HELP! Parking fine advice
Discussion
Just before Christmas when I was parked in the work carpark, I had forgotten to put my parking permit on display, so I once work had finished, I had a very nice parking notice on my windscreen from UK Parking Control LTD.
The notice wasn't from my local authority (Wiltshire Council), so after looking online, I decided to ignore the parking invoice.
So, this week I have had a letter come through from Debt Recovery Plus LTD demanding that I now pay £150. Is this just a scare tatic and nothing will happen? After a quick google, people say to just ignore it.
Quote -
"If you do not pay the full amount by 14/02/2014 or if you have not agreed a payment option with us by then, we will recommend to the creditor's solicitor that court action should be taken to recover what you owe"
Is this likely to happen? Also, does anyone has any experience with Debt Recovery LTD?
Thanks,
PB
The notice wasn't from my local authority (Wiltshire Council), so after looking online, I decided to ignore the parking invoice.
So, this week I have had a letter come through from Debt Recovery Plus LTD demanding that I now pay £150. Is this just a scare tatic and nothing will happen? After a quick google, people say to just ignore it.
Quote -
"If you do not pay the full amount by 14/02/2014 or if you have not agreed a payment option with us by then, we will recommend to the creditor's solicitor that court action should be taken to recover what you owe"
Is this likely to happen? Also, does anyone has any experience with Debt Recovery LTD?
Thanks,
PB
I'm no lawyer (my disclaimer) but my understanding is that you haven't been issued with a parking fine, but a parking invoice (a lot on the Net about this).
I would ignore it, and the subsequent letters, all threatening that you will get. I did the same with a ticket from Morrisons, and a Mate twice with tickets from Luton Airport. Look under "EuroCar Parks" they seem the worst offenders, lots of people with stories to tell.
As far as I understand, they are issuing you with an invoice, and should they ultimately take yo to court....they won't !, the most they can chase you for is the lost revenue from Parking....a few quid.
I had about 8 threatening letters, started at £30, went up to £150, came down to £50...eventually stopped altogether.
Apparently Euro Car Parks always threaten court action, however as yet they never have taken anyone to court.
I would ignore it, and the subsequent letters, all threatening that you will get. I did the same with a ticket from Morrisons, and a Mate twice with tickets from Luton Airport. Look under "EuroCar Parks" they seem the worst offenders, lots of people with stories to tell.
As far as I understand, they are issuing you with an invoice, and should they ultimately take yo to court....they won't !, the most they can chase you for is the lost revenue from Parking....a few quid.
I had about 8 threatening letters, started at £30, went up to £150, came down to £50...eventually stopped altogether.
Apparently Euro Car Parks always threaten court action, however as yet they never have taken anyone to court.
Pig benis said:
Just before Christmas when I was parked in the work carpark, I had forgotten to put my parking permit on display, so I once work had finished, I had a very nice parking notice on my windscreen from UK Parking Control LTD.
The notice wasn't from my local authority (Wiltshire Council), so after looking online, I decided to ignore the parking invoice.
So, this week I have had a letter come through from Debt Recovery Plus LTD demanding that I now pay £150. Is this just a scare tatic and nothing will happen? After a quick google, people say to just ignore it.
Quote -
"If you do not pay the full amount by 14/02/2014 or if you have not agreed a payment option with us by then, we will recommend to the creditor's solicitor that court action should be taken to recover what you owe"
Is this likely to happen? Also, does anyone has any experience with Debt Recovery LTD?
Thanks,
PB
Is there a disclaimer notice anywhere within the perimeter of the car park at your place of work to the effect that you accept liability for a greater charge or fine if you fail to display a valid ticket etc. or over stay a prescribed number of hours? The notice wasn't from my local authority (Wiltshire Council), so after looking online, I decided to ignore the parking invoice.
So, this week I have had a letter come through from Debt Recovery Plus LTD demanding that I now pay £150. Is this just a scare tatic and nothing will happen? After a quick google, people say to just ignore it.
Quote -
"If you do not pay the full amount by 14/02/2014 or if you have not agreed a payment option with us by then, we will recommend to the creditor's solicitor that court action should be taken to recover what you owe"
Is this likely to happen? Also, does anyone has any experience with Debt Recovery LTD?
Thanks,
PB
rswift said:
I'm no lawyer (my disclaimer) but my understanding is that you haven't been issued with a parking fine, but a parking invoice (a lot on the Net about this).
I would ignore it, and the subsequent letters, all threatening that you will get. I did the same with a ticket from Morrisons, and a Mate twice with tickets from Luton Airport. Look under "EuroCar Parks" they seem the worst offenders, lots of people with stories to tell.
As far as I understand, they are issuing you with an invoice, and should they ultimately take yo to court....they won't !, the most they can chase you for is the lost revenue from Parking....a few quid.
I had about 8 threatening letters, started at £30, went up to £150, came down to £50...eventually stopped altogether.
Apparently Euro Car Parks always threaten court action, however as yet they never have taken anyone to court.
Thank you for that mate. I would ignore it, and the subsequent letters, all threatening that you will get. I did the same with a ticket from Morrisons, and a Mate twice with tickets from Luton Airport. Look under "EuroCar Parks" they seem the worst offenders, lots of people with stories to tell.
As far as I understand, they are issuing you with an invoice, and should they ultimately take yo to court....they won't !, the most they can chase you for is the lost revenue from Parking....a few quid.
I had about 8 threatening letters, started at £30, went up to £150, came down to £50...eventually stopped altogether.
Apparently Euro Car Parks always threaten court action, however as yet they never have taken anyone to court.
I did think that this is a parking invoice and not a ticket. So I will ignore the most recent letter, I just hope that it won't go to court, or having a burly slap head turning up at my door asking for money
The law changed a bit last year. Firstly the RK is liable for the parking charges. Secondly the charges have to be a genuine pre-estimate of loss.
Now here the law is unclear. Many people will tell you that all you're liable for is the loss of the parking fee. However, I believe that the government did intend to allow the parking companies to add the cost of the extortion process to your bill. The parking companies should not be making a profit on this amount, but they are certainly allowed to add it.
You should not have ignored this, you should have appealed. Look at the initial documentation that they sent you, any details and time limits will be in there.
You may decide to ignore the debt recovery agency based on their track record. But if they take you to court, it could get more expensive for you. You may have an uphill battle arguing this one as you didn't dispute the parking charge in good time.
IANAL.
Go to Pepipoo for more expert advice.
Now here the law is unclear. Many people will tell you that all you're liable for is the loss of the parking fee. However, I believe that the government did intend to allow the parking companies to add the cost of the extortion process to your bill. The parking companies should not be making a profit on this amount, but they are certainly allowed to add it.
You should not have ignored this, you should have appealed. Look at the initial documentation that they sent you, any details and time limits will be in there.
You may decide to ignore the debt recovery agency based on their track record. But if they take you to court, it could get more expensive for you. You may have an uphill battle arguing this one as you didn't dispute the parking charge in good time.
IANAL.
Go to Pepipoo for more expert advice.
Pig benis said:
Just before Christmas when I was parked in the work carpark, I had forgotten to put my parking permit on display, so I once work had finished, I had a very nice parking notice on my windscreen from UK Parking Control LTD.
surely your company should be able to confirm to them in writing that you have a valid parking permit and so they should drop it.in fact i find it odd that they don't have a list of registrations of cars to ignore as they are there legitimately.
mikeveal said:
The law changed a bit last year. Firstly the RK is liable for the parking charges. Secondly the charges have to be a genuine pre-estimate of loss.
Now here the law is unclear. Many people will tell you that all you're liable for is the loss of the parking fee. However, I believe that the government did intend to allow the parking companies to add the cost of the extortion process to your bill. The parking companies should not be making a profit on this amount, but they are certainly allowed to add it.
You should not have ignored this, you should have appealed. Look at the initial documentation that they sent you, any details and time limits will be in there.
You may decide to ignore the debt recovery agency based on their track record. But if they take you to court, it could get more expensive for you. You may have an uphill battle arguing this one as you didn't dispute the parking charge in good time.
IANAL.
Go to Pepipoo for more expert advice.
"You should have appealed"?!!? Now here the law is unclear. Many people will tell you that all you're liable for is the loss of the parking fee. However, I believe that the government did intend to allow the parking companies to add the cost of the extortion process to your bill. The parking companies should not be making a profit on this amount, but they are certainly allowed to add it.
You should not have ignored this, you should have appealed. Look at the initial documentation that they sent you, any details and time limits will be in there.
You may decide to ignore the debt recovery agency based on their track record. But if they take you to court, it could get more expensive for you. You may have an uphill battle arguing this one as you didn't dispute the parking charge in good time.
IANAL.
Go to Pepipoo for more expert advice.
"....if they take you to court..." <--- off they go then.
File in bin. They will send you a couple more letters saying what they may do. They will then give up. You signed no contract with them, and they can only get fair costs back from you in court so its not worth their bother.
Think they can claim the couple of quid it cost them to get your address from the dvla
My Mrs works in housing so is always visiting places and getting tickets. Unless local authority ignore them.
Think they can claim the couple of quid it cost them to get your address from the dvla
My Mrs works in housing so is always visiting places and getting tickets. Unless local authority ignore them.
Dog Star said:
"You should have appealed"?!!?
Go on, explain the . I'm interested.Dog Star said:
"....if they take you to court..."
Yes, if. Right now, it appears that not many PPCs are actually doing this. But it would be foolish to pretend that it can't happen. The guy needs balanced sensible advice.Dog Star said:
<--- off they go then.
Should we infer that you're saying that I'm a member of some horrible group. Please expand & substantiate or retract.The rules changes in the Protection of Freedoms Bill 2012, making the RK liable if the driver can not be determined. What they're liable for is debatable. To my knowledge, there is no legal precident yet. See my previous post for what I think the intent of the legislation was.
Before POFB, the advice was always "ignore". To give that advice now is foolish as there is at least some slim chance that the PPC or debt collection agency will see this through. My personal feeling is that the risk is low, but the OP should be given the facts and allowed to make his own decision, wouldn't you agree?
The same happened to me last year in the office car park. I just assumed that a quick e-mail to the owner of the car park (not my company) would see it off as our company were paying a significant sum per year to lease about 14 spaces.
Like hell it did. The first thing the landlord did was copy my mail to the parking company he employed. I couldn't believe I'd been so naïve. The landlord was getting a kick back for every ticket paid.
Anyway I went down the appeal route through POPLA and took great delight in costing the parking company at least £40 (probably £140 as they have to pay the BPA too) when my appeal was upheld.
For the OP the decision is really if the PPC is in to issuing court claims. If not then continuing to ignore is probably fine as the opportunity to appeal to POPLA has long passed.
I'm curious though, no mention of a Notice to Keeper? Sounds like they have decided to harass through a debt recovery company rather than offer the keeper the right of appeal?
If the OP is not going to ignore then a simple 'Debt is denied. Refer back to your client. Do not contact me again.' letter is in order.
Like hell it did. The first thing the landlord did was copy my mail to the parking company he employed. I couldn't believe I'd been so naïve. The landlord was getting a kick back for every ticket paid.
Anyway I went down the appeal route through POPLA and took great delight in costing the parking company at least £40 (probably £140 as they have to pay the BPA too) when my appeal was upheld.
For the OP the decision is really if the PPC is in to issuing court claims. If not then continuing to ignore is probably fine as the opportunity to appeal to POPLA has long passed.
I'm curious though, no mention of a Notice to Keeper? Sounds like they have decided to harass through a debt recovery company rather than offer the keeper the right of appeal?
If the OP is not going to ignore then a simple 'Debt is denied. Refer back to your client. Do not contact me again.' letter is in order.
caiss4 said:
I'm curious though, no mention of a Notice to Keeper? Sounds like they have decided to harass through a debt recovery company rather than offer the keeper the right of appeal?
The PPC won't know who the driver is, so they will have contacted DVLA for the RK details. That is the only way the DRC will know who to harass.caiss4 said:
If the OP is not going to ignore then a simple 'Debt is denied. Refer back to your client. Do not contact me again.' letter is in order.
Indeed. PPCs which use DRCs do so purely as a weapon to frighten people into opening their wallet.The OP mentioned it was his work car park. Is it his employer who has brought in the PPC? If so, should push come to shove, I would suggest politely asking his employer to get the PPC off his back. If it means a b
g for forgetting to display his permit, that is infinitely preferable to boosting the profits of a PPC. The primary purpose of a permit system is to prevent those who have no right to be there from usurping a space. The OP isn't in that category. He's just a forgetful numpty who made two mistakes.a) forgetting to display his permit
b) not approaching whoever contracted with the PPC to get the 'invoice' cancelled
PoFA 2012 deals with RK liability re parking charges. With a permit system in a workplace car park it is highly unlikely that there will be any charges for parking. The £150 is clearly a penalty. The landowner will have sustained no loss on account of a missing piece of paper attached to the OP's windscreen.
OP, read this - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php...
and this - http://forums.pepipoo.com/lofiversion/index.php/t8...
Wifey works as a Nurse, the local hospital has a permit system for employees which allows 24 hours parking for £1.
Wifey forgets to put a ticket on, gets notice through the post from "Roxburgh" management company demanding payment. I called them, the girl on the end of the phone said that failure to pay "could lead to baliffs coming round" and "could lead to credit blacklisting / CCJ's".
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but as I understand it, baliffs only come round if you fail to pay a fine imposed by the courts against you, and a CCJ again, needs to be awarded in a court. This is an example of the scare tactics that the parking companies use.
Some of the advice I read was initially that they need to inform you that they are taking you to court, you also then have a choice of which court to have the hearing, additionally, they can only claim for the parking charges plus admin fees within a reasonable amount. Very often this is too much hassle and they drop the pursuit of monies.
I also believe they have to give you the information to appeal via POPLA in the first letter the send you concerning the fine, but I might be wrong (Roxburgh never did this).
Ultimately the fine was issued in April, the letters stopped in October but I still get the occasional text, despite me telling them only to contact me in writing.
Apologies if any of the info here is wrong, I'm merely recounting our experience and my interpretation of what I've read online.
Wifey forgets to put a ticket on, gets notice through the post from "Roxburgh" management company demanding payment. I called them, the girl on the end of the phone said that failure to pay "could lead to baliffs coming round" and "could lead to credit blacklisting / CCJ's".
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but as I understand it, baliffs only come round if you fail to pay a fine imposed by the courts against you, and a CCJ again, needs to be awarded in a court. This is an example of the scare tactics that the parking companies use.
Some of the advice I read was initially that they need to inform you that they are taking you to court, you also then have a choice of which court to have the hearing, additionally, they can only claim for the parking charges plus admin fees within a reasonable amount. Very often this is too much hassle and they drop the pursuit of monies.
I also believe they have to give you the information to appeal via POPLA in the first letter the send you concerning the fine, but I might be wrong (Roxburgh never did this).
Ultimately the fine was issued in April, the letters stopped in October but I still get the occasional text, despite me telling them only to contact me in writing.
Apologies if any of the info here is wrong, I'm merely recounting our experience and my interpretation of what I've read online.
texaxile said:
...
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but as I understand it, baliffs only come round if you fail to pay a fine imposed by the courts against you, and a CCJ again, needs to be awarded in a court. This is an example of the scare tactics that the parking companies use.
...
I know nothing of these issues other than what is posted regularly in this fora...Please correct me if I'm wrong, but as I understand it, baliffs only come round if you fail to pay a fine imposed by the courts against you, and a CCJ again, needs to be awarded in a court. This is an example of the scare tactics that the parking companies use.
...
But, if the above is true, then it is an absolute Piss Boiler. What gives these people the right to act in this manner?
Come the glorious day my friend - They are "Getting It" (Scots flavour
)texaxile said:
Wifey works as a Nurse, the local hospital has a permit system for employees which allows 24 hours parking for £1.
Wifey forgets to put a ticket on, gets notice through the post from "Roxburgh" management company demanding payment. I called them, the girl on the end of the phone said that failure to pay "could lead to baliffs coming round" and "could lead to credit blacklisting / CCJ's".
Standard Roxburghe fare. Phoning them was about the worst thing you could have done.Wifey forgets to put a ticket on, gets notice through the post from "Roxburgh" management company demanding payment. I called them, the girl on the end of the phone said that failure to pay "could lead to baliffs coming round" and "could lead to credit blacklisting / CCJ's".
Loads of threads on pepipoo and MSE re hospital parking. Check out whether the name of the Trust which runs the hospital she works at appears and which PPC is involved.
texaxile said:
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but as I understand it, baliffs only come round if you fail to pay a fine imposed by the courts against you, and a CCJ again, needs to be awarded in a court. This is an example of the scare tactics that the parking companies use.
Correct. Without a court judgement nothing will happen. Even then County Court bailiffs have no power to force entry (a HCEO with a writ of fi fa is a different kettle but the debt will be too small for them to get involved). Keep your doors locked and windows shut and don't let them in. texaxile said:
Some of the advice I read was initially that they need to inform you that they are taking you to court, you also then have a choice of which court to have the hearing, additionally, they can only claim for the parking charges plus admin fees within a reasonable amount. Very often this is too much hassle and they drop the pursuit of monies.
I also believe they have to give you the information to appeal via POPLA in the first letter the send you concerning the fine, but I might be wrong (Roxburgh never did this).
Ultimately the fine was issued in April, the letters stopped in October but I still get the occasional text, despite me telling them only to contact me in writing.
Apologies if any of the info here is wrong, I'm merely recounting our experience and my interpretation of what I've read online.
It's the PPC which must issue a POPLA code. Roxburghe won't be involved with that. I wouldn't worry too much about Roxburghe or Graham White/whichever other solicitor they are in cahoots with atm.I also believe they have to give you the information to appeal via POPLA in the first letter the send you concerning the fine, but I might be wrong (Roxburgh never did this).
Ultimately the fine was issued in April, the letters stopped in October but I still get the occasional text, despite me telling them only to contact me in writing.
Apologies if any of the info here is wrong, I'm merely recounting our experience and my interpretation of what I've read online.
http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthr...
Plenty of help available if they do apply the thumbscrews. Their business practice are extremely unsavoury.
The OFT refused to renew Roxburghe's Consumer Credit Licence.
http://legalbeagles.info/oft-finds-three-debt-busi...
http://www.oft.gov.uk/OFTwork/credit/enforcement-a...
http://www.credittoday.co.uk/article/16636/online-...
You have to be seriously in breach for that to happen.
And lastly, PLEASE stop referring to it as a fine. It is nothing of the sort, merely a speculative invoice.
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