How Transfer of Liability Works
If a car was driven by someone other than the keeper at the time a parking ticket was issued, the keeper can transfer the charge to the driver.
If a vehicle contravenes parking rules the parking operator may issue a charge notice (PCN) to the registered keeper. The parking operator must identify the keeper at the time of the contravention to be able to issue the charge notice.
Identifying the keeper is normally done by the parking operator who requests the vehicle details from the DVLA database. Obtaining keeper details is done using an electronic request via a KADOE (Keeper At Date Of Event) lookup. The KADOE service is a fully managed service that provides access to the DVLA’s Vehicle Keeper data.
Obtaining vehicle details from the DVLA doesn’t have to be done electronically, authorised organisations can request vehicle details manually using the DVLA V888/3 form.
Once the keeper’s name and address are obtained the charge notice (Notice to Keeper) can be issued by the parking operator. However, if the vehicle was being driven by someone other than the registered keeper at the time of the contravention, the keeper can transfer the liability for the payment to the driver at the time.
Transfer of Liability is done by obtaining the name and address of the driver and passing this information to the parking operator. The issued charge notice (Notice to Keeper) must be passed to the driver. The parking operator will then pursue the driver for payment.
In normal circumstances, if the parking operator doesn’t receive payment from the driver within a set period of time they have the right to recover the payment from the vehicle keeper.
Fleet Transfer of Liability Example
When a parking company issues a Notice to Keeper to the fleet company that owns the ticketed vehicle, the fleet company may then issue a Notice to Hirer if they want to pass the PCN on to the person who used the car.
First, pursuing the fleet company
The process of transferring liability can be challenging for parking operators to manage. For example, if a rented car has a parking ticket stuck to the windscreen by a patrolling ticketer the parking operations team will identify the rental company as the keeper. The parking operator issues the PCN to the company but they may choose to transfer liability for the PCN payment to the hirer.
Second, pursuing the hirer
In this situation, they will provide the hirer’s name and address to the parking operator who will send the original PCN notice to the hirer. However, if the hirer receives the notice but wasn’t the driver on the day. The hirer may then pass the PCN on to the actual driver, transferring the liability again.
Third, pursuing the driver
The payment of the PCN is now the responsibility of the driver. However, there is now the possibility that the driver may appeal the PCN, kicking off the appeals process that will require even more notifications to be sent. The administration time and cost of issuing postal notices become a real headache for everyone involved.
In this scenario, recovering the payment can get very complex if the driver denies they were driving or they appeal the PCN.
With three parties involved in the PCN enforcement tasks that include issuance, appeals, early and late payment variations, legal referral and debt recovery, it can become a lengthy process to recover the charge or resolve the debt. If the rental company choose to transfer liability to the driver they are faced with a significant amount of manual administration, communicating with the driver, the parking operator, and third-party agencies.
The Transfer of Liability can be complex, time-consuming and costly.
Zatpark’s fleet PCN software, Fleet Checker accelerates the Transfer of Liability of PCNs to hire or fleet companies. This hugely reduces the administrative burden on the parking and fleet operations staff. The Zatpark platform enables operators to remove the need to manually process the Transfer of Liabilities and, combined with Zatpark Fleet Checker, significantly reduces the costs associated with issuing postal notices.
Learn about Zatpark Fleet Checker
To learn more about Zatpark Fleet Checker contact us today for a no-obligation chat.
Neil is a writer focused on simplifying complex technology, operations and regulatory subjects for our public and private sector audience and highlighting how Unity5’s SaaS solutions simplify complex business processes.
