Dealing With Parking Company Overreach

1. The New Abuse of Law

Private parking companies are increasingly catching on to their own abuse of contract law, and now, the actual law. In a desperate attempt to positively identify the driver, many of these operators are introducing a highly questionable new tactic.

They are demanding to see the photo section of your driving licence. Their goal is to take your official government ID photo and cross-reference it against their own unredacted ANPR or manual photographs to see if the registered keeper was the driver.

2. The Legal Reality (Section 172)

2.1 Your Only Response Should Be "No"

The response you should make to this outrageous request is simply "no". Nowhere in UK law does it state that a private company has the authority to demand your photo identification to enforce a speculative civil invoice.

2.2 No Police Powers

Private parking companies do not have access to the powers granted under Section 172 of the Road Traffic Act 1988. Section 172 requires the keeper of a vehicle to identify the driver when an alleged motoring offence has been committed, but this is a statutory power reserved strictly for the Police.

2.3 DVLA Database Limits

Parking operators are private entities. They only just about have limited, heavily regulated access to the DVLA's KADOE (Keeper at Date of Event) database to obtain the name and address of the registered keeper for the sole purpose of pursuing a parking charge. They do not have the right to act like the police.

3. How to Respond to the Request

If a parking company reaches out and demands a copy of your driving licence, you do not need to over-explain or justify yourself. You should simply reply with the following concept:

A perfect example of this is a company vehicle. A corporation or business can be the registered keeper of a fleet of vehicles, and a corporate entity obviously does not have a driving licence or a photograph.

4. The Ultimate Ultimatum

Do not be bullied into providing your sensitive personal data to an unregulated private parking firm trying to shore up their weak case.

Explain clearly that if the parking company wishes to see anything beyond the already prepared rejection letter you have provided, they can take the matter to court.

If they believe their case is strong enough to bypass civil procedures and invent their own ID verification powers, they are welcome to try and explain that to a County Court Judge. Until then, the burden of proof rests entirely on them.