Advise on PPC - respond to solicitors/debt collectors? PLEASE HELP!

Coblcris

G White a trading name of Mr Sobell I believe.

EM_C

Bluemaximus wrote: »

I wouldn't worry about Mr Sobell. I am a solicitor and got one of these so called fines. I checked the law society website, as I do now and then, and Michael Sobell is qualified as a solicitor on his own account and the firm he has is graham white, bizarrely. The funny thing is though is that Michael Sobell was admitted as a Solicitor in 1962 so he must be over 70 years of age by now and that is if qualified in his early twenties. I doubt he is practising and there are no other solicitors at the graham white solicitors he is apparently a part of. I suspect they company just uses his name, legitimately, as he just pays for the indemnity insurance with the law society and can be used on the letterheads.

That's interesting. I was not aware they could do that... Oh well I await more threatening letters then!

Thanks everybody for your support and advice!

Regards

Em

kittykat09

Hi Em

I recently received a parking ticket from VCS and have since received my first letter, from reading the posts it looks as though Im best to ignore rather than correspond?

My letter said exactly the same as yours, court action, baliffs, court charges, rates of interest.

Please keep posting what is happening with your case as I am cracking under the pressue to just give in and pay!!

One question I did want to ask, is if they do actually proceed with court and I get a date through, can I contact the company before the date and just pay? or will it then have to go through court at that late stage?

Any help greatly appreciated!:mad:

peter_the_piper

Have a read of all (well some) of the preceding posts and youwill see that court cases are as rare as hens teeth. Don't contact them, don't reply and don't say here or anywhere else who was driving the car. In essence ignore them, if you contact them in any way they will just be encouraged to keep on at you with ever more threatening letters. Ignore them and they go away after about 5 threats.

kittykat09

Thanks Peter,

I have contacted an advisor this morning and they said I should really challenge it and ask them to provide a copy of a statement detailing that they have legal authority to charge and to provide details of the land owner so I can contact them, although I thinking this wont really make a difference to them as they seem to do what they like, and then I have had that correspondence with them, and like you said this could just encourage them. The crazy thing is if the charges wasnt so expensive and was the standard like the councils I think most would just pay it, but £80 is just so expensive.

Coupon-mad

kittykat09 wrote: »

Thanks Peter,

I have contacted an advisor this morning and they said I should really challenge it and ask them to provide a copy of a statement detailing that they have legal authority to charge and to provide details of the land owner so I can contact them, although I thinking this wont really make a difference to them as they seem to do what they like, and then I have had that correspondence with them, and like you said this could just encourage them. The crazy thing is if the charges wasnt so expensive and was the standard like the councils I think most would just pay it, but £80 is just so expensive.

The best advice has already been given on here.

Ignore the ticket, it's not a debt and not a legal 'fine'. Pleeeeeease don't buckle and pay it if and when they send a letter that looks like they may take you to Court. They won't. Post here again if worried (or start your own thread really).

Once you understand that this is a SCAM then you will not worry about their colourful letters and lying threats. Lots and lots of other people have had these tickets and are ignoring them - some people even collect them deliberately for a bit of fun and for info to help other victims understand the scam. Someone in my family got one which we are ignoring, as did a friend, it's very widespread and these leeches make their money from the victims who pay up.

Please spread the word once you understand how the scam works, word of mouth will help more people to avoid being shafted in the future.

I guess the 'advisor' was Consumer Direct or other government agency that don't have the first clue about the scam that is private parking ticket extortion? Please forget their advice, they really don't know what they are talking about sadly - sometimes they have even told people to pay and appeal at the same time! (doh!!).:rolleyes:

kittykat09

Funny enough thats exactly what he advised, he said I could always pay to stop the charge getting any higher but say I was not acceping the charge and am appealing!!

peter_the_piper

Successful ppc appeals are about as rare as finding a diamond in a bag of coal. When you think about it, to accept an appeal would cost them a lot of money so why would they?

Coupon-mad

kittykat09 wrote: »

Funny enough thats exactly what he advised, he said I could always pay to stop the charge getting any higher but say I was not accepting the charge and am appealing!!

It would be funny it wasn't so damaging, I bet the majority of people would believe Consumer Direct when they spout such rubbish.

Stay here instead and don't waste another phone call to an 'advisor'! BTW on the other thread you have posted on I have replied and given you some useful links which will give you some light reading about VCS and some other forums to dip into.

Then sit back, relax and think how to spend your money on something nice instead and thank the day you found MSE. And tell everyone you meet NOT to pay any scam parking ticket (i.e. any private parking ticket TBH...). :T

kittykat09

Thanks for the links and advice, I have added my own thread now 'new vicitm of VCS', now I have worked out how to do it!! with a few questions I have been mulling over.

EM C please keep posting with notes it is very useful to compare notes. :rolleyes: