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proceduralUK · England & WalesDifficulty: medium

Notice to Hirer late or missing the required documents — hirer not liable (para 14)

When a ticketed vehicle was on hire and the hire firm has validly passed liability on by sending the operator the paragraph 13(2) documents (statement of hire, copy hire agreement, hirer's liability statement), the operator can pursue the HIRER only by strict compliance with paragraph 14: it must give the hirer a 'notice to hirer' within 21 days beginning with the day after it received the paragraph 13(2) documents, and that notice must be accompanied by a copy of those documents AND the original notice to keeper (para 14(2)(a)). The notice must also contain the paragraph 14(5) prescribed content, and no recovery step may be taken until 21 days after the notice to hirer was given (para 14(2)(b)). Operators very commonly send a bare demand letter with no accompanying documents — that fails paragraph 14(2)(a) and the hirer is not liable. Complements UK-DVLA-002 and UK-PROC-006, which cover the hire FIRM's side (the para 13 election); this entry is the HIRER's defence to the creditor's own notice.

Legal basis

Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, Schedule 4, paragraph 14(2)(a): the creditor must give the hirer 'a notice in accordance with sub-paragraph (5) (a "notice to hirer"), together with a copy of the documents mentioned in paragraph 13(2) and the notice to keeper', within 'the period of 21 days beginning with the day after that on which the documents required by paragraph 13(2) are given to the creditor'; paragraph 14(2)(b): a further 21 days must elapse after the notice to hirer before recovery; paragraph 14(5): prescribed contents of the notice to hirer; paragraph 13(2): the hire-firm documents. England and Wales only.

How to identify this in your case

Applies when the customer HIRED the vehicle (hire, lease or courtesy car under a hire agreement) and is being pursued after the hire firm passed the charge on. Check what arrived: did the operator's letter to the hirer enclose (1) the hire firm's statement, (2) a copy of the hire agreement, (3) the hirer's signed liability statement, and (4) the original Notice to Keeper? A demand letter arriving without those enclosures fails paragraph 14(2)(a). Timing is put-to-proof: the hirer cannot know when the operator received the para 13(2) documents, so demand the operator prove its notice was given within the 21-day period.

Sample appeal wording

Before you send this

Deadline. A late submission can be turned down without your argument being read. Check your notice for the deadline and how it is counted.
Paying may end it. Paying can count as accepting the notice and can close a challenge already under way. Part-paying or acknowledging an old debt can also revive a time limit that had expired.
The amount can change. Check what happens to the sum if you challenge — it may be held, re-offered lower, or keep rising, and fees or enforcement can continue meanwhile.
Use the official route. Use the method, recipient and form your notice specifies, with any reference, evidence and signature it asks for. Sent elsewhere, it may not count.
Only say what is true. Do not copy any statement of fact unless it is true for you, and check the legal point still applies. Delete what does not fit. It may be treated as your statement.
Careful what you volunteer. Avoid unnecessary admissions — naming the driver or accepting responsibility can remove arguments. But answer anything you are legally required to answer, and do include the evidence your ground needs.
Keep the record. Keep what you sent, the attachments, any receipt, and the reply. Note the next deadline.

Sample wording to adapt and send yourself — it may not fit your notice or the stage you are at. Replace the bracketed prompts with your own details; leave any case citation as it is.

I was the hirer of the vehicle. Any liability I could have for this charge arises solely under paragraph 14 of Schedule 4 to the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, which required you to give me a notice to hirer within 21 days beginning with the day after you received the documents mentioned in paragraph 13(2), accompanied by a copy of those documents and the notice to keeper (paragraph 14(2)(a)), and complying with paragraph 14(5). Your correspondence to me was not accompanied by [the paragraph 13(2) documents / the notice to keeper], and I put you to strict proof that the notice to hirer was given within the statutory 21-day period and complied with paragraph 14 in full. As the conditions of paragraph 14(2) are not met, I am not liable for this charge. Please cancel it.

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Notice to Hirer late or missing the required documents — hirer not liable (para 14)

Legal basis

How to identify this in your case

Sample appeal wording

Beat It writes this argument automatically

Sources

Related appeal grounds

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