My First PCN

csum78

Hi everyone

I think I'm on the right track but would appreciate any advice that comes my way
I'll be as basic as poss:

I recieved a parking ticket in a retail park car park back in december for £70 or £40 if paid quickly.
I ignored it.
Late January I recieved a "Notice To Owner of the car the PCN was issued to" with a nice pic of my car and a lovely red trim and statements such as "LIABILITY FOR THE PARKING CHARGE LIES WITH YOU THE OWNER/KEEPER/HIRER" Pay us by this date or debt recover/legal proceedings will begin. Your Future Credit Status could be affected etc etc . The alleged debt stood at £100 now.
I almost paid it but read on another forum to ignore it. That was all I wanted to hear I guess. So I ignored it.
Then I recieved an intended litigation letter from a debt recovery agency(debt now at £140 although no mention of what the new £40 was for) drawing my attention to enforcement options etc. There is one other interesting detail here which i wont divulge for fear of trolls, but if anyone apparently genuine pms me then I will explain.

OK so this is where I may have slipped as I wrote back to them (as advised on the other forum) telling them the alleged debt is in dispute and if they continue to harass me I will complain under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. I also wrote to the parking company (again as advised at the other forum) acknowledging reciept of the original letter, confirming that i own the vehicle and absolutely denying that any claim is due to them from me.

I have not heard from the parking company since.

This week I have recieved 2 letters from the debt recovery agency. The first asking for a monthly repayment proposal and the second a NOTICE OF INTENDED LITIGATION in big red letters with a handy table showing ways in which my "debt" may increase: solicitors costs court fees etc.

Well thats it really - Obviously I am going to ignore these letters especially because of the interesting twist mentioned earlier.

But I would welcome anyones opinion and/or advice.

Thanks.

pogofish

Keep ignoring them - To begin with, this is not a PCN. Its an invoice and an unenforcable one at that.

They also can't do anything to your credit rating without a court decision and your failing to comply with it - So only pay any heed to proper court papers, which I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for.

Simply file the threatening letters just in case - The Administration of Justice Act 1970 is also your friend - the private firms almost invariably fall foul of that too.

oldone_2

As pogofish says. It is part of the PPC business model to send out increasingly scary
letters in the effort to make you pay.

In the normal world of commerce, if a company issues an invoice which remains unpaid, they send a statement/reminder followed by a debt collector letter and then small claims court letter.The company would have ample evidence of goods delivered or services provided, usually by a signed order form or delivery note.

A PPC tries to do all of this without being able to prove that you in fact owe them money.This is why they bend the law, and send increasingly outrageous demands. If they had a case they would not keep on giving you a final, final chance before court - they would just go ahead and do it.

Very rarely they will issue a court summons.All you have to do is submit a defence (plenty of advice on this on this site). Often they will not turn up because their case is weak, or the cost of travelling to court is more than what they are claiming, in which case you win.

Coblcris

Check out the Consumer Laws in particular
The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008

the PPC clearly in breach of most of it !!!

report them.


In my experience ALL PPCs breach these regulations.

Every time you see them breached report the PPC.

Bear in mind that there are criminal sanctions. Criminal sanctions. Certain enforcers (including Trading Standards who have these regulation in their 'brief') may also prosecute for contravention. The penalties for summary conviction, are a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, which is currently £5000 and for conviction on indictment, a fine or imprisonment not exceeding two years or both.

The PPCs can only get away with this if people don't do something about it.
get them fined and where the facts of the case mean that criminal sanctions apply get them jailed.

Isn't time for a cull ?.