Glossary
Plain words for a deliberately confusing system.
These definitions help the public separate private charges, council penalties, data rights, debt letters, and court paperwork.
Terms
Core terms
| Term | Meaning | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Private Parking Charge Notice | A charge from a private company, usually based on alleged contract terms on private land. | It is not the same as a council Penalty Charge Notice. |
| Council PCN | A statutory Penalty Charge Notice from a council or public authority route. | It has different deadlines, representations, tribunal routes, and enforcement powers. |
| NTK | Notice to Keeper, sent to the registered keeper when the operator pursues keeper liability or keeper contact. | Dates and wording can matter under Protection of Freedoms Act Schedule 4. |
| KADOE | Keeper At Date Of Event, the DVLA route for requesting keeper details for a specified event. | A lookup is data access, not independent proof that a charge is valid. |
| Reasonable cause | The basis DVLA uses to release vehicle keeper information where a requester has a proper reason. | The public audit asks what evidence existed before access and how false positives are counted. |
| POFA Schedule 4 | Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 Schedule 4, the keeper-liability route for unpaid private parking charges where conditions are met. | If conditions are not met, keeper liability may be disputed. |
| POPLA | Parking on Private Land Appeals, the second-stage appeal service for many BPA operator charges. | POPLA appeals can cancel charges, and non-contested appeals are important audit data. |
| IAS | Independent Appeals Service, associated with IPC operator appeal routes. | The correct second-stage route depends on the operator's trade body. |
| SAR | Subject Access Request, a request for copies of personal data an organisation holds about you. | A SAR can reveal DVLA data, ANPR records, appeal notes, payment matching, and data recipients. |
| Rectification | A UK GDPR right to have inaccurate personal data corrected. | Cancelled or false charge files should not remain as live unpaid debt records. |
| Erasure | A right to ask for deletion where the right applies. | Not every record must be deleted, but companies should justify what remains. |
| Restriction | A right to limit processing while accuracy, lawfulness, or objection is reviewed. | It can help stop debt escalation while a data dispute is live. |
| Letter Before Claim | A formal pre-action letter before a possible county court claim. | It is more serious than an ordinary debt letter and should not be ignored. |
| CCJ | County Court Judgment. | A default judgment can happen without a defended hearing if paperwork is missed or sent to an old address. |
| Discontinuance | A claimant stops the court claim. | High discontinuance rates can show weak claims or pressure tactics, but need proper data. |
| ANPR | Automatic Number Plate Recognition camera technology. | ANPR records entry and exit images, not necessarily parking time or payment context. |
| Reasonable adjustment | A change or support route to reduce disability-related disadvantage. | Non-visible disability, literacy barriers, and app confusion need visible human review routes. |
Source routes