Debt Recovery Plus + Parking Eye

[Jayney1967]

I'm seriously stressed with all this pa lava so would like some urgent advice please because the debt collector company have said that if I don't pay before Friday 13th Sep, they will issue court proceedings!!

 

Due to previous advice from forums and friends, i had up to now chosen to ignore, earlier correspondence in the hope it would go away, but story of my life its not!

 

The parking charge is now at £150 which was just for an additional 16 minutes on a two hour free car park!! I didnt know that the car park was only free for two hours as it had been years since Id parked there. A friend also parked there at the same time on the same day for slightly less time (only a few minutes) and they have not received a parking notice. This led me to believe that it is a [problem].

 

I am loathe to pay the fine, as one: i can't afford it! and 2: I think that the fine is too excessive.

 

Any advice would be gratefully received. :-(:-(:-(:-(

[citizenB]

Have a read of other Parking Eye threads !!

[silverfox1961]

Hi

Can you name the company who issued the PCN and the debt collector. This would give us a better idea of what we are dealing with.

 

A lot of these letters are designed to intimidate. Working isn't it.

 

if I don't pay before Friday 13th Sep, they will issue court proceedings!

Are those the exact words, If not please type it up as printed on the letter

 

OOPS. didn't see Parking eye at the top

[Jayney1967]

Hi, the debt collector is Debt Recovery Plus.

 

I've received 2 letters from them, so I rang yesterday (because Im getting scared now) and was told my case was in the pile to go to court. They offered to reduce it to £120 if I pay before Friday, otherwise it will go to to court

[silverfox1961]

Different rules apply to Scotland but as CitizenB has said, read, read then do a bit more reading. It does seem that Parking Eye are doing a lot of court cases BUT they are also backing down when the cases are defended.

DRP are their pet DCA of the week

 

You will have to go and stand in the naughty corner for ringing them but not for long as you didn't know the golden rule. "Never talk to them on the phone!"

 

Please try and not get too stressed over this. PE have no grounds for the demands they make

[Crocdoc]

Silverfox has stated Scotland, is this correct?

[silverfox1961]

Silverfox has stated Scotland, is this correct?

 

Should have said 'IF you are in Scotland' Sorry for any confusion

[renegadeimp]

A dca cannot issue any proceedings. Dont worry about that. Especially for a non existant debt. PE get continual railed in court so it seems their new trick is to involve dcas.

 

Makes you wonder if the dcas know they could lose their licence for chasing non existant debts.

[Homer67]

Yep, Debt Collector has no powers - never speak to them, never call them and if they call you simply state 'Any alleged debt is denied, refer to your client, no further contact by telephone or in person' (in person is unlikely for a PPC invoice)

 

The Debt Collector letter is just another bit of free toilet paper in the chain of begging letters designed to intimidate you into parting with your cash for an unenforceable invoice - do not pay!

[ericsbrother]

THe parking charge is NOT any amount, the extortionate invoice for an unproved and speulative contract is the amount they are asking for. If you bought some groceries at a supermarket would you pay £100 to the charity tin rattler because he said that you owed it to him for walking past his sign?

[Jayney1967]

Thanks for your replies. So, am I right in thinking that I ignore all letters and then wait for a court summons?? Then send my defence in? Im sooo close to paying it tomorrow just to stop all the hassle. Whats the chance of me winning in court? :???:

[dx100uk]

other way around

 

whats the chances of them winning ....ZERO

 

ignore them

 

dx

[renegadeimp]

Thanks for your replies. So, am I right in thinking that I ignore all letters and then wait for a court summons?? Then send my defence in? Im sooo close to paying it tomorrow just to stop all the hassle. Whats the chance of me winning in court? :???:

 

Thats how they operate. They hound you till breaking point. As for the last statement.... The chances of you winning in court is 99.99%. The 0.01% is because nothing is ever for sure.

[Jayney1967]

Thanks. Im going to ignore then and wait for the next step.

 

Will I next receive court papers as Ive had two letters from the DCA now.

Nothing like this has happened to me before so Ive no idea what Im doing.

 

Will people help me with my defence etc?

 

A bit of back ground

 

-To date, Ive only received one letter from PE and 2 from DCA,

 

I wasnt the driver,

 

a friend of the drivers didnt receive a notice but parked there for approx the same time.

 

The driver was 16 mins over the two hour free parking.

 

PE no longer looks after (if you can call it that) the specific car park.

 

Have I got a decent defence????

[renegadeimp]

PE seem to be using DCA's instead of court claims in some cases. Thats not to say they wont try court though.

 

To deal with the DC's, send them something along the lines of " I deny any liability to you or your client. No such debt exists. No further correspondance will be netered into. Continued contact by yourselves or PE will result in formal complaints being made to the OFT and possible legal action for harassment."

[Scouse Magic]

Debt Recovery Plus is only a Debt Collection service..

...as stated above in order for them to take you to court they would need to appoint a solicitor...

..Just imagine how that would read......??

 

Solicitor act on behalf of Debt Recovery Plus, who's client is PE who are not the landowner in this matter :lol:

 

That's a multi party claim and may constitute contempt of court as only the actual landowner can bring a claim for loss of revenue as a result of the breach

(In your case was nil as the car park is free) or their appointed agent who must have a contract that permits them to bring proceedings....

 

That's even before we discuss the entire charge being a penalty and thus unenforceable in law

 

The law is a wonderful thing !!!!

[Jayney1967]

Thanks fr your advice, so do I sit tight and ignore the Dca letters or do I write to them?? I seem to be getting conflicting messages

[Scouse Magic]

The choice is yours, you can wait and see if it is escalated to the courts or you could use something like in post #15

[Scouse Magic]

In the mean time, write to the freedom of information officer at the Northampton County Court Bulk Centre For a request for information on how many claims PE have issued between april 2011 - april 2013..

 

You can then point this information out to the judge and ask why they involved debt collectors instead of issuing the claim themselves....

 

Maybe they dont want to be known as vexatious litigants

[Jayney1967]

Help!! i dont know what to do for the best. I really need someone to advice me as in step 1 do this, step 2 then that, dont do this etc. Ive never done anyting like this before and its getting a bit overwhelming

[citizenB]

I think perhaps send a response as per the imp in post # 15.

 

Then wait on them issuing a claim form. There is a "draft" defence that you could use as the basis of any that you might need to submit. However, if you do receive a claim then let us know immediately and we can take it from there.

 

 

I will go and find a link to the defence so you understand what you will need to be doing.

[citizenB]

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?395511-REceived-Court-Papers-From-A-Private-parking-Speculative-invoice-How-To-Deal-With-It-HERE***

 

 

and

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?397829-Successful-Defence-Against-Private-Parking-Charge

[unclebulgaria67]

Help!! i dont know what to do for the best. I really need someone to advice me as in step 1 do this, step 2 then that, dont do this etc. Ive never done anyting like this before and its getting a bit overwhelming

 

Not sure what you are asking here. There is no point repeating what has been said before. If you are worried about receiving a court claim and the hassle of defending, then make a payment to the car park owner at an appropriate rate. Perhaps look at the parking charges locally for total time parked and pay that as a good will gesture without any admission of liability. If you have a receipt for the shopping that day, perhaps advise them how much was spent in their shop. If you were not driving on the day in question, you should state that in the letter and advise that as the owner of the car you deny any liability for the car being parked beyond the free 2 hour period.

[Jayney1967]

Thanks CitizenB, I'll have a look at the links now