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Solicitors Letter Following An Excel Fine

Hi, I'm really sorry if this is posted somewhere already. I have had a look but may have missed it. I received a fine in February parking in an Excel carpark near where I work. I pay my employers £30 per month to have a parking permit to park there. In February the pass fell off my windscreen when I was in work and Excel gave me a ticket. When I finished work the ticket was not on my car but I noticed a yellow plastic thing under my car and it was a fine. I opened it and it was for my car.
When I got home I went on their website and wrote a dispute. i had an automated email from them but heard nothing after this. Shortly after, I had a letter from them demanding money. I called and was told to dispute it again. This was now passed the 14 day period. I wrote to them again and this time they got back to me letting me know they would not remove the charge - despite the fact I was a permit holder. They also told me the charge was now increased due to the fact it was passed the seven day period of the ticket. I offered to pay them the shortest amount but they declined this and so I wrote to them to say I would not pay it.
Since then I have heard nothing but today I have come home to a solicitors letter advising me of court costs and telling me I will have a CCJ. I do not know where I stand now as the charge is around £250 and I simply cannot pay this and also do not see why I should have to.
My employers do not get involved in parking disputes and I do not where I can go from here.

Again I am sorry if this is already somewhere but I would appreciate any help or advice out there.

Thanks for listening/reading to my loooong post.

Nat xx

Comments

  • trisontana
    trisontana Posts: 9,472 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    This appears to be a private parking ticket. If it is then it's not a "fine", it's an unenforceable invoice. You need do nothing. Do not contact the company and ignore all correspondence from them.

    For you to get a CCJ, then the case would have to go to court (very unlikely), you lose (very, very unlikely) and then you refuse to pay whatever the judge orders. Excel do not do court, so you have nothing to worry about. For further reassurance please read the other threads on hear that deal with private parking tickets.
    What part of "A whop bop-a-lu a whop bam boo" don't you understand?
  • robredz
    robredz Posts: 1,602 Forumite
    For advice and further info regarding these private parking tickets go over to pepipoo here:

    http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?autocom=ibwiki&cmd=article&id=56



    hope this helps and reassures you. BTW why does your employer charge you for a permit, do they own the carpark?
  • taffy056
    taffy056 Posts: 4,895 Forumite
    Its a scam, don't pay them a single penny as the tickets have no basis in law, they have no legal right to penalise you, and you will not be taken court at all, watchdog on the bbc had a legal expert on recently saying that you should not pay these private parking companies.
    Excel Parking, MET Parking, Combined Parking Solutions, VP Parking Solutions, ANPR PC Ltd, & Roxburghe Debt Collectors. What do they all have in common?
    They are all or have been suspended from accessing the DVLA database for gross misconduct!
    Do you really need to ask what kind of people run parking companies?
  • Coupon-mad
    Coupon-mad Posts: 140,418 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Is the so-called Solicitor Graham White? :rotfl:

    Read this pepipoo forums thread, shows you how Roxburghe (a powerless debt-collector company) go about filling in their standard template letters and pretend to be 'Graham White Solicitors':

    http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=52809

    Apart from having a laugh at that thread and seeing that you are just part of a well-trodden scam attempt to scare you into thinking they'll take you to Court, there's tons more on the internet about this issue. It's the same in Scotland, still unenforceable.

    Google 'private parking scam Scotland' and look for forum posts on here, pepipoo.com, consumer action group, all of which will tell you that such tickets are unenforceable trash, whether or not you've appealed already.

    Watchdog covered this last month, and their legal bod helpfully confirmed just what we tell everyone to do with fake parking tickets (whether you have 'contravened their pathetic rules' or not):

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAIcdi9niHA

    :T:rotfl:

    The registered keeper will receive a few debt collector/fake Solicitor letters telling you to pay, but so what once you know they are just bog roll! Do not panic, do not believe the lies on the letters about Court/CCJs/dire consequences!

    They cannot just 'apply for' a CCJ, that's not how things work at all.

    See examples here of what letters to ignore and be prepared for, Excel are on there and also the Graham White letters are shown under other PPC examples (Excel like to ring the changes with their letters sometimes).

    Don't bother to actually read their threats when you get the matching threats, instead look at them now so you are ready to laugh when you get the whole predictable set:

    http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/....php?t=2214803

    To be proactive, if the scam letters get tiresome you may like to also report the company and their debt collectors for harassment:

    http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/en...=03_harassment

    But don't forget this is NOT a debt, NOT a fine, just a mickey mouse ticket.

    Nothing happens, your credit record is NOT affected, so don't fall for this con. :)

    Be angry about their illegal scary letters, tell your friends never to pay a private parking ticket, even if they have broken the car park's spurious 'rules'. Spread the word.
    PRIVATE 'PCN'? DON'T PAY BUT DON'T IGNORE IT (except N.Ireland).
    CLICK at the top or bottom of this/any page where it says:
    Home»Motoring»Parking Tickets Fines & Parking - read the NEWBIES THREAD
  • Thank you all for your replies and help. I am now not panicking about it all. I will ignore it. The threads were interesting reading too. Have a lovely day xx
  • Coupon-mad
    Coupon-mad Posts: 140,418 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    pinkynat wrote: »
    Thank you all for your replies and help. I am now not panicking about it all. I will ignore it. The threads were interesting reading too. Have a lovely day xx


    Good. :T

    It's quite fun to get the letters when you know you are not going to fall for their scam, isn't it?
    PRIVATE 'PCN'? DON'T PAY BUT DON'T IGNORE IT (except N.Ireland).
    CLICK at the top or bottom of this/any page where it says:
    Home»Motoring»Parking Tickets Fines & Parking - read the NEWBIES THREAD
  • pinkynat wrote: »
    Thank you all for your replies and help. I am now not panicking about it all. I will ignore it. The threads were interesting reading too. Have a lovely day xx

    Well done, and as Coupon Mad says, tell all your friends, family, colleagues etc about this scam. It is the only way to beat these parasites!
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