Parking Charge Problem

[Richard B]

Hi there, i'm new to this and need some help with a parking charge issue. We run a small vehicle hire company. On 19-01-18 a hirer parked a vehicle in Lewisham retail Park and was ticketed as "No commercial vehicle permitted on Site". We first knew of this on about a month later when a Notice To Keeper was issued dated 19-01-18. We appealed using our standard transfer of liability letter to transfer liability to the hirer on 26-02-18 but this was rejected by letter dated 12-03-18. The parking company "UKPC " stated that our statement of liability only covers fines and parking offences, and as they are a private company they don't issue fines hence they held our appeal to be non-compliant with Para 13 Schedule 4 of protection of freedoms Act 2012. On re-reading these letters now I notice that no offer of an independent appeal was made.

On 15-03-18 I asked emailed UKPC for full a full explanation of why our appeal was rejected and they replied on 19-03-18 We replied that same day acknowledging their position but highlighting they have been provided with the driver's details and as the charge was issued against the driver they should contact that individual. We didn't get a reply to that. The next communication was a "Notification Letter" dated 03-04-18. We wrote to UKPC on 09-04-18 providing them with the drivers details. No reply was received to that letter. We have now received a letter from DRP collections agents threatening court action unless the charge is paid. I telephoned DRP to discuss the matter but they were quite belligerent. They say UKPC was not obliged to my email of 19-04-18 and letter of 09-04-18 as these were out of time and they will proceed to court if the charge is not paid.

Can anyone help with advice on this particulary as i have provided the drivers details albeit that they not be in a specified legal format if one exists. I can't seem to find information on specified timescales of what should happen when in these cases. Thank you in advance for any help you could give.
Richard B

[ostell]

DRP you ignore, they are only debt collectors.

They are relying POFA (here's the link) to hold the keeper liable as they did not know the name of the driver. Did you comply with 13 (2)? Unfortunately you named as the driver the person that hired the vehicle but you do not actually know who was driving. However you may care to write to point out to them that paragraph 5 (1) (b) no longer applies as the name and address of the driver has been supplied and therefore they can no longer use POFA to hold the keeper liable.

[Richard B]

Thank you for your advice. I will certainly write to them along the line you suggest. In answer to whether we complied with 13 (2), I would say we did. However on the top side of our hire contract we have standard info like name, address vehicle details etc etc. There is a "statement of Liability" section where the hirer accepts liability for parking offences, penalties and fines. The full text of all terms and conditions (the small print if you will) is laid out on the reverse side of the contract. here S9(c) states "any financial penalty or charge which may be demanded any person, Corporation, or Authority as a result of the vehicle being parked or left upon land which is not a public road. So far as i can tell UKPC are arguing because those words are not included with the statement of liability section, they do not accept the statement meets POFA. I can't tell if they're splitting hairs or if they have identified a precise legal point.

[ostell]

What is actually written in your contract is of no consequence, all you had to do was supply the liability statement. Not the last sentence of 13 (3). You are using the word "charge" so you are in compliance with POFA requirements.

They are just squiming as they want their money and hope to wear you down. I believe they can't get keepers details from the DVLA at the moment so will have noticed a distinct drop in their income.