Valley enforcement Parking fine

[popcorn123]

Hi can anyone help? I received my first private parking fine last week. I had gone to a retail park to buy my son's birthday present, obtained a free 90 minute parking ticket from the machine and displayed on my dash board. It was a hot day and I had forgotten to close my passenger window when I left my car and inevitably the ticket had blown on to the floor. I received a £100 parking ticket (reduced to £70 if paid within a certain time). I was very upset by this, and immediately appealed providing a copy of my ticket showing time obtained 13.04, a copy of my Argos receipt showing my purchase at 13.09 (time obviously was needed to collect item) and a copy of their fine given at 13.11. Unfortunately, I did this before I found your website and of course my appeal was denied. Their (Valley Enforcement Ltd) letter stated:

 

"Parking at this site is only for vehicles that are parked in accordance with the instructions, as detailed on signage on site. This signage is clear, in excess of industry standards and clearly details any charges that may be imposed should these restrictions be breached.

 

At this site vehicles may only be parked in designated areas, with a valid ticket clearly on display. You were not clearly displaying a valid free 90 minute ticket and I therefore uphold our operatives decision to issue this parking charge notice.

 

We will not consider the matter closed until we have received your payment of £100 to reach us by 18/10/09 reduced to £70 if received in our office by 18/09/09. Please note we have extended the deadline for paying the lower amount."

 

I feel this is totally out of order, I spent £160 in the shop mentioned, had no reason whatsoever to not display a free ticket as it was just a short shopping trip and so I did not need anywhere near 90 minutes. I feel that I am being punished for forgetting to wind up my window and who hasn't done that at some point! At the time I left my car, the ticket was clearly displayed. Am I to be held responsible for something which happened in my absence?

 

When a similar situation arose in a Local Authority car park when my ticket flipped on a windy day, my appeal was accepted. Why can't they issue tickets which stick to your windscreen?

 

Can anyone advise what to do, given that my appeal letter did admit that the ticket had blown on to the floor (I merely told the truth).

 

If this does go to court, could I receive a CCJ and would any of this affect my credit rating. I really do not want to pay this on principle but have to know possible consequences.

 

The week before my younger son's brand new bicycle and his friend's were stolen from our shed/back garden while I was in the house. The police did no investigation whatsoever and those criminals have got away scot free - why is it that decent law abiding citizens are the one's getting punished?!!!

 

Please help a stressed out mum whose faith in human nature has been badly shaken.

[cirian75]

people are going to say

 

1 Ignore

 

2 Ingore

 

3 Goto 1

 

its a charge for a supposed breach of contract, not a fine.

 

 

you could only get a CCJ if

 

They took you to court (rarely ever happens)

 

You did not defend properly, or turn up (if they do try defenses can be sorted out easy enough)

 

You did not pay.

 

then a CCJ would result.

 

 

It's all fluff and bluster

 

 

you will get progressively nastier letters with more and more red writing from.

 

The parking company

 

A few from a DCA (desk next to the parking company)

 

A few from someone claiming to be solicitor (the desk next but one)

 

then they give up

Edited September 15, 2009 by cirian75

[crem]

Ignore all the rubbish that VEP will undoubtedly send you. It would be nice if you haven't yet had to give the present to your son yet because I am sure you would really enjoy taking it back to Argos and demanding a full refund. I am sure you would also be happy to explain your reason for the return preferably in front of a long customer queue.

[popcorn123]

Thanks for your prompt reply.

 

Just went to Citizens Advice Bureau - they said I could pay first and then appeal, but I suspect I will never see my money again if I do that.

 

They also said I could try writing directly to the landlord.

 

Do you know if anyone has tried and succeeded with either of these approaches?

 

Also has anyone had any dealings with Valley Enforcement Ltd - their website did look very above-board and they say they are a British Parking Association member.

Thanks

[cirian75]

They have to be a BPA member in order to get access to the DLVA database.

 

nowt to be worried about.

[popcorn123]

Dear Crem

 

Yes, it would have delighted me also to take back my son's birthday present to Argos - unfortunately, it was an IPOD and is not covered by their 30 refund guarantee unless it is faulty, so I'm stuffed on that one.

 

The manager in Argos was sympathetic, but said it was the landlord who employed the parking enforcement company and they could do nothing about it.

She did also say the parking patrol man was on commission - he probably saw my open window and knew exactly what had happened - I hope the same happens to him one day!

 

I wonder if enough people threatened to boycott those shops, the landlord might think again about employing these people. I would like to organise a petition but am not sure how to go about it and who exactly to petition!

[lamma]

Thanks for your prompt reply.

 

Just went to Citizens Advice Bureau - they said I could pay first and then appeal, but I suspect I will never see my money again if I do that.

 

They also said I could try writing directly to the landlord.

 

Do you know if anyone has tried and succeeded with either of these approaches?

 

Also has anyone had any dealings with Valley Enforcement Ltd - their website did look very above-board and they say they are a British Parking Association member.

Thanks

the CAB are useless on PPCs. ignore them as well.

[buzby]

CAB are useless in most other situations as well. They really should exhibit a health and wealth warning.

 

As others have said - you did not explicitly agree to the terms the parking company imposed on you, as such as you hadn;t agreed, their 'ticket' is worthless. You'll have a further 14 or so letters and threats and then they move on since they're realising you're not paying up. You may get more becaue you've already contacted them - just note what you get and the dates recieved. The only tghing you respond to is a Court summons - and then you get a chance to embarassm them in court, but the chances of that happening are slim.

[popcorn123]

Hi there,

 

My niece, who is going out with a solicitor, reckons that I have no defence, given that, if they take me to court, they have a letter from me admitting that I was driving and that the ticket had fallen on the floor of the car - hence can't use the 'not the driver' card. Sometimes telling the truth obviously does not pay! Also, she says that not reading the sign is no defence, as the signs are there to be read and, as with insurance policies, etc you have to read the "small print".

 

She also says if they won in court I would have to pay their costs too although she also reckons they may not bother to get that far.

 

So far I have not seen any blogs from people saying they have been successful with this approach. Are there any out there? Has anyone been taken to court and won or lost?

[lamma]

how many of these http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/parking-traffic-offences/164651-problems-ppcs-face.html?highlight=problems+ppc+face has Valley broken ?

[havinastella]

Hi there,

 

My niece, who is going out with a solicitor, reckons that I have no defence, given that, if they take me to court, they have a letter from me admitting that I was driving and that the ticket had fallen on the floor of the car - hence can't use the 'not the driver' card. Sometimes telling the truth obviously does not pay! Also, she says that not reading the sign is no defence, as the signs are there to be read and, as with insurance policies, etc you have to read the "small print".

 

She also says if they won in court I would have to pay their costs too although she also reckons they may not bother to get that far.

 

So far I have not seen any blogs from people saying they have been successful with this approach. Are there any out there? Has anyone been taken to court and won or lost?

 

Your Neice is going out with a moron, not a solicitor

 

 

So what IF you were driving.

 

Yes you would have to pay in there costs, about £80.

 

PPC's do not like to do Court as they CANNOT fine you, It's as simple as that.

 

Jogs

[popcorn123]

I guess I could use the 'unfair punishment /punishment too harsh" defence.

 

The supply of 'free service' one, am not sure about, as the car park was only free for the first 90 minutes, had I intended to stay longer (which I didn't) a charge would have been payable - could they argue that they could not tell whether I had outstayed the 90 minutes or not?

[buzby]

OK - ignore message #8. In addition to admitting who the driver was, you'd still have to have agreed to the terms and conditions to make their case hold water. Don't think much of her choice in men though....

[popcorn123]

Ok, everyone has convinced me not to be a wimp, they can whistle for their money! I was robbed once (my son's bike) so am not about to get robbed twice. They can take me to court if they want!

 

Will be in touch, if I need any more help.

 

PS, my niece's boyfriend is not a moron. My niece said it wasn't his area of expertise, so I think they were more her thoughts not his!

[Rooster-UK]

Always bear in mind........

 

It's NOT a fine!

It's a [problem]!

[popcorn123]

Hi there,

 

Re my earlier posts in September. I chose to take your advice and not pay up.

I have now received a further letter from Valley Enforcement upping the charge to £130.

 

Their letter refers to a parking charge and does look very official eg Bank Giro payment slip, reference to DVAL and Information Commission should I wish to complain about data used inappropriately. Registered company no etc.

 

Has anyone had dealings with this particular company? I would like to know what I am in for!

 

I was proposing to send them the letter for those that had already had their appeal rejected ie

 

" Re your letter

 

Since I wrote to you I have been doing some research.

 

I now understand that your "parking ticket" purported to have been issued with the force of the law behind it. I now believe this not to be the case.

 

Would you please advise me what statute(s) and /or judicial precedent enable you to enforce this penalty against me.

 

In the meantime, I absolutely deny the amount claimed, or any amount at all, is due to you from me."

 

Should I also add the paragraph about not accepting the increased debt?

 

Any further advice welcome.

 

I would feel a lot happier knowing how others had got on with this company, as no other posts seem to refer to them.

 

Many thanks

[Al27]

We hear from Valley Enforcement every now and again. They just give up, like all these [problematic]. The letters just dry up, so people don't bother coming back to report that nothing has happened.

 

Don't contact them - you won't get them to stop and they'll just know you're flummoxed enough to contact them twice and waste another 30p of your cash. Writing just demonstrates you don't understand the [problem], and they'll send more letters to you for longer because they think you might crack.

 

Simply carry on ignoring. Fight the urge to try and 'sort it out' because it simply won't be effective.

[DDWales]

Hi there. Do not worry....they will disappear! This is just the next step into getting you to pay up. Do not back down. I also suggest that you do not enter into any correspondenceas you will be ignored but it will also give them the impression that you are 'hooked' and may cave in to paying them. Ignore them and they will disappear after a few more letters.

[popcorn123]

Thanks,

 

I will definitely let everyone know how it goes, as I think it important people do report back what happened to them. It may then give others confidence to stand up to these companies.

[buzby]

It's just following the 'usual' course. THEY have to prove you did something wrong, NOT you prove you didn't. the reference to the ICO is a nice touch, as the DVLAs release of your data is one of the exemptions, and if it spurs you into responding, they'll carry on the game.

[letshelp]

Ignoring is the way to go. Please resist the temptation to write to them.

regards

[the_freedom_trail]

These are circus clowns - treat them as such. Throughout the process, you should recieve several letters from the ppc, a couple from maybe a debt collector (another desk in the same office) and then a solicitor who is such a failure the only way they can get work is with a ppc. Then they will give up as others have said. In real terms, there is so much law on your side that if it went to court (which is the worst that could happen) you could blow them out the water with a strong enough defence.

 

All the best,

 

TFT

[popcorn123]

Thanks everyone, I will take great pleasure in ignoring them! It will save me a lot of time and stamps!

 

Will let you know what happens.

[popcorn123]

Hi there everyone,

 

Received another letter last week from ccscollect.co.uk Debt Collectors (from same address as previous 2 letters). They have given me 72 hour notice of home visit. They say one of their collectors will visit me at home to

- Obtain payment or agree a payment arrangement

- Investigate your home situation prior to commencing court action

 

They also say that my account will not be overlooked or forgotten and that they intend to resolve the matter to their client's satisfaction.

 

The letter was dated 4/12/09 and so far no one has turned up.

 

I assume this is part of the normal process, and other than my first appeal (before I saw your website) I have ignored all letters.

 

If someone does actually turn up on the doorstep what is my best course of action?

 

Any advice gratefully received!

[buzby]

If someone does actually turn up on the doorstep what is my best course of action?

 

In the unlikely event of a visit - ask, "HAVE you an appointment?" With a negative answer, add "Sorry, I do not discuss financial mattrers on the doorstep. Goodbye." Close the door.

 

Simple!