Parking at McDonalds

[lamma]

that idea may have legs....

[Barnsley Boy]

In defence of Bernie's template letters they do go down this route. The civil procedure rules requires that parties should do their best to crystalise a dispute prior to court action. Thus, when the defendant has requested evidence to support the claimant's case, and the claimant duly ignores until such time as court papers are issued, this in itself would constitute grounds for having the claim struck out, or at the very least, costs not being awarded.

 

FROM BERNIE's TEMPLATE LETTERS

 

Dear Sirs,

 

Re: Your letter dated [dd/mmmm/yyyy] Reference[#]

 

I refer to previous correspondence.

 

[#]

 

Unless you provide evidence to substantiate your claim against me I shall be unable to assist you further in this matter and I restate my denial of this claim.

 

Yours faithfully

 

PRACTICE DIRECTION – PROTOCOLS -

[Wop/ag]

Hi

Latest chapter in this saga.

Have today received a letter from Elite Collections International Ltd. informing me that they have been instructed by UKPC to commence formal debt recovery proceedings against me for the outstanding amount of £135.

Should they not receive payment within the next 5 days a further charge of £ 25.00 will be added. They then invite me to pay on line to avoid the matter unnecessarily escalating further.

Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks

[PPC Buster]

Write back and say the matter is in dispute and refer back to UKPC.

[Wop/ag]

Thanks PPC Buster, Am in process of doing so.

[pin1onu]

Thanks PPC Buster, Am in process of doing so.

You should also send a copy of your letter to the DCA to UKPC and also a letter asking them what they were doing referring your case to debt collector while the debt is be disputed which is a violation of the OFT guidelines.

[burgerhater]

My son had a ticket in mcdonalds car park in Truro last year around october. He ignored it but now he's had a letter from 'Ross & Robert legal investigations dept' saying he owes £85 to GT parking Ltd. If he doesnt pay in 7 days they are sending baillifs round. If we contact them they will add an admin fee!!!. They obviously have his details from DVLA. How do we tell them to go rotate?

[lamma]

was there a judgement in court ? if not (and I suspect not due to the amount) then the letter is complete rubbish and fraudulent.

please please (and I mean PLEASE) scan or photograph that letter, scrub out the personal details and post it up here. If your precis is accurate then you can have these jokers.

Fraud Act 2006 section 2 plus probably several others.

[Conniff]

Fraud Act 2006 section 2 plus probably several others.

 

They certainly have, and all clauses of sec 2 at that.

[pin1onu]

They certainly have, and all clauses of sec 2 at that.

Not to mention S40 AJA. What a pack of numpties.

[Tigger Tale]

Wouldn't it be a GOOD idea for you (or a contributor) to name and list all the PPC's who are threatening illegally? Bernie the Bolt opr Pete must know who they are ! We could be the "Watchdog" of the "penalty chasers." What say you, and others.

 

Tigger Tale

[vic1]

Hi

I apologise for adding on to this thread but I can work out how to start a new post.

I could really do with some advice re. a parking charge notice I have received. I know there is a lot of advice on this forum and I have gone through a fair bit but its late and I am stuck. I overstayed in a Manchester Euro car Park by about half an hour. It was my fault (well, in part, though I was stuck in the hairdressers for around 4 hours) but I was shocked to see the charge of £70, rising to £90 in 7 days. I (like many people) don't have that amount of available money (it sickens me to hand that over for seemingly nothing). I would be prepared to pay a lower charge - I have used the car park before but never realised that is the charge for overstaying. I got the charge 4 days ago and have spent those days trying to find ways of making the money up. It's time consuming ! Do I pay up and try to forget about it, write to them and state I am not prepared to pay in full, or ignore it?? I do appreciate the advice has probably been given somewhere but I really could do with a pointer in the right direction. I am fed up with it!

Advice really appreciated.

Thank you:???:

[havinastella]

Welcome Vic,

 

to start your own thread, scroll down the main page to the bottom and start new thread is there!

 

I'd start by reading this

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/parking-traffic-offences/65341-private-parking-companies-charges.html

[marc_30m]

Vic

 

Take 2 seconds to read any of the private parking threads and you'll realise they have nor right to charge you a penny! Either ignore them or write one letter from the stickys at the begining of the forum, usually starting with - prove who was driving.

 

Personally I'd just ignore the **** - i did and they went away!

[Barnsley Boy]

vic1,

 

It is Euro Car Parks - no worries. They are one of the big players, unlike some of the small fry [did I mention CPS], they just play the percentage game. If it goes like mine did you can cheerfully ignore, you will get 2 to 3 reminders, followed by 3 increasingly strident letters from a debt collection agency [lots and lots of red ink] - then nothing. The PPC will simply move on to easier game. We have not heard of a single case of Euro Car Parks taking anyone to court. With the recent bloody noses received by Excel and CPS, the prospect of any of the big players doing such a thing looks increasingly remote.

 

Certainly ignore in the first instance. When you start getting letters from the debt collection agency, you may consider writing to them, denying the debt. This comes in handy should you wish to make subsequent complaints to OFT and Trading Standards.

[vic1]

Ok will try ignoring at first then see what happens! Scary !

Will keep you posted.

Thanks for the advice.

[vic1]

Hi

Me again. Could it affect my credit rating if I ignore the fine???

[pin1onu]

Hi

Me again. Could it affect my credit rating if I ignore the fine???

No.

 

As this is a civil matter it must be heard in the county court. This is extremely unlikely to occur.

 

If they were to take you to court and If they were to win then you would have a CCJ entered against you. The credit industry only becomes interested if you fail to pay the amount ordered. If you did fail to pay, the award against you will be marked as unsatisfied and they can seek to get the order enforced which can include the use of bailiffs..

 

However you've got to get to court first and thats fairly rare with most of these companies.

Edited June 2, 2008 by pin1onu

[Wop/ag]

Latest in the ongoing saga.

Have received further letter from Elite Collections after telling them to refer the matter back to their client as it was in dispute. This letter encloses photographic evidence and informs me that failure to pay the outstanding amount 0f £135 within seven working days will result in legal action being taken against me.

 

I would appreciate any comments and advice

[crem]

from the stickys section at the top from Bernie the Bolt

 

 

If you receive a letter from debt collectors:

 

Dear Sirs,

 

Re: Your letter dated [dd/mmmm/yyyy] Reference[#]

 

This alleged debt is in dispute. I have written to your principal on a number of occasions and they have failed to substantiate their claim.

 

In the circumstances please refer this matter back to your client.

 

Any further correspondence from you in relation to this matter may result in a complaint to the authorities under the Protection From Harassment Act 1997.

 

Yours faithfully

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/parking-traffic-offences/119802-private-parking-tickets-template.html

 

[Wop/ag]

Thanks crem. Have already sent identical letter and the letter I received today is a response to that letter.I assume that by enclosing photographic evidence they think they are substantiating their claim.

[lamma]

Not quite, they think that you will think that they are substantiating their claim.

 

but you know better than that..

[Conniff]

Thanks crem. Have already sent identical letter and the letter I received today is a response to that letter.I assume that by enclosing photographic evidence they think they are substantiating their claim.

 

By sending 'photographic evidence', all they are confirming is that you took the family out for a meal which I don't think you have denied.

 

A photo does not give any proof that you overstayed, and unless there are landmarks etc in the photo as well, it don't even prove that the photo was even taken in the carpark.

[Wop/ag]

Hi Lamma & Conniff.

Unfortuneately the photographic evidence also shows times of arrival and departure. I have never denied being there but did not see the signs and therefore could not have agreed to their terms and conditions.

I intend writing to the Debt Collector again telling him that the matter is still in dispute and to refer it back to his client.

[Conniff]

Well if you didn't see the signs then they are not prominent enough, and anyway, why would anyone be looking for those type of signs when they go for a big mac with fries.

 

If they are worried about non customer parking, they should tell you to keep the receipt and that will be all you need to avoid a ticket however long you stay.

 

P.S.

 

photographic evidence also shows times of arrival and departure

 

Claimed time of arrival and departure.

Edited June 9, 2008 by Conniff
added info