Thread: UKPC_prk_tkt

Originally Posted by pchandra

Hi All,
I got parking ticket on this Saturday(19/07/0 at Farnborough Maplin/DFS car park. The car park is free for shop users upto 3 hours. I parked car at 3.45 pm went to maplin but has not purachased any thing and left the car park area for about 20 minuts(due to air show). when I came back I saw a ticket saying that I left the car park at 4.0 PM and got the fine today(23/07/0 of GBP 90.0. I want to challange this charge. But at the same time I dont want to pay more than half(GBP45) only if at all I have to pay.
Any guidance/suggestions are highly appriciated

Best Regards
Pchandra

How about not paying it all?

Unless this is a council run car park then you don't a have a ticket. What you have is an invoice for an alleged breach of contract. The amounts involved constitute penalty charges which are illegal under existing case law.

Have a read of the Private Parking Charges guide which you will find in the stickies section at the top of this forum. It will explain the legalities. Also have a read of the template letters in the same section.

In your situation I would wait for these clowns to obtain your the Registered Keeper details from the DVLA (it costs them to do so.) send them a response from the templates and then watch the fun. (There are some on this forum who advocate totally ignoring everything).

You will probably receive all manner of threats - including referral to a debt collection Agency (not allowed by the OFT if the debt is disputed), courts action, bailiffs and CCJs. They are just threats. UKPC are well known for this sort of threat but have taken very few people to court (mainly because they'll lose against a decent defense).

Having responded to their letter you can ignore or respond with the letters from the templates.

Whatever you do don't pay them a penny or lose any sleep worrying about them. Their threats are pretty empty.

In the remote event of them taking you to court post back here and there'll be no shortage of volunteers to help you with your defense.

Many Thanks to Pin1onu and Lamma for your valuable advise.
Question to pin1onu. After reading the"private parking charges guide" I am confused between ticket issued by Police/Local authority and PPC. I am not sure whether ticket is issued by either of them.
Let me explain my situation:The Ticket doesn't have any invoice/amount of charge and ticket was issued on 19/07/08.
I got a notification notice from UKPC in which the main thing are mentioned. 1 ticket number,2 location of carpark,3 vehicle deatils,date and time. 4. Reason for ticket"Vehicle owner left the site" and 5. most imprtant is this ."The owner/regitred keeper of the vehicle will receive a charge certificate via royal mail in due coures. No action is required by the owner/resisterd keeper prior to the charge certificate being received. We will be contacting DVLA for your details."
On 24/07/08 I received the "Charge certificate dated 22/07/08 of GBP 90" by royal mail it means they have contacted to DVLA to get the owner/resisterd keeper information. The car parking post code is solartron Retail Park, F'boro,Hant, GU14 7QL.
So my question is the PPC ticket so that I can relax. I will write one letter to UKPC on the templates suggested.
Thanks and Regards
Pchandra

Originally Posted by pchandra

Many Thanks to Pin1onu and Lamma for your valuable advise.
Question to pin1onu. After reading the"private parking charges guide" I am confused between ticket issued by Police/Local authority and PPC. I am not sure whether ticket is issued by either of them.
Let me explain my situation:The Ticket doesn't have any invoice/amount of charge and ticket was issued on.

The car parking post code is solartron Retail Park, F'boro,Hant, GU14 7QL.

So my question is the PPC ticket so that I can relax. I will write one letter to UKPC on the templates suggested.

The difference is in terminology.

Police Ticket = Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN)
Council Ticket: Penalty Charge Notice. Should have a reference to the Traffic Management Act 2004.

Private Invoice = parking charge Notice, Fixed Parking Notice, Charge Certificate and so on. Note the similiarity of the names. They do love to mimic actual legal documents so as to appear legit.

The pcn has a very strict format that the councils must adhere to. This includes the amount of the penalty plus a reduced amount if paid within 14 days.

As the original ticket has none of this it points to it being a private invoice.

I've also checked the Rushmoor council website and could find no mention of UKPC acting as agents. Also there is no mention of Solartron Retail Park in the list of car parking and charges on the council website.

When I did a google search I found a private company owns the retail park so this points conclusively to this be a private ticket.

As others have said UKPC are well known on this forum. Don't lose any sleep over them. They rely on ignorance and fear in order to make people pay up.

Write your letter and then ignore.

P.S. You are not alone. Have a look through this thread.

Originally Posted by Al27

No point writing. I'd really recommened not contacting them at all.

If they never ever get any response they are well and truly screwed and will give up earlier.

Al,

While I accept your logic and reasoning and I am not totally at odds with it, I would suggest you look at the Civil Procedure Rules which govern court proceedings. They state that Both parties must attempt to resolve a dispute before commencing court proceedings.

We both know that these companies are very shy of litigation but they have been known to party on occasions. My only reason for suggesting that OP acknowledge receipt of these [problem]s is to comply with the attempt at resolution, which will be looked on positively by the court, and then ignoring subsequent communications.

When compiled into a bundle, the bumf of the PPC which hasn't answered the queries looks ridiculous and will be quite apparent to a judge. Witness what happened to our friends at CPS when they attempted this stunt.

OP - I stand by my original advice. I'm not totally at odds with Al27's method either. Some people don't mind doing nothing, others like to feel they are taking control - its a matter of preference. Feel free to choose whatever method you want. Whatever you do - don't lose any sleep over it.

Hi All,
As you guys are suggested. I got another letter from UKPC. Saying that your pcn is on hold whils on appeal and may be settled in full if I pay half of the charges with in seven days Or as goodwill we can cancel your PCN if I can produce copy of receipts showing that I have shopped on the Retail Park.
I have one doubt that I am not a permanent resident of UK so whether this thing will any how affect to get work visa or PR or bad credit history if at all they move to court after not receiving a payment from me.
Also should I reply them asking about the proof that I have left the site.
I have drafted following letter to them in reply of above letter.


UK Parking Control Limited
PO Box 492 Iver Bucks
SL0 9HP
30th July 2008

PCN No. <ref_no>.

Dear Sir/Madam,
I acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated 28th July 2008. I again absolutely deny any amount claim/charges is due to you from me due to the contravention point that I left the site.
As usual I went to shop in the Maplin store on the day the notice was issued. The same can be verified by watching the Mapline CCTV record. Still to avoid wastage of time and further communication, I may be ready to pay the half of the charges if UKPC send me some evidence that I have left the site on the said date and time.


Thanks and Regards
PC Bhartiya
Best Regards
PC Bhartiya