private parking fine - overstaying the time

saintly_2

my boyfriend has received a parking charge notice through the post with a photograph of him entering and leaving the car park and the times.

we are going to look at the sign and take a photo of what the sign says and where its located, my OH thinks there have been new signs added since the date on the notice. It says on the notice there is 1 hour free parking and he was there for 2 1/2 hours as he didnt see the sign to say it was only an hour.

ive read the article from martin but just want clarification of the next step.

bargepole

saintly wrote: »

... I've read the article from Martin but just want clarification of the next step.

There isn't a next step. Ignore all their letters, never contact them and don't pay them a penny. That way they'll give up sooner, and try to scam some other mug.

Orford

The next step, and the step after that......is:

Do not phone/write/appeal to them
Do not pay them
Ignore all further correspondence

Eventually, despite letters threatening all sorts of dire consequences, they will give up

saintly_2

we went to the carpark and the sign is upon entrance to the car park but its on a sharp bend so he couldnt have read it or he would have crashed and a couple of other signs high up on the wall, none of the exits had signs regarding the parking. we have took photos of the area

thanks guys for the advice, it does say on the notice that it will be passed to a DCA if he doesnt pay, will they go ahead with this?

trisontana

saintly wrote: »

we went to the carpark and the sign is upon entrance to the car park but its on a sharp bend so he couldnt have read it or he would have crashed and a couple of other signs high up on the wall, none of the exits had signs regarding the parking. we have took photos of the area

thanks guys for the advice, it does say on the notice that it will be passed to a DCA if he doesnt pay, will they go ahead with this?

A debt collection agency is just a bunch of private citizens who have no right to enter your home or seize any goods. They cannot affect your credit rating unless the parking company takes you to the civil court (very unlikely), you lose that court case and you don't pay any money imposed by that court. So the advice is to ignore any "threats" by either the parking company, dept collectors or even solicitors. Eventually they will just go away.

peter_the_piper

Ther problem for debt collectors is that they are as toothless as the "Churchill" dog. They have absolutely no legal powers and their ability to collect money is limited to verbal and written contact. Nearly every time a dc is mentioned its Mavis on the desk opposite with an official sounding name, the same applies to most of the solicitors.

saintly_2

thakns everyone xx