Thread: NOTICE OF INTENDED LEGAL ACTION - UKPC Parking Fine

Dear all,

I have now received a Notice of Intended Legal Action from Graham White Solicitors. That is after a warning letter from some debt collectors firm (Dexters or smth) requesting response within 7 days, which I ignored.

I feel my case to be very unfair because I didn’t even leave the car whilst waited in the disabled parking space and the guy just took a photo of my car, asked me for the badge I said sorry and drove off after he said: “all right!” No ticket issue, nothing!!! Just a fine through the post…

I really feel it’s been unfair and I’m ready to explain myself in court. However there are a few things that bother me:

• At what stage does my credit rating suffers?
• What happens next, court or more letters?
• The letter below says “due to a valid appeal”… When? UKPC didn’t even take my letters seriously!! I would appeal but how and to what agency?
• Any advice on further actions? Although I truly believe this is unfair but I’m willing to pay up in order to keep my credit history un-ruined.

Thanks a mil,

T.H.




Recent letter states:

…Due to the absence of payment, or a valid appeal, our client has instructed us to proceed to legal action to recover the amount due (£125.00)

Therefore it is a legal requirement to send a notice of INTENDED LITIGATION before legal proceedings are issued in the county court. This letter fulfils this requirement.

The cost associated with issuing this claim £142.24

Any judgement registered against you could seriously affect your chances of obtaining credit in the future, as this information can be made available to any interested parties via the Register of Judgements, Orders & Fines, and remains there for 6 years.

Please contact us with your proposals for settlement within 7 days to avoid the possibility of this action.

Yours sincerely,

Michael Sobell
Solicitor



Similar Threads:

• Excel PArking - PCN and Graham White NOtice of Intended Legal Action
• UKPC parking invoice
• UKPC -notice of intended legal action!
• UKPC Parking Fine
• Is it a legal requirement to give notice of intended court action?

At what stage does my credit rating suffers?

If you get taken to court, lose and still refuse to pay.

What happens next, court or more letters?

Two more letters from Sue at Graham White's. Then they give up.

The letter below says “due to a valid appeal”… When? UKPC didn’t even take my letters seriously!! I would appeal but how and to what agency?

There is no appeals process. It's a [problem] by a private company who just want the money - they won't voluntarily turn down profit.

Any advice on further actions? Although I truly believe this is unfair but I’m willing to pay up in order to keep my credit history un-ruined.

Do nothing. You should get the two letters and then they'll go away.

Originally Posted by felex6

Dear all,

I have now received a Notice of Intended Legal Action from Graham White Solicitors. That is after a warning letter from some debt collectors firm (Dexters or smth) requesting response within 7 days, which I ignored.

I feel my case to be very unfair because I didn’t even leave the car whilst waited in the disabled parking space and the guy just took a photo of my car, asked me for the badge I said sorry and drove off after he said: “all right!” No ticket issue, nothing!!! Just a fine through the post…

I really feel it’s been unfair and I’m ready to explain myself in court. However there are a few things that bother me:

• At what stage does my credit rating suffers?

If, and only if, a judgement is made against you, and you then either refuse, or are unable to pay, the judgement amount.

Originally Posted by felex6

• What happens next, court or more letters?

Probably more letters, going by others' experiences.

Originally Posted by felex6

• The letter below says “due to a valid appeal”… When? UKPC didn’t even take my letters seriously!! I would appeal but how and to what agency?

That's why ignoring seems to be a valid response - Any "appeal" that you make is likely to be ignored in any case.

Originally Posted by felex6

• Any advice on further actions? Although I truly believe this is unfair but I’m willing to pay up in order to keep my credit history un-ruined.

Again, going with the experiences of others, you could either ignore them, and wait for the letters to stop coming.

The fact remains that, if it actually gets to court, the PPC has an extremely weak case. This is why they rely on letters threatening legal action, with very few being followed up on.

They have next to no credibility.

Originally Posted by felex6

Thanks a mil,

T.H.




Recent letter states:

…Due to the absence of payment, or a valid appeal, our client has instructed us to proceed to legal action to recover the amount due (£125.00)

Therefore it is a legal requirement to send a notice of INTENDED LITIGATION before legal proceedings are issued in the county court. This letter fulfils this requirement.

The cost associated with issuing this claim £142.24

Any judgement registered against you could seriously affect your chances of obtaining credit in the future, as this information can be made available to any interested parties via the Register of Judgements, Orders & Fines, and remains there for 6 years.

Please contact us with your proposals for settlement within 7 days to avoid the possibility of this action.

Yours sincerely,

Michael Sobell
Solicitor

A search for "Michale Sobell" will yield further suggestions, such as complaints about Mr Sobell's conduct.

Thank you all. I will be patient and see how this case will develop.

My concern was my credit history, I though it is in jeopardy once the case is with debt collectors and defo when in court. It's good to know that even IF I loose I can just pay the money and have a clear record.

BTW, by law, is it still considered to be parking if the driver does not leave the car?


Thanks again.

Regards,

T.H.

As this is all on private property, any definition of 'parking' is immaterial. When on the public road and using a loading and unloading space, you are given 5 minutes to collect/deliver that ordinarily could not be easily carried to the destination, THAT can be enforced.

I would suggest that the mere fact you were in your vehicle taking up the space for a disabled driver is rather bad form in any case - even if it isn't the last space available. They are given spaces in prime positions to allow ease of access - and whilst I'm delighted the private firms is actually doing something about it, hopefully some folk will pay up and learn not to abuse the facility, as they may one day need to use these spaces for real.

Originally Posted by buzby

hopefully some folk will pay up

That's the point though, isn't it - You would be paying an unlawful penalty.

Would a disable driver, any disabled driver, be benefitting from this penalty?

If they were so uncaring (the non-disabled driver) they deserve to be made to pay. You may say it is an unlawful penalty, IMHO those who park in such spaces receive a commercial invoice to discourage them from doing the same again.

And in answer to your final qiestion - of course they benefit, especially when arriving in the car park there's actually a space for them to use. I've no problem with that.

Whether they deserve the invoice or not is immaterial. It's still a [problem] - you can't go around tricking people into paying out cash just because you deem it is justified.

Immaterial? It's about the only time issuing of this 'penalty' is justified. Would letting their tyres down be better....? Let us not forget the people that take up these spaces have no right to be there. Full stop. That spot handily next to the shop doors wasn't there for their convenience, but of a mobility impaired user. Better still, let's clamp the beggars instead, with a release fee of £100.

Alternatively, instead of abusing a convenience for the infirm, why don't they just park elsewhere.

"unenforceable unsolicited invoice" i.e. scrap paper.

I was thinking of posting a reply to Buzby's rant but decided it wasn't worth the effort.

Whether we agree or disagree about the OP's actions we should answer the original question and put off-topic rants in bear garden (where they belong).

I agree.

The morality of parking in disabled spaces is another subject entirely, and one might argue that parking in a disabled space and denying a genuine disabled person that space is just as wrong as issuing a "unenforceable invoice".
any further off topic posts will be removed to the bear garden for that separate argument to continue there...

Created before HSBC's comment above

Originally Posted by pin1onu

Going off topic with this Busby.
The OP was seeking help on the "legality" of the penalties issued by UKPC.
The morality of parking in a disabled bay is not the issue.

Glad to know where your sympathies lie. Let's clamp them all instead. If the OP didn't want to be held to account, they've already lost the moral argument. Just as I don't condone UKPC's usual policies, I'm prepared to suspend them when legitimate disabled drivers are inconvenienced.

As - on private property - the only redress is from companies like UKPC, for this type of enforcement I actually applaud their actions. Making a special case for misusing disabled bays is long overdue, but until this happens, there isn't a viable alternative. It may be a 'fact' that a disabled bay on private land has no legal backing, and an MSP in Scotland is currently promoting this as a possible new law for Scotland.

As for the damages claim having no relation to actual loss - when has that ever been a consideration? It is meant to be a deterrent, it is only the necessity of contract low that distorts the issue. If your view is 'tough' that there should be no viable sanction for drivers who misuse private parking places, I look forward to the day when you'll realise taking a moral stance is better than finding nowhere to park close and use your wheelchair.

As for being off-topic, I disagree, it is entirely relevant. Whether on public OR private land, if you don;t want a ticket for parking in a disabled bay - use a Blue badge, or pay the consequences.

felex6,

write to the ppc telling them you are not paying the fine, but instead write a cheque for £142.24 made payable to the Disabilities Trust.

Their website can be found here:

The Disabilities Trust - donations

If you are going to part with any money don't send it to the ppc.