"Do you have any proof of this?" No no proof sadly, only that the vehicle arrived at 9pm and left at 01.27 - and who wants to drive in the middle of he night if they don't have to? I've read that pleading illness hasn't been accepted for appeals. Has Frustration of Contract been accepted in court then? Thanks for the contact details - how should I handle revealing driver details when I contact him? Do I try to keep the driver anonymous or do I just take the risk and tell all?

Thanks for all the replies - all very helpful. Sorry for the delay in responding - I forgot my password and managed to get myself locked out, which meant I could read but couldn't reply. Dx100uk Thanks for that very clear (and patient) explanation - I completely get that now. Ok so I'll drop that unless we get to court. Lookinforinfo Good spot on Section 9 [2] [e] (i) - I think you're right they don't actually ask me to pay do they, they only say they have the right to recover the charge from me after 28 days. Your 2nd point might be less convincing, given the length of time the vehicle was there. Sadly I don't know how long parking is permitted for free. Perhaps someone on here can help with that. For context so you have the full picture, the driver entered M1 Tibshelf services not expecting to park at all (and therefore didn't bother to look for parking signs), they were feeling a little funny and thought a coffee might help. They drove into the petrol station area and pulled up in a parking bay at one side of the pumps and went in to get a take out coffee. On returning to the vehicle they were suddenly overcome with a violent attack of dizziness and nausea and couldn't stay upright. After lying flat and unable to move (and feeling extremely cold) for what was apparently some 4 hours they recovered enough to be able to drive on. The coffee was now stone cold of course which was a very annoying waste of 3.50! On recovering, the driver looked round without getting out of the van but couldn't see any signs at all near those few bays so mistakenly assumed the petrol station bays didn't have parking charges. One more question - on other threads people have suggested contacting the land owner to ask them to drop the charge. How would I find out who the landowner is, or perhaps should I write to the manager of the petrol station?

Unless I've got an incorrect copy of the relevant regulation: The PCN is only deemed to have arrived two days after dispatch "unless the contrary is proved" in which case date of delivery does matter (not just date of posting) and I would like clarification of the required standard of proof. It seems perhaps this hasn't been tested. Since post is now barcoded for the Post Office's own tracking purposes perhaps there is some way I can get that evidence from the Post Office...

Hmm yes I see your point about proof of postage but nonetheless... "A Notice to Keeper can be served by ordinary post and the Protection of Freedoms Act requires that the Notice, to be valid, must be delivered either (Where a notice to driver (parking ticket) has been served) Not earlier than 28 days after, nor more than 56 days after, the service of that notice to driver; or (Where no notice to driver has been served (e.g ANPR is used)) Not later than 14 days after the vehicle was parked A notice sent by post is to be presumed, unless the contrary is proved, to have been delivered on the second working day after the day on which it is posted; and for this purpose “working day” means any day other than a Saturday, Sunday or a public holiday in England and Wales." My question there is really what might constitute proof? Since you say the issue of delivery is a common one I suppose that no satisfactory answer has been established or you would probably have told me.

Hi and thanks It looks like they ticked all the boxes to me but I'll try and upload the notice. I was wondering if a witness to late delivery might be considered proof - I'm assuming they posted it as normal but Royal Mail stuffed up delivery. If not then they're really saying it just has to be posted within 12 days of the incident, regardless of when it is received. Annoying! edit ok thanks Honeybee here's my 2nd (actually 3rd) attempt at anonymising, copying and uploading the notice! Sorry about the state of it - I sat on it while distracted by my dog 2024-04-08 GroupNexus PCN event 2024-03-28.pdf

Hi 1 Date of the infringement arr 28/03/24 21:00, dep 29/03/24 01.27 2 Date on the NTK 08/04/2024 (Date of Issue) 3 Date received Monday 15/04/24 4 Does the NTK mention schedule 4 of The Protections of Freedoms Act 2012? Yes 5 Is there any photographic evidence of the event? Yes 6 Have you appealed? [Y/N?] post up your appeal] No 7 Who is the parking company? GroupNexus 8. Where exactly [carpark name and town] Petrol Station Roadchef Tibshelf South DE55 5T 'operating in accordance with the BPA's Code of Practice' ....................... I received a Parking Charge letter to keeper on Monday 15/04/24, the 17th day after the alleged incident. My understanding is that this is outside the window for notifying. The issue date was 08/04/2024 which should have been in good time for it to have arrived within the notice period but in fact it actually arrived at lunchtime on the 15th. Do I have to prove when it arrived (and if so how can I do that?) or is the onus on them to prove it was delivered in time? All I can find is that delivery is assumed to be on the second working day after issue which would have been Weds 10/04/24 but it was actually delivered 5 days later than that (thank you Royal Mail!). My husband was present when it arrived - is a family member witness considered sufficient proof?