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Athena Parking Charge Final Demand


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On 23/0/15 I made a £16 purchase at Lidl.

 

I wasn't able to buy all items at Lidl, so ventured to Iceland to buy what I could't get at Lidl. (I have proof that I used Lidl).

 

I evidently had overstayed at the car park by 10 minutes.

My husband (Registered Keeper), has since received 3 red-topped letters from Athena ANPR Ltd;

Overdue Reminder £45, Civil parking chargeicon Notice £90 and Final Demand £90.

No communication or acknowledgement has been forthcoming from myself or my husband.

 

The Final Demand is stating amongst other things that failure to pay

could result in a county court judgement to recover monies, bailiffs, attachment of earnings warrant etc.

 

It is now quite concerning and I don't know which way to proceed as initially had understood

that ignoring these notices was the best way to deal with them as they are simply invoices, and unenforceable.

 

It's approximately a day away from 14 day limit of the last letter.

 

Would really appreciate some good advice.

 

Apologies if posting in wrong forum. I'm new to this and trying to navigate in haste!

Edited by lizzerty
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no you are in the correct place

 

what date did you park there please?

I suspect this was an anpr capture?

 

dx

please don't hit Quote...just type we know what we said earlier..

DCA's view debtors as suckers, marks and mugs

NO DCA has ANY legal powers whatsoever on ANY debt no matter what it's Type

and they

are NOT and can NEVER  be BAILIFFS. even if a debt has been to court..

If everyone stopped blindly paying DCA's Tomorrow, their industry would collapse overnight... 

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Read the paragraph in the green box on parking at Lidl ;

 

 

http://www.lidl.co.uk/en/customer-service.htm

 

 

 

 

Contact Lidl directly [email protected] and complain that Lidls agents are harassing a genuine customer. Include a copy of your receipt and Lidl will cancel the charge. Do not identify the driver.

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Had a quick look at related posts, and see one from ericsbrother, that mentions a 15 minute code of practice overstay by the BPA (?) and that they obtained the Keeper's details illegally etc, etc. I cannot see on here any clear cut procedure and don't fancy acknowledging Athena as it puts us in the frame and seems like an admission of sorts. We thought that to ignore these 'invoices' is best way forward and Athena will likely as not, fade away and leave us alone. Will it end up a court case - this is causing anxiety now? :-(((

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Hi and welcome to CAG

 

More dates needed please

 

We know now that the car was parked on 23/10/15

What date is the first notice you husband received.

 

Now, ANPR are members of the flawed IPC and as such they don't follow the Protection of Freedoms Act and because of that they are unlikely to take court action (but you can never tell)

 

I assume you never appealed or went to the IAS. If so you might as well continue ignoring.

If you are asked to deal with any matter via private message, PLEASE report it.

Everything I say is opinion only. If you are unsure on any comment made, you should see a qualified solicitor

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In reply to Armadillo's advice, I did go to the Lidl store and spoke to the manager following rec of 2nd invoice (Dec 2015 approx) and enquire if he could assist/intervene and he said he couldn't but I could send my credit card statement & even try to find previous Lidl receipts & credit card statement proofs (didn't keep store receipt) to Athena explaining I was a regular customer. I chose not to at the time, and 'ignore'. He gave his name and I prob said I was driver in my explanation of events. So can I safely pursue this route now? Or would emailing Lidl in general be effective? Thank you

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Reply to Silverfox: First letter received: 'Parking Charge Issue Date': 28/10/2015 (I assume husband received letter a couple of days after, allowing for 2nd class post). Thank you, the Protection of Freedoms Act is a new one to me, and brings hope, but 'You never know' is concerning. The 'ignore' route is fraught with danger now :-(

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In reply to Armadillo's advice, I did go to the Lidl store and spoke to the manager following rec of 2nd invoice (Dec 2015 approx) and enquire if he could assist/intervene and he said he couldn't but I could send my credit card statement & even try to find previous Lidl receipts & credit card statement proofs (didn't keep store receipt) to Athena explaining I was a regular customer. I chose not to at the time, and 'ignore'. He gave his name and I prob said I was driver in my explanation of events. So can I safely pursue this route now? Or would emailing Lidl in general be effective? Thank you

 

 

 

Well he could have, but you don't ' enquire if he could assist/intervene ', you demand! And cause a scene.

 

 

But do as post #4, sending a redacted cc statement ( don't give any sensitive info to them. ), from the day in question.

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To all : No, no appeals made. What is IAS? Does anyone have any experience or know of persons who have been further contacted by Athena, following no response/payment from the Final Demand letter please?

Thanks

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note the letter says "could" and not will regarding civil claim. They are unlikely to do so

The BPA code of practice is not the law but a parking operator will have to show that the system they use is better than the CoP and why. They wont be able to so that very much limits the action they can and will take.

Hiowever, whilst you are tearing Lidl off a strip you could send a letter to Athena asking them about the BPA CoP and why they arent using it. Dont say anything about who was driving so hubby should sign off and start "the keeper of the vehicle xx00xxx, having received a notice from you ref:xxxxxxx demands to know whether you use the BPA CoP's or can refer me to one that is better than theirs and as widely circulated with particular reference to grace periods as it is averred that the overstay alleged is de minimis and covered by said CoP".

That creates a paper trail even if they reply with a load of waffle or ignore the point altogether. Not being in the BPA wont help them, in their claim a s they will have to show a better system as said.

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Thank you for the advice. I'm going to urge my husband to use the above wording. Sorry, not too familiar with the anacronyms; BPA, guessing British Parking Association? CoP: Contract of Parking? ...no idea.

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Thank you for the advice. I'm going to urge my husband to use the above wording. Sorry, not too familiar with the anacronyms; BPA, guessing British Parking Association? CoP: Contract of Parking? ...no idea.

 

Hello there. If you look at the signature at the bottom of Armadillo's posts, it has a link to parking forum abbreviations. :)

 

HB

Illegitimi non carborundum

 

 

 

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  • 11 months later...

We are in the same boat as the OP. I foolishly read posts about ignoring the notices from several years ago and followed suit. Just received the 3rd and final letter from Athena. Oh dear.

 

There's no way of proving we were shopping at Lidl that day (usually pay with cash). Tempted to pay the £90 fine to make it go away.

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We are in the same boat as the OP. I foolishly read posts about ignoring the notices from several years ago and followed suit. Just received the 3rd and final letter from Athena. Oh dear.

 

There's no way of proving we were shopping at Lidl that day (usually pay with cash). Tempted to pay the £90 fine to make it go away.

 

Well if you pay them then all you are doing is awarding them and allowing them to continue to con and fleece other motorists.

 

Start your own post, all is not lost, why throw £90 in the gutter?

Who ever heard of someone getting a job at the Jobcentre? The unemployed are sent there as penance for their sins, not to help them find work!

 

 

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its NOT A FINE!!

please don't hit Quote...just type we know what we said earlier..

DCA's view debtors as suckers, marks and mugs

NO DCA has ANY legal powers whatsoever on ANY debt no matter what it's Type

and they

are NOT and can NEVER  be BAILIFFS. even if a debt has been to court..

If everyone stopped blindly paying DCA's Tomorrow, their industry would collapse overnight... 

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third and final letter?

what will they do then, if they arent going to write to you again.

 

 

Athena have a habit of getting everything wrong

 

 

so start a new post and tell us everything about it,

the date of the event,

what letters you received and when,

what you have had since etc.

 

 

We also ned to know where the store is so we can use streetview to look at the signage at the entrance. If it is near to you then decent pictures will help enormously

 

We are in the same boat as the OP. I foolishly read posts about ignoring the notices from several years ago and followed suit. Just received the 3rd and final letter from Athena. Oh dear.

 

There's no way of proving we were shopping at Lidl that day (usually pay with cash). Tempted to pay the £90 fine to make it go away.

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Hi. Sorry for delay in posting. To update: result! I'm thrilled & relieved that I heard no more from Athena after receiving 3 letters. I nervously decided to ignore them, subsequently was glad I did. I really hope that a year on,information is clearer & legislation is fairer. :-)

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