Home / Advice / Scotland pavement, dropped-kerb or double-parking ticket — someone else is liable under regulation 3 (hire firm, sold before the date, unregistered, or a trader)

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Scotland pavement, dropped-kerb or double-parking ticket — someone else is liable under regulation 3 (hire firm, sold before the date, unregistered, or a trader)

For these Scottish tickets the regulations say the penalty is payable by someone other than the registered keeper in four situations: the vehicle was not registered; the keeper had sold or transferred it before the date; the keeper was a vehicle hire firm and the vehicle was on hire under a hiring agreement; or a vehicle trader who was not the keeper was using or keeping it. If you know the responsible person's name and address you must give them.

Legal basis

Parking Prohibitions (Enforcement and Accounts) (Scotland) Regulations 2023 (S.S.I. 2023/373) regulation 3: "(1) A penalty charge is payable by a person other than the registered keeper of the relevant vehicle in the circumstances specified in paragraphs (2) to (5). (2) Where the relevant vehicle is not registered in terms of section 21 (registration of vehicles) of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994, a penalty charge is payable by the person by whom the relevant vehicle was used or kept at the time of the contravention. (3) Where the registered keeper sold or transferred the relevant vehicle before the time of the contravention, a penalty charge is payable by the person by whom the relevant vehicle was used or kept at the time of the contravention. (4) Where at the time of the contravention— (a) the registered keeper of the relevant vehicle was a vehicle hire firm, and (b) the relevant vehicle was hired to a person under a hiring agreement with the vehicle hire firm, a penalty charge is payable by the person hiring the relevant vehicle. (5) Where at the time of the contravention the relevant vehicle was used or kept by a person who was a vehicle trader and that vehicle trader was not the registered keeper, a penalty charge is payable by that person." Regulation 3(6) (summarised, not quoted): a hiring agreement is one under which the vehicle is let to the hirer for a fixed period of any duration, which contains the particulars prescribed for hired vehicles, and which is not a hire-purchase agreement; a vehicle trader has the meaning given in the vehicle registration and licensing regulations. Regulation 10(4)(c): the ground "that the penalty charge— (i) is payable by a person other than the registered keeper of the relevant vehicle, and (ii) is instead payable by a person specified in regulation 3". Regulation 10(5): "Where the ground mentioned in paragraph (4)(c) is relied on in any representations made under paragraph (1), those representations must (if the information is known by the recipient) include a statement of the name and address of the person who is considered by the recipient of the penalty charge notice to be responsible for payment of the penalty charge." Read at legislation.gov.uk (latest available text) on 2026-09-09.

How to identify this in your case

Use this only if one of the four situations in regulation 3 fits: the vehicle was not registered; you had sold or transferred it before the date on the ticket; you are a vehicle hire firm and it was on hire under a hiring agreement at the time; or a vehicle trader who was not the keeper was using or keeping it. A hiring agreement here means one that lets the vehicle for a fixed period, contains the particulars the law prescribes for hired vehicles, and is not a hire-purchase agreement (regulation 3(6)). Evidence: the sale or transfer record and its date, the hiring agreement, or the trader's details. If you know the responsible person's name and address, the letter must include them.

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 make representations under regulation 10(1) of the Parking Prohibitions (Enforcement and Accounts) (Scotland) Regulations 2023 on the ground in regulation 10(4)(c) that the penalty charge is payable by a person other than the registered keeper and is instead payable by a person specified in regulation 3. At the time of the alleged contravention, ONE of the following applied: [the vehicle was not registered in terms of section 21 of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994, so that under regulation 3(2) the penalty charge is payable by the person by whom the vehicle was used or kept at that time, namely NAME] / [I had sold or transferred the vehicle on DATE, before the contravention, so that under regulation 3(3) the penalty charge is payable by the person by whom the vehicle was used or kept at that time, namely NAME] / [I am a vehicle hire firm and was the registered keeper, and the vehicle was hired to NAME under a hiring agreement with me, so that under regulation 3(4) the penalty charge is payable by that hirer; the agreement lets the vehicle for a fixed period, contains the prescribed particulars for hired vehicles and is not a hire-purchase agreement, as regulation 3(6) requires] / [the vehicle was used or kept at that time by NAME, a vehicle trader who was not the registered keeper, so that under regulation 3(5) the penalty charge is payable by that trader]. As regulation 10(5) requires, the name and address of the person I consider responsible for payment, so far as known to me, are: [NAME AND ADDRESS, or: not known to me]. I enclose the evidence relevant to this ground, as regulation 10(2) requires: [EVIDENCE]. I ask that the enforcement notice served on me be cancelled under regulation 11(2).

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Sources

Parking Prohibitions (Enforcement and Accounts) (Scotland) Regulations 2023 (S.S.I. 2023/373), regulations 3, 10(4)(c) and 10(5)