to have been the driver, nor pursued under some twisted interpretation of the law of agency. Your NtK can only hold the driver liable. TPS have no hope at POPLA, so you are urged to save us both a complete waste of time and cancel the PCN. -
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Awesome, thank you for your reply.
If they don't accept the appeal, is this sufficient enough that it should be successful with POPLA? -
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Failing to deliver the notice within 14 days is one of the more 'obvious'/least open to interpretation PoFA fails, so it usually works at POPLA.
There's every chance TPS will withdraw to avoid paying the POPLA fee, too. -
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They've finally replied with the below:
Thank you for your correspondence, the contents of which has been noted.
In your first correspondence you have declared that you were not the driver at the time of the parking event. If you were not the driver, please provide us with the driver’s full name and serviceable address within 10 days beginning with the day after this correspondence.
I copied and pasted what was provided and didn't amend. I don't remember anywhere where I had to select that I was/wasn't the driver. I also find it strange that they've called it my first correspondence as I'm unaware of any other correspondence with them... -
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It’s a fishing attempt to get you to name the driver.
Don’t reply and wait for your appeal to be rejected but with a POPLA code.
It’s just another tactic these companies use to try to trick you. -
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You can either respond, simply referring them to the response given in Arkell v Pressdram (1971) or just wait for the appeal rejection and then appeal to POPLA.
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Should I have heard by now if they've rejected my appeal? I haven't had anything since the emailed letter on 9th May and I can't work out if that's a good thing or bad thing...
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They are required to respond to appeals within 28 days, either with a decision or an explanation of why it will take longer than 28 days.
In the absence of this, and given that they clearly received and processed your appeal, I’d write to them along the lines of telling them that they must uphold your appeal in the absence of compliance with their code of practice, eg https://www.britishparking.co.uk/write/Documents/AOS/Sector%20Code%20Templates/sectorsingleCodeofPracticeVersion1.1130225.pdf -
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Check your spam email folder carefully. If there's nothing there, then as above.
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