Help need to defend parking charge/ A S Securi-t, Roxburghe, Graham White

[kken67]

Hi, I am trying to help a friend defend a parking charge and need help with a letter to Graham Whites solicitors which will stop them harassing my friend.

 

Background info,

My friend is a drummer in a local gigging band. They were doing a charity freebie one night about a month ago. He has the trailer attached to the back of his car which does make parking difficult anyway. However there is a huge carpark (technically for customers) across the road from the venue which was completely deserted as the shops were shut. Some of the local people use is regularly out of hours and he was advised it would be ok. After the gig, he came out to find a parking fine notice for £100 from AS Securi-t. Again, was advised by other people not to pay as they are just [problem]sters. My friend was really worried about this but went with it as he has no money anyway as he has just been made redundant.

Then a fortnight later received a letter from Roxburgh (UK) Ltd saying the fine was now £150, so he ignored this aswell. However now he is really worried as just received a letter from Graham White solicitors titled 'Notice of Intended Litigation' threatening county court action and adding £207.25 costs so now a total of over £350!!!

Naturally he is really concerned due to rising costs and the fact he has no money anyway. He is a more mature guy who hasnt experienced the scamsters before in his life and is worried that he will just have to pay it. My understanding is that these tickets are unenforceable anyway. I also believe its some kind of contract thing they have to take the driver to court for but they would need to prove that wouldnt they?

Can you help with a short but sweet letter i can send to the solicitors to stop them. I want to help as he is an all round nice guy, not very computer savvy and always goes out of his way to help others.

Thanks

Edited October 30, 2011 by kken67
spelling

[dx100uk]

totally ignore them!!!

 

they go nowhere near court

 

it is NOT a legal fine in anyway-shape or form

 

it is a speculative invoice

 

you keep writing, they'll keep thinking they've hooked a mug

 

dx

[Old Snowy]

Firstly, what your friend has is not a fine. No private company has the legal authority to fine anyone. What he has is simply an invoice; an invitation to settle an alleged breach of a contract that purportedly existed between your friend and AS Securi-T in relation to parking. It is not to be feared - indeed once you understand that the whole set-up is intended to frighten people into paying their unwarranted demands because there is no other legitimate means of doing so the whole thing collapses. Your friend may safely ignore all of the this nonsense and get on with his drumming.

 

AS Securi-T is simply a trading name used by a company called VP Parking Solutions Ltd based at an accommodation address in the High Street in Southampton. AS Securi-T Ltd (Note the slightly different trading name) went into liquidation earlier in the year and its affairs are being dealt with by the Official Receiver. If the documents your friend has are headed AS Securi-T Ltd then he should contact the OR in Southampton as the company should not be trading. It will not be a shock to learn that the directors of AS Securi-T Ltd and VP Parking Solutions Ltd are one and the same.

 

As for Roxburghe's they are simply a debt collector with no more power than you or I to collect debts. In essence they can do nothing more than ask your friend to pay although they will dress their "requests" up to look far more worrying and threatening than that. Unless AS Securi-T give him formal notification under the terms of the Law of Property Act 1925 that they have sold or otherwise assigned the so-called debt to Roxburghe's the latter are hamstrung and as much as they might huff and puff, at the end of the day, there is nothing they can do.

 

Graham White's are not a solicitors in any normal sense. The company has just one solicitor and he, Michael Sobell, is well into his 70's. He effectively rents his name to Roxburghe's so they can send out letters that give the impression of escalating the situation. There is no escalation. These letters are simply produced by the person sitting at the same desk pressing a different button.

 

Roxburghe's were informed in May of this year that the Office of Fair Trading was minded to revoke their debt collection licence. The investigation continues. Graham White's also has a fat regulatory file with the Solicitors Regulation Authority in relation to their constant threats of legal action that never go any where.

 

That's really not entirely true because Mr Sobell, dear heart, has twice attempted to issue proceedings this year. In the first instance he so badly fouled up his paperwork, missed court-set deadlines and failed to produce evidence that the judge gave up in the end and struck the case out. In the second case proceedings went all the way to the wire obliging the defendant to prepare a defence (assistance provided from here, I might add) only for Mr Sobell to fail to show on the day. That case has also now been struck out.

 

There is nothing to fear. Ignore these threats because the only place they have any substance is on paper. As soon as you start examining the situation everything crumbles to dust.

[electricsilver]

Great advice from Old Snowy.

Very concise and direct.

A good lesson for all of us dealing with PCN's and the cowboys who operate this [problem].

Thank you.

[kken67]

Thank you so much for your replies, it warms the heart to realise there are decent people out there!

[DBC]

Spread to word to everyone you know about the true nature of the private parking "industry". The more people know the true facts, the less will pay up to these people.

[Rudi von sternberg]

Ignore it I have a full set of letters saying :

 

1.We are thinking of taking you to court if you don't give us money

2. we are taking you to court

3. you are definitely going to court cos you are the driver and are ignoring my letter

letters tended to drop through my letterbox one a month for five months or so then he got bored and went looking for someone else. I'll have to hunt them out they are quite amusing.

[bondy lad]

roxburghe debt collectors letters are sent out by dumb jon(gets paid £3-00 per hour),graham white solicitors(not) letters are sent out by janis on the next desk along, she is on work expereince,,they are all one and all in the same building and all part of the same rip off,,i have a drawer full of loo paper from them,,roll on nov 5th to light the bon fire,, with michael sobell on top as the guy.just ignore everything and every threat, relax.

[mrct]

Hi All,

 

I am in a very similar situation by the looks of it.

 

The flat I used to live in had a car park, 'operated' by A S Securi-T and I previously failed to display my permit and got a ticket. Now, I paid (I rang them and argued the amount charged was for £72 but the sign said £60, they said the amount includes VAT but the sign said nothing about VAT, so they agreed and I paid the £60.)

 

Several months later I recieved a letter from Roxburghe saying I had an unpaid parking charge from A S Secuit-T this time for £148. I rang them and they say it's the fine plus their fees. I was suspicous for a number of reasons, firstly no notice was left on my car, I always put the permit on my dashboard ever since the first fine and it happened to be my last day in that flat before I moved out.

 

I have since had letters from them again so I requested them to email me photos, which they have. Annoyingly the photos show the fine on my windscreen and the top of the permit HOLDER on my dash (but no clear shot of the permit in it). I have had a letter from Graham White Solicitors also, entitiled 'FINAL WARNING' and going on about Application to the Court ' Civil Procedural Rules 31.16.....'

 

My concern if I do ignore this is that I have previously paid a fine for the exact same thing a few months ago. Does this put me in a position where I have legally accepted the 'breach of contract' or whatever the wording they use is?

 

Furthermore I no longer live at the address the correspondence is going to AND I no longer own the car the charge is for.

 

What do you recommend I do?

 

Many thanks in advance

 

C

[sailor sam]

Hi All,

 

I am in a very similar situation by the looks of it.

 

The flat I used to live in had a car park, 'operated' by A S Securi-T and I previously failed to display my permit and got a ticket. Now, I paid (I rang them and argued the amount charged was for £72 but the sign said £60, they said the amount includes VAT but the sign said nothing about VAT, so they agreed and I paid the £60.)

 

Several months later I recieved a letter from Roxburghe saying I had an unpaid parking charge from A S Secuit-T this time for £148. I rang them and they say it's the fine plus their fees. I was suspicous for a number of reasons, firstly no notice was left on my car, I always put the permit on my dashboard ever since the first fine and it happened to be my last day in that flat before I moved out.

 

I have since had letters from them again so I requested them to email me photos, which they have. Annoyingly the photos show the fine on my windscreen and the top of the permit HOLDER on my dash (but no clear shot of the permit in it). I have had a letter from Graham White Solicitors also, entitiled 'FINAL WARNING' and going on about Application to the Court ' Civil Procedural Rules 31.16.....'

 

My concern if I do ignore this is that I have previously paid a fine for the exact same thing a few months ago. Does this put me in a position where I have legally accepted the 'breach of contract' or whatever the wording they use is?

 

Furthermore I no longer live at the address the correspondence is going to AND I no longer own the car the charge is for.

 

What do you recommend I do?

 

Many thanks in advance

 

C

 

Try reading the above.

[SURFBOY]

It is not a FINE !

Why on earth did you pay them in the first place?

What you do now is IGNORE them!

[Al27]

Hi All,

 

I am in a very similar situation by the looks of it.

 

The flat I used to live in had a car park, 'operated' by A S Securi-T and I previously failed to display my permit and got a ticket. Now, I paid (I rang them and argued the amount charged was for £72 but the sign said £60, they said the amount includes VAT but the sign said nothing about VAT, so they agreed and I paid the £60.)

 

Several months later I recieved a letter from Roxburghe saying I had an unpaid parking charge from A S Secuit-T this time for £148. I rang them and they say it's the fine plus their fees. I was suspicous for a number of reasons, firstly no notice was left on my car, I always put the permit on my dashboard ever since the first fine and it happened to be my last day in that flat before I moved out.

 

I have since had letters from them again so I requested them to email me photos, which they have. Annoyingly the photos show the fine on my windscreen and the top of the permit HOLDER on my dash (but no clear shot of the permit in it). I have had a letter from Graham White Solicitors also, entitiled 'FINAL WARNING' and going on about Application to the Court ' Civil Procedural Rules 31.16.....'

 

My concern if I do ignore this is that I have previously paid a fine for the exact same thing a few months ago. Does this put me in a position where I have legally accepted the 'breach of contract' or whatever the wording they use is?

 

Furthermore I no longer live at the address the correspondence is going to AND I no longer own the car the charge is for.

 

What do you recommend I do?

 

Many thanks in advance

 

C

 

There was every chance the flat's lease granted rights to the land and you didn't even need a permit either.

[mrct]

It is not a FINE !

Why on earth did you pay them in the first place?

What you do now is IGNORE them!

 

Naivety! I didn't do the research I did this time. Apologies for referring to it as a 'Fine' but you knw what I mean.

 

So even though i've paid previously and been in contact with them about this PCN I am best off ignoring them? I wondered if I could do anything else as I no longer live at the address they have for me and no longer own the car!

 

Thanks

[bondy lad]

ignore,obviously you fell victim of the con, but they usually come back for more, so once bitten twice shy,,,anything else you can do?,well,yes,,spread the word about these types of rogue companies to friends and colleagues.