Parking Charge Notice received from PCM

[freedom5791]

Hi, my car was recently parked near a friends house in Bracknell, there isnt much parking on the road but there is a garaged area with enough open air space for about 4 or 5 cars to park without obstructing any of the garages. It was a friends birthday so there was 4 cars parked there including mine and they were left overnight. When I went to the car in the morning, all 4 cars had PCN notices on there windscreen and 'NO PARKING' signs had been put up near the garages which werent there before. Also on the PCN it states that photographic evidence of the offence was available via a QR code within 24 hours of the notice yet 7 days on now and the QR code still directs me to a link that says 'page not available' . Obviously, like anyone I dont want to pay it, but I also feel its unfair that they expect me to pay but I have no way to prove the signs werent there before. What can I do?

[charitynjw]

Hi & welcome.

Golden rule....never ID who was driving/parking.
Edit you post to say "the driver parked....etc. (ie remove all inference of the drivers ID.)
Parking co's have been known to trawl the different forums...one actually took a screengrab of a thread & used it in court!

Ok...the windscreen notice to driver (NtD) is defective....it should show a period of parking, not just a time.
It will make no difference if PCM have time & date pictures showing different times.
The NtD is what counts.

If they try to enforce via common law breach of contract rather than the current legislation (Protection of Freedoms Act 2012...where the liability can be transferred to the registered keeper), common law breach can only be via the driver.
I won't tell them if you don't!

Must be worth a drink from your mates!

[des8]

and that is a nice forbidding notice and you can't contract to do something which is forbidden.

just wait for the notice to keeper to arrive before responding

[charitynjw]

PoFA 2012 Schedule 4, 7

7(1) A notice which is to be relied on as a notice to driver for the purposes of paragraph 6(1)(a) is given in accordance with this paragraph if the following requirements are met.

7(2) The notice must—

(a) specify the vehicle, the relevant land on which it was parked and the period of parking to which the notice relates

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/...dule/4/enacted

[ostell]

You must edit your post so that the identity of the driver cannot be inferred.

You can appeal, as the keeper, against the Notice to Driver that you have been handed so that the appeal arrives on day 26. You change your address slightly so that it is slightly different, but still valid, to that on the V5 certificate. They are only supposed to request the keeper's details from the DVLA after day 28. Your letter giving the keeper details saves them having to spend £2.50. They may issue a NTK using the details you gave them, detectable by that slight change of detail, or just continue talking to you without issuing a NTK. No NTK within 28 days or not contacting the DVLA are both failures under POFA and therefore they cannot hold the keeper liable, only the unknown driver.

Appeal points would be as given earlier: Invalid Notice to driver and signs that are forbidding and cannot create a contract with the driver.

Here's POFA. Paragraphs 7 & 8 are what you specifically need to look at.

[freedom5791]

OMG, thankyou so much EVERYONE for your help, it is immensely appreciated, I will definitely be recommending this site to people I know

[freedom5791]

Ive had a quick look at POFA and it seems to focus on unpaid parking charges whereas the place my car was parked doesnt have the option for people to pay to park, does this matter?

[charitynjw]

Ive had a quick look at POFA and it seems to focus on unpaid parking charges whereas the place my car was parked doesnt have the option for people to pay to park, does this matter?

All the more reason to state that the sign is 'forbidding'.
A poor attempt to pass off a claim for damages (via the tort of trespass) to look like a claim for contractual breach.
& I'll be willing to bet my shirt that the PPC doesn't have the authority/licence to action a claim for trespass. (Not that they would want to, anyway. Damages would be so trivial it would be laughed out of court!)

[freedom5791]

Thanks again, moving forward this is what I understand.
- The NTD is defective as according to POFA 2012 schedule 4, 7 a 'period of parking' should be shown, not a time.
- The signs they have put up are forbidding and you cant contract to do something which is forbidden

The only confusion I have now is when to contact them and in what format? ie
-Do I wait for them to contact me with a NTK or do I contact them about 26 days after the NTD?
-When I do contact them, is it to appeal the decision or to refuse acknowledgment of it as a contract doesn't legally exist?

Im sorry if I am coming across as naive or repeating myself, I just want to make sure Ive dotted the i's and crossed the t's so to speak

[charitynjw]

Thanks again, moving forward this is what I understand.
- The NTD is defective as according to POFA 2012 schedule 4, 7 a 'period of parking' should be shown, not a time.
- The signs they have put up are forbidding and you cant contract to do something which is forbidden

The only confusion I have now is when to contact them and in what format? ie
-Do I wait for them to contact me with a NTK or do I contact them about 26 days after the NTD?
-When I do contact them, is it to appeal the decision or to refuse acknowledgment of it as a contract doesn't legally exist?

Im sorry if I am coming across as naive or repeating myself, I just want to make sure Ive dotted the i's and crossed the t's so to speak

Well, they can't unring the bell re the defective NtD, & the NtK cannot rectify that.
If it were me I'd wait for the postal NtK to arrive....see if they've c*cked up there as well!
Others may disagree.