Civil Enforcement Ltd (again!)

[AcidC4]

My cousin works for the inland revenue as a Tax inspector very nice guy.

 

He told me that if they get enough complaints about a company they will

investigate them he also said you dont even have to leave your name etc.

 

It just so happened i was telling him about my ordeal and he didnt seem to

pleased with the threats i had been getting

 

Wonder if there book keeping is in order? since there such crooks!

[lamma]

The VAT man cometh.

[nick20045]

 

He told me that if they get enough complaints about a company they will

investigate them

 

Why should people complain to the inland revenue regarding penalty notices? (Or alleged penalty notices)? Doubt they have heard more then your complaint to your cousin.

[Troon1968]

I received a PCN from Civil Enforcement Ltd as my car was parked in the Rivergate Shopping Centre car park in Irvine, Scotland for 50 minutes longer than the permitted 3 hour free period. I was not the driver nor present at the time however the driver was in the Shopping Centre for this entire period and more annoying perhaps was spending money in there as well.

 

I replied to the initial PCN using the template advising I was not the driver and nor was I obliged to advise them who the driver was. I unsurprisingly received a standard letter in response stating that they had considered the matters raised in my letter, I did not raise any issues, and that as the registered keeper they continued to hold me responsible. They also advised in this letter that "the enforcement notice remains valid as the ticket was correctly issued" - however no such ticket was issued as they have used CCTV to time the date of arrival and departure and no tickets or other enforcement is used in the carpark. They also advised that unless payment was received they would issue proceedings in the County Court! - strange given that scots law surely applies

 

I simply responded to this letter again advising that I was not the driver, that I was not obliged to disclose who was, and not to contact me again. I have today received from CEL a letter advising that they have already expended considerable time to my representations and that they cannot continue corresponding with me and that failure to pay will result in the matter being forwarded to a collection agency for recovery.

 

i am now simply going to ignore any further contact however I was interested to know if anybody else had received similar correspondence for a Scottish car park and what their views were?

 

Thanks

 

 

Not having heard any more from CEL I now seem to be receiving at least one call a day from a company called Direct Legal and Collections Ltd - every call is automated and the first question starts "if you are Mr .... press 1" at which point I simply hang up. Anybody else experienced this and any thoughts on how to respond deal with them. I have had no other contact from this company not even a nice letter demanding immediate payment!

 

Cheers

[lamma]

Why should people complain to the inland revenue regarding penalty notices? (Or alleged penalty notices)? Doubt they have heard more then your complaint to your cousin.

 

VAT

[nick20045]

VAT

I know about VAT and tax but once again, getting parking tickets (or alleged parking tickets) from a PPC is not something that the man in the street will write (or phone) the Inland Revenue to complain about. They may complain to the MP. They may complain to the OFT. But, not complain to the Inland Revenue.

[StrawDog]

Not having heard any more from CEL I now seem to be receiving at least one call a day from a company called Direct Legal and Collections Ltd - every call is automated and the first question starts "if you are Mr .... press 1" at which point I simply hang up. Anybody else experienced this and any thoughts on how to respond deal with them. I have had no other contact from this company not even a nice letter demanding immediate payment!

 

Cheers

 

That's a new one - looks like CEL may have given Newlyn Plc the elbow (or is it vice versa) & now have a new partner in grime. I'm only guessing tho' - maybe DLC help to run this [problem] for CEL north of the border.

No matter, the way to respond & deal with them is not to respond & deal with them. Continue to ignore & hang up as you already have.

BTW Troon, how have they got hold of your number? Did you disclose it to CEL?

 

Just occurred to me - are you sure this is connected with CEL? You state that you hang-up after your name is mentioned. Could this be related to something else entirely?

Edited September 10, 2009 by StrawDog
Additional sentence added

[sameagle]

A friend of mine had problems with this debt collector.

 

She had cancelled her car insurance because she sold the car, and went on the Motability scheme.

 

She owed the insurers a cancellation fee, which she paid, and received a letter stating that her account was cleared.

 

Then these people started with the phone calls, including "If you are Mrs *****, press 1 on your keypad"

 

I answered it for her on two occasions, pressing the "1".

 

The goon started her spiel, so I stopped her "If you are not Mrs *****, why did you press button one?" she asked.

 

I said "Because your call lit up line one on the phone system, so I lifted the receiver, and pressed number one, if I hadn't, you would not be able to speak to anyone"

 

They didn't ring back after the second call!

 

Sam

[Al27]

"If you are not Mrs *****, why did you press button one?"

 

Staggering that they dictate how you are to converse with them on your own phone.

[charliebhoy]

Hi,

 

Another first time poster.

 

I too have recieved a PCN from CEL stating that I overstayed 17 minutes more than the allotted 3 hours.

 

This travisty took place at the rivergate Shopping centre, Irvine, Scotland.

 

This "alleged offence" took place on 21/08/09, I did not recieve any correspondence from CEL untill 09/09/09, CEL kindly stated that if I coughed up before 14 days I could pay £40, however I did not recieve the PCN untill 19 days after the "offence"

 

I was not the driver that day, however the person driving is pregnant and had a 4 month child with her who upon getting to the car (on time) needed to be fed, So she fed the baby within the car and left thinking that all was ok as she did not have a ticket her windscreen. She didn't think anything about it.

 

I have been reading through the various posts in this thread and it seems to me that I can take a few different routes in dealing with these chancers.

 

1 Completely ignore them do not respond to any form of communication and hope that they get the message and go away.

 

2 Reply to their correspondence using the templete letter(s) on this thread, continuing to do so untill they stop lettering me.

 

As yet I am still unsure what course of action to take and I am open to suggestions to what to do next.

 

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

thanks

[Troon1968]

Hi,

 

Another first time poster.

 

I too have recieved a PCN from CEL stating that I overstayed 17 minutes more than the allotted 3 hours.

 

This travisty took place at the rivergate Shopping centre, Irvine, Scotland.

 

This "alleged offence" took place on 21/08/09, I did not recieve any correspondence from CEL untill 09/09/09, CEL kindly stated that if I coughed up before 14 days I could pay £40, however I did not recieve the PCN untill 19 days after the "offence"

 

I was not the driver that day, however the person driving is pregnant and had a 4 month child with her who upon getting to the car (on time) needed to be fed, So she fed the baby within the car and left thinking that all was ok as she did not have a ticket her windscreen. She didn't think anything about it.

 

I have been reading through the various posts in this thread and it seems to me that I can take a few different routes in dealing with these chancers.

 

1 Completely ignore them do not respond to any form of communication and hope that they get the message and go away.

 

2 Reply to their correspondence using the templete letter(s) on this thread, continuing to do so untill they stop lettering me.

 

As yet I am still unsure what course of action to take and I am open to suggestions to what to do next.

 

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

thanks

 

 

I replied using the templates but simply received the expected reply and now, although I have had no written contact, would appear to be receiving daily calls from there appointed debt collector. Expect to start receiving phone calls from numbers starting 01280!

 

I would suggest that whilst it will make no difference you should at least respond stating you were not the driver however if my experience is the norm they will simply pass to their debt collector, although clearly they can only pursue the debt against the driver. I have also written to the Rivergate Manager and Asda expressing my feelings and asking for their views. It must be clear to them that most of those alledged offences are genuine customers and surely they have a moral duty to protect their customers.

[AcidC4]

I know about VAT and tax but once again, getting parking tickets (or alleged parking tickets) from a PPC is not something that the man in the street will write (or phone) the Inland Revenue to complain about. They may complain to the MP. They may complain to the OFT. But, not complain to the Inland Revenue.

 

 

 

I think you will find its very easy to become a target for The Inland Revenue in life its not what you know but who you know.

 

They dont even need a justified reason to investigate and when they

start they have to find somthing even if its just £1 lots of hassle for

them hit there pocket its the best way

 

Well I wrote to them I then got the double figure and wrote to them

again so I am awaiting stage 3.

 

I havent even said if i was the driver or not save that for court

not that they will even attempt to go that far and i bet there on this forum reading everything in here so i say GET IT RIGHT UP YA!

[StrawDog]

Can anyone confirm whether Direct Legal & Collections Ltd are indeed the new provisional arm of CEL.

[letshelp]

I would suggest that whilst it will make no difference you should at least respond

 

Why? As you have stated it is a complete waste of time...

 

stating you were not the driver

 

I would avise giving them no information whatsoever.

.

regards

[crem]

I agree with letshelp

[Stevepax]

Hi all,

Help me out as I think I may have made a mistake, parked in a car park in Hatfield. I do not live there I am a visitor on business. I was very early for my meeting, grabbed lunch from KFC and stayed in my car making calls etc. Car park was virtually empty for whole stay. It transpires I stayed for 2hrs 11 mins and recieved a ticket for £75 or £150. The ticket first went to my company who then forwarded it to me. Not wanting my company to have to deal with this, I wrote to Civil Enforcement asking that they deal with me and also asking if they would cancel the ticket on the basis that I had not left my car and if I did overstay it was by complete accident and I di not gain any particular benefit.

Got the standard 'no' letter and extended time or we will do you etc. As they now know it was me, am I stuffed ? or should I take the route of not replying and if they take me to court argue that the fine was excessive in light of the circumstances. Is there a good response in letter form for this or should I just say nothing ?

 

Cheers all.

[juliusceasor]

Is there a good response in letter form for this or should I just say nothing ?

 

Cheers all.

 

Well you could be direct and say... Please take me to court and explain in front of a judge how you can reasonably and justifiably charge £75 for my overstaying by 11mins. Unless they are prepared to do so please consider this by first and final response on the matter.

 

Or ignore them.

[nick20045]

 

Or ignore them.

Or write back to them, tell them you are a Manic Depressive Schrizophenic with multiple personalities. The reason why you were so long on the phone is because you have been told you are going to be fired from work. Hence you were on the phone to Social Services to see if you can also claim for your other personalities but as you were told you can only claim for one, the other three are really cheesed off as they will get no money. Tell them that although you are on heavy medication you are prepared to stop taking the medication so you can drive all the way to Liverpool to have a face to face chat. Between you and your other personalities it should be no problem driving down non stop. :D:D

 

p.s. Just thought I will write something a bit different and hopefully peeps will have a laugh. LOL.

[Stevepax]

I had thought of that but my car is a 4 seater and I would not get all of us in :-|:-|

Or write back to them, tell them you are a Manic Depressive Schrizophenic with multiple personalities. The reason why you were so long on the phone is because you have been told you are going to be fired from work. Hence you were on the phone to Social Services to see if you can also claim for your other personalities but as you were told you can only claim for one, the other three are really cheesed off as they will get no money. Tell them that although you are on heavy medication you are prepared to stop taking the medication so you can drive all the way to Liverpool to have a face to face chat. Between you and your other personalities it should be no problem driving down non stop. :D:D

 

p.s. Just thought I will write something a bit different and hopefully peeps will have a laugh. LOL.

[cabbagebike]

Yes That was the title of mine. The next you'll get will be "Notice Prior To County Court Proceedings" (sorry to spoil it for you! ), giving 2 week to pay.

 

Like the 3rd one, do the same with this one

 

Will keep updated as usual.

 

Just updating:

 

Not heard a sausage for some time now. Followed the great help of members from here and ignored everything. Just carry on with your life as usual and forget about them I've retained the paperwork they've sent for reference to help others.

 

Will update as usual. Cheers!

[AcidC4]

Update it has now been several weeks and not a PEEP from them am starting to feel left out

 

I have laminated the threats from these SHARKS and put them up on my wall with my letter of responses

 

Was hoping to fill at least oneside of my wall

 

Might go to KFC this Sunday and then go Tenpin bowling and accidently leave my car in the KFC carpark

 

Maybe somthing will come tomorrow in the post from them i hope

Edited September 21, 2009 by AcidC4
spullin mastook lol

[Yadagi]

Hi all,

This is my first time on here, I"m so happy to have found this site,I could have done with it last year but that is another story.

Would appreciate a quick response as I have to pay up £75 soon or fee goes up to £150!!!

Basically my hubby parked in KFC car park in the UK somewhere for more than the free time allowed. Came home and a week later we recieved a letter from CEL stating that he had breached the free limited stay allowance. I went yesterday as he does not remember seeing any signs, and lo and behold, there were plenty of them everywhere , big red ones with free parking for 90 mins only. and the fees if you overstay and a number to call to reduce the amount if you pay before you leave the car park. I checked with the manager and he said that they were recently asked by KFC to control the parking as people were leaving their cars there all day to go shopping in the retail park across the road which charges.

Not the reason why my hubby did it, got food at KFC for our children,left his car there as he could not get in the carpark across the road , and then lost his keys, by the time he found them, he had overstayed by less than an hour.

 

So what do i do now? pay up or not?????

Edited October 3, 2009 by Yadagi
to take out any details identifying us to CEL

[SURFBOY]

Ignore

and DO NOT PAY

Edited September 22, 2009 by SURFBOY
1

[nick20045]

 

So what do i do now? pay up or not?????

go and cook tea for the family (or get a take away) and have a nice time playing/having quality time with the children.

 

Tomorrow, go shopping and have a nice day.

 

p.s. As you can see, the words "panic" or "pay" or "write to them" have not been used above. :roll:

[AcidC4]

Hi Yadagi,

 

As you will see some people choose to ignore others will use the template letters in here.

 

I decided to not ignore and attack back but its your call you have to decided can you be bothered with letters back and fourth or do you want to get on with your life and ignore the fools.

 

Remember that they have to prove who was the driver not the other way about so ignore works well