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Private Parking Tickets discussion

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  • Hi guys (take 2) lost the first attempt !!
    ……hoping you can help me deal with these lowlife…. in March I got a ticket from tps (terrorist pseudo subhumans) in Aberyswyth which I dutifully left (in several pieces) in the car park.
    When I heard from them I replied using Martins appeal template letter but they said my appeal was unsuccessful although they eventually came down from £100 to £40 which I was still not about to pay, so realizing I was talking to a brick wall I ignored further letters from Elite Collections and Roxburghe.
    Then I received a letter from Graham White Solicitors (mentioned by Sarahg1969) demanding £171.00 with ‘notice of intended legal action’ (County Court) with additional costs of £142.26 ??!!??
    They may be subcontracted by the local council because due to some missing paper work the council previously had to pay back all the fines on the site. Peter the Piper mentioned this….does this make a difference ??
    Anyway I understandably wobbled and went to CAB and a local solicitor who both said that I should pay them and had made it worse by ignoring them. I phoned Graham White and they said to send financial details and payment proposals so I sent them a cheque for £5 as maximum possible one off payment and a reasonable amount for 15mins parking for a contract I was not aware I was under in order to be in breach of.
    Yesterday I received a handwritten compliments slip returning the cheque from Roxburghe and when I spoke to them (strangely the same girl as Graham White’s) I was told they would only accept payment proposals for the full £170. I went back to CAB who still say I should pay !! (and that being a single mother of 2 on income support does not exempt me from paying) . However after thinking of the various inconvenient ways I could send them £5 a month for the next year or so !!! £5worth of raw meat (pound of flesh), fish ,tomatoes, clingfilm wrapped 1ps, cheque written on an elephant etc and then almost writng to tps (truly poor scammers) and asking them to just let me pay £40….I found this thread ….so THANK YOU.
    Now I feel like sending them PaulS43 s letter (p11 post 201) but don’t want to increase any likelihood of them taking action…I also thought of writing to the shops involved, police, local paper and trading standards…..I just want them out of my life….can they really take me to court, send bailiffs etc or if I just ignore them now will they really just go away because I am still totally disinclined to acquiesce to their extortionate demands with menaces… How can this be legal …is it….!!!??Does anyone have any info on these guys or advice……thanks for being here and to Martin for this site :eek::mad::eek::mad::eek:
  • bargepole
    bargepole Posts: 3,237 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    …..I just want them out of my life….can they really take me to court, send bailiffs etc or if I just ignore them now will they really just go away because I am still totally disinclined to acquiesce to their extortionate demands with menaces…
    For the 134th time in the past 48 hours ... ignore them, and pay them nothing. Roxburghe and Graham White are sure signs it's a scam, and they wouldn't dare go near a court. And don't ask CAB for advice, they don't have a clue about this.

    I have been providing assistance, including Lay Representation at Court hearings (current score: won 57, lost 14), to defendants in parking cases for over 5 years. I have an LLB (Hons) degree, and have a Graduate Diploma in Civil Litigation from CILEx. However, any advice given on these forums by me is NOT formal legal advice, and I accept no liability for its accuracy.
  • sarahg1969
    sarahg1969 Posts: 6,694 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Hi guys (take 2) lost the first attempt !!
    ……hoping you can help me deal with these lowlife…. in March I got a ticket from tps (terrorist pseudo subhumans) in Aberyswyth which I dutifully left (in several pieces) in the car park.
    When I heard from them I replied using Martins appeal template letter but they said my appeal was unsuccessful although they eventually came down from £100 to £40 which I was still not about to pay, so realizing I was talking to a brick wall I ignored further letters from Elite Collections and Roxburghe.
    Then I received a letter from Graham White Solicitors (mentioned by Sarahg1969) demanding £171.00 with ‘notice of intended legal action’ (County Court) with additional costs of £142.26 ??!!??
    They may be subcontracted by the local council because due to some missing paper work the council previously had to pay back all the fines on the site. Peter the Piper mentioned this….does this make a difference ??
    Anyway I understandably wobbled and went to CAB and a local solicitor who both said that I should pay them and had made it worse by ignoring them. I phoned Graham White and they said to send financial details and payment proposals so I sent them a cheque for £5 as maximum possible one off payment and a reasonable amount for 15mins parking for a contract I was not aware I was under in order to be in breach of.
    Yesterday I received a handwritten compliments slip returning the cheque from Roxburghe and when I spoke to them (strangely the same girl as Graham White’s) I was told they would only accept payment proposals for the full £170. I went back to CAB who still say I should pay !! (and that being a single mother of 2 on income support does not exempt me from paying) . However after thinking of the various inconvenient ways I could send them £5 a month for the next year or so !!! £5worth of raw meat (pound of flesh), fish ,tomatoes, clingfilm wrapped 1ps, cheque written on an elephant etc and then almost writng to tps (truly poor scammers) and asking them to just let me pay £40….I found this thread ….so THANK YOU.
    Now I feel like sending them PaulS43 s letter (p11 post 201) but don’t want to increase any likelihood of them taking action…I also thought of writing to the shops involved, police, local paper and trading standards…..I just want them out of my life….can they really take me to court, send bailiffs etc or if I just ignore them now will they really just go away because I am still totally disinclined to acquiesce to their extortionate demands with menaces… How can this be legal …is it….!!!??Does anyone have any info on these guys or advice……thanks for being here and to Martin for this site :eek::mad::eek::mad::eek:

    Just how carefully did you read all the advice on this board?

    From now on, ignore it. And then ignore it some more.

    Have a proper read of the numerous other posts on here, which will hopefully put your mind at rest.

    You've been had for a fiver, but do'nt send them another penny. They'll move on to another victim soon.
  • Coblcris
    Coblcris Posts: 1,862 Forumite
    bargepole wrote: »
    Yes I am aware of this, although I think you'll find that the main funding for the BPA comes from the likes of Simon Renshaw-Smith (Excel Parking), NCP, etc., and they invite Councils and other public bodies to join in an attempt to create a veneer of legitimacy.

    The BPA do have a "code of practice" for private members, which states amongst other things that they should attempt to identify the driver, and not harrass the registered keeper. Nearly all PPCs fail to observe the code, but the BPA does nothing.

    I agree that public money should not be spent on hobnobbing with a private trade association, but most Councils are such greedy grabbers when it comes to getting revenue from parking fines they probably won't care.
    the fee structure in 2008 was
    SECTOR SMALL MEDIUM STANDARD LARGE NATIONAL
    Commercial £270 +VAT £535 +VAT £1,065 +VAT £2,135 +VAT £5,330 +VAT
    Public Sector £550 +VAT £750 +VAT £950 +VAT £1,500 +VAT N/A
    Sole Trader £135
    Overseas £355

    and Pubic sector was scaled as
    PUBLIC SECTOR
    Small: turnover less than £1m in the latest full
    financial year
    Standard: turnover between £1m and £5m in the
    latest full financial year
    Medium: turnover between £5m and £20m in the
    latest full financial year
    Large: turnover in excess of £20m in the latest
    full financial year

    The full membership list that I have seen had almost 300 hundred councils and a slightly smaller number of private companies, most which are scaled at the lower end of the applicable scale for private companies.

    I believe the council contributions to BPA funds is significant.
  • Three weeks ago i got a ticket in a retail park from UKPC they said i was parked outwith the marked parking bay, they later sent in my details from DVLA and a photo of the parked car and yes i was outwith the marked lines, i have now had a second letter from them which i have not opened, as i'am not paying it, on this forum i have read alot from different parking "cowboys " but not that many from UKPC should i cave in or keep ignoring them.
  • Crabman
    Crabman Posts: 9,942 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Combo Breaker
    geckles wrote: »
    Three weeks ago i got a ticket in a retail park from UKPC they said i was parked outwith the marked parking bay, they later sent in my details from DVLA and a photo of the parked car and yes i was outwith the marked lines, i have now had a second letter from them which i have not opened, as i'am not paying it, on this forum i have read alot from different parking "cowboys " but not that many from UKPC should i cave in or keep ignoring them.
    Hi geckles, welcome to MSE :)

    UKPC fall into the category of 'cowboys' so keep ignoring them. File their letters away and don't be tempted to enter into any correspondence with them.

    They'll probably threaten you with all sorts of things such as a CCJ, a negative effect on your credit record, bailiffs, none of which are possible unless they have the guts to start court action against you. Which they won't, because they'd be laughed out of court.
  • Very interested in the guideline for resisting these ticketing scams. Bear in mind the DVLA will sell your details to anyone or company who requests them. There seems to be nothing you can do to prevent them selling personal details which we are obliged to supply by law! I suggest every motorist writes to their MP to complain about this. Removal of this data selling scheme from DVLA will seriously impede the private ticket companies.
  • sarahg1969
    sarahg1969 Posts: 6,694 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    bradlpe wrote: »
    Very interested in the guideline for resisting these ticketing scams. Bear in mind the DVLA will sell your details to anyone or company who requests them. There seems to be nothing you can do to prevent them selling personal details which we are obliged to supply by law! I suggest every motorist writes to their MP to complain about this. Removal of this data selling scheme from DVLA will seriously impede the private ticket companies.

    The DVLA will never stop selling details - it's too lucrative. They make millions of pounds every year out of it.
  • Thanks to the members on this forum who are informing others not to pay any and all private parking companies. I am disabled and received one of these letters asking for money and did contact them once, before receiving Martin's email. I will not be paying a penny or contact them again. The advice that is repeatedly given out here, has given me the confidence and the strength to ignore any further correspondance which, they will send to me in the future.
    Thank you once again.
  • Tricia_Mc
    Tricia_Mc Posts: 31 Forumite
    Thanks for raising this issue, Martin, I hope plenty of people will be alerted to this scam before paying these outrageous charges.

    I had a PPC ticket in February, made up to look like an official parking ticket. I contacted the parking co for more details (this was before I found the advice on the pepipoo site to ignore PPCs), and wasted a lot of time worrying, complaining etc - learn from my mistakes and don't bother. Just do some deep breathing and file the letters away.

    I am still getting the letters - I have had extra charges and legal charges added on, threat of solicitors, threat of someone visiting my home, 'debt collectors' letter (same address as parking co). Let them take me to the small claims court if they want to - I wasn't driving so I'm not liable (and their charge is unreasonable, and they misrepresented it as a fine, threatened me over the phone, made their letter look like an official parking ticket....).

    I complained to the PCA and the DVLA, contacted Trading Standards for advice (they didn't know the difference between a PPC and 'official' fine and weren't interested in learning). All a complete waste of time and effort.

    Even though I'm fairly well informed now about this scam, I still feel anxious when I receive a letter threatening to take me to court etc. It makes me furious to think of these PPC demands being sent to vulnerable people or those who don't have the resources to look up advice on the internet who may feel intimidated into paying..:mad:
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