Civil Enforcement Ltd/Newlyn - Advice appreciated

[physioneil]

Hi all, I wonder if anyone could help advise me on what to do next?

 

I received a PCN from Civil Enforcement Ltd for overstaying in a co op supermarket car park by about 20 mins. They wanted £90 reduced to £45 if paid within 2 weeks. I was most surprised to receive any penalty as I had parked on and off in the same car park over the past 10 years and even left my car in it overnight! I obviously did not see their signs.

 

I looked up CEL on google, only to find this site. I browsed through the fantastic wealth of information and made the decision not to pay their spurious penalty. I feels as though I've become a little bogged down by all the information available here. Anyway I did not write back to them and about a month later I received another demand, this time for £90. Again I did not pay their penalty and did not respond.

 

I did not hear anything for 3 months, but have just received a letter from Newlyn (acting on behalf of CEL) demanding £165! With a big DO NOT IGNORE THIS LETTER tag, which also states "further action may be taken at considerable cost to you if the debt is not cleared". I have made a decision not to pay and really want to stick to my guns , but am unsure of the potential consequences.

 

I guess my questions are, how worried should I be that this is going to end up costing me a packet or end up in court or CCJ's?

 

Am I to expect more demands? Are Newlyn likely to turn up at my house demanding money or possessions of mine?

 

And has anyone else been hassled by these jokers, I'd like to feel i'm not alone.

 

Any advice appreciated!

[johno1066]

I'd love to know how these considerable costs will accrue, their £165 is a clear sign of using undue influence as per the consumer regs below. Make a complaint to Trading standards immediately. In the absence of a Court order they can bleat as much as they like, if they turn up to your house then you can ask them to leave immediately, do not engage them in conversation, If they do not leave when asked, they are trespassing; if they say they have a warrant or a court order phone the Police as they are committing fraud by misrepresentation. Have a voice recorder handy. If they keep sending you demands then

 

Notwithstanding:

 

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2008/uksi_20081277_en_2#pt2-l1g5

 

Misleading actions

 

5.—(1) A commercial practice is a misleading action if it satisfies the conditions in either paragraph (2) or paragraph (3).

(2) A commercial practice satisfies the conditions of this paragraph—

(a) if it contains false information and is therefore untruthful in relation to any of the matters in paragraph (4) or if it or its overall presentation in any way deceives or is likely to deceive the average consumer in relation to any of the matters in that paragraph, even if the information is factually correct; and

(b) it causes or is likely to cause the average consumer to take a transactional decision he would not have taken otherwise.

(3) A commercial practice satisfies the conditions of this paragraph if—

(a) it concerns any marketing of a product (including comparative advertising) which creates confusion with any products, trade marks, trade names or other distinguishing marks of a competitor; or

(b) it concerns any failure by a trader to comply with a commitment contained in a code of conduct which the trader has undertaken to comply with, if—

(i) the trader indicates in a commercial practice that he is bound by that code of conduct, and

(ii) the commitment is firm and capable of being verified and is not aspirational,

and it causes or is likely to cause the average consumer to take a transactional decision he would not have taken otherwise, taking account of its factual context and of all its features and circumstances.

(4) The matters referred to in paragraph (2)(a) are—

(a) the existence or nature of the product;

(b) the main characteristics of the product (as defined in paragraph 5);

© the extent of the trader’s commitments;

(d) the motives for the commercial practice;

(e) the nature of the sales process;

(f) any statement or symbol relating to direct or indirect sponsorship or approval of the trader or the product;

(g) the price or the manner in which the price is calculated;

(h) the existence of a specific price advantage;

(i) the need for a service, part, replacement or repair;

(j) the nature, attributes and rights of the trader (as defined in paragraph 6);

(k) the consumer’s rights or the risks he may face.

(5) In paragraph (4)(b), the “main characteristics of the product” include—

(a) availability of the product;

(b) benefits of the product;

© risks of the product;

(d) execution of the product;

(e) composition of the product;

(f) accessories of the product;

(g) after-sale customer assistance concerning the product;

(h) the handling of complaints about the product;

(i) the method and date of manufacture of the product;

(j) the method and date of provision of the product;

(k) delivery of the product;

(l) fitness for purpose of the product;

(m) usage of the product;

(n) quantity of the product;

(o) specification of the product;

(p) geographical or commercial origin of the product;

(q) results to be expected from use of the product; and

® results and material features of tests or checks carried out on the product.

(6) In paragraph (4)(j), the “nature, attributes and rights” as far as concern the trader include the trader’s—

(a) identity;

(b) assets;

© qualifications;

(d) status;

(e) approval;

(f) affiliations or connections;

(g) ownership of industrial, commercial or intellectual property rights; and

(h) awards and distinctions.

(7) In paragraph (4)(k) “consumer’s rights” include rights the consumer may have under Part 5A of the Sale of Goods Act 1979(5) or Part 1B of the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982(6).

 

(2) In determining whether a commercial practice uses harassment, coercion or undue influence account shall be taken of—

(a) its timing, location, nature or persistence;

(b) the use of threatening or abusive language or behaviour;

© the exploitation by the trader of any specific misfortune or circumstance of such gravity as to impair the consumer’s judgment, of which the trader is aware, to influence the consumer’s decision with regard to the product;

(d) any onerous or disproportionate non-contractual barrier imposed by the trader where a consumer wishes to exercise rights under the contract, including rights to terminate a contract or to switch to another product or another trader; and

(e) any threat to take any action which cannot legally be taken.

(3) In this regulation—

(a) “coercion” includes the use of physical force; and

(b) “undue influence” means exploiting a position of power in relation to the consumer so as to apply pressure, even without using or threatening to use physical force, in a way which significantly limits the consumer’s ability to make an informed decision.

Edited December 2, 2008 by johno1066

[angela-27]

hi neil,

 

like you i have also been caught by CEL. i received my first letter from newlyn last week, asking for a ridiculous amount of money. i'm not paying. i believe that according to OFT guidelines, if you write to a debt collection agency saying the debt is in dispute, they are obligated to cease correspondence, and i am going to write a letter to this effect to them (in a couple of weeks when i can be bothered!)

 

let me know what happens, we're in the same boat

[snufes]

Hi

 

I am also subject to the same company and for parking in co op!

 

I am currently ignoring, like you will send letter when bothered. I am not paying either, but would be interested in how you both fair.

 

Thanks for all the advice!

[lamma]

near the end now, A couple more letters and they will move on.

[Forever Forest]

You know what, I really enjoyed my battle with CEL and Newlyn. After 8 months of firing off letters to each other (first CEL, then Newlyn), I wrote to them both telling them to take me to court as this was the only way to solve the dispute (a dispute I was enjoying if I'm honest). I sent the letters last August and have heard bo didly since!

 

I'm just contemplating parking in the car park again just so I can enjoy the 'battle' all over again. I used to love it when I'd get in from work and there was a letter from one of them (you just know by the envelope don't you???!!) The withdrawal is killing me!!! LOL

[crem]

*Scripts a threatening letter to Forever Forest to help relieve his "cold turkey" symptoms*

[lamma]

IF you get another invoice (and who knows, lightening does strike twice), when CEL send their first piece of rubbish through the post forward it unopened to Newlyn. When Newlyn write forward it unopened to CEL. ad infinitum. Don't hand write the redirection on the envelopes, print sticky labels All we need is a sticky that lists the well known DCA/PPC connections and lots of mail could be flying around Idea ? ? ?

[cupcake12345]

Hi I need some urgent help.

 

I recieved a parking invoice from Civil Enforcement Ltd for parking in a private car park at 8pm a month after the incident.

 

Anyway after reading the advice on this forum. I dicided to ignore all their correspondance. However I have just received anothor letter headed 'noice prior to county court proceedings' if payment of £195 not received in 14 days. Should I now write back or carry on ignoring in hopes that they will go away??

 

If I should write back, please can someone draft a template.

[pin1onu]

Hi I need some urgent help.

 

I recieved a parking invoice from Civil Enforcement Ltd for parking in a private car park at 8pm a month after the incident.

 

Anyway after reading the advice on this forum. I dicided to ignore all their correspondance. However I have just received anothor letter headed 'noice prior to county court proceedings' if payment of £195 not received in 14 days. Should I now write back or carry on ignoring in hopes that they will go away??

 

If I should write back, please can someone draft a template.

This is par for the course. They are just trying to intimidate. Carry on ignoring.

[DDWales]

Hi I need some urgent help.

 

I recieved a parking invoice from Civil Enforcement Ltd for parking in a private car park at 8pm a month after the incident.

 

Anyway after reading the advice on this forum. I dicided to ignore all their correspondance. However I have just received anothor letter headed 'noice prior to county court proceedings' if payment of £195 not received in 14 days. Should I now write back or carry on ignoring in hopes that they will go away??

 

If I should write back, please can someone draft a template.

 

Do not worry. This is standard scare tactics to get you to pay. Ignore anything short of real court papers. Keep us informed

[the_freedom_trail]

pin1onu and DDWales are both spot on - just another empty threat in the hope that you might cough up. Keep on ignoring and keep the letters in the draw.

 

TFT

[cabbagebike]

It looks like this thread is covering the next stages of what others from here are experiencing:-

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/parking-traffic-offences/97586-civil-enforcement-ltd-again-36.html

 

Have a look, physioneil, and see if it helps your case

 

The "ignore" method is the way to go on there but this one's mentioning correspondence.

[letshelp]

I think I need to make a standard reply stamp that goes something like:-

 

Ignore all letters from PPC's

Then again in larger format:-

 

Despite the considerable advice contained on this forum to ignore these [problem] invoices, some people are missing the message.

regards

[cabin_man]

Hi all,

 

Just had the unpleasant experience of speaking to Newlyn and getting bogged down by this ridiculous crap after we got a surprise letter out of nowhere asking for £165!! Needless to say our story is similar to the others here - even down to it being a co-op carpark and being 14 minutes over the 2 hours!

 

Was feeling quite annoying about it but am now feeling considerably better having found and read this forum - thank you for your help, your cheered me up immensely. Looking forward to using the template guidance tonight to write a short and sweet letter to Newlyn!

 

Thanks again

 

Cabin_Man

[letshelp]

Cabin Man,

Surely you will better just ignoring these clowns?

regards

[cabin_man]

you, may be right. I haven't sent the letter yet, might just ignore them as you suggest.

 

Rather luckily (in some ways) we didn't actually receive the first three letters sent by CEL as they were using an old address and it took newlyn two letters before we even heard anything about so I suppose you could say that we are quite a way down the ignore route already!!

 

We only found out on Tuesday about the so called offence which happened back in Feb. Maybe the only time to respond is if some real court papers show up, which by all accounts on here seems to be a rare occurrence.

 

To make this whole thing more comical, my wife did actually something in the co-op AND was 8 1/2 months pregnant at the time AND it was snowing heavily that day! So much for the co-op being ethical.

 

cheers

Edited April 23, 2009 by cabin_man
hit the wrong button!

[letshelp]

Maybe the only time to respond is if some real court papers show up, which by all accounts on here seems to be a rare occurrence.

Absolutely correct, treat everything else as what it is, junk mail.

regards