CP Plus and now debt collection company

Nancydog

Hi,

A parking ticket was issued by CP Plus to one of our company vans. The driver was a freelancer who has since moved abroad.

The amount demanded by CP Plus changed from £80 to £50 to £120.

I sent CP Plus a letter (in fact I used the template from this website) stating we were not the driver and will not be paying the ticket.

We then received a letter from Vehicle Control Services ltd asking for information on the driver "as per paragraph 4.2 of the Pre-Action Protocol" and advising us this was a reasonable request. We did not reply to this letter.

We have now received a letter from a debt collection agency requesting payment of £162.00. They also state that in the absence of payment or dispute within 7 days, they will pass to their solicitors.

Should we pay the fine and be done with it / send the second template from this website (stating that we consider the continuous correspondence to be harassment) / ignore the debt collection agency letter?

Can any one advise us on what is the best course of action?

Much appreciated.

peter_the_piper

Continue to ignore, you will then get a letter pleading that they will accept £99.00 as a gesture of goodwill then they give up.

bargepole

Nancydog wrote: »

... Should we pay the fine and be done with it / send the second template from this website (stating that we consider the continuous correspondence to be harassment) / ignore the debt collection agency letter?

Can any one advise us on what is the best course of action?

There is no fine - private companies can't fine anyone. All you have is a speculative invoice. If you received an invoice for an entry in some unpublished trade directory that you'd never heard of, would you pay that?

Sending these people template letters merely encourages them to continue to write to you, in the belief that you are taking them seriously - the sooner you cease correspondence, the sooner they'll give up.

The best course of action is to ignore, then ignore, then ignore some more. The only contract that exists, if any valid contract at all, is between them and the driver. Your company is not a party to it, and any attempt at a court claim would fail at the first hurdle.

trisontana

The use of the phrase "4.2 of the Pre-Action Protocol" is a load of baloney, as this particle piece of legislation does no apply to the Small-Claims Court .

Coupon-mad

Definitely ignore the letters all the way. There is no fine and you have no liability.

I do hope you wouldn't have made a driver pay such a demand if he had not moved abroad? :eek:

If so you are falling for a scam every time, read this and learn:

http://www.fleetnews.co.uk/news/2009/5/28/question-private-parking-fines-fleets-urged/30698/

Also red our stickies by Crabman 'PPC letters, what to expect' and 'Read this Before posting' which are at the top here:

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

You'll see pictures of all the standard letters you will get and you will also find a link to youtube showing the legal expert on Watchdog telling Anne Robinson what to do with such a bogus PCN!

Let's be clear. Only EVER take tickets from the Police or Council seriously.

Kite2010

They also state that in the absence of payment or dispute within 7 days, they will pass to their solicitors.

Are the solicitors based on the desk to the left or to the right these days?

peter_the_piper

They are probably named Amber or Candy.

Nancydog

Thanks for the responses, and the advice from you all. I did checked out the debt collectors agency and they look professional however.

esmerobbo

Nancydog wrote: »

Thanks for the responses, and the advice from you all. I did checked out the debt collectors agency and they look professional however.

They may do they don't design the website normally, professional designers do. These company's collect all sorts of debts lots of them are enforceable through the courts. However trying to enforce a private parking invoice against a registered keeper would be impossible.

Your letters to them are probably not even being read, they just see if there is a cheque in them if not press key on PC for next letter template.

Ignore them they will soon go away.

fb1969

Nancydog wrote: »

I did checked out the debt collectors agency and they look professional however.

If I wear a shirt, tie and jacket I look professional, that doesn't mean I am (especially if I'm not wearing any trousers)!

Coupon-mad

Nancydog wrote: »

Thanks for the responses, and the advice from you all. I did checked out the debt collectors agency and they look professional however.

We are not saying they are not a real debt collection agency - they are. Their job is to write or phone up people who their clients allege owe them money, and that's what they are doing here.

The thing is, with a Private parking ticket THERE IS NO DEBT. The parking company are alleging a debt that does not exist, and the debt collector is sending their usual standard letters which witter on about CCJs etc. But it's all hot air as there is not credit agreement, no contract, no fine, no need to pay.

You didn't answer my question. Did you look at the Fleet News advice? Please tell me you would NOT expect one of your drivers who still worked for you, to pay a scam invoice like this?!