Private Parking Charge Notice

ms_frustrated

Can anybody help me please?

I recently parked in a small supermarket car park that usually charges £1. The fee is then refunded at the check-out. The ticket has to be handed over in the supermarket and not put on display in the car. However, on this occasion the ticket machine was broken and had an A4 sheet of paper cellotaped to the front saying that the maximum stay was one hour.

I was in a rush and was slightly delayed getting back to my car. It wasn't helped by the fact that there was only one person on the check-out and I had to wait in a very long queue. On returning to my car, there was a man just about to start writing a ticket. He was standing behind my car so that I couldn't drive away if I wanted to. He said that if I tried to drive off, then it would be worse for me in the long run.

I thought I was late by about 10 minutes, but he said he had been sitting in his van and watched me come into the car park. By the time he wrote out the ticket and stood chatting to me, he said it was 20 minutes. I refuted this, but he wouldn't back down.

The next day, I emailed the company (Excel Parking Services Limited) and explained the circumstances. At no time in the email did I mention the word "appeal" or "dispute". I simply gave the facts and said I was aggrieved to be issued with a Parking Charge Notice in this respect.

The parking notice said the fee would be £40 if paid within 7 days and £60 if paid within 14 days. The letter I received in reply said I had to pay within the next couple of days (from the day I received the letter). If I don't pay the £40, then it will now go up to £100. If I don't comply, then court proceedings may be issued against me.

The letter also states that signs are positioned at the entrance and at regular intervals throughout the car park. However, the car park only actually has room for about 15 cars and several spaces were empty when I left, so it isn't as if I was preventing somebody else from parking there.

I really don't know what to do now. I have since read the information on this site and realise I should have not made contact with them initially. They have my postal address (not the address where my car is registered) and email address. I am worried that if I don't pay and court proceedings are issued against me, then it will affect me in the future if I want to apply for a mortgage or credit etc.

Any advice or suggestions as to what to do next would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks.

Doozergirl

It won't affect your credit in future - the notice is not legally enforceable so you should just ignore them from now on. They will continue to write and threaten but just ignore them. If they took you to court (which they won't) it would be thrown out.

sarahg1969

There is a parking tickets forum within this forum. Read the stickies in there to put your mind at rest. You have not been fined.

The only way this could affect your credit rating is if they were to issue court proceedings against you (little chance), and get a judgment against you (no chance, realistically), which you would then have to ignore.

Whatever you do, DO NOT PAY!! It is nothing more than a scam.

Read up and tell your friends and family all about it.

bargepole

ms_frustrated wrote: »

I really don't know what to do now. I have since read the information on this site and realise I should have not made contact with them initially. They have my postal address (not the address where my car is registered) and email address. I am worried that if I don't pay and court proceedings are issued against me, then it will affect me in the future if I want to apply for a mortgage or credit etc.

What you do now is very simple, ignore all their toytown letters, don't contact them and don't pay. Excel did try to take a couple of people to court last year - google Victoria Hetherington-Jakeman to see how they were laughed out of court.

Your credit rating can only be affected IF they take you court AND win the claim, AND you don't pay within 28 days. The odds against that are about the same as you scooping the Euromillions triple rollover jackpot on Friday.

Crabman

(ms_frustrated - I've merged your duplicate threads from other part of the forum )

ms_frustrated

Will the fact that I have provided a contact address (albeit not the one my car is registered at) and my work email address make a difference if I now ignore all future correspondence from them? Thanks again.

bargepole

ms_frustrated wrote: »

Will the fact that I have provided a contact address (albeit not the one my car is registered at) and my work email address make a difference if I now ignore all future correspondence from them? Thanks again.

All you've done is save Simon Renshaw-Smith the £2.50 fee to get the registered keeper's details from the DVLA. But as he made £400,000 from this scam last year, I doubt that will make any difference.

They will now send you a series of increasingly threatening letters, some with red writing and even chequered borders. After half a dozen or so, they will give up. In the very unlikely event they do issue a court claim, post the details on the Pepipoo parking forum, and one of the eagles there will help you file a defence. Last time that happened, Excel didn't even bother turning up.

Little_RAY

Stay firm ms_frustrated!

I have recently had a parking charge withdrawn by a PPC. After also making the mistake of contacting them (via letter) in the beginning, I then ignored them and their letters. It is a bit scary at the time, until you remember that they have no legal authority whatsoever.

You realised that you needed to pay, but were unable to because their machine wasn't working! How can that be your fault?

Don't bother contacting the PPC any more. You could do what I did though. I wrote to an 'important' person within the company who own the land the car-park was on. I think this may have been the reason the PPC changed their minds!

I assume that the small supermarket own the car-park? Do they really want to punish their customers for shopping with them? I don't think so! If you tell them how undervalued you feel as a customer, and the rest of the situation, then they would be foolish to ignore you. If you do write, just be careful to be polite and remember you are the victim in this situation. Good luck!

ms_frustrated

Many thanks to everyone who has given me advice so far. It is a relief to know that there is so much support out there in cyber space (so to speak). I have decided to take all the advice on board and ignore the letter and hope for the best. I will now sit tight and see what happens.

I have now had a few sleepless nights reading through all the threads. I didn't realise there was so much information to be had.

carol709

Please help!

This has now reared its ugly head again after many months of nothing.

I moved away from the address that the PCC people had for me. However, I have finally got my mail, which included 3 letters - one from a Debt Collector, followed by two from a solicitor, the last one being a FINAL WARNING dated the last week in October giving me 7 days or court action will be taken. As I only received the letter today, it has gone beyond the limit they gave.

As I have received two letters from a solicitor, does that mean that they really mean business and will see it through to the end? The original fine of £30 has now escalated to about £150. I had hoped they had gone away, but obviously not.

What should I do next?

Thanks.

biscuitdunker

From what others have said previously, you normally get a FINAL WARNING, then a FINAL FINAL WARNING, then a REALLY, THIS IS A FINAL WARNING! then they give up.