Thread: Equita have charged me £578 parking ticket...HELP NEEDED!!

Hi welcome to the forums,

Are the registered keeper details held by the DVLA correct. If they are and you did not receive any paperwork - you have a case for getting the "judgement" set aside. You are entitled to enter a defense and if you are not aware of a "ticket" then you can hardly do that.

You will need to file an out-of-time statuatory declaration and send it to the Traffic Enforcement Centre attached to the Northampton county court. (See this link for details)

Did you get a recepit from the bailiffs. They should also have given you a Breakdown of their fees.

Once a OOT declaration is accepted - enforcement action must cease, and the process returns to the Notice to Owner stage which gives you a chance to pay the amount of the pcn or contest it. The bailiff/council should also refund all the money you have paid.

Originally Posted by Lukey_E

Thank you for your response.

What do you reckon the chances are of me recovering my money??

100%. You are entitled to defend any allegation of wrong-doing. If you've not received any documentation then you are entitled to make a declaration to that effect. If that declaration is accepted then the process returns to start and you get a chance to pay up (at the original amount - the council takes the hit on bailiffs fees) or appeal it - if the appeal fails you can still pay at the original amount.

Originally Posted by Lukey_E

The vehicle is registered to my business and they claim they have sent letters. I have never received anything though. Its my word against theirs, surely they wont believe the little man will they!? Its so frustrating as there is no reason why I would ignore letters or the fine that I duly owe.

Why do you think that. Deemed Service is rebuttable under our postal laws. In making a stat dec you are putting yourself under oath. There are stiff penalties for lying on a stat dec. This happens more often than you might think. If the council has got it wrong then it is their responsability to put it right - once you tell them. That is the main purpose of the Stat Dec.

The fees have stacked up because in the absence of any information to the contrary the process allows them to register the debt and have bailiffs appointed. Normally it should have gone to court. TEC is a court according to some and not a court according to others.

Its frustrating because you have effectively been tried in your absence. Fortunately there are mechanisms to allow you to have things like this set aside and a chance to make a defense.

If you need more information - TEC are normally pretty helpful if you ring them.

Alternately post back here if you have more questions.

Originally Posted by Britainsworstdriver

Hang on, did they come to the shop or your home? Are you SURE they are bailiffs? This smells badly of a [problem]. I have a nasty feeling about this one.

Surprise, you are wrong again!