Yet another MET pcn

[PhilH69]

Hi, and hello to all on this forum. I seldom need legal advice thankfully but I am currently at loggerheads with MET who it seems are frequently mentioned on here, so I thought I would seek advice before caving in and paying as they are now threatening court action.
In mid December 2018 we parked on yellow lines in the service station at Stansted for all of two minutes while coffee was bought (no choice as predictably there is nowhere else to park if the few bays are taken), a pcn charge then followed...at the end of Jan 2019. I will have to fish the paperwork out for the exact dates but what i do know is the pcn was dated and received way outside of 28 days - hence I informed them by email as such (having seen similar posts on this site through google search), that as they were out of time so to speak that no charge would be paid; using the template response that again, was sourced from these forums.
Since then I have received two letter, one stating that my last response had been received (about 10 days ago), followed by another letter today stating that "the charge is now overdue, and if not paid within 14 days would escalate to to debt recovery agents to secure immediate payment or the issuing of court proceedings."

Also...
"Please be advised that the independent appeal service, POPLA, is no longer available and that payment of this notice will close the case on our records and also close our formal appeals process. Correspondence received after a case is closed may not be replied to."

Any advice please, is very , Phil H

[charitynjw]

Hi

Did you ID who was driving at the time of the alleged contravention?

[PhilH69]

Hi

Did you ID who was driving at the time of the alleged contravention?

No, they have responded to me as the registered keeper of the vehicle
But surely the issue here is that the PCN arrived on my door way outside the permitted period?

[charitynjw]

No, they have responded to me as the registered keeper of the vehicle
But surely the issue here is that the PCN arrived on my door way outside the permitted period?

Yes.......for PoFA 2012
It is only via PoFA that liability can be transferred from the driver to the registered keeper.

But if they 'abandon' PoFA & action it via common law breach of contract, the PoFA time limits mean diddlysquat.
The limitation Act 1980 kicks in....they have up to 6 years from the cause of action to bring a claim.

But.......there is no transferrence of liability.
They can only pursue whoever was driving at the time of the alleged contravention, because it is that person who saw (or ought to have seen) the site signage which formed the terms of the contract.

[PhilH69]

Yes.......for PoFA 2012
It is only via PoFA that liability can be transferred from the driver to the registered keeper.

But if they 'abandon' PoFA & action it via common law breach of contract, the PoFA time limits mean diddlysquat.
The limitation Act 1980 kicks in....they have up to 6 years from the cause of action to bring a claim.

But.......there is no transferrence of liability.
They can only pursue whoever was driving at the time of the alleged contravention, because it is that person who saw (or ought to have seen) the site signage which formed the terms of the contract.

Excuse my ignorance, but are you saying that they are assuming that the registered keeper was driving but cannot actually prove that? Is this pcn ultimately pursueable, I don't quite follow

[ostell]

Yes they can still chase the driver for the charge, and only the driver as there can be no keeper liability because of the POFA failures,

They can chance their hand and try to take it to court in the hope that the keeper gets scared and gives in or makes a mistake and identifies the driver.

A strong letter confirming that you are the keeper of the car and can have no liability in this matter because of their POFA fails. Their continuing letters are causing concern and distress and constitute harassment. Please refer to Ferguson v British Gas.

Could be emails got lost so send by first class post and a free certificate of posting from any post office.

[charitynjw]

Please refer to Ferguson v British Gas.
.

Lord Justice Jacob:

• It is one of the glories of this country that every now and then one of its citizens is prepared to take a stand against the big battalions of government or industry

https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2009/46.html