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Private parking ticket and 1st letter - respond or not?

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I received a parking ticket and now have the first letter to go with it.

Is it worth responding once or not in order to avoid hassle? I wasn't even the driver at the time when the invoice was issued. If I do response I realise i need to use a template and keep it short as possible and give nothing away.

A lot of people recommend ignoring everything in order to frustrate the company involved - if this is the best course of action then why do the templates exist?

I suppose it is down to opinion?

thanks

Comments

  • Coblcris
    Coblcris Posts: 1,862 Forumite
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    Do you prefer to pull the legs off the spider or to watch it running around in circles. Your choice.
    I would happily ignore them if I wanted to make the whole thing disappear.
    If the PPC is clearly fraudulent I may write to them so that they can provide me with more evidence of their fraud - courts like lots of evidence !! .
  • bargepole
    bargepole Posts: 3,231 Forumite
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    Is it worth responding once or not in order to avoid hassle?

    Most people's experience is that if you respond, they are likely to keep up the threatening letters for longer, in the belief that you may crack and pay up.

    There are no known cases, on this or any other forum, of a PPC issuing a court claim where their letters have been ignored - probably because they have no idea whether the registered keeper was driving or not.

    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.
  • Coblcris
    Coblcris Posts: 1,862 Forumite
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    Or whether the Registered Keeper is a solicitor, a policeman, a magistrate ( :) ) or a bigger crook than they are !
  • pogofish
    pogofish Posts: 10,852 Forumite
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    The templates exist for legally regulated parking, where you have some semblance of a proper informal challenge and appeal process.

    Where the private firms are concerned, this is almost invariably a sham and as mentioned above, responding to them simply encourages them to harrass you for longer.

    Do not engage with them from the outset!
  • ilikepoints
    ilikepoints Posts: 422 Forumite
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    ok thanks pogofish - I understand completely now.
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