Example Cases

The law states that the person liable to pay a penalty charge is the owner of the vehicle, not the driver. A good number of appeals are made against penalty charges incurred when people other than the owner are in control of the vehicle.

Making a son pay for his mistakes (ST05024M)
The appellant's son, who was insured to drive the vehicle, was issued with a PCN. On receiving the NTO, the appellant appealed on the ground that, in the interests of natural justice, although he was indeed the owner of the vehicle, his son should be held responsible for payment of the charge. When the Adjudicator dismissed the appeal, the appellant requested a review of the decision.

The reviewing Adjudicator disagreed with the appellant, holding that the Road Traffic Act 1991 provided that "a penalty charge shall be payable with respect to the vehicle, by the owner of the vehicle". While recognising that the appellant might well not have consented to his son committing a parking contravention, the issue was whether or not the son was in possession and control of the car with the appellant's consent. Since, in this case, the son clearly had the owner's consent, it followed, as a matter of law, that the person responsible for paying the penalty charge was the owner of the vehicle - the appellant - even though the contravention had not been committed by him.
The appeal dismissal stood.