Statutory Transfer of Liability to the Hirer (Council PCN / Moving Traffic)
For a civil-enforcement parking PCN or a moving-traffic PCN, a registered keeper who was not the driver — typically a vehicle-hire or lease firm, but also any keeper whose vehicle was on hire at the material time — can transfer liability to the hirer rather than pay the charge. The keeper makes representations as the owner/keeper, identifies the hirer, and produces the hire agreement together with a signed statement of liability. Liability then passes to the hirer, who becomes entitled to make representations and appeal in their own right. This is distinct from the POFA Schedule 4 para 13/14 route, which governs PRIVATE parking charges. The keeper must wait until the Notice to Owner / Enforcement Notice is served before transferring; this is a transfer of liability, not a challenge to the contravention itself. Bus-lane contraventions are NOT transferable (see legal_basis note).
Legal basis
Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 s.66 (hired vehicles — liability of hirer); Civil Enforcement of Road Traffic Contraventions (Representations and Appeals) (England) Regulations 2022 (in force 31 May 2022; replaced the 2007 General Regulations in England and govern representations and owner/hirer liability for a parking PCN — in Wales the equivalent Welsh regulations apply); Traffic Management Act 2004 Part 6 and the regulations made under it (moving-traffic contraventions). NOTE: there is no statutory power to transfer liability for a BUS LANE contravention on a hire vehicle — the owner/keeper remains liable (an acknowledged gap in the law); do not assert a transfer for bus-lane PCNs.
How to identify this in your case
The registered keeper named on the PCN / Notice to Owner was not the driver, and the vehicle was on hire or lease at the material time (or the keeper can identify the actual hirer/driver). The contravention is a civil parking contravention or a moving-traffic contravention — NOT a bus-lane contravention. A Notice to Owner or Enforcement Notice has been served. A hire/lease agreement and a signed statement of liability are available to be produced.
Sample appeal wording
formal
Replace [PARKING DATE], [NtK DATE] etc. with your own dates before sending.
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