If payment is not received within 28 days of the PCN being served the council may serve a 'Notice to Owner' (NTO) document on the person who appears to have been the owner of the vehicle when the alleged contravention occurred. The NTO may be issued 28 days after service of the PCN and the maximum time limit that it can be issued is 6 months after the service of the PCN.

The Notice to Owner document is a legal document but it is not a ‘summons’ to court.The purpose of it is to let the owner of the vehicle know that a parking ticket is outstanding. It explains where and when the parking ticket was issued, what it was issued for, how much is payable and that the charge may increase if payment is not received. However, its main purpose is to allow the vehicle owner to make representations to the council as to why they believe the parking ticket was incorrectly issued.

The owner of the vehicle can decide whether to pay or make a representation.

I was not driving the vehicle when the penalty charge notice was issued

Under the Traffic Management Act 2004, the owner of a vehicle is liable for the PCN when it is issued.

The owner may or may not be the person who was actually driving at the time. For example, if your partner, family member or colleague is driving the vehicle, this does not mean that you have stopped being the owner.

The owner is presumed to be the registered 'keeper'. We will usually check with the DVLA to see who was registered as keeper of the vehicle at the date the Penalty Charge Notice was issued. This person will receive the NTO.

The keeper of the vehicle does not include someone who borrows a vehicle, perhaps while the owner is on holiday. Even if someone is using the vehicle for a long period, for example, a student taking the family car away to college, they do not become the keeper. The person whose name is registered at the DVLA is still liable.

The vehicle was with a garage at the time

From time to time, people leave their vehicles with a garage for repairs, perhaps for a few days or even weeks. The vehicle could be issued with a PCN during that time, for example if the mechanic left it on a yellow line when carrying out a road test. The law says that, in such cases, it is still the owner who is liable for the PCN.

I sold the vehicle before the penalty charge notice was issued

The law requires that the DVLA is kept informed about the current keeper.

If you sell a vehicle and fail to complete the relevant part of the vehicle registration document (log book) you may receive a NTO arising from actions by the new owner.

In this case, you will have to produce evidence to show the precise date you sold the vehicle. This may be an invoice or receipt (for example from a motor dealer) or a letter from your insurers setting out when you transferred cover from the vehicle.

This would also apply if you had bought the vehicle after the penalty charge notice was served.

I drive a company vehicle

The DVLA register the keeper of the vehicle.This is usually the same as the owner. However, in the case of company vehicles, which are used by one person (not pool or fleet cars), it is sometimes the company and other times the employee who is registered.

An employee who has a vehicle for two or three years is probably the keeper. The Traffic Management Act 2004 also says that the owner of a vehicle shall be taken to be the person who keeps the vehicle. This might also apply in the case of vehicles on long-term lease.

Hired vehicles

There are special rules about hire vehicles. If a person hires a vehicle, they should be asked to sign a 'statement of liability' for penalty charges as part of the vehicle hire agreement.

In this case, the hirer will be liable for any PCN's issued to the vehicle while it was on hire.