Notice to Keeper Served Late

The Notice to Keeper (NtK) must be served within 14 days of the parking event when no Notice to Driver was issued. If the operator fails to meet this deadline, they lose the right to pursue the keeper under POFA 2012.

Legal basis

Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, Schedule 4, Paragraph 9(5) - 'The relevant period for the purposes of sub-paragraph (4) is the period of 14 days beginning with the day after that on which the specified period of parking ended.'

How to identify this in your case

Check the date on the NtK against the alleged parking date. Count calendar days from the day after parking. If NtK is dated day 15 or later (or arrived day 15+ allowing for posting), the deadline is missed.

Sample appeal wording

Before you send this

Deadline. A late submission can be rejected without your argument being read. Check your notice for the deadline and how it is counted.
Paying may end it. Paying can count as accepting the notice and can close a challenge already under way. Part-paying or acknowledging an old debt can also revive a time limit that had expired.
The amount can change. Check what happens to the sum if you challenge — it may be held, re-offered lower, or keep rising, and fees or enforcement can continue meanwhile.
Use the official route. Use the method, recipient and form your notice specifies, with any reference, evidence and signature it asks for. Sent elsewhere, it may not count.
Only say what is true. Do not copy any statement of fact unless it is true for you, and check the legal point still applies. Delete what does not fit. It may be treated as your statement.
Careful what you volunteer. Avoid unnecessary admissions — naming the driver or accepting responsibility can remove arguments. But answer anything you are legally required to answer, and do include the evidence your ground needs.
Keep the record. Keep what you sent, the attachments, any receipt, and the reply. Note the next deadline.

Sample wording to adapt and send yourself — it may not fit your notice or the stage you are at. Replace the bracketed prompts with your own details; leave any case citation as it is.

I received the Notice to Keeper dated [NtK DATE]. The alleged parking contravention occurred on [PARKING DATE]. Under POFA 2012 Schedule 4 Paragraph 9(5), the Notice to Keeper must be served within 14 days of the parking event when no windscreen ticket was issued. Simple calculation shows [X] days elapsed between the parking event and the NtK date. The operator has therefore failed to comply with the statutory requirements and has no legal basis to pursue me as the registered keeper.

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Notice to Keeper Served Late

Legal basis

How to identify this in your case

Sample appeal wording

Beat It writes this argument automatically

Sources

Related appeal grounds

Next steps