English keeper, car parked in Scotland
If you live in England but got a private parking charge for something that happened in Scotland, Scottish law governs whether a valid agreement was made — regardless of where you are based. English keeper-liability rules cannot reach a parking event in Scotland: the keeper-liability regime in Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 extends to England and Wales only, so a private operator cannot hold you liable simply as the registered keeper — they must identify and pursue the actual driver. Important: this defeats keeper liability, not the charge itself. If the driver is known or admitted, Scottish contract law can still apply, so never name the driver and never falsely deny who was driving. For a private parking charge, appeal to the operator and then to POPLA (or the IAS if the operator is an IPC member) — POPLA has accepted appeals for charges issued in Scotland since May 2019, and the old Scottish Parking Appeals Service (SPAS) no longer operates. This ground applies only to private parking charges, not to council penalty notices or low-emission-zone penalties.
Legal basis
Rome I Regulation art 4 (applicable law to contractual obligations); CJJA 1982 Sch 8 (intra-UK jurisdiction); POFA 2012 s.119 (extent — keeper liability in Part 3 Chapter 2 / Schedule 4 applies to England & Wales only); ParkingEye v Beavis [2015] UKSC 67
How to identify this in your case
You live in England but received a parking charge for an event in Scotland. Operator is treating you as if POFA applies.
Sample appeal wording
Dear [OPERATOR], Re: PCN [PCN_NUMBER] I am domiciled in [ENGLISH ADDRESS] but the alleged parking event occurred in Scotland at [SCOTTISH_LOCATION]. Under Article 4 of the Rome I Regulation the applicable law to any contractual obligation is the law of the country where the parking 'service' was performed — i.e., Scotland. Scottish substantive law therefore governs whether any contract was formed and whether keeper liability can be imposed. In Scotland, POFA 2012 keeper liability has no application (s.115(2) POFA 2012 — extent England and Wales only) and the equivalent Scottish provision (Part 8 Transport (Scotland) Act 2019) has never been commenced. Accordingly there is no Scottish-law basis on which to pursue me as keeper. You can only pursue the actual driver, and only if you can prove (not assume) who that was. If proceedings are raised in the English County Court / MCOL, I will challenge jurisdiction under CJJA 1982 Sch 8 r.1 (defender domiciled in England but cause of action wholly Scottish — proper forum is Scotland for a Scottish-law claim, or England under English law without keeper liability — operator gets no benefit either way). Please withdraw the demand. Yours faithfully, [NAME]
Replace [PARKING DATE], [NtK DATE] etc. with your own dates before sending.
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Scan my ticketSources
- Rome I Regulation
- CJJA 1982
- POFA 2012 s.115(2)
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