Puzzle 1 of 10

Is a parking charge letter valid if it arrives more than 14 days later?

Spot the mistake in 3 seconds: this parking letter was posted on day 13. Why is it still late?

SPECIMEN. A fictional camera parking letter to the registered keeper of AB12 IDE for Anytown Retail Park on 2 October 2026, posted on 15 October 2026. — SPECIMEN. Fictional notice made for a puzzle. Not a real charge, operator or council. The notice is shortened to the lines that matter. The mistake is in a line you can see, or is missing from one of them.

Read the notice as text

Heading: PARKING CHARGE NOTICE: NOTICE TO KEEPER
From: Example Parking Ltd (fictional)
Vehicle: AB12 IDE
Land: Anytown Retail Park, rear car park (camera-controlled)
Period of parking: Fri 2 Oct 2026, 13:05 to 15:40
Reason: Stayed longer than the 2 hours free parking
Parking charge: £100, reduced to £60 if paid within 14 days
What we ask: We do not know the driver's name and address. Please pay, or tell us who was driving and pass this notice to them. If 28 days pass after this notice is given and the charge is unpaid and we still do not know the driver, we may recover the unpaid amount from you as keeper.
Date sent: Thu 15 Oct 2026, first class post
Windscreen ticket: None given (camera only)

What is wrong with it?

Tap the one you think is the mistake.

The £60 discount
Not this one. Try another.
The date it was sent
Yes, that is the mistake.
No windscreen ticket was left
Not this one. Try another.
The 2 hours free parking
Not this one. Try another.

Show the answer

The mistake: The date it was sent

The letter looks on time because it was posted on day 13. The law does not count the posting date. A posted Notice to Keeper is treated as delivered on the second working day after it goes in the post, and the weekend does not count. Posted on Thursday 15 October, it lands in law on Monday 19 October, three days after the window shut on Friday 16 October. Miss that window and the company cannot use the keeper rules to make the registered keeper pay. Ask for proof of the posting date if the letter does not show one.

The rule it breaks

The relevant period for the purposes of sub-paragraph (4) is the period of 14 days beginning with the day after that on which the specified period of parking ended.

Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, Schedule 4, Sch 4 para 9(5), read 19 October 2026; quoted word for word.

Also in the text

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 on which it is posted

Sch 4 para 9(6), read 19 October 2026; quoted word for word.

The dates, worked out

Parking ended	Fri 2 Oct 2026
14-day window runs	Sat 3 Oct 2026 to Fri 16 Oct 2026
Posted	Thu 15 Oct 2026
Counts as given (2nd working day after posting)	Mon 19 Oct 2026, 3 days after the window closed
Latest posting date that would have worked	Wed 14 Oct 2026 (given Fri 16 Oct)