Parking ticket on Motorbike - Ignored since March, advice?

[Orchideous]

Hi all

 

New to the forums here.

 

Back in march this year I parked my motorbike in the Cardiff NCP car park overnight without purchasing a ticket, and came back the next day with a penalty charge notice on my wind shield.

 

Now when I got to the car park originally, I hopped off my bike, read through every sign that they had up, looked around for an attendant and there was none - even at the office. I was looking for any sort of information on parking motorbikes (they had no designated bike area) but there was none.

 

Being anal about it I called them on the 0845 customer services number, spoke to a guy who spoke with his manager whilst putting me on hold and then confirmed I do not need to pay as it's a motorcycle. I told him which car park I was located at, and also confirmed with him that I should park my bike in a car bay.

 

So I thought this would be bullet proof, certainly now I won't come back to a ticket. But I did. £30 within 14 days or £60 thereafter. Of course I refused to pay it - now this is where I imagine the facepalms and headshakes will happen.

 

I sent an appeal to NCP as per the notice said, detailing how I spoke with a gentlemen on this number, at this time and this was discussed. The calls were recorded according to the 0845 greeting.

 

They declined my appeal on the basis that I parked in a pay and display car park without clearly displaying a ticket. I felt like exploding. I didn't appeal to POPLA as by that point I didn't want NCP getting hold of my information ( I gave false contact details to NCP). But as it was on CCTV the DVLA were more than happy to hand over my details, I later found.

 

So I received a series of letters which I ignored, telling me how debt recovery would be given the case and eventually Debt Recovery Plus Ltd have taken over and are sending me notice's for now in excess of £100. Again I ignored these, the last one I ignored was a letter saying a reduced amount of £110 is payable if I pay before 12/11/2013. I didn't. And since then I have moved address and not told the DVLA. Not sure if I've received any more letters.

 

I want to get this burden off my back now, it's starting to stress me out as I'm worrying over the thought of having debt and a CCJ, now that I've moved into a place I can hardly afford.

 

Is there anybody who can advise me on this situation? There's absolutely no advise I can find on motorcycle parking and what my rights are.

 

Thank you so much for reading.

 

Dale

[silverfox1961]

Hi and welcome to CAG

 

Do not worry about DRP, they are usually the last in the line of threatening letters so they should shortly stop.

 

The 'rules' for bikes are the same as cars. This is an unenforceable invoice, not a fine so you can continue to ignore.

 

You must notify the DVLA of your new address as this may have a knock on effect (I think) on your insurance

[Homer67]

Hilarious, as a fellow biker where on a motorcycle are you supposed to affix a car park ticket?

 

Even if it was a sticky one that's not going to stand up to wind and rain and I guarantee that some thieving little scrote will nick it to put in his chav mobile.

 

Firstly ignore their rubbish about Debt Collectors, they are powerless and can do nothing, just send them away with 'any alleged debt is denied, refer to your client, do not call/visit/write again'.

 

Secondly this is not a fine, a parking ticket or a PCN. It is an unenforceable speculative invoice, which you should not pay.

 

Thirdly the only way a CCJ is going be raised is if this went to court (not sure about NCP, not heard much about them doing court) and you lost (unlikely) and you then failed to pay the court fine. All their claptrap about CCJ's is just to intimidate you into paying.

 

The fact that they are still offering you a discount if you pay after increasing their charge from day one should ring big alarm bells - if the amount was actually claimable in law why would they reduce it?

 

IMO what you should do now is ignore it, it seems like you're coming to the end of the begging letter chain anyway.

 

If you are one of the very few who do receive stamped and signed court papers then come back here for the standard defence which easily bats off the PPC as they cannot fine you, at best they can only claim their loss which they have to prove and cannot.

[Homer67]

Just re-read your post and noted that you have moved but 'not told the DVLA' you must alert the DVLA if you have moved home or your vehicle insurance will be invalid

 

I personally would write to NCP in a single letter advising them of the change of address as you don't want to miss any court papers if they do eventually issue them and this does not incriminate you in any way as no offense has been committed.

 

Reiterate the action you took and that you do not intend to pay their fine but as a show of goodwill you enclose a cheque for the value of the parking you would have paid - despite that you were told you did not need to pay by their employee and include a statement along the lines of that this is the end of the matter and no further correspondence will be entered into

 

This will probably urge them into sending a couple more begging letters than normal but it covers you well if they do issue court papers.

 

Once you have done that sit back and ignore their tripe unless you receive stamped and signed court papers, then come back here for the standard defence.

[esmerobbo]

NCP don't like court cost them £86.000 last go! Still they may fancy another pop!

[Orchideous]

Hi Guys

 

Thanks so much for your responses, really helpful.

 

My cousin lives at my old address so I'll check if there's any more letters soon, depending on what they say I may write back to NCP as you suggested Homer67.

 

I've didn't intend to pay the invoice as I know it's unjust, I was a bit worried that they'd delete the call record which was my only line of defence. Now I know it's probably not going to end up that way I'm rather relieved!

 

And exactly Homer67, I said this on the phone to the guy and he agreed it'll likely get stolen if I buy a ticket. Ahh well, all that phone call probably achieved was them knowing I'm parking there and sending their goons!

 

I'll inform the DVLA right away about the address, I work in insurance so I have no excuse

 

Thanks again for your help guys, I'll be back if there's any revelations