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    • Well barristers would say that in the hope that motorists would go to them for advice -obviously paid advice.  The problem with appealing is at least twofold. 1] there is a real danger that some part of the appeal will point out that the person appealing [the keeper ] is also the driver.  And in a lot of cases the last thing the keeper wants when they are also the driver is that the parking company knows that. It makes it so much easier for them as the majority  of Judges do not accept that the keeper and the driver are the same person for obvious reasons. Often they are not the same person especially when it is a family car where the husband, wife and children are all insured to drive the same car. On top of that  just about every person who has a valid insurance policy is able to drive another person's vehicle. So there are many possibilities and it should be up to the parking company to prove it to some extent.  Most parking company's do not accept appeals under virtually any circumstances. But insist that you carry on and appeal to their so called impartial jury who are often anything but impartial. By turning down that second appeal, many motorists pay up because they don't know enough about PoFA to argue with those decisions which brings us to the second problem. 2] the major parking companies are mostly unscrupulous, lying cheating scrotes. So when you appeal and your reasons look as if they would have merit in Court, they then go about  concocting a Witness Statement to debunk that challenge. We feel that by leaving what we think are the strongest arguments to our Member's Witness Statements, it leaves insufficient time to be thwarted with their lies etc. And when the motorists defence is good enough to win, it should win regardless of when it is first produced.   
    • S13 (2)The creditor may not exercise the right under paragraph 4 to recover from the keeper any unpaid parking charges specified in the notice to keeper if, within the period of 28 days beginning with the day after that on which that notice was given, the creditor is given— (a)a statement signed by or on behalf of the vehicle-hire firm to the effect that at the material time the vehicle was hired to a named person under a hire agreement; (b)a copy of the hire agreement; and (c)a copy of a statement of liability signed by the hirer under that hire agreement. As  Arval has complied with the above they cannot be pursued by EC----- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- S14 [1]   the creditor may recover those charges (so far as they remain unpaid) from the hirer. (2)The conditions are that— (a)the creditor has within the relevant period given the hirer a notice in accordance with sub-paragraph (5) (a “notice to hirer”), together with a copy of the documents mentioned in paragraph 13(2) and the notice to keeper; (b)a period of 21 days beginning with the day on which the notice to hirer was given has elapsed;  As ECP did not send copies of the documents to your company and they have given 28 days instead of 21 days they have failed to comply with  the Act so you and your Company are absolved from paying. That is not to say that they won't continue asking to be paid as they do not have the faintest idea how PoFA works. 
    • Euro have got a lot wrong and have failed to comply with the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 Schedule 4.  According to Section 13 after ECP have written to Arval they should then send a NTH to the Hirer  which they have done.This eliminates Arval from any further pursuit by ECP. When they wrote to your company they should have sent copies of everything that they asked Arval for. This is to prove that your company agree what happened on the day of the breach. If ECP then comply with the Act they are allowed to pursue the hirer. If they fail, to comply they cannot make the hirer pay. They can pursue until they are blue in the face but the Hirer is not lawfully required to pay them and if it went to Court ECP would lose. Your company could say who was driving but the only person that can be pursued is the Hirer, there does not appear to be an extension for a driver to be pursued. Even if there was, because ECP have failed miserably to comply with the Act  they still have no chance of winning in Court. Here are the relevant Hire sections from the Act below.
    • Thank-you FTMDave for your feedback. May I take this opportunity to say that after reading numerous threads to which you are a contributor, I have great admiration for you. You really do go above and beyond in your efforts to help other people. The time you put in to help, in particular with witness statements is incredible. I am also impressed by the way in which you will defer to others with more experience should there be a particular point that you are not 100% clear on and return with answers or advice that you have sought. I wish I had the ability to help others as you do. There is another forum expert that I must also thank for his time and patience answering my questions and allowing me to come to a “penny drops” moment on one particular issue. I believe he has helped me immensely to understand and to strengthen my own case. I shall not mention who it is here at the moment just in case he would rather I didn't but I greatly appreciate the time he took working through that issue with me. I spent 20+ years of working in an industry that rules and regulations had to be strictly adhered to, indeed, exams had to be taken in order that one had to become qualified in those rules and regulations in order to carry out the duties of the post. In a way, such things as PoFA 2012 are rules and regulations that are not completely alien to me. It has been very enjoyable for me to learn these regulations and the law surrounding them. I wish I had found this forum years ago. I admit that perhaps I had been too keen to express my opinions given that I am still in the learning process. After a suitable period in this industry I became Qualified to teach the rules and regulations and I always said to those I taught that there is no such thing as a stupid question. If opinions, theories and observations are put forward, discussion can take place and as long as the result is that the student is able to clearly see where they went wrong and got to that moment where the penny drops then that is a valuable learning experience. No matter how experienced one is, there is always something to learn and if I did not know the answer to a question, I would say, I don't know the answer to that question but I will go and find out what the answer is. In any posts I have made, I have stated, “unless I am wrong” or “as far as I can see” awaiting a response telling me what I got wrong, if it was wrong. If I am wrong I am only too happy to admit it and take it as a valuable learning experience. I take the point that perhaps I should not post on other peoples threads and I shall refrain from doing so going forward. 🤐 As alluded to, circumstances can change, FTMDave made the following point that it had been boasted that no Caggers, over two years, who had sent a PPC the wrong registration snotty letter, had even been taken to court, let alone lost a court hearing .... but now they have. I too used the word "seemed" because it is true, we haven't had all the details. After perusing this forum I believe certain advice changed here after the Beavis case, I could be wrong but that is what I seem to remember reading. Could it be that after winning the above case in question, a claimant could refer back to this case and claim that a defendant had not made use of the appeal process, therefore allowing the claimant to win? Again, in this instance only, I do not know what is to be gained by not making an appeal or concealing the identity of the driver, especially if it is later admitted that the defendant was the driver and was the one to input the incorrect VRN in error. So far no one has educated me as to the reason why. But, of course, when making an appeal, it should be worded carefully so that an error in the appeal process cannot be referred back to. I thought long and hard about whether or not to post here but I wanted to bring up this point for discussion. Yes, I admit I have limited knowledge, but does that mean I should have kept silent? After I posted that I moved away from this forum slightly to find other avenues to increase my knowledge. I bought a law book and am now following certain lawyers on Youtube in the hope of arming myself with enough ammunition to use in my own case. In one video titled “7 Reasons You Will LOSE Your Court Case (and how to avoid them)” by Black Belt Barrister I believe he makes my point by saying the following, and I quote: “If you ignore the complaint in the first instance and it does eventually end up in court then it's going to look bad that you didn't co-operate in the first place. The court is not going to look kindly on you simply ignoring the company and not, let's say, availing yourself of any kind of appeal opportunities, particularly if we are talking about parking charge notices and things like that.” This point makes me think that, it is not such a bizarre judgement in the end. Only in the case of having proof of payment and inputting an incorrect VRN .... could it be worthwhile making a carefully worded appeal in the first instance? .... If the appeal fails, depending on the reason, surely this could only help if it went to court? As always, any feedback gratefully received.
    • To which official body does one make a formal complaint about a LPA fixed charge receiver? Does one make a complaint first to the company employing the appointed individuals?    Or can one complain immediately to an official body, such as nara?    I've tried researching but there doesn't seem a very clear route on how to legally hold them to account for wrongful behaviour.  It seems frustratingly complicated because they are considered to be officers of the court and held in high esteem - and the borrower is deemed liable for their actions.  Yet what does the borrower do when disclosure shows clear evidence of wrong-doing? Does anyone have any pointers please?
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Virgin Active/Arc DCA Hassle - say they can take me to court?


pantheonnn
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Ok heres the deal.

 

I signed up for a 3 month virgin active membership back around july,

after one months use I wanted to cancel,

they wouldnt agree and the idiot manager would not even agree to simply talk with me.

 

I didn't use the gym in the last two months but they don't care and the contract doesn't of course.

 

Arc debt collection has been dealing with me,

I owed around £170 or something in total

 

ive already paid £90 worth, maybe that was the wrong decision but I do not want to pay them the remainder.

 

I've set loads of dates to pay and many I have not paid and we just rearrange

one guy called saying the solicitors will get involved and court action if I do not pay,

I do not want to pay them and i did not pay a payment recently.

No doubt they will call me saying solicitor or court action will be taken.

 

What should I do???

I know I should have came to this forum earlier.

 

I do not want to pay these morons or go to court and be forced to pay this little amount and travel there since its out of london etc.

 

????

Edited by dx100uk
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thread title updated...

 

stop talking on the phone to powerless DCA's

they ARE NOT BAILIFFS

and have

ZERO legal powers.

 

you tried to cancel, they sc@mmed you..

 

after you cancelled, did you pay anything?

please don't hit Quote...just type we know what we said earlier..

DCA's view debtors as suckers, marks and mugs

NO DCA has ANY legal powers whatsoever on ANY debt no matter what it's Type

and they

are NOT and can NEVER  be BAILIFFS. even if a debt has been to court..

If everyone stopped blindly paying DCA's Tomorrow, their industry would collapse overnight... 

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Virgin active wouldn't cancel it.

 

The arc debt collection people say I owe them money, I have paid half of it already. I do not want to pay the rest.

 

I am setting agreements and dates with the debt collection agency but I am not paying them, I'm just gonna stop making any arrangements, they say they can get court proceedings and will get solicitors involved, I've heard its bogus which is good but i still I don't know what to tell them now.

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answer my question...

what have you paid since you tried to cancel....

 

gyms have not done court in +5yrs

and these debts cant hurt your credit file either...

please don't hit Quote...just type we know what we said earlier..

DCA's view debtors as suckers, marks and mugs

NO DCA has ANY legal powers whatsoever on ANY debt no matter what it's Type

and they

are NOT and can NEVER  be BAILIFFS. even if a debt has been to court..

If everyone stopped blindly paying DCA's Tomorrow, their industry would collapse overnight... 

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Hi Panth and welcome to CAG

 

1. What was the monthly fee.

 

2. What have you paid so far.

 

As DX says, stop talking to anyone by phone. You have no need to react to their demands.

 

:-)

We could do with some help from you

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so effectively since you cancelled you have paid more than one extra months membership.

if so you owe them nothing...infact they owe you...

 

i'd be minded to go get the rest above the one month back under the DD guarantee.

please don't hit Quote...just type we know what we said earlier..

DCA's view debtors as suckers, marks and mugs

NO DCA has ANY legal powers whatsoever on ANY debt no matter what it's Type

and they

are NOT and can NEVER  be BAILIFFS. even if a debt has been to court..

If everyone stopped blindly paying DCA's Tomorrow, their industry would collapse overnight... 

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I would not recommend you reclaim any amount paid so far - you joined for 3 months and had no good reason to cancel early.

 

If you don't want to pay for the 3 months, that's your prerogative. I doubt ARC will do anything serious about it - they tend not to.

 

However, my advice would be to offer to pay for the 3 months but not one penny in admin fees. Make the offer to ARC and tell them it's valid for 14 days only and will be withdrawn if they seek any admin fees on top.

 

There are many letters here you can adapt from other threads.

 

But don't speak to anyone by phone from now on - keep everything by typed and posted letter from now on. If ARC call you, hang up because they are unimportant chancers looking to make money from you.

 

:-)

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so effectively since you cancelled you have paid more than one extra months membership.

if so you owe them nothing...infact they owe you...

 

i'd be minded to go get the rest above the one month back under the DD guarantee.

 

Wow thankyou.

 

How do I do this?

 

So you said I should get anything I've paid except the one month back. Actually, I need to recheck how much I owed with them.

 

I am sure I paid one month to virgin active before and it was a three months contract, and I had two months left which I did not use. Therefore Arc are requesting two months payment plus like £60 something pound since the total they want is around £170.

 

Maybe Arc owe me all the money I have paid them back?

 

I don't know, thanks.

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Ok guys I am so dumb. HERE IS WHATS GOING ON.

 

I had a three month contract with virgin active which I had ALREADY paid one month. Therefore I owe two months which is £110.

 

Arc have demanded £174 since the beginning.

 

Therefore I have already paid about £87 which is near the whole thing I owe minus arcs admin fees or the extra fees which seem to be about £85 in total...

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Read my post again - letters only from now on.

 

If you want a letter drafted to send, just say.

 

I suggest you only offer to pay for the 3 months in total, less what you've paid so far.

 

But we need to know the exact monthly fee.

 

:-)

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Please give something if you can. We all give our time free of charge but the site has bills to pay.

 

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The exact monthly fee was £55. I paid for one month already with virgin directly back then so I only owe two months more which is £110 but of course arc added fees which comes up to £174 they want.

 

I have paid £85 already, so technically I only owe £25 more, but arc want me to pay the £174 and not just £110 for the extra two months.

 

Please can I have a letter to send also? thanks.

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simple letter offering the outstanding £25 due to unpaid membership fees.

 

tell them you will not be paying any unlawful admin fees

 

take it or leave it.

 

I will communicate with you no more should you refuse

please don't hit Quote...just type we know what we said earlier..

DCA's view debtors as suckers, marks and mugs

NO DCA has ANY legal powers whatsoever on ANY debt no matter what it's Type

and they

are NOT and can NEVER  be BAILIFFS. even if a debt has been to court..

If everyone stopped blindly paying DCA's Tomorrow, their industry would collapse overnight... 

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ARC cant legally add fees. Offer to pay the outstanding balance of £25 and no more and if they refuse this you are not obliged to pay them anything. It is called mitigation of debt. Let Virgin know that ARC have lost them money by their unlawful behaviour. Do this in writing, not by telephone or email, they dont take that seriously

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Letter to the Virgin Gym Head Office, typed and sent by post and get a free Certificate of Posting at the PO :-

 

Dear sir or madam,

 

I refer to my 3 month membership at [town/city] gym.

 

I wanted to cancel the m/ship early but the gym manager refused even to speak to me.

 

Of the £165 that I owe, I have paid £140 and therefore owe you a further £25 which I am happy to pay if you confirm in writing you are willing to accept this in full settlement of all that I owe you.

 

I will not pay ARC unlawful admin/penalty charges they are trying to charge me.

 

Kindly provide bank details and a payment reference so I can pay the balance due.

 

This offer will be withdrawn if you fail to accept it in writing within 14 days, or you allow ARC to continue to make higher demands.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

Speak to no one; no emails. Let us know if they've replied within 21 days of posting your letter.

 

:-)

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I spoke to Arc and they said that the bill is £50 more because virgin active have a contractual late fee and this means I have to pay £50 more than just the membership.

 

The idiot on the phone was saying arc dont add any fees, the reason the bill is bigger is because of the contractual late fee.

 

Do I have to pay this contractual late fee which is an extra £50 on top of the three months where I didn't even use the gym most of it? This is ridiculous.

 

Thanks guys.

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I spoke to Arc and they said that the bill is £50 more because virgin active have a contractual late fee and this means I have to pay £50 more than just the membership.

 

The idiot on the phone was saying arc dont add any fees, the reason the bill is bigger is because of the contractual late fee.

 

Do I have to pay this contractual late fee which is an extra £50 on top of the three months where I didn't even use the gym most of it? This is ridiculous.

 

Thanks guys.

 

Who told you to speak to a powerless dca on the phone??

 

No if you read other threads

The fees are unlawful

 

Not sure what part of post 19 you didn't read and understand.....

please don't hit Quote...just type we know what we said earlier..

DCA's view debtors as suckers, marks and mugs

NO DCA has ANY legal powers whatsoever on ANY debt no matter what it's Type

and they

are NOT and can NEVER  be BAILIFFS. even if a debt has been to court..

If everyone stopped blindly paying DCA's Tomorrow, their industry would collapse overnight... 

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Hi Panth,

 

As DX says, read post #19 again carefully. Follow the advice exactly.

 

Speak to N0 ONE at all for any reason. If they call you, tell them In Writing Only, then hang up !

 

And I disagree with the comments in post #21 which are self-contradictory. You are NOT liable for penalty or admin fees imposed by a contract if the terms of that contract are unfair or unenforceable.

 

Post #19 !! Read and do it, then let us know if or how they respond.

 

:-)

We could do with some help from you

                                                                PLEASE HELP US TO KEEP THIS SITE RUNNING

EVERY POUND DONATED WILL HELP US TO KEEP HELPING OTHERS

 

                                            Have we helped you ...?  Please Donate button to the Consumer Action Group

 

Please give something if you can. We all give our time free of charge but the site has bills to pay.

 

Thanks !:-)

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