'Excess charge notice'

iviv

Afternoon all,

My grandmother's just recieved an 'Excess charge notice' issued by Local Parking Security Ltd while parking in a doctor's clinic car park and with her disabled badge on display (She thinks, she's pretty certain it was on her dashboard and open).

Now, I knew that she could simply ignore it, and expect a couple of threatening letters to just bin, but I thought I would google and double check to make sure, wouldn't want to give her wrong advice! Anyway, after reading this excellent post by coblcris, it seems that it's not just something I can ignore, it's actually fraud? So... is it worth following this up? And if so, where would I go to with this? Local trading standards?

Also, does it matter that she's responded? She phoned them up complaining and saying she had her disabled badge on display, and also got my aunt to email them the same thing. I guess this will make them double their efforts with the chasing of this cherge, but it won't actually affect anything, will it?

Thanks in advance!

The ticket: (double sided)
http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/7587/ticket1.jpg
http://img573.imageshack.us/img573/3305/ticket2.jpg

taffy056

Put it this way, it was me asking the question, as you can see by my signature below lps are useless at scamming, they haven't contacted me or I them, so their ticket was a waste of paper, and their company a waste of space !

What you should do is completely ignore them, and cease any contact, they will go away empty handed from you I hope

iviv

Thanks for the reply. Handily enough, they replied to the email saying that they would cancel the ticket. However, I'm a student with lots of free time, so would be interested in seeing if I could persue the possibility of fraud regarding the naming of the charge, lest people less informed end up paying these people money!

HO87

"A wee bit naughty" is how one might describe what LPS have done and the fact that some of their staff would seem to have worked for local authorities in the past might reduce their chances of explaining away the use of "Excess Charge Notice". However, student or not I wouldn't recommend spending too much time on them. The chances of the police or Trading Standards actually doing anything about them is slim. Mounting a small claims case - were you or your grandmother to have suffered any loss - might have been more productive.

You'd best explain to your grandmother that she should expect an slightly increased number of letters. Let's hope she didn't provide too many hostages to fortune in the phone call.

peter_the_piper

Nice to see they cancelled the ticket, the only reason I can think of for doing this is to make their "appeals service" look genuine.

bear2183

hi all

I was out for a meal in Jimmy Spices in Stratford upon Avon on Sunday and parked in a nearby car park with my mums disabled badge on display as the sign read blue badge holders can park for free in Stratford council car parks which I assumed this car park was.

I came back to my car to find I had recieved an excess charge notice from the LPS. I've been stupid and contacted them to make an appeal and they have come back to me saying they are sympathetic but I still have to pay the charge for the sake of £2.20.

I have then come onto this forum to read everyones replies on this thread and other threads. What should I do now, just ignore all their correspondence?

Everyones help will be appreciated. I've just had a baby girl so a lot of money going on nappies so this £40 will go a long way!

If I refuse to pay this fine will it affect my credit rating?!

Bear2183

Sir_Roger_deLodger

It is not a fine. Private companies cannot issue fines.
Your credit rating can only be affected if ALL the following actually happens -

1] They take you to court.
2] They win
3] You still refuse to pay.

They never take anyone to court as they know they would lose.

As you have discovered, there is no such thing as an appeal with these leeches. Just ignore them, and do not contact them again.

bear2183

I have also just tried going onto their website and it doesn't work?!

When I did make the appeal I actually gave them my address and name, will they use this against me?!

I do not want to pay for something that is not legit!

Bear2183

Sir_Roger_deLodger

bear2183 wrote: »

I have also just tried going onto their website and it doesn't work?!

When I did make the appeal I actually gave them my address and name, will they use this against me?!

I do not want to pay for something that is not legit!

Bear2183

All you have done is saved them paying the DVLA a £2.50 bribe to get your details.
As you have "appealed" they will have you down as a potential mug and will probably pester you for longer than usual before they give up. Don't worry though, they WILL give up eventually. They always do!

Coupon-mad

bear2183 wrote: »

I have also just tried going onto their website and it doesn't work?!

When I did make the appeal I actually gave them my address and name, will they use this against me?!

I do not want to pay for something that is not legit!

Bear2183

Hope the replies and what you have read on this threads have clarified this for you - the ticket is NOT legit and you must ignore the whole thing including follow-up scary letters.

Did you see there is a whole forum board of current threads on this generic scam, with tons of info? Not just a thread or two, and a fair few threads have mentioned LPS if you search the forum! But all PPCs are the same, so read any thread about a private ticket and you will have your answer = IGNORE.

Here are the current threads:

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

The stickies (top threads by Crabman) tell you everything you need to know, with pics of all the scary threatening letters that you will receive, as well as info about the legality of these bogus tickets and a link to a Watchdog programme last year with clear advice from a lawyer.

IGNORE the company and their pet debt collector. Read up on this on the board link above. Only ever take seriously a ticket from the Police/Council/Transport for London.

Tell your friends & family, in case they are ever about to appeal/pay such a scam ticket.