Parking ticket fell off dashboard..

PaulJM

I recieved a parking ticket from Excel parking, at the Peel Centre shopping centre in Stockport.
I've been asked to pay £60 within two weeks, then it goes to £100.

My problem is, I bought a ticket, and put it on the dashboard. The tickets you purchase from this site are the none sticky variety. I put it on the dashboard, and then, when I got back to my car, had a ticket stuck to the car saying I wasn't displaying a ticket, and should pay up...etc.

I found the ticket I'd bought on the floor of the car, covering the period on the fine ticket.

I've emailed Excel, telling them this, and they've replied today, by letter, advising that it was my responsibility to display a ticket, so the fine will stay valid.

As I've never had a ticket, I was intending to now pay this, however unfair it seems - they could have a point - it wasn't displayed, as it must have come off when the door was shut.

But I've seen posts to say that I shouldn't pay - esp here - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=29778353

Does anyone have a view on this?

I cannot afford court fees, I've not ever had a police enforcement, so I tend to conform to 'official' notices.

What would court fees be if I took this to the extreeme? If I got heavy fees, I would be in financial difficulty, I can just afford the initial £60 - should I just pay up?

Really hope you can help!

trisontana

You have dome nothing wrong, you have not broken any laws, so just ignore any correspondence from the parking company and do not contact them. They will not take you to court or blacken you credit record.

For more reassurance please read the other threads on here about private parking tickets. And it's not a "fine", it's an unenforceable invoice.

trisontana

I want to add that Excel will not go anywhere near a court after they lost a case in Mansfield last year.

PaulJM

Thankyou for this tristontrana.
What do you mean by it not being a fine? Why is it an unenforceable notice?

I'm really very scared that I'll end up paying £hundreds! That would be, whilst not being the final, a good strong nail in the coffin! Plus they wanted me to pay and display...I didn't display, when it comes down to it!

I don't want to ignore then, it seems against everything I know!

trisontana

Fines can only be issued by the courts, the police or local councils. They cannot be issued by private individuals, such as a parking company. The reason they are unenforceable is that the parking company would have to take you to the civil court and prove that a material loss has been suffered by the landowner. In your case there was no loss.

Please don't worry you will not end up in court. please be reassured.

PaulJM

That is great advice, thankyou.

So is it definately the case that I can ignore it? My instinct tells me I should at least say something back to them about this?
Is there a standard letter I can send back?

UsagiYojimbo

PaulJM wrote: »

I cannot afford court fees, I've not ever had a police enforcement, so I tend to conform to 'official' notices.

There is nothing "official" about your parking ticket. What trisontana says is true. The only official parking tickets are issued by the council and those are the only ones that are legally enforceable. Private parking companies issue tickets which are really just invoices, not fines.

A lot of the posters on here (including me) have had such tickets from private parking companies and have ignored them successfully. Have a look at the other threads on here for more info. If you ignore all letters that the parking company send you then they will eventually give up. Just be warned that the letters you receive will contain threats of legal action and threats to seize your property etc. but thats all they are, just threats. They wont actually take you to court as they know they wouldn't win a court case. They rely on scare tactics and frighten people into paying up. Unfortunately a lot of people are frightened into paying and thats how these scam companies make their money.

Just ignore the ticket, ignore any letters they send you and try to not let it worry you.

PaulJM

Thanks for that.
Is there any downsides to this? What could happen., worse case senario? As that worse case tends to happen to me!

UsagiYojimbo

The worst case senario is that you could pay these scumbags £60 of your hard earned cash.

Dont let them scare you into paying. Wait and see what other posters say as I'm sure others will agree.

Like I said, just try to not let it worry you.

Hadeon

trisontana wrote: »

I want to add that Excel will not go anywhere near a court after they lost a case in Mansfield last year.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-542355/Judge-quashes-300-parking-fine--set-frighten-intimidate-driver.html

http://www.chad.co.uk/news/Judge-says-Excel-parking-fines.3903396.jp

http://www.chad.co.uk/editorialcomment/Excel-car-parking-victory-a.3912385.jp

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23462147-judge-quashes-300-parking-finebecause-it-set-out-to-frighten-and-intimidate-driver.do


Paul - the downside is there is no downside.
Accept & trust the good advice you have already been given.
Cruise the forums for added reassurance. The answers to your apprehensions are already there if you take the time & effort to do some reasearch.

Keep your ticket safe, IGNORE , these chancers & get on with your life.


I should clarify that the receipt of properly sealed bona fide court papers should never be ignored.
The chances of you receiving those are virtually nil, but if you ever did, don't panic/worry, post-back for further advice.

Coupon-mad

PaulJM wrote: »

Thankyou for this tristontrana.
What do you mean by it not being a fine? Why is it an unenforceable notice?

I'm really very scared that I'll end up paying £hundreds! That would be, whilst not being the final, a good strong nail in the coffin! Plus they wanted me to pay and display...I didn't display, when it comes down to it!

I don't want to ignore then, it seems against everything I know!

Read this link which would maybe have helped you understand the scam earlier:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1363571

Then this link to see the sort of letters these scammers will send the registered keeper:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2214803

Ignore all the letters, don't reply. It's quite fun when you KNOW it's OK to ignore them, a bit like sussing a phishing email and deleting it!

Some posters have received HUNDREDS of these fake tickets, they collect them deliberately to cost private parking companies some money. Here are lots of other threads like yours, why not read some and get the gist of the advice in all cases where it's a PRIVATE ticket, not the Council ones:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.html?f=163

Then if you really want some more advice, including from posters with a legal background and who know this scam inside out, read the threads posted recently on pepipoo.com (motorists' fightback forums) along with the sticky thread near the top of this link about 'Dealing with tickets from private parking companies (PPCs)':

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showforum=30

I think that will tell you all you need to know to stop you worrying when the carpy 'debt collector' letters arrive...please don't panic about this one little bit!

Think yourself lucky you are not having to sue a clamper to get your money back, as is more common these days on pepipoo, you'll see lots of threads about them too and clampers are the lowest pond-life imaginable IMHO.

Ignoring a private parking ticket is EASY - been there done that!