The 14-day rule for private parking tickets explained

Where the rule comes from

Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (often called 'PoFA') lets private parking operators in England and Wales chase the registered keeper of a vehicle, not just the driver. But only if they follow its rules strictly. If they don't, they can only pursue the driver, and they may not know who that was.

How the 14 days are counted

The notice must be given within 14 days beginning with the day after the parking ended. The law treats a posted notice as given (delivered) on the second working day after it was posted, unless shown otherwise. So what matters is when it was posted plus two working days, not just the date printed on it.

Example: you parked on 8 October. Day 1 is 9 October, so day 14 is 22 October. If the notice is dated and posted on 27 October, it's presumed delivered around 29 October. That's outside the 14 days.

• Keep the envelope if you can, as a late postmark is useful evidence.
• Write down the date the letter actually arrived.

What if there was a ticket on my windscreen?

Then a different timetable applies. Where a 'Notice to Driver' was put on the car, the follow-up Notice to Keeper sent by post must be given no earlier than 28 days and no later than 56 days after the windscreen ticket (counting from the day after). A letter outside that window may also fail to make the keeper liable.

Other wording the notice must include

To make the keeper liable, a Notice to Keeper must also contain certain information. The part most often missing or wrongly worded is the warning that, if the charge isn't paid and the driver isn't named within 28 days, the company will have the right to recover the charge from the keeper. If that warning is missing, that may be another ground of appeal.

Important limits

• These rules apply in England and Wales only. In Scotland and Northern Ireland there's no equivalent keeper liability at all (see our Scotland & NI guide).
• They don't apply on land covered by byelaws, such as many railway station car parks and some airports. A different system applies there.
• If you, as the keeper, reveal who was driving, these protections may not help, because the company can pursue the driver directly. See our guide on naming the driver.