britannia parking!!

girl_interrupted216

Hey,

My car was left parked in a car park which previously had no restrictions, but the maximum stay is now three hours. There was no permit attached to the car when it was left in this car park-a permit was available but the driver was not given it as the people who had it forgot to give it to the driver. Britannia Parking left a Parking Charge Notice on my car saying £30.00 had to be paid within 14 days or £60.00 if not paid within 14 days plus the threat of getting the keeper's details from the DVLA etc. if the charge is not paid.

They ticked the bit that said my vehicle had been digitally photographed but nothing about identifying the driver-does this mean they HAVE identified the driver or just have evidence that the vehicle was indeed parked there? I'm also not sure if there is CCTV but there could be, so can they use this to identify the driver?

I have quite a responsible job so really don't want this to go very far so should I pay up or ignore it? Also, can they send debt collectors to my house or take me to court? There is a possibility my job could be in danger if it gets that far so don't know what the best thing to do is!

Thanks to anyone who can advise.

trisontana

Don't confuse debt collectors with court bailiffs. The former are just private citizens with no special powers. They cannot enter your property, they cannot seize goods and they cannot blacken your credit record.

So just ignore, don't pay and don't contact the company. For further reassurance please read the other threads on here that deal with private parking companies.

Coupon-mad

Britannia Parking are very tame indeed, nothing to worry about, I think they just send 3 letters to the registered keeper of the car and then they give up and stalk some new victims who believe their threatograms!

You have not committed any offence, and it's not a real fine. Nothing will happen and your credit rating will not be affected - think of it as a Nigerian phishing email as it's a similar scam.

Read the first thread on here to see what sort of letters (from Britannia and their debt collector agents) the registered keeper will need to ignore, before the whole extortion attempt fizzles out:

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

Then read as many of the other threads as it takes for you to be confident that we are right when telling posters to ignore PPC letters and fake tickets. You should find the answers to your queries on other threads, and you'll get an idea of how common this rip-off is, bearing in mind that most people probably just blindly pay it without looking on the internet for advice.

Happy reading! Now relax and live your life. Most of us on here have received and ignored at least one private parking ticket and we know the advice to completely ignore the scam, is completely sound.

jayok

I am on my 3rd letter and I have not heard from them since Nov 2009! I have not entered into any form of communication with them and just filed the letters, I recommend you do the same.

Sir_Roger_deLodger

girl_interrupted216 wrote: »

Hey,

My car was left parked in a car park which previously had no restrictions, but the maximum stay is now three hours. There was no permit attached to the car when it was left in this car park-a permit was available but the driver was not given it as the people who had it forgot to give it to the driver. Britannia Parking left a Parking Charge Notice on my car saying £30.00 had to be paid within 14 days or £60.00 if not paid within 14 days plus the threat of getting the keeper's details from the DVLA etc. if the charge is not paid. Oh dear, thats £2.50 its cost them then.

They ticked the bit that said my vehicle had been digitally photographed but nothing about identifying the driver-does this mean they HAVE identified the driver or just have evidence that the vehicle was indeed parked there? I'm also not sure if there is CCTV but there could be, so can they use this to identify the driver? No. If I took photos of some random people in a car park and showed them to you, could you name them? Thought not.

I have quite a responsible job so really don't want this to go very far so should I pay up or ignore it? Also, can they send debt collectors to my house or take me to court? There is a possibility my job could be in danger if it gets that far so don't know what the best thing to do is! I've never seen a contract of employment that says you can be sacked for ignoring scammers, so I think your job is safe!
Thanks to anyone who can advise.

All the above posts offer sound advice, IGNORE!

sidney786

Hi, I recieved a £40 ticket today from britanna parking, over stayed by 1/2 on a supermarket carpark.

In the ticket it states the price i pay is £20 within 14 days.

No photo was taken. A ticket was placed on my windscreen.

Do i have to pay?

Sid

Coupon-mad

Nope, it's a scam and Britannia are very tame by PPC standards.

Our sticky (permanent) info threads at the top of the forum are there for newbies' information and would have answered your questions:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/...play.php?f=163

There are pics of all known letter-chains in the top thread, which will give you a preview of what rubbish will be sent to the registered keeper.

Also look at 'welcome, please read before posting' with it's info and the link to Watchdog on private parking companies (PPCs). In the Watchdog clip an expert solicitor shows you just what to do with a fake parking ticket with a pretty picture of a car on it!

Then read any other thread about any PPC (not just Britannia, they are all the same) lower down that first page of the link. You will soon see this for what it is.

Do not reply, do not appeal, do not pay and do not panic. It's nothing.

stefa

Hi

I received a parking ticket from Britannia after parking for (less then) 30 minutes which on the board stated it was free. I didnt realise that you still had to get a ticket as it was not written on the board and apparently is something that you have to go to hte machine to find out and I did not find this out until they wrote back last week.

I have recently sent one back saying that the signs were not clear and that i did not see them.

I have now seen that the best thing to do is ignore the letters and dont give them any communication and am a bit unsure of the next step to take.

I have seen that under contract law they can only claim back what they have lost, which from me is nothing, and they have said everything was digitally recorded, so would even see the times i parked were less then 30 minutes, but have I completely messed up by repling to them in the first place??

Thanks for help in advance!

trisontana

Nothing to worry about. Just ignore them from now on.

bondy_lad

just totaly ignore these clowns, nothing legally can/will be done to you,,as you have committed ,,no offence,, so relax and ignore all nonsense threat o grams on or behalf of these clowns.remember ,, no offence committed.

robster30

Sorry to revive an old thread but can I ask how everyone got on and did anyone get to court at all ?.

The reason Im asking - well I got a ticket from Britannia today - and the signs at the car park are very few and for a different company called thistle parking.