VCS letter 3 - I'm scared!

Moonflowers

Ok, so I've read loads of threads & heard all the advice about ignoring the letters and I'm standing my ground. But, letter 3 has arrived today "Final demand prior to court action."

I know I should expect it. I know I should ignore it. I am ignoring it. But I'm scared though & worried that my case might be the one that doesnt go according to plan. That I'll be the one who ends up in court or will have to pay the inflated price instead.

Please reassure me that this wont happen :S

For the record, I would never deliberately not pay for parking. My case was in an evening when I actually thought the 2 hour maximum stay in the free car park didnt apply. I stayed 40 minutes over the time, but I was in the shops in the precinct the car park belongs to. I'm even avoiding the car park completely now!

Will I be ok? How long before it all stops? At the moment they have sent the 3 letters at regular 2 week intervals.

Thanks

Sir_Roger_deLodger

They want to scare you into paying. Think about it, if they thought they had a case you would have had a court claim after the first letter. Expect a final final demand and possibly a final final final demand offering a discount.

Carry on ignoring.

taffy056

Please don't worry, you are in the middle of a letter chain of letters, all they are doing is trying to scare you to pay their invoice, it won't go to court as they don't even know who was driving, you don't need to tell them legally, without driver information it will be impossible to take it further.

You will probably get 1 or 2 more and that is it.

Driver8

You are taking those scammers far too seriously. They are private people sitting in a private office. they are not the police or the council who can fine you, they are private individuals with no more right to extort money from you than i have.

PRIVATE PARKING TICKETS - DON'T PAY!
IT IS NOT A FINE! YOU HAVE DONE NOTHING ILLEGAL!

This is an information page for the thousands of people who receive "tickets" from private companies in the UK ever day at supermarkets, retail parks, and in any other privately-owned carpark.

We are NOT encouraging anybody to openly flout parking restrictions on private land, or to refuse to pay reasonable charges for parking. Landowners have a right to make reasonable charges for the use of their land.

For advice specific to your case, you should visit the forums at http://forums.pepipoo.com or http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/parking-traffic-offences.

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

1. What you should know about these companies

It is important to remember that private parking companies (or PPCs as they are often called) have NO OFFICIAL POWERS - that's right, none at all! They give out their "tickets" on the basis that you have seen the signs in their car park and that you have therefore agreed to a contract obliging you to pay a certain sum of money.


2. What happens to people who don't pay?

In 99.9% of cases, absolutely NOTHING! The company pays the DVLA £2.50 to get your address, and then sends lots of threatening letters. In the main, these letters can be safely IGNORED. The only way the company can actually force you to pay is by taking you to the small claims court, which costs them even more money. And they are by no means guaranteed to win! And they practically never do.

The two main reasons for this (among others) are the following:

- Only the person DRIVING the car could ever have agreed to any such parking contract. The company can only get the Registered Keeper's address from the DVLA: you don't have to tell them who was driving.

-Many of these charges are so extortionately high that they constitute a penalty, which is unenforceable in a consumer contract.


3. Can they affect my credit rating?

NO! The only way your credit rating could be affected by ignoring private parking companies is if you were taken to court, lost, and then still refused to pay. But they will not take you to court.


IN SHORT

The vast majority of the time, you can safely IGNORE tickets from private parking companies, they are not official fines.

The vast majority of the time, you can safely IGNORE the threatening letters, including those from debt collection agencies.

You DO NOT have to pay a penny of your hard-earned money to these companies. Remember that the chances of being taken to court are very slim indeed.

DO NOT IGNORE COURT PAPERS!
If you receive real court papers from a private parking company (very rare) then you should go to http://forums.pepipoo.com or http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/parking-traffic-offences for help defending the claim. Do not be afraid to sign up and ask questions regarding any paperwork you are not sure about.

Don’t believe the above? Watch a solicitor on Watchdog advising you what to do with the scam invoices.

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

THEY ARE NOT FINES

Only the Police, Courts or Council’s can fine you. NOT a private company, please remember that.

Moonflowers

Thanks for your replies everyone. I'm just getting a bit scared but will persevere, ignore them & try not to worry. I do quite well not worrying in-between the letters. Hopefully they'll stop soon!

SodG24

Moonflowers wrote: »

Thanks for your replies everyone. I'm just getting a bit scared but will persevere, ignore them & try not to worry. I do quite well not worrying in-between the letters. Hopefully they'll stop soon!

If it helps - I got to that letter with G24 weeks and weeks ago and nothing since. I've seen nothing of court papers proving it was an idle threat. Pity as I'd love to challenge them in court

Oopsadaisy

Have a look at this.
Cut and pasted from another thread.
PRIVATE PARKING TICKETS - DON'T PAY!
IT IS NOT A FINE! YOU HAVE DONE NOTHING ILLEGAL!

This is an information page for the thousands of people who receive "tickets" from private companies in the UK ever day at supermarkets, retail parks, and in any other privately-owned carpark.

We are NOT encouraging anybody to openly flout parking restrictions on private land, or to refuse to pay reasonable charges for parking. Landowners have a right to make reasonable charges for the use of their land.

For advice specific to your case, you should visit the forums at http://forums.pepipoo.com or http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...affic-offences.

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

1. What you should know about these companies

It is important to remember that private parking companies (or PPCs as they are often called) have NO OFFICIAL POWERS - that's right, none at all! They give out their "tickets" on the basis that you have seen the signs in their car park and that you have therefore agreed to a contract obliging you to pay a certain sum of money.


2. What happens to people who don't pay?

In 99.9% of cases, absolutely NOTHING! The company pays the DVLA £2.50 to get your address, and then sends lots of threatening letters. In the main, these letters can be safely IGNORED. The only way the company can actually force you to pay is by taking you to the small claims court, which costs them even more money. And they are by no means guaranteed to win! And they practically never do.

The two main reasons for this (among others) are the following:

- Only the person DRIVING the car could ever have agreed to any such parking contract. The company can only get the Registered Keeper's address from the DVLA: you don't have to tell them who was driving.

-Many of these charges are so extortionately high that they constitute a penalty, which is unenforceable in a consumer contract.


3. Can they affect my credit rating?

NO! The only way your credit rating could be affected by ignoring private parking companies is if you were taken to court, lost, and then still refused to pay. But they will not take you to court.


IN SHORT

The vast majority of the time, you can safely IGNORE tickets from private parking companies, they are not official fines.

The vast majority of the time, you can safely IGNORE the threatening letters, including those from debt collection agencies.

You DO NOT have to pay a penny of your hard-earned money to these companies. Remember that the chances of being taken to court are very slim indeed.

DO NOT IGNORE COURT PAPERS!
If you receive real court papers from a private parking company (very rare) then you should go to http://forums.pepipoo.com or http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...affic-offences for help defending the claim. Do not be afraid to sign up and ask questions regarding any paperwork you are not sure about.



Don’t believe the above? Watch a solicitor on Watchdog advising you what to do with the scam invoices.

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

THEY ARE NOT FINES

Only the Police, Courts or Council’s can fine you. NOT a private company, please remember that.

Oopsadaisy

You are right...you could be the one that loses thgeir home over a simple parking ticket.

To be certain of avoiding this and to sleep easy at night I suggest you pay immediately.

Coupon-mad

Oopsadaisy wrote: »

You are right...you could be the one that loses thgeir home over a simple parking ticket.

To be certain of avoiding this and to sleep easy at night I suggest you pay immediately.

Don't be daft Oopsadaisy! I find your posts mildly amusing but not the ones that suggest paying a scammer - even sarcastically - Nooooooooooooooo!

Oopsadaisy

Coupon-mad wrote: »

Don't be daft Oopsadaisy! I find your posts mildly amusing but not the ones that suggest paying a scammer - even sarcastically - Nooooooooooooooo!

But some people are so scared that they know that they should just ignore but are still worried.

My suggestion of paying is a way of them guaranteeing that they can stop worrying.

It's not something I would ever do personally [pay a PPC], but for some people it's the answer.