Clackett Lane parking - over two hours on Oct 18th 2012

[cormachall]

Hi,

On 18th October my car was in Clackett Lane (M25 services) for over two hours as the driver had returned from the US overnight and feeling very tired and not wanting to cause an accident he fell asleep and overstayed.

I just received the email shown below from Debt Recovery Plus Ltd in response to my email (I wrote to CP Plus Ltd stating I would be happy to see them in court and explain before the magistrate/judge what happened. Equally I will be happy to see you in court so please don't bother sending any further correspondence unless it relates to a court date as I will not be responding.)

Just wanted to check my position is OK - thanks

 

Thank you for your email Mr Hall.

 

Due to the content of this correspondence, I would like to clarify our position regarding this Parking Charge Notice (PCN).

 

The site in question is subject to terms and conditions which are stated on signs throughout the area.

 

Parking restrictions are put in place for a variety of reasons; including traffic control, congestion avoidance, etc and, as such, must be strictly enforced.

 

As these terms were breached on 18th October 2012 (by overstaying the permitted time limit), a PCN was correctly and legitimately issued.

 

Please find enclosed photographic evidence taken at the time of the contravention.

 

Within the correspondence, court action has been referred to. As such, I feel obligated to inform you that, under the Pre-Action Protocol of the Civil Procedural Rules, court action must only be viewed as a last resort. I am attempting to abide by this direction by trying to settle the matter amicably without court involvement.

 

However, if the matter does go to court it will be pointed out that, in line with The Protection off Freedoms Act 2012, you were granted a certain time within which to appeal; including to an Independent Appeals Service.

 

I understand that this is not the desired outcome. However, unless further evidence is provided, the decision on this matter is final. Furthermore, while any further correspondence contesting the decision will be noted and filed, I cannot assure you of a response unless fresh evidence is provided that would have a bearing on the decision.

 

As a gesture of goodwill, I will place the account of £120.00 on hold for 14 days to allow time for payment to be made.

 

However, if no payment is received within this period, the matter will be passed on to our solicitors for further action to be considered.

[i hate bailiffs]

How exciting they will pass it on to there fake solicitors to send you a scary letter

 

IGNORE them from now on and there ever increasing beg letters

[cormachall]

That's what I was planning to do. Thanks for your response.

[Crocdoc]

This is nothing more than a standard begging letter from Debt Recovery plus and absolutely nothing to be concerned about and therefore you can choose to ignore.On the other hand if you feel inclined to respond and some of us do, you may wish to add the following questions.

 

1) Please provide precise details of the calculation used to establish the sum pursued in this case, taking account of the following statement issued by the Department for Transport.

 

Charges for breaking a parking contract must be reasonable and a genuine pre-estimate of loss. This means charges must compensate the landholder only for the loss they are likely to suffer because the parking contract has been broken. For example, to cover the unpaid charges and the administrative costs associated with issuing the ticket to recover the charges. Charges may not be set at higher levels than necessary to recover business losses and the intention should not be to penalise the driver.

 

2) Having suggested that court action is under consideration can you confirm in writing that as a third party agent you have the appropriate authority from the land holder to raise court action. You could also make reference to HMRC V VCS Parking, Parking Eye V Somerfield and VCS v Ibbotson

I assume that providing accurate and detailed response to specific questions outwith the remit of any available appeals procedure also forms part of your pre action protocol policy.

[cormachall]

Thanks Crocdoc, sound advice