UK Parking Control PCN

Toosh

Hi

I wondered if I could get some advice regarding this company. A friend parked my car in a retail car park and parked on one of the side roads as opposed to in a space. There were no yellow lines where my friend parked and (he thinks) no signs up telling him not to park there. The car park and retail centre is relatively new however there have been signs put up now.

My friend didn't receive a ticket on the car and the first we knew of it was a letter about a week later. On the advice I've read on here I ignored the letters until I got one from Debt Recovery Plus Limited. I then sent them a very brief letter (using the template from here) saying that I was not the driver and I'm not obliged to disclose who was and that I would not be paying. Predictably I've received another letter saying that they are required under contract law to invite me to declare who the driver was and basically that they think I was the driver anyway. The amount they say I owe them has risen to £246 and they say they are proposing issuing a County Court proceedings. Very reasonably (!) they've said they'll accept £113.40 if I pay within the next 7 days.

They've also quoted the Oldham case in the letter.

I'll happily go to Court and face this cowboys as I truely wasn't driving the car. In fact I was 8.5 months pregnant at the time and suffering from sciatica so I wasn't driving at all. I have doctors documentation to support this if necessary.

Should I continue to stand my ground? Should I send another letter saying the same and telling them to naff off? Has anyone else had any dealings with these? I'm concerned this may effect my credit score if it goes on much longer.

Many thanks

Spartacus_Mills

Toosh wrote: »

Hi

I wondered if I could get some advice regarding this company. A friend parked my car in a retail car park and parked on one of the side roads as opposed to in a space. There were no yellow lines where my friend parked and (he thinks) no signs up telling him not to park there. The car park and retail centre is relatively new however there have been signs put up now.

My friend didn't receive a ticket on the car and the first we knew of it was a letter about a week later. On the advice I've read on here I ignored the letters until I got one from Debt Recovery Plus Limited. I then sent them a very brief letter (using the template from here) saying that I was not the driver and I'm not obliged to disclose who was and that I would not be paying. Predictably I've received another letter saying that they are required under contract law to invite me to declare who the driver was and basically that they think I was the driver anyway. The amount they say I owe them has risen to £246 and they say they are proposing issuing a County Court proceedings. Very reasonably (!) they've said they'll accept £113.40 if I pay within the next 7 days.

They've also quoted the Oldham case in the letter.

I'll happily go to Court and face this cowboys as I truely wasn't driving the car. In fact I was 8.5 months pregnant at the time and suffering from sciatica so I wasn't driving at all. I have doctors documentation to support this if necessary.

Should I continue to stand my ground? Should I send another letter saying the same and telling them to naff off? Has anyone else had any dealings with these? I'm concerned this may effect my credit score if it goes on much longer.

Many thanks

First of all be careful what you post. Perky from UKPC is not averse to trawling this forum and other forums for people in difficulties asking for help. Secondly can you post the details completely washed. Is it a ticket on behalf of a council or a private ticket. I am assuming it is private.

Assuming this is a PPC you are under no legal obligation to name the driver to a PPC and the onus is on them to prove who was driving. Someone very knowledgeable like sarahg1969, pogofish or Bargepole will be along in a minute. You can trust their advice 100%. There are some PPC trolls here and some idiots who seem to think if you park in the wrong place you are a criminal and have broken the law. Ignore them and listen to those who know what they are talking about.

They may be required to invite you under contract law (I think they are not) but you are entitled to tell them to do one.

bargepole

Toosh wrote: »

Should I continue to stand my ground? Should I send another letter saying the same and telling them to naff off? Has anyone else had any dealings with these? I'm concerned this may effect my credit score if it goes on much longer.

Don't write to them any more, it only encourages them to keep pestering you with more lies and rubbish.

The only way your credit rating can be affected is if they take you to court, and win, and you don't pay the judgement. Never going to happen if you weren't driving.

Toosh

Thanks very much both. I won't post any more details - I don't think anything can be gleaned from what I've posted already but thanks for the heads up.

Yes, it is a private ticket. I'll ignore it from now on then - should have ignored completely really but took the advice on Martin's page and thought it would go in my favour if I at least told them that I wasn't driving and wouldn't be paying.

I can't believe they can get away with doing this, gets my goat. :mad:

Coblcris

"I've received another letter saying that they are required under contract law to invite me to declare who the driver was and basically that they think I was the driver anyway.".

This absolutely beggars belief. Such ineptitude on their part. I would appreciate seeing the exact text but do not post it on here.
By all means contact me if you wish.

oldone_2

This is one of the rare instances where it was worth writing and telling them you were not driving.
The reasoning is that if it went to court you could not only tell the judge you had informed the PPC you were not the driver, but could prove it; but the PPC went to court anyway.

Since it is a civil debt, it is not your job to tell the PPC who to send their invoice to, and nothing in law can compel you to.Once you have shown the judge your proof of not being the driver, he would have to dismiss the case.

Of course it is very unlikely it would get that far, mores the pity.

pogofish

Personally, I'd still tend to ignore them totally as I don't think telling them you were not the driver would result in much more than a change in the wording of their threats but I can see how Oldone's suggestion could be rather useful to you.

king100

Spartacus_Mills wrote: »

First of all be careful what you post. Perky from UKPC is not averse to trawling this forum and other forums for people in difficulties asking for help.

Am I right in thinking that Perky works at UKPC?

And yes I could very well be slow off the mark here!!

Does MSEF get anymore people that work for PCN companies coming on here?

Coblcris

I have done some brief research because of some recent posts.
My conclusions to date, based only on publicly available information:
'Perky' Mike Perkins runs Combined Parking Solutions (CPS). He is also a 'consultant' and get involved with other PPCs and their cases.
He runs a web site for PPCs to share information (google 'ppcdatabase').
He has his own registration with the Information Commissioner.

This PPC sharing database is something worth further investigation. I would recommend Subject Access Request are in order but that would mean payments being made and I would have no faith that the responses would be fully diligent.
Bearing in mind the demonstrably dubious nature of the communications and methods of Private Parking Companies this information sharing database represents a considerable exposure to both its operator and all who use it in my opinion. One must bear in mind not just the Data Protection Act itself. I would refer people to, inter alia, The Fraud Act 2006.