Thread: National Clamps

I got one for the most ridiculous of reasons; I, like many, have been struggling to find a job in the recent climate and on 30th of December was due to sign on, i drove up and noticed there were no cars parked in the staff car park which is unusual. So i Parked up outside got out and asked the security guard whether it was open today, he said no 'you are automatically excused today' i was away for my car for a maximum of 30seconds and it must have only been out of my sight 10 of those seconds, so as i get in my car there's a knock on window, fella hands me a ticket, never had one before so didnt know what to say (in future after reading up i will not accept a ticket). I've not paid it but today was going to do so as i got a bit of freelance money from a while back in. On inspecting the ticket i noticed that the marked box is 'have not paid and displayed' this wasnt the case what should be marked is 'your vehicle was parked without a valid permit on display'.

Am I correct in thinking this renders the tickets invalid? This is contract law, it is not criminal law like usual parking tickets.

Im going to chance them with a very abrupt letter saying '

I received a parking ticket, ref number. P0905DF on 30/12/08 at 9.05, The ticket is marked 'Your vehicle failed to Pay & Display' however I was not parked in a pay and display area and therefore will not be paying the ticket.

I do not wish to hear from you again.
Yours Sincerely'

Who thinks I'll get off with it?

Threads merged Doc...apologies your first post was automatically moderated by mistake !!

As above-take heed of all of the advice. I as many others on here have come across the same problems and its a [problem]. Your ticket is just an invoice and the appeals process is redundant as it is done 'in house' so only one outcome. As also noted above do not contact as they willl think you are wavering. Its very possible that you will recieve letters from a DCA threatening all sorts- again ignore and they will give up.

Originally Posted by docefc

My dad has just got his 3rd letter in a week off 'debt recovery plus' and he is doing his absolute nut in at me thinking that his tv is going to get taken and stuff. Should i completely not contact them at all?

Continue to ignore as above. Tell your Dad that this is a [problem].

If it's a standard debt collectors letter then it will follow this format with lots of bits in bold red lettering

Dear Sucker

You haven't paid

If you don't pay immediately you MAY face the following

court action
ccj
bailiff enforcement
seizure of goods to pay the debt.

So pay up now or else.

Yours faithfully
PT "There's a sucker born every minute" Barnum

Notice the keyword is may. They may do the above but then again they may not.

Debt collectors have no more powers than you or I. They cannot enter your home without your invitation and they cannot distrain goods. These powers are granted to Court Appointed bailiffs and they have strict procedure to folllow. But before they can get bailiffs involved it has to go to court. (See below).

If they try to take your Dad to court then he has a good case. He wasn't the driver and cannot be made to indeminify a third party (i.e. the driver) (Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Act 1977) and BTW he doesn't have to tell them who was driving despite any claims they may make to the contrary. There are other points of law that apply that have been pointed out in earlier posts.

The rest about CCJ's, bailiffs and enforcement only comes in to play if you were to lose in court and fail to pay the judgement in the time allowed by the court (28 days normally). At that point they have the right to apply for enforcement of the debt and bailiffs can be instructed. Credit agencies will also log the CCJ as unpaid which is when credit records start being affected.

Explain this to your dad and ignore it. Make sure you also spread the word about these tickets to your friends. The more people who know about the [problem] the less people who will be taken in.