Keeper liability capped at the amount stated in the Notice to Keeper — added fees not recoverable from the keeper
Where a private operator (or its debt collector) pursues the registered KEEPER under POFA 2012, the law caps what the keeper can be made to pay: paragraph 4(5) of Schedule 4 says the maximum sum recoverable from the keeper is the amount specified in the Notice to Keeper (under paragraph 8(2)(c)/(d) or 9(2)(d)), less any payments received since. Later demands that inflate the charge with 'debt recovery costs', 'administration fees' or similar (typically +£70) exceed the statutory cap AS AGAINST THE KEEPER and are not recoverable via the POFA route. This does not decide what a court might award against a proven DRIVER on a contractual basis, and operators' trade-body code permits a capped escalation fee in some cases — but a keeper pursued under Schedule 4 cannot lawfully be required to pay more than the NtK figure. Distinct from UK-2025-010/UK-TECH-004 (the £100 headline-charge cap under the industry code).
Legal basis
Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, Schedule 4, paragraph 4(5): 'the maximum sum which may be recovered from the keeper by virtue of the right conferred by this paragraph is the amount specified in the notice to keeper under paragraph 8(2)(c) or (d) or, as the case may be, 9(2)(d) (less any payments towards the unpaid parking charges which are received after the time so specified)'; paragraph 4(6) prohibits double recovery. England and Wales only. The BPA/IPC Private Parking Sector Single Code of Practice (in effect from 1 October 2024, current version 1.1 of 13 April 2026) separately caps charges and escalation fees; the Government's own statutory code under the Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 was withdrawn in 2022 and had not been re-issued in force at the time of verification.
How to identify this in your case
Applies when the customer is pursued as the registered keeper (not an admitted driver) and later letters demand MORE than the amount printed on the original Notice to Keeper — typically a debt-collection letter adding around £70. Compare the sum demanded now against the sum specified in the Notice to Keeper: any excess is above the paragraph 4(5) cap. The core charge may still be due if the operator complied with POFA, so this ground attacks the inflated portion (and the credibility of the demand), not necessarily the whole charge — pair it with any available compliance defect.
Sample appeal wording
formal
Replace [PARKING DATE], [NtK DATE] etc. with your own dates before sending.
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