Thanks for the information. it does sound as though these Debt collection people might well take me to Court. If that happens, I am concerned about costs and of course receiving a CCJ againt me. Not sure how to phrase a reply to inform them that I know of no such contract with their clients Euro carparks. As having only been sent one letter from ECP (which I ignored)followed soon after by the Debt collecors letter. Will

Hi again, just back after Easter to tackle the dreaded letter to the Debt/Credit company in response to their demand for money "to settle my (alleged)overdue account" with Euro CarParks. Firstly having not acknowledged the receipt of the one and only letter from EuroPark, I would not be aware of any debt! Should I write to the Debt collection people asking to explain the nature of this debt as I am not aware of any overdue account with this (EuroPark)company. Would appreciate some guidance on the tone/wording of such a letter. As I do not wish to say anything which might incriminate me and be assertive in denying any such claim. Greatly appreciate any guidance on this. regards Will

Many thanks for the advice.It is very intimidating to have the threat of Court procedings. All simply because I did not see a new sign in a retail centre car park (which was previously always unrestricted),limiting the parking time with a £70 fine if they decided you had overstayed the 1 hr . I shall look for the templates and perhaps I should send one to Euro,disputing the charge and being the driver,and another to Debt collectors disputing the debt ? thanks Will

Further developments.& Help !! Thanks for the earlier advice on Euro Car Park demand. I did not reply to their demand letter but did an impression of an Ostrich,hoping they would go away. They did not send another one but decided to get tough. They appear to have handed the matter straight to a debt collection company. I have now received an intimidating letter from a credit/debt collection company demanding now £95. Quote; " This account has been passed to ourselves with firm instructions to commence LITIGATION & obtain JUDGEMENT against you. Such a course of action may have an adverse affect on your ability to obtain Credit & would include COSTS,COURT FEES & INTEREST which may disproportionately INCREASE the amount outstanding". (end quote) To avoid this pay up within 5 working days or else ! As the letter was dated 5 days ago,I guess I am now a criminal ! Question. I guess it is a waste of time trying to reason with Euro as it appears the have handed it to the Debt' bounty hunters'. should I write to the Debt people and deny/dispute the debt ? Can they really obtain Judgement against me ? Will they just keep hiking up the ammount ad infinitum ? do not need this worry in my life but reluctant to give in to threats! Will

Psted reply below 19 March 2008. white skoda

Sorry, but I do not follow your reasoning. Just how would refusing DVLA permission to sell our details to people like Euro Park increase clamping. They are doing all they can at the moment to extact as much money from us as the can within the confines of the existing laws. Allowing them to 'follow us home' curtesy of DVLA,only empowers them! I regard this as an invasion of privacy , mine ! I parked in a retail park car park which invites shoppers to park there to use the shops,this car park was previously always free. It was only when I returned to my car and discovered the 'ticket' that I looked around and found a sign which informed me that I was now only allowed 1 hour parking. To invadvertantly overstay that time by 15 mins, I received a demand for £70. Which has no relation to any loss incurred by the retail park by my presence in their shops. In refusing to pay this 'fine', I am now threatened with a further £25 and a debt collection company . For someone who has never received any form of parking fine this threat is worrying. If DVLA had not sold these people my details they would not have been able to send these threats through the post. If the retail park wished to generate revenue they could adopt realistic nominal parking charge, rather than allow these bullies to intimidate customers and demand money with menaces. As a result I shall never ever use that retail park again. Also I dread to think what effect receiving this type of threats and intimidation through the post might have on the health of elderly people who might inadvertantly fall foul of these bullies.

Thanks for the advice. I do feel very strongly about this, especially the involvement of DVLA. I firmly believe that DVLA have misused their powers. I feel that in passing on my private details to a third party of unknown integrity they have infringed my rights and surely must be in breach of the Data Protection Act. We are forced by them to give them all our details under threat of fines,even if we move home and do not inform them,they will impose a hefty fine.. These details were surely only intended to be used by the Police If we had broken a Law or they had reason to believe the vehicle was stolen or invlved in a crime or avoiding Excise Tax. NOT to be sold off for a profit to any wheel clamper (we know what they are capable of )! or any other crooks with a Letterhead who pose a ligitmate Car Park extortionists. They themselves had the gall to quote the Data Protection act to my partner as an excuse for not giving her information about her own vehicle. If criminals in Jail can sue for breach of their Humane rights surely it is time we law abiding citizens who are unfortunate to fall foul of these Car Park extortionists stand up for OUR rights to stop DVLA from betraying the information we entrust to them and breaching OUR Human Rights ! DVLA are taking the **** out of all motorists. They even make a profit from use by making us use an 0870 number to phone them for hours trying to sort out their mess when the screw up our details ! Now they are selling our personal details to any crook who can log in and pay £2.50 to download our details ! It is time we put a stop to DVLA abusing their powers ! We should all be lobbying our MPs and bringing this practice out into the public domain ,as I am sure most peole have no idea that THEIR details can be sold off. and used for ? IDENTITY THEFT even !! ANY Thoughts from anyone ???

Hi, I have read lots of mail regarding the crooks who extort money from people who fall foul of there 'rules'. I was unfortunate to receive an 'official looking ticket from Euro Parks demanding £70 . or else ! Having read comments on this site I ignored the ticket. 2 months later I received a letter from them, presumably they obtained my personal details from DVLA . Firstly I am fuming that DVLA can sell my details to anyone other than the Police. So what about MY rights and Data Protection Act? As having read the Data Protection clause it states something like they can only divulge my details if I have broken the Law. Which I clearly have not! My question is: Should I return the letter as not known this address ? After all who says DVLA details are correct ! Or should I admit to being the registered keeper of the vehicle. Appreciate any advice ............ Wills..

Hi there, I have been reading some useful information about these bullies who demand money with threats. Having fallen foul of them myself. The people concerned being 'Euro carparks'. One point I cannot quite understand is how can these people Legally obtain your private details from DVLA. what happened to the Data Protection Act! My partner recently had cause to phone DVLA with a problem over the documents for her new car.ie having not received the registration document from them after the Dealer had registered the new car intially in their name. She was told by those nice people @ DVLA that that she was not the keeper and they could NOT divulge who the keeper was. Citing the 'Data Protection Act'. !! I naively thought that only such people as the Police had access to our private details held by DVLA. Or are they as free with them as another well known public body who posts them out on discs. Await your comments with interest. regards Wills