PPC Letter Chains & Court Papers (discussion & comments)

Oopsadaisy

Looks the same as CP Plus??

Crabman

Oopsadaisy wrote: »

Looks the same as CP Plus??

They use template letters hence the apparent similarity. However, some have changed the wording and started suggesting that advice on internet forums is ignored, so updates are always welcome.

note_2

question.

they try to scare you into paying by saying that 'a CCJ may seriously affect your ability to get credit in the future'.

it only does if they take you to court (0.001% chance) and they win (very unlikely), and you dont pay the amount set by judge? thats right yea? and in any case the settlement would be very low?

also more !!!!!!!! from the company 'longtimelurkersam' posted.

JUDGE sitting in Oldham has ruled in a landmark case over parking on private land.

Oldham County Court heard the case Combined Parking Solutions (CPS) versus Stephen Thomas yesterday.

Last November, car park managers CPS issued a penalty notice of £85, reduced to £65 if paid promptly, against 26-year-old Stephen Thomas.

It was issued on behalf of its client St Andrew's Church, Rochdale, after Mr Thomas's vehicle was parked on the church's private car park without a permit.

The court heard how Mr Thomas, from Chadwick Street, Rochdale, was the vehicle's registered owner and admitted to having parked at the church before.

But he could not remember if he had been driving the car when the ticket was issued and said he had not seen the car park warning signs.

Mike Perkins, from CPS, said the day the charge was issued, Mr Thomas had accessed a consumer internet site outlining the incident and asking for help.

He also claimed Mr Thomas modified the original wording when he was informed the matter would be brought to court.

Mr Thomas admitted making a post on the website but could not remember what he wrote.

District Judge Ackroyd said on the balance of probabilities, Mr Thomas was driving the car.

He did not accept that Mr Thomas had not seen the warning signs so had, therefore, entered into a contract. And he said the charges were not disproportionately high so awarded the case to CPS.

Mr Thomas will have to pay the now £135 parking charge with £1.86 interest.

The judge also ruled he must pay a £25 listing fee, £25 hearing fee, as well as £68 for Mr Perkins' mileage and £3.50 for parking.

Speaking after the hearing, Mr Perkins said: "This is a landmark hearing.

"Internet sites have always said these are unenforceable penalties. The judge clearly stated a contract was entered into, although the defendant never admitted to being the driver.

"I would warn people from going on these internet sites. If you have a legal question, see a solicitor."

£135 'not disproportionately high'?

ManxRed

Unless you have entered into a credit agreement with a company (i.e. mortgage, credit card, store debit card, etc.) the only way a company can damage your credit rating via a CCJ is to take you to court, win, and then you still refuse to pay up within 28 days of the judgement.

PPCs and their debt collectors/'solicitors' will usually omit that bit from the details in their letters. Firstly because a lot of people will realise that the odds of them taking you to court are low, and secondly because you ALWAYS have the option of preventing the CCJ anyway by simply paying up.

But clearly, it doesn't sound quite so scary in those terms. Far better to try and imply to you that they can simply fill out a form and 'get' a CCJ against anyone they like. People are more likely to cave in and pay up then.

note_2

exactly my point mate, if you read that notice thoroughly its actually extremely convincing.

in the event of them taking you to court how would you be notified?

ManxRed

You'd receive a stamped, sealed, claim form, usually from Northampton, but sometimes they come from another court.

peter_the_piper

Be aware though that some ptc's have been known to just send a photocopy and put the drivers name on it a a form of frightener.So trust nothing you receive in the post without checking it out first.

note_2

just like to say thanks for all the advice / info i've gathered on this message board, passing it on to relatives and friends, used to have a 'fear' of parking companies and thought their charges were non negotiable and legally binding.

keep up the good work :T

aarkadian

Hi all

I have had the Euro Car Parks letter chain. The final one, letter 5 from Debt Recovery Plus arrived four weeks ago. But yesterday I received another, from Zenith Collections. The new letter 6 looks the same as the Zenith Collections letter on other chains, offering to reduce the charge even further.

Please update the Euro Car Parks letter chain on the sticky thread.

In the letter it states

"...debt recovery has been transferred to Zenith Collections..."

It was already noted that Claire Robinson of Debt Recovery Plus and James Wilkins of Zenith Collections have the same signature. Well the small print at the bottom of the Zenith Collections letter actually states what we already suspected:

"Zenith Collections is a trading name of Debt Recovery Plus Ltd"

Laughable.

Stephen_Leak

aarkadian wrote: »

<snip> Please update the Euro Car Parks letter chain on the sticky thread.<snip>

See post #846 above. Please send Crabman a PM and he will tell you how to use yours to do so.