Central Ticketing Limited -

[Viqer Fell]

I attend a hospital regularly (every 1-2 months) for medical checkups in relation to my diabetes. The hospital charges via PnD machines for the Car parking. I have never once failed to pay the Pay and Display Charges in countless visits.

 

However, after having a bit of a nightmare morning and running very late I rushed out today for my appointments and parked up only to realise I had no money on me at all and no way of paying. I live 30 minutes from the hospital so didn't feel it was wiorthwhile going to get my wallet from home as it would waste the hospitals time massively and i may have my appointments cancelled as was already late

 

I returned to my car to find a very official looking ticket in a sealed yellow and black checkered outlined plastic wrapping. Similar to that style you'd expect if it had come from the police. It is from a company called Central Ticketing Limited in Birmingham.

 

Not wishing to be melodramatic but I'm living from day to day money wise at the moment and just about making sure the mortgage is paid so I physically cannot afford to pay the £35 let alont the £65 if not paid within 14 days nor the £105 if not paid within 7 days of the £65 falling due.

 

By appealing (they say that it will take up to 28 days on the ticket) surely they'll just not only reject my appeal being the same company that is demanding my money but then immediately demand the £105 and take me to court.

 

My anger at this is not that I simply don't think people should pay for parking (although paying for hospital parking is another damned matter imho) it's that I have been penalised for what seems an exhorbitant amount of money compared to the £1.80 parking fee it should have been for the time i was there and that if not paid within a very short amount of time it escalates alarmingly especially when I have paid repeatedly for every single other visit and this was a one off.

 

Can anyone offer any advice as to what I should do as I'm scared not to pay them but I simply have no means to pay them either. I just about afford to pay the bills and get to work. as it is.

 

There are multiple small car parks at the hospital and there was a large sign situated outside of the disabled spots ((separate car park area) I haven't been back to read the sign but I'm guessing it covers everythign such as park here and we own your vehicle, your soul and first born) but where I parked simply said Visitor Car Park Pay and Display with no conditions on it although the grey back of the larger sign can be seen from where I parked.

[dpick]

Hi I am not an expert in this (they will be along later) but this is a [problem] they at most have a civil contract with you for by your parking there. They can only claim damages they have lost with you not paying IE £1.80. I would ignore this as entering into any communication will only make them more aggressive. You will get 4 or 5 letters each more threatening than the last then they will go away.

 

 

I had a problem taking my B in law to hospital for treatment (cars parked on double yellow).

I could not get my car to the drop off point for his entrance so had to park in car park go and get a wheel chair and then push him into hospital for treatment (no easy task he weights 18 stone) When I asked security about these cars I was told not public property the police would not be able to do anything. So I believe the whole thing a [problem].

 

 

 

 

dpick

[Al27]

Don't worry!

 

• do not pay

• do not contact them

• ignore their letters, no matter how threatening

• they will give up and go away after 4 or 5

• they will not take you to court

 

As you didn't pay the £1 or whatever, that's all they're entitled to. Private companies cannot 'fine' you - they can only recoup their actual losses ie. the cost of a P&D ticket.

 

By all means send them a pound coin, but there's no point as they'll just keep on pestering you about the £105. The whole thing is a [problem], so just ignore them completely.

 

 

By appealing (they say that it will take up to 28 days on the ticket) surely they'll just not only reject my appeal being the same company that is demanding my money but then immediately demand the £105 and take me to court.

 

That's correct, apart from the court bit. No chance of that (of course they'll want you to think that they will)

[sameagle]

You will receive many suggestions of help from the excellent advisors on this site, and you are, of course, free to make up your own mind.

 

Either way, you are in a very powerful position, 'cos you haven't done anything wrong - well, avoiding paying in the first place is a bit naughty, but you didn't wilfully set out to do that, did you?

 

I would ignore their requests if it were me, but if you feel that you want to square it with them, by giving them what they are entitled to, then why not write back to them stating that:-

 

You will accept only ONE further letter from them; you are happy to EITHER pay them what they are LEGALLY entitled to, [£1.00 or £1.50 etc], or you are willing to attend court and let the court decide.

 

So, either £1.00, or court papers - they decide!

 

Make it clear that no other correspondence from them will be entertained.

 

Bet that pound to a pinch of Chinese excretement, that you don't go to court!!

 

That's my two pennorth

 

Sam the Eagle

[Viqer Fell]

Cheers guys, sort of puts me a little more at ease, was panicking royally about this.

 

The ticket says that repeat offenders will be clamped and will be liable to "higher penalty charges". Whilst I have no intention of ever repeating the incident I assume that they cannot clamp me for simply ignoring this one and returning in future to the same site but paying?

 

I only ask as I'll be back at the hospital soon and i depend on my car daily. It would cost me my livelihood to lose access to it.

[crem]

 

The ticket says that repeat offenders will be clamped and will be liable to "higher penalty charges". Whilst I have no intention of ever repeating the incident I assume that they cannot clamp me for simply ignoring this one and returning in future to the same site but paying?

 

My understanding about clamping (which I admit isn't great) is that clamping can only take place to remedy a current contravention, not any previous act in dispute.

 

For your peace of mind also, I would draw your attention to their use of the phrase "higher PENALTY charges". No private company can charge an individual a penalty so from that you can rest asured they are going no where near a court with their paperwork.

[Viqer Fell]

Thank you crem and again thanks to everyone else. I think I'm going to ignore the company and see what happens. It not like I can pay them anyways unless they suddenly were going to accept the £1.80 an from what I've read on these forums there's little chance of receving a reasonable response from the company in question

 

cheers guys

 

I'll sleep a lot easier now

[Al27]

The ticket says that repeat offenders will be clamped and will be liable to "higher penalty charges

 

First one would be illegal and the second would just mean receiving a worthless piece of paper.

[Viqer Fell]

Ha it seems the more I read on here the more and more these guys seem like absolute scheisters that should be run out of town with pitchforks and burning torches a la 1860's justice

[Spunkymonkey]

Would strongly suggest you don't contact them, and certainly don't offer them the "due" parking fee.

 

In order to write to you, they will have to get your details from DVLA. But DVLA only hold the deatils of the Registered Keeper - they have no way at all of knowing who was using the car.

 

If CTL had any claim at all it would be against whoever was driving, not the person registered with DVLA. For instance, I may have borrowed your car today - my own insurance covers me and I had to get to hospital in a hurry so you helped me out

 

If you send them anything before they've contacted you as the keeper, and certainly if you offer them any sort of payment, then they might try to use that as evidence that you were driving. If I had borrowed your car, it's hardly likely that you'd accept the keys and a parking ticket back from me, is it?

[scaniaman]

CTL. See posts under "Help-Parking Charge from PPC in Scotland. Follow advice by A127, and under no circumstances admit who was driving car on that day.

[Taffchap]

I went shopping to Tesco in Ludlow on 07/11 and paid 50p to park in their car park. It was 11.49 and I did my shopping in Tesco and some other shops. I returned at 13.53 to find the dreaded yellow attachment to my car. My ticket had been placed on the dash but the high winds that day must have flipped it over via the air vent for the windscreen. The 'ticket' stated the reason as 'No Ticket' and was timed at 13.51. While examining this 'parking fine' the 'warden' approached and when I showed him the ticket which he had stated I didn't have, he informed me that it had expired by 2 minutes and I was 'fined' £70 but if I paid within two weeks it would be reduced to £40! As the amount seemed punitive and his attitude very tentative, I smelled a rat and luckily have found this website and all your comments - thank you. I am extremely disappointed with Tesco for employing these b.......ds and am seriously considering never using them again. As for their 'fine' they can stick this 'ticket' where the sun doesn't shine. By the way, my copy of the 'Adminstration of Justice Act 1970' doesn't seem to make any references to anything they can do to me, but is quite heavy on what they cannot do to harrass me into paying-up!!

[crem]

Well done Taffchap fr finding CAG before ever considering paying them.

 

Remember the advise though;

No contact whatsoever with them no matter what rubbish they (or their pet DCA and solicitor) send you.

[Al27]

Write to Tesco and ask them under what legal grounds they think they can fine you.

[phil8417]

Hi I received a ticket from Central Ticketing at Tescos in Stoke on Trent as I assumed the car park was free on a sunday, most of the car park is except for about 30 spaces as I now know. my stupidity i know.

 

Legally do they have a leg to stand on if i refuse to pay as I begrudge paying a company £40 when i was actually in tesco for 10 minutes just before they shut on a sunday afternoon.

 

Any advice is appreciated

 

Thanks

[kiptower]

its NOT A PARKING TICKET

 

its a [problem] INVOICE

 

have a read on the many threads on Private Parking Companies

 

3 rules for you

 

1) IGNORE

 

2) IGNORE

 

3) GOTO 1

[Taffchap]

Hi all, Just an update on my story above. I duly received a letter from Central Parking dated 10/12/09 stating 'Reason for Issue: No Ticket' and 'Time of Issue: 1:51pm' - remember I did have a ticket which expired at 1:49. It stated that the charge may now increase to £135 plus admin costs. I then received a letter from Roxburghe DCA dated 21/01/10 stating that £167 is now due. Lastly, a letter from Graham White, Solicitors, threatening County Court action with total additional costs of £207.25. Should I carry on ignoring this stuff or should I now seek legal advice? Thanks Taffchap.

[Michael Browne]

Lastly, a letter from Graham White, Solicitors, threatening County Court action with total additional costs of £207.25. Should I carry on ignoring this stuff or should I now seek legal advice?

The key word here is 'threatening', the only time you'll need further legal advice is when they actually issue a claim, which has a 0.00001% of ever happening. Continue to ignore.

[Al27]

Ignore them.

 

2 letters from Graham White is the norm.

[Viqer Fell]

Just a quick update as this company seems to be causing other people issues.

 

I received a good 4-5 letters from various entities telling me that they had kindly doubled the "fine" each time to cover their legal costs and admin costs etc and that I would soon be in court with the judge no doubt awarding them all the fines and some extra costs.

 

Happily after completely ignoring every single one they haven't been in touch since and I havent heard from them in many months now.

 

Treat the scumbags with the contempt they deserve and simply ignore their BS attempts to extort money from you.

[phil8417]

I've just received my letter from Graham White solicitors demanding £207.25 and threatening what will happen. I still haven't replied and have no intention of doing so.

 

I had the debt collection letter around 4 weeks ago.

 

Hopefully they should get bored with me soon

[hanley duck]

 

Hopefully they should get bored with me soon

 

One more letter and they will.

[Taffchap]

Just to finish off this story, I wrote to Sir Terry Leahy, the Chief Executive of Tesco, and had a nice personal reply saying the action had been stopped and he added an apology. He didn't say anything about their use of Central Ticketing though!

[treeml]

have just read all the comments relating to central ticketing......my daughter was parked up in a disabled bay y.day and had her clock set correctly, the clock was set at 12.30pm which meant she had until 3.30pm to return to her car, the ticket was issued at 1.13pm stating reason 0022, to which i dont know what this is, the fine is for £100.. but if paid within 14 days it goes down to £65.00, i have looked on their website on their is nothing on there so say what their codes are, my daughter is only 19yrs old and is absolutly gutted over this ticket as she does not have that kind of money.....

[lamma]

and she doesn't need to spend it even if she had it. have a good read around on here about PPC [problematic].