Private Parking Tickets - General discussion points

[letshelp]

however they have written back - "please enclosed picture of your vehicle causing obstruction etc". Can they do this as debt collectors?

 

Anyone can take the action they have, please do not think these clowns have any special powers.

 

and now another letter today threatening legal action or doorstep debt collecters (sure the latter can only be done if the case goes to court??)

 

You are now confusing these clowns with absolutely no powers whatsoever with bailiffs. It is all bluff and bluster, no-one will call at your house.

 

any suggestions on a reply, should i reply or wait a court summons?

 

Just ignore them, the more you engage them the more they think you are wavering. Don't hold your breath waiting for a summons....

regards

[2onlyme2]

thanks for that, just out of interest, if they do keep writitng can i have them investigated under harassment act? had 7 letters in total between these 2 [causing problems] companies

[tranceaddict84]

Hi again guys! Posting now for a mate who's recently received a PCN, also from Excel Parking.

 

He was going to pay up but I convinced him otherwise, only problem is that his car is still registered at his folks' address despite him not having lived there for over a year, and two Excel threat letters have now arrived there.

 

Perhaps foolishly, he explained to his mum about it, and no matter how much we try to reassure her otherwise, she's now convinced that baliffs are going to show up at their house and take away the TV.

 

Is it worth my mate writing to Excel (or maybe getting his dad to write on his behalf) saying that the person addressed in their letters is no longer living there and all futher correspondence should be directed to [mate's new address], in order to direct the flak away from his folks?

 

Cheers!

[letshelp]

thanks for that, just out of interest, if they do keep writitng can i have them investigated under harassment act? had 7 letters in total between these 2 [causing problems] companies

You can try, the cops are really reluctant to get involved in these matters. In fact I have yet to hear of a case that has been taken up. Just ignore them is best that really winds them up.

regards

[letshelp]

Perhaps foolishly, he explained to his mum about it, and no matter how much we try to reassure her otherwise, she's now convinced that baliffs are going to show up at their house and take away the TV.

 

Sadly, that is the effect that these clowns have on people.

Is it worth my mate writing to Excel (or maybe getting his dad to write on his behalf) saying that the person addressed in their letters is no longer living there and all futher correspondence should be directed to [mate's new address], in order to direct the flak away from his folks?

 

The only flak they will receive is numerous threatening letters addressed to their son (your friend) you could ask that they just pass them to him for his attention. As regards writing to Excel, PPCs are famous for ignoring letters they receive unless they find a cheque enclosed, could be worth a try if it takes the heat on your friends parents. Try to reassure them that No One is going to be callng at their house.

Cheers!

regards

[ugm6hr]

According to the CPN, "Failing to display a valid PERMIT" is the Breach Code. Obviously, I have a valid permit, which is assigned to the car in question. Seems they are claiming they couldn't see the paper permit in my car, and hence issued a CPN.

 

Following this, I have now received a letter from a debt collector (Roxburghe Debt Collectors) which is addressed "For and on behalf of VINCI PARK CARDIFF LTD. It now demands £60, following an initial CPN of £30 (reduced to £12 if paid within 1 week).

 

As expected, they ask for payment, or notification of who the driver on the day was.

 

I found this interesting:

Whilst writing, we would like to draw your attention to common law doctrine of the law of agency, which confirms that a principal (registered keeper) is liable for the acts of its agent (the driver). As a result of this, it is our intention to pursue the registered keeper/owner of the vehicle in the absence of driver specifics

 

Is it best to respond at this stage, or wait and see? I'm looking through the templates here Private Parking Tickets: How to get your money back inc. free template letters... at the moment.

[Guest coz1873]

I've been reading various threads on this as I look to tell Town & City Parking where to put the PCN they put on my car. Basica advice is repeated on most of these threads - IGNORE them or send a std letter...

 

Can anyone out there say that they have succesfully NOT paid, and what exactly they did.

[lamma]

rubbish from Vinci. The PPCs really are struggling with the Driver v RK issue. Very few drivers indeed act as 'agents' no matter what claptrap the PPCs trot out.

[ugm6hr]

rubbish from Vinci. The PPCs really are struggling with the Driver v RK issue. Very few drivers indeed act as 'agents' no matter what claptrap the PPCs trot out.

 

Indeed, sounded like rubbish.

 

Presumably the advice to not respond remains? Or is it worth sending a standard letter now? Does it even matter, given that PPCs tend to reply with their own standard letters?

[letshelp]

Can anyone out there say that they have succesfully NOT paid, and what exactly they did.

I have succesfully NOT paid and I just ignored all the rubbish they sent.

regards

[letshelp]

Presumably the advice to not respond remains?

Correct

[barney_gumble]

I've been reading various threads on this as I look to tell Town & City Parking where to put the PCN they put on my car. Basica advice is repeated on most of these threads - IGNORE them or send a std letter...

 

Can anyone out there say that they have succesfully NOT paid, and what exactly they did.

 

I've done what I said earlier in this thread... been a couple of months since I last heard anything... I can't help get the feeling that if they were going to take me to court, they would have done so by now.

[a803sgo]

my wife just recieved a parking charge notice from g24 ltd for staying longer than is allowed in one of there carparks.

 

the notice shows the car entering and exiting the carpark with the times for each.

 

they want £95 for the extra time or £75 if she pays sooner, she doesn't work and cannot afford this.

 

should i send them the first template letter now or wait until they've sent her a letter?

 

thanks in advance for any help.

[baptiste]

It's up to you; ignore all of their correspondence if you want, nothing will happen. or, if you want to fight back (the more who fight back the quicker these bullies will be stopped), send a template letter.

 

But sending a letter will initiate more correspondence, and lots of lies from these people.

 

If you really want to fight back see here for a description of your rights and what you can do: FAQs - PPCs - fighting back. The forces are aligned

[crem]

Ignoring them completely is the most often recommended action more recently. The template letters, although well written, have proved to have little effect on getting the PPC to stop sending you junk mail.

[baptiste]

That is true, from my own experience they had no effect other than to encourage some quite amusing replies.

 

But if you want to fight back it probably helps to send the 'Cease and desist' letter, it would add a bit more to your harrassment claim to TS if you wanted to make one.

[barney_gumble]

Thanks for the link Baptiste, I will check it out. The only thing is, since this is aimed at my wife, who is RK, and not me, she is not interested in taking up the fight, how could I do it on her behalf?

[barney_gumble]

I have received another letter from the debt clecters. Here it is in slilghtly redacted form. It's quite funny when you underline the bits as I did.

 

TOP:

http://i30.tinypic.com/19ov0l.jpg

 

Notice:

5 months since the "offence" to this "final demand".

they refer to ECP as the client, this gets interesting later...

Amount due, this was raised to £95 from £70 when Brinx sent their 1st letter (over 6 weeks ago) they have not added any more to the total.

 

MID:

http://i25.tinypic.com/4grfir.jpg

Now, the debt clekters want me to visit ECP's website to pay the balance, including the £25 they added. The letter also included a form to pay in directly to ECP.

 

BOTTOM:

http://i28.tinypic.com/2z7hhet.jpg

 

Once again, a barely legible signature, and no printed name...

 

 

----------------

 

They will shortly by receiving:

 

At this juncture there is nothing further that I can add to my letter of __ June 2009 (copy enclosed). Any further correspondence from you in relation to this matter will result in a complaint to the authorities under the Protection From Harassment Act 1997.

Edited July 17, 2009 by barney_gumble

[sophiahapgood]

Hi folks first let me say this is a fantastic thread full of amazing info about these people, what a bunch of low lifes.

 

Me and my girlfriend overstayed a 2 hour @ a local Huddersfield retail park back in June and received a blah blah letter/form/invoice from someone called Civil Enforcement based in Liverpool. I found this thread and had a good long read and decided the best course of action was no response.

 

Anyhow naturally they have sent the reminder before legal action etc now which I expected. Do the experts recommend further ignores or a template letter as detailed above stating registered keeper etc, no admission, suggest they contact the driver etc?

 

thank you kindly.

[crem]

Completely ignoring continues to be the most recommended action. Sending letters to them only confirms 2 things,

 

1 they are successfully getting through to someone

2 you may be waivering if you feel it necessary to engage them

[a803sgo]

going to ignore them for now and see what happens.

 

thanks.

[barney_gumble]

OK, so I saw The Ch4 Dispatches programme on debt klektors earlier. Decided check on here and also companies house, and guess what? Brinx used to be called Euro Car Parks (Nottingham)...

 

This must surely put them in a dubious position if I chose to follow up doing what baptiste said!?

[juliusceasor]

Since posting way back in Jan and a few updates subsequently I can confirm the latest and to give readers a bit of encouragement perhaps..

 

Nothing until July now I have received the "passed to debt collection officer letter" and the "we will call in 7 days" all expired..

 

The only way they could have posted to this address is through obtaining details from DVLA.

 

Am I worried ? Should anyone else in a similar position who is ignoring the parking companies?

NO unless someone wants to explain otherwise?

 

The debt is only a debt when established by a court. The debt collectors' dressed up as legal investigators etc, are assuming the registered keeper and driver are the same. Not bothering to even try to establish if that is the case and simply trying to pursue the money by threats and intimidation from the registered keeper of the vehicle.

 

Ignore it. I have and am.

[MalMonroe]

I must say that although my disagreement with Excel parking seemed to drag on for months and I received letters from debt collectors (I owed them nothing as had paid and displayed correctly) requesting different sums of money depending on how they felt, and threatening bailiffs, it all eventually fizzled out to nothing.

I have to point out that I DID pay and display at the Excel car park, so did abide by their 'rules of parking'. It was only 60p but I didn't expect to be incorrectly harassed for so long!

[AndyCl]

Hi there,

 

I recently rented a flat, and I have a parking space that is designated to me. Some days ago I got clamped because my parking permit was not displayed. When the security guys came to release my car, I showed them my permit, saying that I'm entitled to park here, but they wouldn't have any of it. After quarreling for a while at the end I had to pay so as to get my car released. I wrote to the company explaining why I shouldn't be fined for parking in the space allocated to me and I'm waiting for a reply. If it's negative, do you think there are alternative ways of pursuing this, with some realistic hope of getting my money back? A small claims court maybe?

 

thanks for any reply and for all interesting conversation that preceded.