Euro Car Park Fine

[Diny]

My elderly father-in-law received a car parking ticket for parking in a disabled parking bay at a local hospital. He displayed his disabled permit but returned to find he had a ticket stating that the bay was 'marked off' and that he had moved traffic cones restricting use of the disabled bay. My father in law is 86 with heart problems and could not possibly move these cones himself - somebody before him may have moved them but not him. He has written to Euro car parks to appeal against the ticket, including a s.a.e but has not had a reply. The 3 week appeal time limit runs out tomorrow and he is worried sick as he cannot afford the increased fine for non-payment within the time limit. Can anybody tell me whether Euro car parks are entitled to increase the fine whilst an appeal is outstanding and, if they reject it, whether he can appeal against the rejection? Grateful for any advice and help, both he and my mother in law are worried sick about paying the fine and although i would like to pay it for them, i also want to fight it for them as i think it is so out of order.

[lamma]

do not fight them. just ignore them. have a read on here. Its not a 'fine' its a mail [problem]. All Excel paperwork we have seen on here is unlawful, some of it illegal. Again, have a read on here.

[Al27]

It's not a fine, it's an unenforceable invoice.

 

There is no appeals process - it's a private company who will never turn down profit. No time limit, but expect a template 'appeal rejected' letter soon.

 

• do not pay

• do not contact them again

• ignore their threatening letters

• they won't take you to court

• they will give up and go away

• it's a [problem]. Don't fall for it

[havinastella]

The only letter I would be be writing would be to the local press, MP and hospital. DO NOT give these idiots anything.

 

 

Jogs

[DDWales]

Hi there. Please heed the above advice. Be prepared for some nonsense letters from thier DCA (ethier Brinx or Control Account) though-approx 3/4. They will give up after that

[WelshMam2009]

What concerns me the most is that this elderly gentleman is potentially going to be intimidated by these bullies.

[Al27]

That's the [problem].

 

I appreciate he's elderly, but just because he's 86 doesn't mean he can't learn about the con and ignore the rubbish he receives surely?

[Northern_Lass]

Diny, just a suggestion but to aleviate any worry on your dad, tell him you'll deal with it and any letters he gets to pass to you. You have got the support of people on here who know what they are talking about and you will be taking the worry off your dad. There will be more letters to come as you have already appealed and they think you are worried so they bully you into paying. Dont write any more to them, you're trying to appeal to the very people who want to take your money and make a profit! What do you think will be the outcome of another appeal..?!

[Northern_Lass]

Oh and also, Jogs is right - a letter to the local press would go down a treat!

[WelshMam2009]

That's the [problem].

 

I appreciate he's elderly, but just because he's 86 doesn't mean he can't learn about the con and ignore the rubbish he receives surely?

 

I wasn't suggesting that the gentleman didn't. However, we are talking about a different generation here who do worry and become distressed about the letters they receive.

 

If it's clear who they (the letters) are from then I would suggest that they are left unopened and passed to Diny.

[Al27]

However, we are talking about a different generation here who do worry and become distressed about the letters they receive.

 

I know what you mean, but equally I can think of plenty of elderly people who would tell them where to stick their letters, regardless of age.

 

Obviously you know the gentlemen, but I'm just saying not all such people are automatically frightened due to age.

[WelshMam2009]

I know what you mean, but equally I can think of plenty of elderly people who would tell them where to stick their letters, regardless of age.

 

Obviously you know the gentlemen, but I'm just saying not all such people are automatically frightened due to age.

 

No, I don't know the gentleman. But if your read the opening post then you will see that...

 

both he and my mother in law are worried sick about paying the fine

[Diny]

Thanks so much to everyone for their support. I have told my in-laws to pass on all their mail to me and not to worry - having read them some of the replies has definitely made this a bit easier for them. I hadn't thought of going to the press etc but once they start getting harassed (as seems inevitable) i will certainly ask them if i can do that as it may just help bring it to the attention and help other people in a similar situation.

 

Once again, thanks to everyone, without your help i would definitely have paid up for them after receiving all the threatening letters and possibility of bailiffs just to stop the worry and not really knowing what the outcome of non-payment would be.

[WelshMam2009]

Thanks so much to everyone for their support. I have told my in-laws to pass on all their mail to me and not to worry - having read them some of the replies has definitely made this a bit easier for them. I hadn't thought of going to the press etc but once they start getting harassed (as seems inevitable) i will certainly ask them if i can do that as it may just help bring it to the attention and help other people in a similar situation.

 

Once again, thanks to everyone, without your help i would definitely have paid up for them after receiving all the threatening letters and possibility of bailiffs just to stop the worry and not really knowing what the outcome of non-payment would be.

 

Good luck Diny. Let us know how you get on and come back if you need more advice!!

[tedney1976]

Thanks for all the advice people have put on this forum.

 

Diny, I really hope your father in law is not being too affected by this.

 

We have recently been given a ticket and have appealed as my fiancee had a valid permit for Short Street car park in Southend, which is now split into two -Both called Short street but half is councilled owned and half is private.

 

She parked (not realising it was now split) in the private part and got a fine. The signage had falled down saying it was private so we appealed the fine, but they rejected it.

 

We are deciding what to do next.

[lamma]

you appealed ? lesson learned now I hope.

[crem]

 

We are deciding what to do next.

 

Nothing!

[Al27]

so we appealed the fine, but they rejected it.

 

We are deciding what to do next.

 

There is no appeals process. Of course they rejected it.

 

What do you think you should do next?

 

Because if it's anything other than ignoring them and not paying, you're utterly wrong.

[Britainsworstdriver]

I say, spin this back around on them.

 

This company has written accusing an elderly man of doing something he didn't. Take them to court! I would write and ask them for the evidence of this allegation within 14 days or you will take THEM to court for libel!

 

What they have done is simply assume. You cannot base any evidence on assumptrion as we all know that assumption is the mother of all ********* (fill in the blanks)

 

I would love them to have done this to me. They would regret it. Take them on, get the press behind you and take them to court. Any judge would be on your side legally and morally!

 

Good luck.

[tedney1976]

There is no appeals process. Of course they rejected it.

 

What do you think you should do next?

 

Because if it's anything other than ignoring them and not paying, you're utterly wrong

 

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

 

The more I read it does seem like the most appropriate option is to do nothing!

[the_freedom_trail]

Dear tedney,

 

Look at this way - if a company wrote to you and told you that you had won the lottery in a foreign country and that you needed to pay them an amount money to collect your winnings - would you pay it? No you wouldn't because it is a mail [problem]. The same applies to a private parking company. Now there are very very rarely instances where a landowner could take someone to court for tresspass and win back actual damages incurred - say for example if I abandoned my car at the entrance to a business which prevented any customers from using it and caused a loss of revenue. Unfortunately, what PPC's have done is jump on this opportunity to issue parking tickets for very minor infringements of parking conditions on private property. They have set up businesses to fake authenticity at every stage from calling their invoices FPN's (fixed parking notices) through to sending people charge certificates - everything thing to make the process seem real. In truth, they rely on contract law to enforce these charges which is traditionally very unreliable for them. Now, without a court warrant they have no power to do anything and as company's they have no more legal power than your local plumber.

 

In view of this you must disregard their claims as nonsense - if they do issue a court claim then are several strong legal arguments you can use to defend your case. The reality is though it very rarely goes that far so kick back and relax about it.

 

TFT

[tedney1976]

the_freedom_trail

 

Thank you for your reply. I do appreciate it.

 

I take on board what you say.

[tedney1976]

the_freedom_trail,

 

Thank you for your reply. I take on board what you are saying and really appreciate you taking time to reply.

[the_freedom_trail]

the_freedom_trail,

 

Thank you for your reply. I take on board what you are saying and really appreciate you taking time to reply.

 

Not at all, I hope I have assisted you. Would you believe, I paid the first private parking fine I ever received because I thought it was a genuine LA/Police issued penalty. Fortunately, I managed to get it back; however, thanks to this site I never paid another. The important thing to remember is that people who have a genuine case to take you to court do not usually spend time writing 1000's of letters to you - the reasons PPC's do this is because they know court is not a viable option for them.

 

The best thing that you can do is not only ignore them but pass the word to other innocent motorists that have been victimised by these [problem] company's

 

All the best,

 

TFT

[DDWales]

Hi tedney1976. The above advice is valid and really does work.

Be prepared for some nonsense letters from thier DCA though.

If you follow the threads on here you will see a predictable pattern/chain of how things work. It can become quite amusing knowing what letter(s) will arrive next with each one becoming more and more desperate for your money without a hope of having any!