14 October 2026

What is a Notice to Keeper?

A Notice to Keeper is the letter a private parking company sends to the registered keeper after it has requested the keeper’s name and address from the DVLA. It is the document that turns a camera record, or a ticket left on a windscreen, into a demand addressed to a person. If you were not driving, this is usually the first letter you see. If you were driving and the site uses ANPR, it is often the Parking Charge Notice itself.

The legal weight of that letter depends on Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, usually called POFA. Schedule 4 is the only route by which a private operator can hold the keeper liable when it does not know who was driving. Miss the conditions and keeper liability does not arise.

Notice to Keeper and Notice to Driver

There are two common paths.

ANPR, with no ticket on the car. Cameras record entry and exit. No notice is left on the windscreen. The first document is the Notice to Keeper, posted to the address on the V5C. This is how Euro Car Parks and ParkingEye issue most retail, hospital, and supermarket charges.

A ticket on the vehicle. A warden places a Notice to Driver on the windscreen. The operator later sends a Notice to Keeper if the charge is not paid. The keeper letter in that case is a follow-up, not the first notice.

Read the document. The heading may say Parking Charge Notice, Notice to Keeper, or both. The date of the parking event and the date the notice was given are the two dates that matter for the POFA time limits.

The 14-day rule for ANPR notices

Where no notice was fixed to the vehicle, paragraph 9 of Schedule 4 says the Notice to Keeper must be given by the end of the period of 14 days beginning with the day after the parking period ended. “Given” means delivered, not merely printed. A notice posted on day 13 that arrives on day 16 can be late. Operators often rely on a deemed-service assumption of two working days; the date on the letter and the postmark are both worth keeping.

A late Notice to Keeper is one of the cleaner keeper-liability arguments. The operator may still say the driver owes the charge. It cannot use POFA to transfer that charge to the keeper if the 14-day condition is missed. You do not have to name the driver to make that point. State that you are the keeper, that the notice was given outside the statutory window, and that keeper liability is not accepted.

The window when a windscreen ticket was issued

If a Notice to Driver was placed on the car, paragraph 8 applies instead. The Notice to Keeper must be given after 28 days, and by the end of 56 days, beginning with the day after the Notice to Driver was given. A keeper letter that arrives too early or too late in that window is outside the condition POFA sets for that route.

What the Notice to Keeper must contain

Schedule 4 also prescribes the wording and the facts. In broad terms a compliant notice identifies the vehicle and the relevant land, specifies the period of parking, states the amount and how to pay, explains that the creditor does not know the driver’s name and address, invites the keeper to pay or to name the driver, and warns that the keeper will become liable for the unpaid charge if, after 28 days, it is not paid and the driver has not been identified. It must also identify the creditor.

A notice that omits the warning, describes an arrival and exit time as if that were automatically the period of parking, or fails to name the creditor, is open to challenge on its own terms. ANPR records time on site. The period of parking is the time the vehicle was parked. The code of practice also requires a consideration period on arrival and a grace period on departure. A notice that charges the whole camera interval without those windows is a timing appeal as well as a wording appeal. Grounds are listed in good excuses for parking ticket appeals.

Do you have to say who was driving?

No. English law does not require the registered keeper to identify the driver of a private parking event. The operator’s choice is to pursue the driver, or to meet every Schedule 4 condition and pursue the keeper. Naming the driver hands the operator a defendant. If you were the driver and the signs, the payment, or the timing are the real issue, appeal on those facts. If you were not the driver and the Notice to Keeper is late or incomplete, say so and do not fill in a “driver details” box you are not obliged to complete.

What to do when the Notice to Keeper arrives

• Note the date of the alleged parking and the date on the letter. Count the POFA days before you write anything else.
• Check the appeal deadline printed on the notice. It is often 28 days, separate from the 14-day posting rule. Both clocks matter. See how long you have to appeal a PCN.
• Photograph the letter, both sides, including any POPLA or IAS wording on the reverse.
• Appeal to the operator as keeper if that is your position. Ask them to confirm whether they rely on POFA and to produce the notice they say was given in time.

Euro Car Parks and ParkingEye notices are usually this document. The operator-specific routes are in the Euro Car Parks appeal guide and the ParkingEye appeal guide.