Leeds City Council PCN - Paid. Now VCS PCN CCJ? too for the same incident !! - NO stopping Leeds Bradford Airport (contravention code 46)

[Alandala]

I received a Penalty Charge Notice from Leeds City Council for stopping where prohibited on Whitehouse Lane, LEEDS-Bradfrd Airport.

I stopped at road intersection for passenger to get off. 

They said I have to pay £70 but it will be reduced to 35 if I pay in less than 21 days from the date of notice (03/07/2023).

On 15/07/2023 I paid online at parkingfines.leeds.gov.uk the amount of £35 for my PCN.

One week later, on 24/07, Vehicle Control Service Limited (VCS) sent me a charge notice of £100 for the same contravention, same day, exactly same time but pictures from slightly different angles.

At first, I thought the payment for PCN issued by Leeds City Council failed or they did not receive money in time, I checked online and payment was received.

In this letter, VCS said they sent me a notice on 23/06 (never received) and “now is too late for you to appeal” - text with bold characters - but I can pay or find information about late appeals on www.myparkingcharge.co.uk.

When I tried to access this website I was automatically redirected to https://excel.zatappeal.com/ as there is no website named www.myparkingcharge.co.uk.

I thought this may be a scam as I typed a website name and opened a website with a different name.

Also on the website or in the letter there was no contact information for VCS or how to make appeals, just an automated payment phone line, where I'm asked by a robot to introduce my credit card number.

Knowing that Leeds City Council (legal authority with address and phone numbers and mail) received my payment I decided to ignore letter from a private company with no contact details.

On August 10, VCS sent me another letter (demand for payment) saying that I have to pay this time £170.

I contacted then citizen advice, I explained that I paid £35 to Leeds City Council and they told me that I don’t have to pay again, I just need to prove I’ve paid.

Also, the adviser said, “They must stop sending you letters because harassment is a criminal offence under section 40 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970 and section 2 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.”

I Search on Google for contact details of Vehicle Control Services and I found they are named Excel Parking Services Limited, I was able to find a phone number, I talked to a lady there and she told me that they don’t want my receipt for £35 paid to Leeds City Council, they need proof that I paid £100 to them (3 times more), and also she doesn’t know why I got two charges from VCS and LEEDS council for the same event. 

I closed the call, and I start searching online for “double charges for the same offence” - I guess one of the charges is not legal. 

I am not sure if the airport bylaws apply here or if VCS can’t legally make a claim against the vehicle keeper, I never told them who was the driver, and I kept ignoring letters from them and now I received a notification of CCJ obtained against me as 'register keeper and/or driver" and I have to pay £277. 

 

 

any advise here? thanks

[dx100uk]

2 hours ago, Alandala said:

I received a notification of CCJ obtained against me as 'register keeper and/or driver" and I have to pay £277. 

you mean you ignored a letter of claim AND a court claimform?

are you the registered keeper of the vehicle?

have you moved in recent times?

have you checked your credit file to see if the CCJ shows?

or is this an N1 CLAIMFORM pack from northants bulk court and NOT a Default judgement CCJ 

 

[lookinforinfo]

It seems very quick for you to have a ccj so soon after a breach of parking. Could you please post the document that said you has a ccj.

 You said you stopped on an intersection so perhaps the Council gave you a ticket for stopping on their road [Whitehouse lane] and Excel/VCS gave you a ticket for stopping on their section of the other road wherever that was.

Councils tend to be more honest than the private parking companies and once we see you PCN from VCS to help you out of the mess.

Once we have seen both documents we can then help you to get out of paying any more money.

 

 

[Nicky Boy]

Hi Alandala and welcome to CAG.

I echo all of the above sentiments.

It's very hard to believe that the same location is within the jurisdiction of a council and also claimed by a Private Parking Company.

Your description of events / correspondence has inconsistencies and timing anomalies, so we really need to see all the paperwork you've got regarding the PPC's (VCS) charge.

As LFI said, it's an unusually short time from PCN to court. There is currently a very long backlog in the courts and the PPC'S normally send several months worth of written threats before they even start a claim... Something doesn't smell right.

Please upload everything.

And we need the EXACT location of the incident.

The team will certainly help you to sort it out.

[FTMDave]

I doubt very much it is a CCJ but if it is there are strict deadlines about paying.

As others have said - please upload the correspondence from VCS especially this £277 letter.

 

[Alandala]

I tried to scan all documents in a single file and hide as much as possible personal info, sorry for poor quality. 

On both Leeds Council and VSC letters date and time of event is 17/06/2023 at 02:09 and time stamp on pictures, only 2 seconds difference.

Here is exact location :  53.871956, -1.663572

Yes, I have CCJ, it's in my credit score report, it will be permanent if I don't pay before 19/01/2024.

And yes, I'm stupid, I didn't reply to letter of claim and claim form ..

 

council and VCS letters.pdf

[dx100uk]

i would be removing the PCN, the CN, the claimform and any ref numbers

looks like the council PCN is unlawful'

its not their property. its a private road.

dx

 

 

 

[FTMDave]

Thank you for replying so quickly.

But sadly, no matter how ridiculous the claim against you, you didn't defend it and now there is no way back.

Your unpalatable choices are:

1.  Pay £255 before the court deadline.  You lose your money.  But there is no CCJ.

2.  Defy the court and not pay.  I've been on this site eight years and I've never seen a PPC enforce judgement for a single ticket.  it's not worth their while.  But you would have a CCJ and a knackered credit file for six years.

 

[dx100uk]

there are red lines on the mainroads around the airport and they continue unbroken going into the entrance roads , though i cant for the life of me find the entrance in both sets of photos on google earth.

if you didnt stop on the red lines on the main road, then the council cant issue a PCN for where their photos show you stopped!!.. you are inside private airport grounds across the giveway/dotted white lines and the property boundary. 

please put up JUST the council photos and VCS photos high res . need the photo txt top left.

just used your cords 53.871956, -1.663572 and it worked this time.

sorry in far north scotland and internet is still very iffy after the 85MPH storm yesterday.

dx

[Alandala]

thanks for your reply. first picture is from council, second from VCS. both roads are whitehouse lane ..

 

 

pictures.pdf

[dx100uk]

any news?

dx