NGP parking charge notice - please help!

Being-on-two-feet

Hello,

I'm new to this so sorry if I ask questions that have been asked and answered before but I simply didn't have time to read through all the posts.

I got a parking charge notice from NGP a couple of days ago and I read a number of post advising people to just ignore those types of tickets and not get involved in any negotiations with those types of companies.

I went to visit a friend who lives in an enclosed private estate, the entrance to which is operated by a concierge, with allocated parking spaces and a small number of visitors spaces. The problem is that everytime I go to visit that friend, I have noticed that ALL the visitors spaces are permanently occupied. This is mainly due to the fact that some people have 2 cars per household so they keep the second car in the visitors space. I drive around the entire estate and I haven't found a single visitors space available while the allocated parking is usually half empty. So I parked in somebody's spot but since the car park was almost empty, and it was evening anyway I thought it would make too much difference for an hour, maybe two.

When I left I discovered a "ticket" stuck to my window asking me for £75 for parking not in an allocated bay. I presume the owner of that space tipped them off 'cause how would they know otherwise.

The annoying thing is that there are NEVER any visitor parking spaces available! Additionaly people who have to park in public spaces are required to purchase a permit for the second vehicle in the household while these people just keep occupying the visitors'.
While I understand that the flat you live in comes with an allocated space (as I used to live in a similar type of set up), in a situation where half of the car park is unoccupied anyway, people could afford to be flexible on occasion...

I had no choice but to park somewhere and the parking management rules are not clearly displyed and not legible and the plaques indicating which flat the parking space belongs to are virtually invisible. When dark, you wouldn't know there's anything there.

Should I just ignore this ticket? As I am worried that if I do and they end up taking me to court for this, they will have a legitimate cause and can get the space owner to testify that my car was parked in their spot. I cannot afford to let it happen and I can barely afford to pay the charge, which is, in my humble opinion, exorbitant!

Also, I moved houses not long ago and haven't changed my address with the DVLA yet. Should I do this asap or just wait? Is it an offence not to change your address on DVLA records?

I'd apppreciate some honest advice as I know that most of people here have had experience with those companies.

Thanks very much in advance,
Best regards

Sir_Roger_deLodger

Being-on-two-feet wrote: »

Should I just ignore this ticket? As I am worried that if I do and they end up taking me to court for this, they will have a legitimate cause and can get the space owner to testify that my car was parked in their spot. I cannot afford to let it happen and I can barely afford to pay the charge, which is, in my humble opinion, exorbitant!

Ignore it, and under no circumstances contact them. NGP are very well known and have never taken anyone to court. Be prepared for various letters threatening all sorts of dire consequences if you don't pay, but rest assured it is all rubbish. If you ignore them they will go away eventually.
Do a search on here for NGP, there have been a few threads about them.

taffy056

Make sure you redirect your mail from the previous address, otherwise if they get a letter back saying unknown at this address they may take you to the small claims for a default judgement, and you could land up with ccj because you know nothing about the case.

Coupon-mad

Being-on-two-feet wrote: »

Hello,

I'm new to this so sorry if I ask questions that have been asked and answered before but I simply didn't have time to read through all the posts.

I got a parking charge notice from NGP a couple of days ago ...

Enough info. 'Parking charge Notice' = IGNORE it and the letters that follow.

Can I direct you to a few short threads with the main info you need to understand about this cowboy industry? Click here:

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

Read the stickies by Crabman, the one with the threatogram letter-chains and the one called 'read this before posting'. Watch the link to watchdog where a lawyer showed Anne Robinson just what to do with one of these fake PCNs.

Oh, and you MUST tell the DVLA about your new address. Do that this week and either get your post redirected or ask the new owner of your old flat/house to save any letters about this fake PCN for you, so you can 'deal with them' (i.e. file them in the bin). Taffy is right that you don't want the PPC knowing that their letters are going to the old address or it could give them ideas.

Now get on with your life and stop worrying. All they will do is send pointless, desperate, legalese threatograms to the registered keeper, who does not have to respond and must certainly not contact them. There is no onus on the keeper to tell a private company who was driving that day so forget it, there's no case to answer and you will not get your day in court.

NeverAgain_2

Being-on-two-feet,

I can assure you, from personal experience, the other posters in this thread are spot on.

Ignore all correspondence - it will cease eventually.

I've successfully ignored two private 'tickets'.

Being-on-two-feet

Big thanks to everyone for the replies - that is quite reassuring, I have to say! I'm going to do as advised but I was just wondering about this whole CCTV footage and all since it's an enclosed estate with the entrance gate operated by a concierge. There are signs on lamp posts but they are mounted so high up and written in such microscopic print that I couldn't even read them while standing a few meters from them (let alone while in a moving vehicle) - and I've got 20/20 vision...
How long do they keep this CCTV footage for? Any chance they can dig out, after 28 days of my non-response, a video of me driving the car or getting out of it?

Sirdan

Being-on-two-feet wrote: »

Big thanks to everyone for the replies - that is quite reassuring, I have to say! I'm going to do as advised but I was just wondering about this whole CCTV footage and all since it's an enclosed estate with the entrance gate operated by a concierge. There are signs on lamp posts but they are mounted so high up and written in such microscopic print that I couldn't even read them while standing a few meters from them (let alone while in a moving vehicle) - and I've got 20/20 vision...
How long do they keep this CCTV footage for? Any chance they can dig out, after 28 days of my non-response, a video of me driving the car or getting out of it?

CCTV does it matter ???? Even if they can prove you were the driver , they still have a long way to go in court.
They have to prove you entered into a contract with them ..doubtful based on what you said about signage.
They then have to prove the contract is a fair and proper one that does not impose a penalty...not likely how do they justify £75 ?

Ignore them PPC's don't do court because they know they aren't likely to win ..it's just not worth them risking the costs involved for a £75 charge ..not when there are still plenty of other victims who just pay up !
Now if everyone stopped paying ,that's when it gets interesting ..well I can dream can't I ?