You may have spotted our blog last week that highlights the ‘entering into a contract’ when you choose to park your car in a car park.
The other side of parking charge claims is the claim being made against the registered keeper of the vehicle. The registered keeper of the vehicle is the person registered with the DVLA, and is the person responsible for taxing and getting an MOT for the vehicle, and making sure its safe.
We have seen many claims that are against the registered keeper of the vehicle, but not the driver. This reason is that in law (Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012,) the parking company can pursue the registered keeper, provided certain conditions are met.
The first condition is: The parking company do not know who the driver is, and the registered keeper has not told them. It is the registered keepers duty to tell the parking company (who have issued the charge) the name and address of the driver at the time of the charge. They typically must do that before court proceedings have started. The registered keeper will receive a notice from the parking company, telling them that there has been a breach of contract and telling them how much is due. They will invite payment or invite the registered keeper to disclose the details of the driver at the time.
What we have seen recently is that registered keepers have been ignoring these letters and not letting the parking company know who the driver was at the time. This may be due to false information that people have seen on the internet.
Some registered keepers do not believe that there is a law that allows the recovery of parking charges from the registered keeper.
So to be clear – the registered keeper must provide both the name and address of the driver at the time.
A very recent case for us involved a registered keeper, who decided not to provide the name and address of the driver. This case was a father (registered keeper) and son (driver) and he was trying to protect his son, but as a result got taken to court for not providing the information.
As always, any questions or support with the above please email us at: philip@whitecollarlegalandadmin.com or phone 0151 230 8931.