OPC Private Parking Tickets

[cpoint]

How do I delete my message, I've put it on the wrong one. Thanks

[ian1904]

Well I have now been issued with a letter threatening county court action unless I pay within 14 days by Windsor Smythe.

 

Hopefully they will abandon after this. Impressive how the cost has now risen to £181.

[paulxxx69]

Can someone please advise me?

 

I visited friends in Watford and parked my car at the cassibury Park metropolitan line car park - paid my fee at the machine and returned before midnight when my ticket expired. On arrival back to my car I noticed a ticket from OPC was attached to my car.

 

I looked around and there was no sign which said " I was in residents parking" I called them to be told they had pictures of my car (they even took a picture of the ticket I purchased)

 

I have read on here to ignore the fine as I genuinely was unaware I was in a resident zone"..Anyway I have now recieved my 3rd letter from WINDSOR-SMYTHE & PARTNERS...stating that I leave them no choice and they are going to proceed through thr County Court and they "WARN" me failure to pay NOW..Bayliffs will be instructed to remove goods from my property. They then use the word WARN another 2 times in this letter. and tell me the debt is now £183.59, and failure to pay will effect my credit rating....

 

Please can someone advise me?

 

Thank you so much.

 

Paulxxx69

[lamma]

usual rubbish from them. have a good look around on here. no need to panic at all. its a mail [problem].

[crem]

Anyway I have now recieved my 3rd letter from WINDSOR-SMYTHE & PARTNERS...stating that I leave them no choice and they are going to proceed through thr County Court and they "WARN" me failure to pay NOW..Bayliffs will be instructed to remove goods from my property.

 

Last time I checked only a court could instruct bailiffs to remove goods from your property, and only then after you had lost the court case in the first place AND DEFAULTED on the court order!

 

They then use the word WARN another 2 times in this letter. and tell me the debt is now £183.59, and failure to pay will effect my credit rating....

As above, your credit rating is not affected at all unless you LOOSE the case, then REFUSE to pay the order, then probably have reached the bailiff stage. Only then would your credit rating be affected.

..

[lamma]

clear breaches of the 2008 consumer regulations in my opinion including the criminal element. so their letter is beyond merely unlawful, it is illegal.

[britbulldog]

ok thought id update been a while now since i had a phone call from credit security when they informed me that they were no longer pursuing the parking tickets all advice proved by this site worked thanks to everyone who replied and gave advice. anyone who gets a ticket and reads this listen to this site and dont pay these robbing pirates who pass out these tickets!!

[lamma]

thanks for updating the thread. Its important for nervous posters to see 'the results'. send copies of the illegal paperwork to Trading Standards, tell TS its in breach of The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 No.

[GuidoT]

Last time I looked it was my thread!

[GuidoT]

I know this thread is popular, so I am bumping this thread, please help Lateralus, she has helped many, indeed she is yet again looking to help others.

[ian1904]

As expected from reading other threads on here I have now received a Final Request and the undated Claim form for Hertford County Court.

 

The cheeky bit is that calls to pay the bill will be charged at National Rates.

 

The total fee has now risen to £208.

[maybelline]

RichH6109 - They have told me Windsor Smythe are factors and not debt collectors - they are useless.

 

Do not take any notice of their threats regarding a CCJ against your name. To do this, first of all they will have to commence legal proceedings, you will get the opportunity to defend your position and then if you loose (unlikely) they will get judgment for the sum, this takes about six months.

 

Even if they obtain judgment providing you pay it within, I think 28 days, the debt will not be registered as unpaid.

 

Different story if you do not pay on judgment as then you will have an unsatisfied CCJ, but this is very unlikely.

 

Let us know how you get along, you may want to send a letter along the lines of my post 5.

 

OPC's behavior is reprehensible, just stand your ground and do not be intimidated by their lamentable threats.

 

Let us know how you get along.

 

OPC - Windosr, Smythe have written to chase for a ticket they say issued in May 2004 ?????????? thats five years ago! the new flats had only just been built then and a private road built for access, no operator at that time and no signs of such a thing so I think this is retrospective following tickets issued to several in error by council parking attendants?

[Al27]

You have 6 years to submit a claim. OPC are feeling the pinch at the moment and merely spent a few hundred quid on old tickets trying to get a batch of undefended win by defaults.

 

I don't think they realise that if you're not going to bother defending, you either don't live there any more, are happy to have a CCJ or have nothing of value worth taking.

 

School boy error to think having a CCJ on somebody means you are likely to get any money - you'll be luck to a get a penny.

[bankbandit]

May be a touch off here but in my layman's understanding a factoring company is a company that specialises in chasing debts on behalf of another company/individual and takes a percentage of the bad debts or doubtful debts recouped. The contract may be more formal but it seems to be the same thing just in more legalese speak. Please feel free to correct me if this is wrong, as I say it's a basic understanding at best. But still don't pay the little blighters (far better term than what wanted to say).

[lamma]

Correct. they are debt factors. i.e. a powerless bloodsucking DCA out for a percentage.

[ian1904]

Well I am amazed to say that I have received a County Court claim, the fee is now up to £233

 

I will be submitting a defence of course as I was parked where I was entitled to park. Wife is going frantic in case we lose.

[jkdd77]

You have no chance of losing in court; PPCs have never won a properly defended case- apart from anything else, the charge bears no relation to their actual loss, and is therefore a penalty charge. Penalty charges are illegal and therefore null and void, as per the House of Lords judgment in Dunlop v New Motor Co (1915).

Recent cases:

Judge says Excel parking fines illegal - Mansfield Chad

Small claims win over parking ticket - Sheffield Telegraph

Excel Parking - FightBack Forums

 

Consequently, they can only claim their actual loss, which is clearly £0 as you paid for a valid ticket.

 

Furthermore, they can only pursue the alleged debt under the law of trespass, and if they don't own the land that the vehicle was parked on, they don't have any basis for a claim anyway.

 

Best of luck- and, once you've won don't forget to claim extra costs under Part 27 2(g) of the Civil Procedure Rules on the basis that they have wilfully filed a vexatious claim, in the full knowledge that they have no right to any payment whatsoever.

 

PS: In retrospect, you should have simply have completely ignored them, as their alleged contract is with the driver, and you appear to have admitted to being the driver. If you hadn't, then the case would fall, as the identity of the driver is for them to prove, and you are under no obligation to identify the driver in civil cases such as this one.

Edited June 20, 2009 by jkdd77

[RichardM]

Ian1904.

 

Can you scan the particulars of claim that you have received. It's always worthwhile to see what the PPC's are claiming so that they can be compared with previous attempts.

[ian1904]

Ian1904.

 

Can you scan the particulars of claim that you have received. It's always worthwhile to see what the PPC's are claiming so that they can be compared with previous attempts.

We are a private parking company who holds a contract with the owners of the land to issue parking tickets to drivers not abiding by the terms and conditions which are displayed on site. On xx/xx/08 Mr xxxx parked vehicle xx in xxx without displaying a valid permit. The case was handed to a debt collections agency who also failed to obtain payment. The claimant also claims interest under section 69of the County Courts Act 1984 at the rate of 8% a year from xx/xx/08 to 12/06/09 of £8.40 and also interest at the same rate up to the date of judgement or ealier payment at a daily raye of 0.02

 

Claimant is

Observices Parking Consultancy

PO Box 956

St Albans

AL1 9HJ

 

£233.40

[lamma]

negative averment that the contract does not enable then to act as principle or agent is an obvious inclusion for the defense. Plus tear apart their paperwork as per http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/parking-traffic-offences/164651-problems-ppcs-face.html?highlight=problems+ppc+face OBservices are BPA AOS mebers so according to their own CoP all they should have done is ask the RK who was driving in their first letter. Did they ? If not include that. as well. see FAQs - PPCs - fighting back. The forces are aligned The AOS members list is not available from the BPA website at the moment and it is a condition of their ATA status that it is available. If its still not there tomorrows then inform the DVLA that the PPA is non-compliant. Much more could be added to the defense but it is unwise to post it on a forum.

[ian1904]

It appears my defence has been struck out with no reasonable prospect of sucsess

 

I don't understand this

 

I will try and contact the court on Monday

[GuidoT]

I do not understand it either, you need to post up you entire story, including what your defence stated.

 

You say it appears, do you have an order? Contacting the court is pointless. What is important is what the documentation states and you need state what it states.

 

We cannot help unless you tell us all the information.

 

You should start your own thread.

Edited December 8, 2009 by GuidoT
Typo

[spammers]

I have just read all 10 pages of this and am sad that Ian (the last poster) didn't start his own thread. It would have been interesting to see what the outcome was.

 

We've just had one of these letters from Trethowans which we will completely ignore. The sad thing is that many people where we live have had them and most have probably coughed up.

 

Am looking forward to my letter from Windsor Smythe. They sound like a soap manufacturer.

[Al27]

[crem]

I wasn't aware that any defence could be "struck out". I know the claim itself could be struck out, but I would have thought any defence would be accepted and the court would decide on the facts on the day.