Haringey Council & Equita Vs Me… Please help! Escalated parking fine.

[BARN3T]

Dear All,

I hope someone can help me.

I received a parking ticket from Haringey Council, which I disputed. A month or so later Haringey responded someone will contact me shortly. Few months after receiving they letter I have moved. I moved beginning of Jan 2012, I contacted the council I believe end of Feb to get an update on the dispute. The council informed me that the matter has been passed to Equita. I than contacted Equita who have now informed me that debt amount currently stands at £487.24:jaw:. This is because they have written to my old address and I did not response.

Equita is not prepared to listen to anything they just want the money. Not to mention their disgraceful attitude as if I just killed is the gentleman’s mother’s prized cat.

I am a full time student and there are no remote possibly of me paying this amount.

I would be extremely grateful if someone is able provide some help, any help!

Thank you,

Barnet

[Jamberson]

You need to file an Out of Time witness statement, which contests the bailiff warrant and charges. You can do this quite legitimately if you moved house before the notices came through.

 

You can go here to download the forms, TE7 and TE9 (you won't need the other one, the TE3):

 

http://www.parkingappeals.co.uk/LinkClick.aspx?link=Documents%2Ftma2004%2FOrder+for+Recovery+TE3.doc.pdf&tabid=196&mid=2139

 

You need to complete them, tick the box saying you did not receive a response to your representations and explain that the reason the forms are now late is because you moved, and give them all the dates etc. Post them to Northampton County Court, and wait to hear back.

 

This will take a few days - have you any reason to think the bailiffs are going to come looking for you in the next few days?

[BARN3T]

Dear Jamberson,

 

Thank you so much for your advice. I will send the appeal today. Fortunately, I don’t expect them to knock on my door in the next few days as I received their last communication yesterday.

What my worry is that, it seems like that they have been visiting my old address although I have told them I don’t live there just to increase the amount.

 

I am very greatful for your response, thank you again, I will keep you posted.

Barnet

[Jamberson]

No problem. When you fill in the forms, make sure you make everything plain and simple to understand! Give them all the dates etc so there can be no mistake.

 

The council will get copies from the court, but as they are "out of time", they can decide whether to accept them or not. Hopefully they will - if they reject them, then you can take matters further.

 

Let us know what happens.

[BARN3T]

Hi Jamberson,

 

I can’t thank you enough for your help on this, all everyone told me was nothing they could do and if I don’t pay the £490 it will continue to increase. With your help we have made considerable progress in sorting this mess. I finally received a letter from Northampton County saying:

 

“The respondent filed a statutory declaration/witness statement.

It is ordered that the order for recovery of unpaid penalty charge be revoked.

It is further ordered that the charge certificate be cancelled.

 

Important note to respondent:

This order does NOT cancel the original Penalty Charge Notice. The Local Authority may well take further action on it. The Local Authority should inform you as soon as possible if it intends to do so.”

 

I assume I now wait to hear from the local authorities for the original fine.

 

Thank you again,

Barnet

[Jamberson]

Fantastic!

 

The PCN still stands, but all the bailiff fees are scrapped.

 

The local authority will do one of two things now - either refer the PCN to the adjudictor, where you can attend a hearing and argue whether the PCN should be cancelled.

 

Or, they will send a Notice to Owner to you at your new address, which you can contest in writing.

 

Or, in either case, you can just pay it and be done - up to you.

 

Keep us posted if you need any help.

[BARN3T]

All sorted!!!

I received a letter from Haringey Council asking for £80.00, which with a heavy heart I had decided to pay as they have previously just simply ignored my letters and increased the fine. This PCN was issued in 2010 and I cannot go through the fiasco again.

Although they have managed to take £80.00 from me for an invalid (in my opinion) ticket, I am very happy with our victory thanks this forum especially Jamberson where all credit is due.

I had my back to the wall; I cannot thank you enough for the help!

Kind regards,

Barnet

[Jamberson]

Hey, glad it all worked out.

 

If you do decide you'd rather not pay, feel free to post back here for some advice on how to appeal.