UKPC Parking Charge Certificate

[Shipdrinker]

My wife has recently received a parking charge certificate, from UK Parking Control Ltd, for parking in an unauthorized area at a local retail park.
The charge was addressed to her, as she is the registered keeper of the vehicle, however she was not in fact the driver on this said occasion.
We looked up some advice on several websites and came to the conclusion that if she was not the driver then she was not liable for the charge.
We were advised, that the "contract" for parking is between the driver and the owner of the land parked on.
We sent a letter to UKPC stating that as she was not the driver of the vehicle, thus not liable therefore she would not be paying the charge.
We received a reply from UKPC stating that she was the registered keeper and liable for the charge.
She replied again stating that she was not the driver and was not legally obliged to divulge who was, and added that further correspondence from UKPC would be considered as harassment.
She has received a further letter from UKPC stating that their Appeals manager has "personally reviewed this case and carefully considered the various points raised but they view these particular circumstances are neather unreasonable nor unjust " so they will not be waiving this parking charge.
They have then added that if she does not pay within 14 days then they will place the matter in the hands of their Debt recovery Agents.
My Questions:-
Is She legally liable to pay?
Can they send round Debt Recovery Agents?
Are these Agents able to Gain legal entry to my property?
Any suggestions on our next move?

[barry1010]

Ask them to provide evidence so your wife can determine who was driving.
They can't send debt agents to your property without going to court first and winning their case.

[mrs_overall]

First things first - DON'T PAY IT!

The law on this is quite clear. UKPC pay DVLA for the details of the registered keeper and then they write to them.
The registered keeper is under NO legal obligation to provide details of the driver.
Your reply to them should state the following:
I am the registered keeper of the said vehicle.
I was not the driver of the vehicle on the date in question.
I have no legal obligation to supply you with details of the driver.
Please do not contact me again or I will take action against you for harrassment.

Post your letters to them using Recorded Delivery so they cannot deny having received them.

I had a similar situation last year. After I posted my letter off to them I received further letters threatening legal action etc.
I replied to these threatening letters by saying
"I acknowledge receit of your letter dated xxth of December, 2008, the contents of which I have noted and laughed at.

Eventually the letters stopped.

Good luck.

[mrs_overall]

receit????

I meant receipt.

Stupid dyslexic keyboard!

[amirpersian]

regarding to british law the registered keeper of a vehicle is responsible for any charge.you better pay that before they take further action.they can do what is needed for them to recover it.it has happened to me too and i tell you,just pay.

[mrs_overall]

In response to the reply from amirpersian - these tickets are a CIVIL matter and the registered keeper is NOT responsible. When a driver parks on such a car park, a contact is entered into between the DRIVER and the car park, NOT the registered keeper.
If you want to read up on the matter, here is some info.

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?autocom=ib wiki&cmd=article&id=56

[factor-fiction]

mrs.o- is this pepipoo site a legal authority respected by legal experts in this field?
Are you saying these contractual charges can never be enforced if everyone simply denies they were the driver who parked there?

[mrs_overall]

I didn't say everyone should deny being the driver. All I said is that the registered keeper has no legal requirement to disclose details of the driver.

[factor-fiction]

No I wasn't implying you were saying that. What I meant is, does it follow from what you said that if every registered keeper who gets a charge notice were to claim they weren't the driver at the time and refused to say who was driving then the charge couldn't be pursued. If it went to civil court case I wonder if the registered keeper could be asked to show that others were insured to drive the vehicle.

[mrs_overall]

Phew!
If the registered keeper was not the driver, then they do not have to provide details of who was driving. In this scenario, the onus is on the parking company to provide the evidence.
If the registered keeper and the driver were one and the same person it would be madness for them to state that they were not driving and did not know who the driver was, as that is an out and out lie. It could be that the car park was covered by CCTV and if the parking company have a photo of the driver. If the reg keeper was taken to court and they were NOT the driver, they do NOT have to provide the details of the driver, even to the court.
However, if they are one and the same person and the parking company has a photo of them, the court (which would be the Small Claims court and NOT criminal court) would take a dim view of them having told lies, and would (rightly so) clobber them.
The point I'm trying to make to the poster of this question that if his wife was not driving, then she has no responsibility for this ticket, and no legal obligation to provide details of who was driving.
If the wife had been driving, I would have advised that she should pay up.

[cbatts]

Just thought I would add: the "Appeals manager has "personally reviewed this case and carefully considered the various points raised but they view these particular circumstances are neather unreasonable nor unjust " is a repeated comment within the letters! Exactly the same line, word for word has been sent to me in a reply letter. Simply ignore everything. Obtain sufficient evidence in case the need arises however do not worry when the debt collection letters arrive. They have absolutely no power and should simply be compared with the junk mail people receive on a daily basis! It can be a long and arduous process however definitely go through with it!

[216216]

On all these sites there are far to many armchair lawers. Let me tell you all how its stands. if you park any car on any private land its for you to READ all the signs. trading standards have also said this on whatch dog. if you get a parking charge then you must pay. UKPC WILL take the owner of the car to court and will win their case. they have not been doing this for over 25 years just for fun. pay up of shut up.

[216216]

there are far to many armchair lawers on all these sites. if you park on any private land its for you to read all the signs. this was also said by trading standards on whatch dog. ukpc will take you to court and win their case. if you get a parking charge just pay up or shut up. its your own fault. now have a nice day.

[Kathyan]

My husband got a parking charge notice a couple of years ago. I read on a website that these are not enforceable. A penalty charge notice is. My husband didn't pay it and we have heard nothing since!