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Hi there,

 

My husband recently parked in the Toys'r'us carpark in Plymouth, where you can park for free for upto 2 hours.

 

He was a plonker & overstayed by 1 hour.

 

We received a ticket from them 3 weeks ago demanding £50

The ticket was a 'civil' ticket and included photographic evidence of the car both entering & leaving the car park. However, the exit photo does not show the number plate of the car.

 

We have today received a Final Reminder demanding £75, if we fail to pay by 27th Oct, a 'charge certificate' will be issued & further costs involved.

 

The notice also states that liability for parking charge lies with the owner/keeper.

 

So far, we haven't done anything.

 

I would really appreciate advice on what to do now.

 

Should we write back with 'contact the driver of the vehicle' etc, or, should we write to their appeals address demanding that they provide photographic evidence of the number plate at the exit photo, or, should we say that the car left the car park within 2 hours, and then came back later? (Although this is not true)

 

Please help as this is making me feel quite ill.:eek:

 

Hi, an update on above..

 

After receiving several threatening letters, none of which we have responded to, everything went quiet for 8 weeks. However, yesterday, we received a new letter from 'Charles Howard & Partners' based in Croydon stating that costs are now £140, and that this is a 'pre legal notification' .

 

It goes on to say failure to pay may result in Enforcement action via County Court.

Court and solicitors costs would substantially increase the size of the debt. Credit reference Bureaux may be advised to register the debt.

Credit may be difficult to obtain in future.

 

Still ignore?

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Hi, an update on above..

 

After receiving several threatening letters, none of which we have responded to, everything went quiet for 8 weeks. However, yesterday, we received a new letter from 'Charles Howard & Partners' based in Croydon stating that costs are now £140, and that this is a 'pre legal notification' .

 

It goes on to say failure to pay may result in Enforcement action via County Court.

Court and solicitors costs would substantially increase the size of the debt. Credit reference Bureaux may be advised to register the debt.

Credit may be difficult to obtain in future.

 

Still ignore?

 

 

In your shoes I would not ignore. I would follow my temlpate letters in the Sticky.

********************************************

Nothing in this post constitutes "advice" which I may not, in any event, be qualified to provide.

The only interpretation permitted on this post (or any others I may have made) is that this is what I would personally consider doing in the circumstances discussed. Each and every reader of this post or any other I may have made must take responsibility for forming their own view and making their own decision.

I receive an unwieldy number of private messages. I am happy to respond to messages posted on open forum but am unable to respond to private messages, seeking advice, when the substance of that message should properly be on the open forum.

Many thanks for your assistance and understanding on this.

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Hi There!

I am not sure if I have done this correctly, apologies if I have not.

 

Not really au fait with all this tecnical stuff!

 

A relative of mine received one of these blue letters with the scale sign on it a couple of weeks ago stating that she parked for over 3 hours in the macdonalds car park the drive thru Ashford Kent thus going over the 1 3/4 hr free parking time.

From what I have read on this excellent forum this is bog standard stuff!

 

She was actually at home all day, but they say they have 'photographic evidence' which if we want it blah blah blah!

 

Has anyone else received one of these letters referring to this particular car park?

 

I am sorely tempted to ignore this letter, I am right to do so at this stage?

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What sanctions are there for breaking guidelines? A slap on the wrist?

 

Sanctions? Most likely none, as the guidelines relate more to the collection of 'consumer debt', but as they are binding on those holding a Consumer Credit Licence (as they will have to have for other purposes) they could also be interpreted as being equally applicable in relation to other debt enforcement measures such as this. Repeated complaints about a particular company to the OFT might ultimately threaten their suitability to hold a CC licence and it could be revoked or renewal be refused in the future.

Any advice given is done so on the assumption that recipients will also take professional advice where appropriate.

 

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Hi There!

I am not sure if I have done this correctly, apologies if I have not.

 

Not really au fait with all this tecnical stuff!

 

A relative of mine received one of these blue letters with the scale sign on it a couple of weeks ago stating that she parked for over 3 hours in the macdonalds car park the drive thru Ashford Kent thus going over the 1 3/4 hr free parking time.

From what I have read on this excellent forum this is bog standard stuff!

 

She was actually at home all day, but they say they have 'photographic evidence' which if we want it blah blah blah!

 

Has anyone else received one of these letters referring to this particular car park?

 

I am sorely tempted to ignore this letter, I am right to do so at this stage?

 

If she is adamant that she (nor the car) was nowhere near the car park on the day, then she should consider whether her car has been cloned and act accordingly, making the car parking company aware that the police will most likely be in touch to gather evidence. If the car 'might' have been out that day but she as the RK was not then that is the basis of her case. Many would say to ignore the letter, for they will almost certainly ignore whatever you choose to send them anyway, but personally I would argue that some form of paper trail is essential in proving your attempt to resolve the matter in the 1:1000 event that it should go to Court.

 

Write to advise them that you cannot help them in this matter as you can demonstrate that you were at home all day and therefore cannot have been the person driving the vehicle at the time. As you therefore entered no contract agreeing to pay this money, you must insist that the company contact the driver directly, with whom sole responsibility for any contract remains. There are template letters on the front page of the forum to assist with this.

 

Be prepared - it will be a long battle. Just post back here if you get stuck!

Any advice given is done so on the assumption that recipients will also take professional advice where appropriate.

 

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Don't waste your money on a solicitor. If you read back over a few of the many posts in this thread, you have received the standard threatogram from Newlyn which is about as toothless as my old Grandad. If you feel so inclined to spend the money on a stamp, then write to advise them that the points raised in your dealings with their client have not been answered and that as the matter is formally in dispute. Under the OFT guidelines on debt collection, they must cease collection activity and refer the matter back to their client - they almost certainly won't, but every letter written demonstrates an attempt to resolve the matter on your part.

 

This is following a traditional pattern - Newlyn will probably ignore you then say that the file is being passed back to be prepared for legal action, then you will get a 'last chance' letter from CEL and ultimately the letters will stop, particularly if you send a 'I have told you the situation-you have failed to answer the points raised-now sue me and I will be happy to defend and counterclaim for costs' letter.

 

Thanks Sidewinder, could you elaborate on the following?

You say to send a letter stating "that the points raised in your dealings with their client have not been answered and that as the matter is formally in dispute." I have only sent them the "I am the RK you need to take this up with the Driver" letter. Does the sentence still stand and is that all you recommend saying? Is there any template letters flying around as i don't want to give them the slightest chance of winning this battle.

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No Problem.

 

Thanks Sidewinder, could you elaborate on the following?

You say to send a letter stating "that the points raised in your dealings with their client have not been answered and that as the matter is formally in dispute." I have only sent them the "I am the RK you need to take this up with the Driver" letter. Does the sentence still stand and is that all you recommend saying? Is there any template letters flying around as i don't want to give them the slightest chance of winning this battle.

 

There is a template letter, which when supplemented by additional paragraphs would fit your needs.

 

Dear Sirs,

 

Re: Your letter dated [dd/mmmm/yyyy] Reference[#]

 

I refer to previous correspondence to your client, Civil Enforcement Ltd.

 

They appear to claim that I, as keeper, am legally responsible for this alleged debt. I deny this and have asked for them to substantiate this claim with appropriate citations of case and/or statute law. If their allegation is that I was the driver then I require them to produce evidence of this to substantiate their claim as on the day in question, the driver could have been any one of a number of people. I note that Civil Enforcement Ltd have not responded to my request and I therefore consider the matter to be in formal dispute with them.

 

Unless you provide evidence to substantiate your claim against me I shall be unable to assist you further in this matter and I restate my denial of this claim. I am familiar with the OFT guidelines regarding debt collection, and consider that your actions in pursuing a non-existent debt are in serious breach, and may also constitute harassment. Consequently I suggest that you return this matter to your client.

 

Yours faithfully

 

Any advice given is done so on the assumption that recipients will also take professional advice where appropriate.

 

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Hi All

 

Just some extra Info. aplogises if this has already been noted.

 

I just recieved my first Newlyn Letter. Yippee.

 

Just doing a little research and found that the registred address doesn't match Companies House. Also after talking to a nice lady at Companies House found that the address on my letter has never been registred with companies house either. So I'm going to write to Companies Administration to point this out. Perhaps it's just my suspicious mind but this doesn't feel right.

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Hi All

 

Just some extra Info. aplogises if this has already been noted.

 

I just recieved my first Newlyn Letter. Yippee.

 

Just doing a little research and found that the registred address doesn't match Companies House. Also after talking to a nice lady at Companies House found that the address on my letter has never been registred with companies house either. So I'm going to write to Companies Administration to point this out. Perhaps it's just my suspicious mind but this doesn't feel right.

 

You are quite right. They are in breach of the Companies Act 2006. Here is the relevant clause. I've highlight the relevant bits.

 

86 A company’s registered office

 

A company must at all times have a registered office to which all communications and notices may be addressed.

87 Change of address of registered office

 

(1) A company may change the address of its registered office by giving notice to the registrar.

(2) The change takes effect upon the notice being registered by the registrar, but until the end of the period of 14 days beginning with the date on which it is registered a person may validly serve any document on the company at the address previously registered.

(3) For the purposes of any duty of a company—

(a) to keep available for inspection at its registered office any register, index or other document, or

(b) to mention the address of its registered office in any document,

a company that has given notice to the registrar of a change in the address of its registered office may act on the change as from such date, not more than 14 days after the notice is given, as it may determine.

(4) Where a company unavoidably ceases to perform at its registered office any such duty as is mentioned in subsection (3)(a) in circumstances in which it was not practicable to give prior notice to the registrar of a change in the address of its registered office, but—

(a) resumes performance of that duty at other premises as soon as practicable, and

(b) gives notice accordingly to the registrar of a change in the situation of its registered office within 14 days of doing so,

it is not to be treated as having failed to comply with that duty.

 

To summarise:

  • They have to notify the registrar of the change of address as soon as possible.
  • They must use the registered address on all communications.

The address listed on companies house for Newlyn PLC is

 

Name & Registered Office:

NEWLYN PLC

BATCHWORTH HOUSE

BATCHWORTH PLACE CHURCH STREET

RICKMANSWORTH

HERTFORDSHIRE WD3 1JE

Company No. 03770985

 

Report them to Companies House for a breach of the Act. If there are any other people who are in receipt of letters from Newlyn PLC that either have a different registered address or no registered address on it, you might want to report them to Companies House.

 

The address is

 

Companies House

Crown Way

Cardiff

CF14 3UZ

FAO: Compliance Unit

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This does not constitute legal advice and is not represented as a substitute for legal advice from an appropriately qualified person or firm.

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Hi consumer group

I too have got one of those parking fines which I am disputing with civil enforcement. They have a notice with 3 hrs free parking except on football match days when it is reduced to 90 mins. This car park is in a retail park. I shopped in Comet with my friend where she spent £500 on a computer and I was 94 mins in the car park. I sent a copy of the receipt to civil enforcement, explained that (a) I was a genuine shopper, (b) how was I supposed to know it was a match day, and © car park very busy could have taken me 4 mins to get out of the car park. To cut a long story short, no luck with civil enforcement, they threatened court action (I would have gone to Court, there is a principle at stake here), they refused to enter into any further correspondence with me but didnt answer my queries, and have now referred me to a debt collection agency. The fine has gone from £120 - £60 if paid in 7 days to £208.13 with the debt collection agency. Any help/advice please would be greatly appreciated. Thanks and have a great weekend xx

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Hi consumer group

I too have got one of those parking fines which I am disputing with civil enforcement. They have a notice with 3 hrs free parking except on football match days when it is reduced to 90 mins. This car park is in a retail park. I shopped in Comet with my friend where she spent £500 on a computer and I was 94 mins in the car park. I sent a copy of the receipt to civil enforcement, explained that (a) I was a genuine shopper, (b) how was I supposed to know it was a match day, and © car park very busy could have taken me 4 mins to get out of the car park. To cut a long story short, no luck with civil enforcement, they threatened court action (I would have gone to Court, there is a principle at stake here), they refused to enter into any further correspondence with me but didnt answer my queries, and have now referred me to a debt collection agency. The fine has gone from £120 - £60 if paid in 7 days to £208.13 with the debt collection agency. Any help/advice please would be greatly appreciated. Thanks and have a great weekend xx

Have a read of the Private Parking Company Charges Sticky and the template letters sticky at the top of the forum.

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This does not constitute legal advice and is not represented as a substitute for legal advice from an appropriately qualified person or firm.

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Hi consumer group

I too have got one of those parking fines which I am disputing with civil enforcement. They have a notice with 3 hrs free parking except on football match days when it is reduced to 90 mins. This car park is in a retail park. I shopped in Comet with my friend where she spent £500 on a computer and I was 94 mins in the car park. I sent a copy of the receipt to civil enforcement, explained that (a) I was a genuine shopper, (b) how was I supposed to know it was a match day, and © car park very busy could have taken me 4 mins to get out of the car park. To cut a long story short, no luck with civil enforcement, they threatened court action (I would have gone to Court, there is a principle at stake here), they refused to enter into any further correspondence with me but didnt answer my queries, and have now referred me to a debt collection agency. The fine has gone from £120 - £60 if paid in 7 days to £208.13 with the debt collection agency. Any help/advice please would be greatly appreciated. Thanks and have a great weekend xx

 

It doesn't matter how much they have increased the 'debt' to - they will have to sue you to get it, and I think that in the (very) unlikely event that they do so, the judge would be extremely unlikely to agree that a 4 minute 'overstay' warrants such a charge. CEL and their pet DCA will bounce letters around for a long while yet in the hope that fear of action forces you to pay. Some will advise you to completely ignore them, but personally I feel that a history of reasonable letters would benefit you if they are stupid enough to take legal action.

 

Write to them re-emphasising your point that as far as you were aware from the signs it is a 3 hour limit and that it is not clear from the signage that this is reduced on match days (naturally this should be compatible with whatever you have already told them), and that even if you had been aware of such a condition you do not follow sport so would have no knowledge of whether that particular day was or was not. Consequently you made no contractual agreement to pay their invoice. You spent a great deal of money in the retail park, which neccessitated time to make decisions in terms of the most appropriate product to buy. You consider that their demands for money based on misleading signage are unwarranted and unlawful, and you do not intend to pay unless ordered by a judge. In the event that they decide to issue proceedings you will welcome the opportunity to vigorously defend the claim and will be counterclaiming for costs. I would make no mention of it being only 4 minutes as this suggests that you accept that you overstayed but not by much, which adds weight to their case.

Any advice given is done so on the assumption that recipients will also take professional advice where appropriate.

 

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Where in this 19 pages of threads has anyone mentioned being taken to court???

They wont take anyone to court, if they did on what basis?

 

They are full of wind and thinly veiled threats= Hot Air!

 

Sure they will send you letters and get their mates the DCA to write a couple of letters to you and try and get you to pay through fear and ignorance of the law.

They cannot get a bailiff or a CCJ nor a charge on your house without going to court and winning there and the likelyhood of even taking you to court is virtually nil and winning is even more remote.

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I take it that you are the registered keeper of the vehicle and that is how they obtained your address.

How do they know who was driving the vehicle.

Is it the drivers responsibility for alleged offenses not the registered keeper and if you were not driving how can you receive a ticket .

Can you remember if it was you or you partner who drove into the car park and did the same driver drive the vehicle from the car park.

Am I correct in my assumptions and I welcome comments if i`m wrong in my thinking.

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Hello all,

appologies in advance if this is the same old ground.

Got a PCN in october last year from the civil enforcement crooks. My crime was staying more than 30 minutes or so on a garage forecourt at gatwick airport. Normally i would just take it on the chin pay it and get on with it but this one i just really resent. I ignored them to see what they would do so i got the usual array of threatening letters ect. Got a new one this week from newlyn who have apparantly been hired to bring me to justice. (dead or alive?) debt now £188.13. My question is this, has anyone ever been or heard of anyone being taken to court for this and losing? or are they just shaking the trees to see what falls out?

Any advice wellcome

Thanks

Jonthespark

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I take it that you are the registered keeper of the vehicle and that is how they obtained your address.

How do they know who was driving the vehicle.

Is it the drivers responsibility for alleged offenses not the registered keeper and if you were not driving how can you receive a ticket .

Can you remember if it was you or you partner who drove into the car park and did the same driver drive the vehicle from the car park.

Am I correct in my assumptions and I welcome comments if i`m wrong in my thinking.

At the risk of shouting YOU HAVE NOT COMMITTED ANY OFFENCE. at the very best they could claim it is a contractual matter, but proving that is difficult, risky and expensive. In all cases, you should write a letter of complaint to the Head Office of McDonalds etc. and tell them that you find their working practices disgraceful and that you do not expect any further threats from anybody instructed or associated with them. CEL will try and make you believe that you have committed an offence, which is illegal.

 

Tide

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IIIUMINATAI

 

READ the post above yours last post for the answer to your question.

 

So just sit it out, dont even bother to waste postage and time or stress responding to them, because that is what they hope, they will send enough threats from themselves or their DCA mates so that you eventually give in, and pay them.

Dont succum!

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Hello there,

 

First time poster. I too have just received a pricy invoice from our friends at 'Civil Enforcement Ltd'. I'm sure those of you who have been entrapped by their 'sophisticated' ANPR technology will have received the all too familiar nonsense on blue letter headed paper with the words 'Parking Contravention [Enforcement] Notice' (abreviated to PCN) at the top. I've even got my own unique 'PCN' number. How thoughtful. All they have provided me with is a postcode and a vague description of the location (Car Park at Queens Road) where the 'incident' took place. I can't imagine any of this would stand up in a court of law. A postcode could cover several properties and Queens Road is a fairly long road. Anyhow, they are 'demanding' £150 for the privilege of me being 20 mins over the free parking limit at the KFC on Queens Road in Sheffield (I knew I had been there that day). It doesn't matter that I and my family were spending money in store. Oh, and if I don't pay up I'll be subject to the usual array of noddy threats (Debt Recovery Agents (oooh!), spiraling additional costs (aaaaaargh!) and a friendly chat with their gorrilas). Hmmm. Well, I naturaly hit the roof when this so called 'enforcement notice' dropped through the letterbox as I wasn't even driving that day. My initial reaction was to storm into the afore mentioned restaurant and invent a new cuisine ala 'Kentucky Fried Manager'. Well, cooler heads prevailed. I was even more incensed to find out that the DVLA had without question or my permission provided these fraudsters with my personal details as the registered owner of the car. You'd have thought that the Government would have learnt it's lesson after the fiasco with HM Customs & Revenue and would have severely restricted the flow of personal information to pirates like these. I like the way they have attempted to dress the invoice up as an official looking 'Penalty Charge Notice'. Even their company logo (a set of judicial scales for gods sake!) looks intimidating. I'd love to hang their morality on their scales and see which way it tipped (obviously towards the immoral side). They've probably never seen a court of law or would have any understanding of justice. The icing on the cake of course was the £10 charge to review the photographic evidence against me (quoting my 'PCN' number of course). Bloody set of chancers! Glad I did some digging around first. Thanks to the extensive information I found on this most excellent forum I will be putting up a very stiff defence and will tell these [problematic] where to shove their so called demands. These leaches aren't going to get my hard earnt cash.

 

Watch this space. I expect this will drag on for some time. I'm about to send the initial 'please contact driver' letter . . . hahaha bring it on!

 

A (feeling much better now)

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Hi

 

I got a ticket from them back in Oct. I wrote to them once and they sent me the same responce they give to everyone.

 

Couple more letters with threats etc and then the letter from CPA. Called CPA and told them to not bother me because there is nothing they can do.

 

Then contact CE (always by email) and told them:

""I am not paying you a penny.

You need to take me to court. If you take me to court you need to provide me with all the evidence you have because I will defend my case and I dont have to pay you £10 for them. Also you have to let me know the location but I advise you that I will ask for the case to be moved to London as the offence happen in London and is where I live.

 

So stop contact me or see you in court.""

 

My wife worried about the "see you in court" comment but I said to her to not deleted.

 

Guess what, after a week I got a letter saying they will write off the PCN and no further action needed. (My wife's responce " I dont know what you do but it worked. They written off the ticket")

At my letter I just put the above lines. No legal terms, no parts of the law etc. They dont want to go to court. It will cost them alot more and the chance to win is minimal.

In my case they was providing photo evidence for a period of 4 hours parking for 2 hours limit.

I was 100% sure that my wife never parked at the car park for more that half hour at a time so I did not worry about going to court and I was sure they could not provide the evidence they said. So I never include any law comments in my letter. Just plain Greeklish.:lol:

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