Short answer: it isn't a fine, and whether you owe anything at all often turns on paperwork deadlines the parking company had to hit, to the day. Many don't. Here is what the law actually says, in its own words.
A "Parking Charge Notice" from a private company is not a penalty from a council or a court. It's a demand for money under contract law: the signs in the car park are treated as an offer, and parking there as acceptance. Sometimes that contract is real and the charge is properly owed. But because it's only a contract, the company has to prove everything, and Parliament wrapped strict conditions around the one shortcut they rely on most.
If the company doesn't know who was driving, the law gives them exactly one route to chase the registered keeper instead, and it is conditional from its first breath:
"The creditor has the right to recover any unpaid parking charges from the keeper of the vehicle. (2)The right under this paragraph applies only if— (a)the conditions specified in paragraphs 5, 6, 11 and 12 (so far as applicable) are met;"…
The conditions include delivery windows for the "notice to keeper", counted in days, written into the statute itself. Windscreen ticket first? The follow-up notice had to arrive in this window:
"is the period of 28 days following the period of 28 days beginning with the day after that on which the notice to driver was given. (6)A notice sent by post is to be presumed, unless the contrary is proved, to have been delivered (and so “given” for the purposes of sub-paragraph (4)) on the second"…
"is the period of 14 days beginning with the day after that on which the specified period of parking ended. (6)A notice sent by post is to be presumed, unless the contrary is proved, to have been delivered (and so “given” for the purposes of sub-paragraph (4)) on the second working day after the day"…
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Check where I stand, free →This guide covers parking on private land in England and Wales (Scotland and Northern Ireland have different rules on keeper liability). A penalty charge notice from a council is a different thing with its own formal appeal route. This is guidance to help you understand your rights, not formal legal advice, and we're entirely independent: no affiliation with Citizens Advice, GOV.UK or any law firm. Every quotation above links to the official text so you can check us. Law verified current at July 2026.