Thanks all, that is a relief (and I am sure helpful to other people who are in a similar position) Happy 2014 to all Car Parkers out there. Maybe 2014 is the time to get political force against these people and remove their capacity for scaring innocent people into handing over money "in case of menaces"!

Hi All, I am noticing a change in advice about these letters - namely; don't ignore them? Now, given that my first chain letter from these thieves was back in March 2012 and that the last one I received (before their recent attempt this Christmas) was July 2012, do I need to look into this POPLA thing (which I am not too sure how it fits into the scheme of things and who actually manages it)? As it stands, I have only received the latest DRP letter threatening, possibly, maybe, sending my details to LPC Law As an extra bit of info; I arrived at the parking space at 4.30 on a Friday with very few cars in the car park (large retail park), desperate for a wee after a 40 mile drive, and by 11 mins into my stay, I had a ticket. The only thing I did "wrong" was not to put a ticket on my car. It is 2 hours free parking!!!! I have Google latitude evidence of me arriving (and driving around the car park looking for the car park attendant!!). Thanks P.S. Does anybody else find it interesting that they have chosen the name LPC given that most results from Google searches will come up with Legal Practice Courses

Oh... and what happened to Zernith? They were the last people I heard from... end of July 2012!!

Me too... Just received my "Letter before referral for legal action" from DRP telling me that UKPC have instructed them to obtain the outstanding balance of £150. If I don't, DRP will pass my details on to UKPC's solicitor (who is suing me here?). I have 14 days. Danial's signature at the bottom of the letter is different from the one I saw on another letter (internet search), but the rest of the text was identical. A question: I had a quick search to see what the format of a "Letter before referral for legal action" was. Well, it must be a legal document if they are using terms like this. So, the Google search came up with 6 responses: all for people receiving these letters, this month, from Debt Recovery Plus. So, the question is, what is the legal basis of this letter? How many of these notes do we think have been sent out for Christmas. Do we think they have chosen this time of the year to scare people into paying?? It's despicable . My first letter was in March 2012!!!!!!! Good luck all

HI All, Just a quickie to say that I have received my "final" letter from Debt Recovery Plus Ltd (Parking Charge Notice [sic] outside Wickes in Aylesbury late on a Friday afternoon with hundreds of free car parking spaces and in dire need of a wee! Took a whole ten mins for the "Parking Attendant" to slap a ticket on me). I did laugh at the second piece of A4 paper that had been neatly folded inside this last envelope. It is an "Information Sheet" from the Office Of Fair Trading with lots of advice for dealing with arrears. I laughed particulalry hard at the third bullet point: " Pay priority debts first - for example, mortgage, rent, council tax, or gas or electricity arrears. A debt adviser can help you budget...... " I didn't see anything about prioritising "speculative invoices" from parking companies. If anybody isinterested, the document reference of the OFT sheet is OFT965. I haven't checked to see if it is genuine. Oh, and they have offered to reduce my "payment" to £120 (from £150).. Thank you to everybody around the Net who have kept my mind at ease as I received each of these letters. I should say that I intend to pester my MP about this as soon as I am certain DRP Ltd have given up. The fact that these parasites are allowed to operate in this manner is just short of mob like - the only thing missing are the heavies with the baseball bats! What particulalry erks me is the fact that I was slapped with a ticket within ten minutes of arrival rather than being "fined" for overstaying my welcome. If we are meant to put a ticket in the car for the two hour free parking time, there should be a barrier at point of entry issuing tickets. The whole system is designed to catch you out not protect traffic flow. Now waiting for telephone calls! Nubink