PCN appeal rejected after nicey-nicey letter

[ph0u203d]

Hello all.

 

Firstly let me apologise for having to write this thread in the first place; I only found this forum a day or so after having written to PCN (NW) Ltd to appeal against a PCN they issued against my car 2 weeks ago. I am annoyed with myself for doing this as it means they now have my address & that I've admitted to the alleged contravention.

 

I will briefly outline the situation, then I would be very grateful if any one could offer advice as to the best course of action.

 

We went to see a film at the cinema, the car park was packed full & so, with nowhere else to park, we parked on a paved area towards the rear of the car park. Upon returning to our car, the PCN was on the windscreen. Ironically, we had parked right next to the PCN company's sign that does indeed state you cannot park outside a designated bay.

 

Perhaps nievely, I penned the following letter in the hope that they would drop the issue...

 

Dear PCN (NW) Ltd.,

 

In relation to PCN #####, which was issued against my vehicle on 2nd July 2008, I wish to appeal against your decision to levy a charge for parking ‘outside the designated space’. On the evening in question, I was a customer at the St Helens Cineworld cinema. Upon arriving at the car park, it was evident that there were no parking spaces available other than those designated for disabled customers. Not wishing to prevent such customers from using these spaces, I decided to park on one of the block paved areas towards the rear of the car park. Can I stress that at that moment there were no other available spaces to park in the car park. I do not consider that the manner in which I parked led to any vehicles being obstructed, nor was it dangerous. Therefore, given that the car park was at maximum capacity at the time, I feel that some discretion should have been used by the parking attendant, and hence I am asking that you retract the PCN.

 

I am a regular customer at various establishments within the leisure complex that is served by the car park. For example, I frequently visit the Cineworld cinema and have dined numerous times at the Pizza Hut restaurant. I am sure you can understand that repeat custom is a very important source of income for such businesses. In the current financial climate, it is not always easy to find the money required to fund non-essential activities, and as such these businesses should place extra value on the custom they receive. Therefore, I consider it unacceptable that you should levy a fine for going out of my way to give my custom to a business on the leisure complex. This certainly does not make me feel like a valued customer. Should you decide not to retract the PCN in this instance, I shall have to strongly consider whether to provide my custom to businesses on the leisure complex again.

 

I look forward to learning of your decision on my appeal against this particular PCN.

 

OK, a bit embarrasing I know! Today I received the following letter from PCN (NW) Ltd. (I've also scanned the original ticket)...

 

img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/ph0u203d/correspondence.jpg

 

Can any one suggest the best thing to do next?

 

Thanks in advance to any one who reads &/or replies to my thread.

[lamma]

can't display that link. can you fix it ? that would help greatly. most PPCs sink themselves with their paperwork - they have to if the paperwork was honest and truthful and covered all the facts then no one would pay !

[ph0u203d]

Sorry about the link, try now...

 

img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/ph0u203d/Correspondence.jpg

[ph0u203d]

Yep, the link works now...

[lamma]

It is NOT a PCN. It is just another invoice from a PPC. Check the stickies.

 

and don't pay them a penny

[ph0u203d]

So I should reply using one of the template letters, rather than ignore their recent correspondence?

 

I really wish I hadn't appealed in the first place, but you live & learn!

 

As an aside, there are still some marks on my windscreen from where the PCN was stuck on. Is there value in stating that at no point did I consent to anything being affixed to my car & asking for damages to cover the cost of removing the marks, or is this complicating things?

 

Thanks for your help.

[Barnsley Boy]

As you say, shame about the "appeal". Moving on, the best thing really is to ignore them. When you eventually get the letter from the "debt collection agency" [usually the PPC just using different stationery] then you could maybe use the template letter for that, although others would advise to ignore that too, in fact everything short of actual court papers.

[ph0u203d]

OK, I'll ignore the letter & see what happens.

 

Thanks again.

[lamma]

what will happen is

1) You will get more letters, each more outrageous than the last.

2) you keep ignoring them

3) the PPC gets tired of wasting its money and stops sending you letters.

[ph0u203d]

I shall await #1, take great pleasure in doing #2 & can't wait for #3!

 

Thanks again everyone.

[Al27]

This is a powerless private company. There is no 'appeals process'. What private company would forfeit the chance to make a profit by accepting 'appeals'?

 

It's a [problem].

 

• do not pay

• do not contact them

• ignore any letters your receive, no matter how threatening

• they will go away after 5 or 6 letters

• ignore lies about CCJs or court costs in the letters. They are fabrications designed to scare you into coughing up.

[ph0u203d]

Just a quick update & request for advice on the best course of action...

 

Having ignored PCN(NW) Ltd's requests for payment of the PCN, this 'Notice to Owner' arrived today...

 

 

 

My partner is quite concerned by the threat of legal action & the possibility of this issue adversely affecting our credit rating.

 

Does anyone have any experience of dealing with PCN(NW) Ltd? Have they been known to take matters to court?

 

Any general advice on the best course of action would be very much appreciated.

 

Thanks.

[lamma]

they have zero chance - zip, none.

have a look at their paperwork and their website.

if they pitched up at court even a sleepy judge would de-nad them.

 

they are committing offenses - you have committed none.

[nero12]

they have zero chance - zip, none.

have a look at their paperwork and their website.

if they pitched up at court even a sleepy judge would de-nad them.

 

they are committing offenses - you have committed none.

They missed something on the 'representations'

 

It should read

 

I am not liable to pay the parking ticket (pcn) because.

 

Pcn (nw) ltd are grasping gits. The above ticket is bollox and should be treated as such, get on with your life and stop worrying.

[ph0u203d]

OK, thanks for you advice. I will ignore the 'notice to owner'.

 

So is the most likely scenario that they now pass this to a 'debt recovery agent', in which case we state that the debt remains in dispute, & refer them back to the PCN company?

 

I know this assumes that it will go to court, but am I correct in saying that a CCJ will only be issued if it goes to court, they turn up & the judge finds in their favour?

 

Thanks again.

[Al27]

It will not go to court because their paperwork commits a number of offences and the judge will tear them to threads.

 

They will probably pass this to a debt collector though, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was the same company using differently headed paper.

 

Post up your debt collection letter and we'll see what the best thing to do is. Usually it's best to completely ignore, but we'll see.