Should I pay..Civil Enforcement Ltd?

pineapple123

Hi Just wanted to put some people who may be worried minds at rest.
Have not heard anything since June and think thats the end of this saga. :whistle:

Yehhh just noticed Ive got my second star.

Colint_2

Hi, I've just received a letter from this company, should i do the same and just ignore it?. My car was parked @ the rivergate shopping centre in Irvine but i don't remember there being a parking notice sign and if there was, it must've been small and only one of them and that is no good if you just parked @ the furthest part of the car park and never seen it. I'm not from this area so i don't know much about the car park.

Driver8

Colint wrote: »

Hi, I've just received a letter from this company, should i do the same and just ignore it?. My car was parked @ the rivergate shopping centre in Irvine but i don't remember there being a parking notice sign and if there was, it must've been small and only one of them and that is no good if you just parked @ the furthest part of the car park and never seen it. I'm not from this area so i don't know much about the car park.

PRIVATE PARKING TICKETS - DON'T PAY!
IT IS NOT A FINE! YOU HAVE DONE NOTHING ILLEGAL!

This is an information page for the thousands of people who receive "tickets" from private companies in the UK ever day at supermarkets, retail parks, and in any other privately-owned carpark.

We are NOT encouraging anybody to openly flout parking restrictions on private land, or to refuse to pay reasonable charges for parking. Landowners have a right to make reasonable charges for the use of their land.

For advice specific to your case, you should visit the forums at http://forums.pepipoo.com or http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/parking-traffic-offences.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=163

1. What you should know about these companies

It is important to remember that private parking companies (or PPCs as they are often called) have NO OFFICIAL POWERS - that's right, none at all! They give out their "tickets" on the basis that you have seen the signs in their car park and that you have therefore agreed to a contract obliging you to pay a certain sum of money.


2. What happens to people who don't pay?

In 99.9% of cases, absolutely NOTHING! The company pays the DVLA £2.50 to get your address, and then sends lots of threatening letters. In the main, these letters can be safely IGNORED. The only way the company can actually force you to pay is by taking you to the small claims court, which costs them even more money. And they are by no means guaranteed to win! And they practically never do.

The two main reasons for this (among others) are the following:

- Only the person DRIVING the car could ever have agreed to any such parking contract. The company can only get the Registered Keeper's address from the DVLA: you don't have to tell them who was driving.

-Many of these charges are so extortionately high that they constitute a penalty, which is unenforceable in a consumer contract.


3. Can they affect my credit rating?

NO! The only way your credit rating could be affected by ignoring private parking companies is if you were taken to court, lost, and then still refused to pay. But they will not take you to court.


IN SHORT

The vast majority of the time, you can safely IGNORE tickets from private parking companies, they are not official fines.

The vast majority of the time, you can safely IGNORE the threatening letters, including those from debt collection agencies.

You DO NOT have to pay a penny of your hard-earned money to these companies. Remember that the chances of being taken to court are very slim indeed.

DO NOT IGNORE COURT PAPERS!
If you receive real court papers from a private parking company (very rare) then you should go to http://forums.pepipoo.com or http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/parking-traffic-offences for help defending the claim. Do not be afraid to sign up and ask questions regarding any paperwork you are not sure about.



Don’t believe the above? Watch a solicitor on Watchdog advising you what to do with the scam invoices.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAIcdi9niHA

THEY ARE NOT FINES

Only the Police, Courts or Council’s can fine you. NOT a private company, please remember that.

Colint_2

Many thanx for the info, will let you know if i hear from them.

Driver8

Colint wrote: »

Many thanx for the info, will let you know if i hear from them.

Oh you're going to hear from them alright. Look at the sticky at the top explaining what letters you will receive. each one getting more threatening when the other threats don't work. Don't get scared just totally ignore the empty threats and let them waste money sending them.

Cognition

Hi all, I have received similar letter for parking my car at KFC in Birstall, near showcase theatre. Received my first letter today. Thanks for the useful information. I am not paying them a single penny.

Coupon-mad

Cognition wrote: »

Hi all, I have received similar letter for parking my car at KFC in Birstall, near showcase theatre. Received my first letter today. Thanks for the useful information. I am not paying them a single penny.

Good on you. Be confident this IS a scam, Watchdog also said the same in May.

curtis7

hi, i havn't posted in a while so thought id let everyone know my situation. i recieved my first letter through the post in may from civil enforcement ltd, then another one or 2 with an increasing amount being owed. then followed letters from newlyn. i ignored everything throughout and recieved 6 or 7 letters in total as well as 2 calls to my home number. the last letter i recieved was a 'notice of court action' in july. its been 6 weeks and ive heard nothing more so hopefully they have given up. thanks to all the people on this site who advised to ignore and i want to reasure people that this is deffinately the best policy! i will post again if i recieve any more letters but i dont think i will!!

Coupon-mad

curtis7 wrote: »

hi, i havn't posted in a while so thought id let everyone know my situation. i recieved my first letter through the post in may from civil enforcement ltd, then another one or 2 with an increasing amount being owed. then followed letters from newlyn. i ignored everything throughout and recieved 6 or 7 letters in total as well as 2 calls to my home number. the last letter i recieved was a 'notice of court action' in july. its been 6 weeks and ive heard nothing more so hopefully they have given up. thanks to all the people on this site who advised to ignore and i want to reasure people that this is deffinately the best policy! i will post again if i recieve any more letters but i dont think i will!!

It's good to hear you confirming this - we know it's the case that nothing else happens but newbies like to see the outcome from someone who has been victimised by their particular PPC.

If you can, please do scan in pics (or take close up digital pics) of your ticket and letters (minus the refs and ID and dates/location). There is a thread for example letter-chains and we don't have Civil Enforcement listed there yet:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2214803

Post the copies as a reply there on that thread, not here, if you can.

landmark

nic2075 wrote: »

I take it they have gone through the DVLA, I didnt think this was allowed?

It shouldn't happen, but is allowed. This aint a perfect world!

darich wrote: »

i also believe that you can argue that the "contract" agreed to by parking is between them and the driver. The driver is not necessarily the owner.
That being the case, you can instruct them to prove who was the driver and provide all of their details to confirm they know who the driver is. They'll obviously be unable to do this and the case then falls apart.

It is NOT advisable to claim one was not driving when one was. Even if one was not driving.
The PPCs tend to disregard this anyway

gsmmad wrote: »

i would actually suggest a different approach. Go on websites where they deal with things like this all the time. they will give u templates of letters to send off which is the best thing to do.

There are templates on this website as well.

gsmmad wrote: »

I got one of these i ignored it and i am now passed down to newlyn or something a baliff company who havent tried anything but send me letters. I got 2 so far in the last year. I am going to write them a couple of letters if i get another letter but its not a good fealing being passed down to a baliff company.

I suspect Newlyn may be cowboys pretending to have a warrant to clamp/tow away vehicles as well.
I have found that if you write them letters it makes no difference since they are by their very nature unreasonable. How can one reason with the unreasonable except through a court of law.

My bottom line based on my experiences with them is (see below);)