OPC parking help required

[helpwithparkingfine]

Hi,

I'm new to online forums but really need some help with a fine issued by OPC parking - I see there are various threads already posted but it seems the right thing to do is start a new one?

The story is as follows:

Feb 08: Issued a ticket by OPC for £50 in a residential car park that I had paid for a permit, which was valid, but the sticky had failed and it had slipped off the glass, hence photos without it displayed.

Long story short, about 10 letters back and forth with me refusing to pay as I had a valid permit.

Eventually letter from Windsor Smythe, who I gather are nothing more than [problem] 'debt collecting' arm of OPC demanding payment or court action.

I called them to pay, and the lady I spoke to suggested I contact the actual owners of the car park, something I wasn't aware of.

I did this and they cancelled the ticket.

OPC then demanded £160 in admin fees!

I refused to pay, they filed a court order with Northampton. The amount claimed now stands at £225

I set out my defence as above.

I received a letter today from the local county court, which is a 'standard order for stay settlement with consent of all the parties' but i'm not really sure what to do with it. There are three options, one is the claimant notifying the court the matter is settled, one to request an extension of stay, and one to file an allocation questionnaire in the court, whatever that is. I have tried calling the court several times but no answer. I need to do this before 23 Feb 2010.

I really expected OPC to back down, as I can't believe they really think they will win £225 in 'admin fees' on a ticket that was cancelled in writing by the owners of the car park. Surely this falls into the category of a penalty charge, but they have not actually lost anything?

Nevertheless, they seem to be soldiering on and i'm not sure how best to prepare my defence for court, and whether I should contact OPC beforehand to see if they really wish to pursue this; surely they could be opening themselves up to my expenses claims if they lose?

Any advice gratefully received!!!

[GuidoT]

Can you post up their particulars of claim please.

 

I do not see how they have a case, when they cancelled the ticket. How can they charge you an administration fee when they subsequently withdrew the ticket. Why was the ticket withdrawn?

 

I am amazed they commenced, I have about seventy tickets from them as here and they threatened all manner of things, but in the end never actually did anything.

Edited January 14, 2010 by GuidoT

[helpwithparkingfine]

Thanks for such a quick reply!!

Just for clarification, the ticket was cancelled by the owners of the car park, but OPC are still trying to levy this admin fee. Obviously this is not mentioned in the particulars of claim but I have this in writing from the car park owners, who were far more reasonable. The ticket was withdrawn I assume because the owners felt as I had paid for a permit, which was valid, I should not have been liable to pay the fine.

I have attached the particulars of claim copied my defence to court (anonomysed) below

 

Dear Sir or Madam,

 

I am writing to set out the details of why I wish to fully contest the claim brought against me by Observices Parking Consultancy. I do of course have copies of all the correspondence cited below and would be happy to provide this if required.

 

1. I admit that on 4 February 2008 I received a parking ticket from

Observices Parking Consultancy for £50.

 

2 I deny that I am liable to pay the administration fee, for the following

reasons:

 

(a) I took prompt and reasonable steps to contest the parking ticket.

Please see my letters dated 12 Feb 2008, 3 April 2008, 3 May 2008, 30 June

2008, 20 August 2008 and November 2008. To summarise, I paid for a one year permit (Bay D, Permit E) and electronic fob access to the car park Street in September 2007. Observices Parking Consultancy are fully aware that I had a valid permit at the time of issuing a ticket as it was on display every time they made an inspection, and indeed they have a record of all those cars which have permits.

 

 

(b) I admit that in the photographs taken of my vehicle registration plate xxxxxx the permit is not seen. I maintain that it is was still visible but not from the photographic angles used by the warden, as the adhesive holding the permit in place had come loose.

 

(c ) On 7th April 2009 I contacted Countrywide Managing Agents to appeal on the grounds above, on the advice of a telephone operator at Windsor Smythe (the debt collection arm of Observices Parking Consultancy cited in this claim). Countrywide own the car park and the contract with Observices Parking Consultancy. At no point in over one year of written correspondence had Observices Parking Consultancy made me aware of this route of appeal and it was by chance that I found it.

 

(d) On 9th April, 2009, the parking ticket was cancelled by Observices Parking Consultancy, following my appeal to Countrywide Managing Agents.

 

(e) On 28th April 2009 Observices Parking Consultancy wrote via Windsor Smythe to claim £169.84 in administration fees.

 

(f) On 21st May 2009 I employed a solicitor to write on my behalf and defend the claim. This letter was ignored and I continued to receive threatening letters.

 

(g) I believe there is no legal basis for the charging of the administration fee.

 

(h) I believe the term of the parking conditions purportedly enabling Observices

Parking Consultancy to charge the administration fee is unfair for the

purposes of the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 and so

is not binding.

 

(i) In view of the above, the administration fee is unreasonable, unfair

and disproportionate.

 

 

Additonal points:

The amount claimed in administration costs by Observices Parking Consultancy now stands at £218.65, over four times the original (cancelled) fine.

I am a doctor in a busy hospital and taking time off to attend court will be difficult and inconvenient. Should this matter be formally heard in a court then I will claim for the costs involved in time off work and the solicitors fees should I have my appeal upheld.

My car paintwork was damaged by a leak from the roof of the car park. The letters cited above include reference to this but Observices Parking Consultancy did not address this issue.

I believe that the facts stated in this defence are true.

 

 

Yours faithfully

[havinastella]

This should be easily defended.

 

But, if it was me, I'd counterclaim for own admin fees

 

JOgs

[Dublindel]

If I understand this correctly - If tha parkin g ticket was not cancelled, OPC would be claiming £50. But because its been cancelled, they are claiming £225. This must be the new [problem] angle. my head is spinning with this one. I just cant see how you can lose. Cant see how it would be more than 5 seconds in court before being dismissed and costs awarded to you. They cannot say that the ticket is cancelled and then charge costs. its just not happening. thats entrapment

[GuidoT]

I do not see they have a case, they must have picked your claim at random.

 

Unfortunately, your case will be allocated to the small claims track, where solicitors costs and your time lost are unrecoverable. If you win you will probably be allowed £50.00 for your lost time at the hearing.

 

You can ask that your case is presented on the basis of your written submissions if you do not want to take time off, but I would not recommend this, but I can see why you might given your loss of income. I cannot see OPC turning up.

[helpwithparkingfine]

Thanks everyone, and GuidoT, not sure where your scales are to click on?

The fine was £50 if prompt payment, and has gone up and up with various made up fees over the last 2 years by OPC and windsor smythe to stand at the £225-odd it now is.

In some ways I actually want to go to court to see what happens! Pity it doesnt sound like I can claim my own costs, all these letters to and fro have taken forever, never mind time off work!

Re: the latest letter from the court, shall I just wait to see what OPC does as the claimant, or write to the court to find out what an 'allocation questionnaire' is?

Presumably if OPC realise that I fully intend to go to court, they may simply withdraw their claim having read my defence as it seems pretty watertight? If so will the court let me know?

I just don't want to be penalised by the court for not following protocol, but their letter really wasnt that clear.

[GuidoT]

You can claim your costs of £50.00, bit paltry I know.

 

Does the order say that you need to file the AQ before the 23 February 2010?

 

Copy of AQ here:

http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/cms/files/n149_web_1105.pdf

 

I would ignore 1 and 2, unless of course OPC react.

[letshelp]

subbing, OPC speculative claim hoping you would not defend.

regards

[helpwithparkingfine]

yes it does say to file before 23rd feb. Thanks for copy of the form, i'll fill it in. I assume the fee is only payable by the claimant, as it doesn't actually say how much this is or who pays it?

[crem]

yes it does say to file before 23rd feb. Thanks for copy of the form, i'll fill it in. I assume the fee is only payable by the claimant, as it doesn't actually say how much this is or who pays it?

 

Yes, all fees to go to court are paid by the claimant.

[Al27]

On the particulars I can't see anything about an admin fee. It's their usual baloney and they seem to be treating the 'fine' as never being cancelled.

 

Can you PM with your email address and I'll sort out a defence for you over the weekend.

 

Cheers.

[lamma]

Al27 will sort it. OPC are known for digging up old cases, I think they rely on it being undefended (lost papers letters etc) or change of address causing it to be undefended. Not this time never throw their tat away, you never know when you may get a chance to use it against them.

[asmodeus]

Small claims is an easy proceedure and all evidence, claims and defense are submitted beforehand so both parties see it so there are no surprises on the day of the hearing. Although the thought of a court appearance may seem scary it is nothing to be worried about.

 

Once OPC see that you are defending it and have proof of cancellation I would expect them to give up but some people do not seem to have the intelligence to do this and you will have a trip to court.

[Al27]

The evidence is mounting for OPC to be classed as vexatious litigant this year.

[68904]

If you had ignored this invoice, then iy would have gone away.

[Al27]

I've seen OPC take Silent Bobs to court in the hope they'll get an undefended win.

 

Back down once a defence is submitted though!

[Surfer01]

As no contract was agreed between yourself and the parking company issuing the ticket surely they cannot charge admin fee. You have a valid contract between yourself and the building management company so these monkeys stand no chance in court and may eb chancing their arm until you submit a defence and then they will back down.

[Al27]

OPC lost this case today. Details to follow.

[helpwithparkingfine]

FYI

Went to court vs OPC. Not actually that scary in the end, and saved me a lot of money. For those in similar positions I would urge you to go up against these cowboys. Nuts and bolts are:

I had a fine when my permit adhesive failed and it slipped off windscreen. After over 18 months of letters, was contacted by Windsor Smythe (same company) who threatened bailiffs. Was going to pay, when the woman at windsor smythe call centre suggested I try contacting the owners of the car park. I had no idea this was a route available to me. I did so, and had an email saying something like 'OPC have agreed to cancel the fine but there is an admin fee of £160. With spurious other charges and interest this got to over £200. I refused to pay, so OPC took me to court.

The judge said there was no basis whatsoever for spurious admin charges within about 5 minutes, but was prepared to award them the original fine costs. That is, until he referred to the aforementioned email, which sealed it. OPC squirmed and said how they had no record of this, but that was that. All done in about 25 minutes (after 3 hours of waiting to go in...)

 

I've had load sof help from A127 over the past few months and would highly recommend his counsel!

 

In your face OPC!

[billy bob66]

well done al27 read this one and it seems your the man who can sort out a defence,also good to see more people know what to do about these ppc,s.

 

keep up the good work and agian well done:)

[DBC]

FYI

Went to court vs OPC. Not actually that scary in the end, and saved me a lot of money. For those in similar positions I would urge you to go up against these cowboys. Nuts and bolts are:

I had a fine when my permit adhesive failed and it slipped off windscreen. After over 18 months of letters, was contacted by Windsor Smythe (same company) who threatened bailiffs. Was going to pay, when the woman at windsor smythe call centre suggested I try contacting the owners of the car park. I had no idea this was a route available to me. I did so, and had an email saying something like 'OPC have agreed to cancel the fine but there is an admin fee of £160. With spurious other charges and interest this got to over £200. I refused to pay, so OPC took me to court.

The judge said there was no basis whatsoever for spurious admin charges within about 5 minutes, but was prepared to award them the original fine costs. That is, until he referred to the aforementioned email, which sealed it. OPC squirmed and said how they had no record of this, but that was that. All done in about 25 minutes (after 3 hours of waiting to go in...)

 

I've had load sof help from A127 over the past few months and would highly recommend his counsel!

 

In your face OPC!

 

Of course it never was a "fine" (it was an invoice), and I imagine they threatened you with debt collectors and not bailiffs.

[jkdd77]

FYI

Went to court vs OPC. Not actually that scary in the end, and saved me a lot of money. For those in similar positions I would urge you to go up against these cowboys. Nuts and bolts are:

I had a fine when my permit adhesive failed and it slipped off windscreen. After over 18 months of letters, was contacted by Windsor Smythe (same company) who threatened bailiffs. Was going to pay, when the woman at windsor smythe call centre suggested I try contacting the owners of the car park. I had no idea this was a route available to me. I did so, and had an email saying something like 'OPC have agreed to cancel the fine but there is an admin fee of £160. With spurious other charges and interest this got to over £200. I refused to pay, so OPC took me to court.

The judge said there was no basis whatsoever for spurious admin charges within about 5 minutes, but was prepared to award them the original fine costs. That is, until he referred to the aforementioned email, which sealed it. OPC squirmed and said how they had no record of this, but that was that. All done in about 25 minutes (after 3 hours of waiting to go in...)

 

I've had load sof help from A127 over the past few months and would highly recommend his counsel!

 

In your face OPC!

 

I'm pleased you won, but I'm very concerned that the judge was about to award them the amount of the "fine", when there was absolutely no basis for this unlawful penalty charge- it shows the ignorance of many county court judges.

[Al27]

Even so, it should just be a case of appealing and having it heard by a district judge.

[letshelp]

Even so, it should just be a case of appealing and having it heard by a district judge.

I think Al, it is usually the District Judges who sit in the local County Court, it should go to a circuit Judge on appeal.

regards