Parking Enforcement APCOA (Luton Airport)

Rudess

Got this morning a PARKING ENFORCEMENT NOTICE from APCOA. Date of issue is 20/9, but only recieved the letter today...


"Notice is hereby served to the owner of the vehicle registration mark xxxxxx

For the alleged contravention of 03- Entry into a restricted area

At LUTON AIRPORT on x/x/10 at xx:xx

The alleged contravention is a BREACH OF THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE of the Airport road infrastructure and signs are clearly displayed throughout the area showing these terms and conditions.

A charge of £80.00 is payable and must be paid before the end of the period of 28 days beginning with the date of this notice. If the charge is paid before the end of the period of 14 days beginning with the date of service of this notice, the amount of the charge will be reduced by 50%. If the above charge is not paid before the end of the 28 day period, PLEASE BE AWARE THAT THIS MATTER MAY BE PASSED TO A THIRD PARTY FOR THE RECOVERY OF THIS DEBT"

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I just stopped to drop off my sister , it took me exactly 5 seconds and then I drove from there. I read all the history of the PPC in the threads here and I understand I should not pay. Your advise will be appreciated.

kav1187

Hi Guys,

As above, my father received a Parking Enforcement Ticket from Apcoa after traffic was moving slow at Luton airport and I decided to just jump out of the car as I only had a backpack.

My parents want to just pay the notice as they don't want the hassle but I'd like to contest it out of principle, because traffic was already stationary when I jumped out of the car.

My worry is that they'll pass it over to a debt collection agency rather than going through courts (like paypal did after I got scammed) and they threaten to send bailiffs round my parent's house. Can they do this if the fine isn't paid? The watchdog programme just says that they won't take it to court but what if a debt collection agency is involved?

Many thanks,
Kav

Rudess

My worry is that they'll pass it over to a debt collection agency rather than going through courts (like paypal did after I got scammed) and they threaten to send bailiffs round my parent's house. Can they do this if the fine isn't paid? The watchdog programme just says that they won't take it to court but what if a debt collection agency is involved?

Many thanks,

Hi Kevin, if you read like I did this morning all the previous topics, you will realise that they can't send a debt collection agency and the courts will not deal with this. They are not poilice and not council, so they can't force you to pay. Ignore their scaring tactics and language. They can never prove that the car owner was the actual driver of the car, hence they can't ask the car owner to pay.

Coupon-mad

You both needed to start your own threads but the answer is you can 100% safely ignore these bogus tickets - don't dare let your parents pay this scam! There will be no bailiffs visiting, only threats as shown on the example letters.

Here's the whole board, read other threads, you'll soon know the answers to all your questions:

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

HTH

kav1187

Thanks guys. Sorry for posting in the wrong thread - I saw that someone else had the same letter as my parents and tagged along:o

I've told them to ignore the notice having read the threads on this site.

I just wish I'd known about this when I got a parking ticket from eurocarparks a couple of weeks back :-(

Coupon-mad

kav1187 wrote: »

Thanks guys. Sorry for posting in the wrong thread - I saw that someone else had the same letter as my parents and tagged along:o

I've told them to ignore the notice having read the threads on this site.

I just wish I'd known about this when I got a parking ticket from eurocarparks a couple of weeks back :-(

Yep what a shame, you only had to Google Euro Car Parks instead of paying and you'd have found out about this scam.

I got my ticket from them last year and of course they have no right to charge such a stupid amount for a tiny overstay in a car park they don't even own, where you were probably spending your money with the retailers on site, as I was in my case. I knew about this con already so I laughed out loud when I saw they'd presented me with a fake ticket in a nice yellow packet on my car windscreen.

All you would have had to ignore was 3 scary letters banging on about Court - and then NOTHING.

Anyway, you know now, do pleeeeease spread the word as we do, so that none of your friends or family fall for a private parking ticket. Scam, scam, scam, scam - did I say SCAM?!

Frank_1515

Ignore the £80 fine- clain the car stalled , or that u were in a traffic queue and had to stop, or had to get out because u felt unwell. they have to prove otherwise

Frank 1515

trisontana

Frank_1515 wrote: »

Ignore the £80 fine- clain the car stalled , or that u were in a traffic queue and had to stop, or had to get out because u felt unwell. they have to prove otherwise

Frank 1515

And it's not a "fine", it's an invoice.

Mickiengland

I also received a letter from APCOA saying that I needed to pay a charge of £80 for "entry into a restricted area" at Luton Airport. I was actually about to write to them admitting the offense but asking for their pity regarding the circumstances. Part of the reason for this is that we've used Luton a few times in recent weeks and this is probably the first of three occasions when we've decided not to use the £1 parking area.....

Thank you all. Having read the forum first I feel much happier now to put the letter - and future letters - in the bin!

rwager

Just wanted to say thanks to all the people that have added advice on these threads. We were mortified to receieve one of these £80 fines from APCOA Luton too. We will ignore and wait it out.

There is no way we are paying now, what a load of bullies. Great forum and great advice. thanks to everyone.:D particulary coupon-mad (your a legend looking at all your threads!!!:A

Coupon-mad

rwager wrote: »

Just wanted to say thanks to all the people that have added advice on these threads. We were mortified to receieve one of these £80 fines from APCOA Luton too. We will ignore and wait it out.

There is no way we are paying now, what a load of bullies. Great forum and great advice. thanks to everyone.:D particulary coupon-mad (your a legend looking at all your threads!!!:A

Cheers, I just hate this scam so much I always want to give worried people all the links to convince them not to pay!!!

I do have a full time job and 4 kids but this fills a bit of time...:)