New Generation Parking - Debt Collectors now!

mikrt

I hope somebody here can advise me.

My son was at Uni in Cardiff, and apparently he received a few tickets from New Generation Parking management. He read this site forum and decided to bin them all and ignore them.

Trouble is, he's now received a letter from debt collectors for the amount (£210 total). I'm not too sure whether to ignore this as well, or do I need to pay it before extra fees start adding to it, or, they turn up on the doorstep?

Any help would be gratefully received,

Mike.

trisontana

Just ignore them. You must realise that "debt collectors" are just private citizens with no more power than you or me to demand money off people. They cannot enter your property, they cannot seize goods and they cannot blacken your credit record over an alleged parking ticket.

Coupon-mad

mikrt wrote: »

I hope somebody here can advise me.

My son was at Uni in Cardiff, and apparently he received a few tickets from New Generation Parking management. He read this site forum and decided to bin them all and ignore them.

Trouble is, he's now received a letter from debt collectors for the amount (£210 total). I'm not too sure whether to ignore this as well, or do I need to pay it before extra fees start adding to it, or, they turn up on the doorstep?

Any help would be gratefully received,

Mike.

All private parking 'tickets' are fake, this is a well-known scam on here. Good on your son for learning that they should be ignored and telling you about the scam as well. We have heard of NGP, they are the same as wll the rest and have no lawful authority to fine anyone.

You should read 'PPC letters, what to expect' (top permanent sticky info thread) and 'welcome, please read before posting' also near the top:

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

The PPC letters thread will show you what rubbish your son will be bombarded with - he can just laugh and play snap with each expected threatogram. Debt collector and 'solicitor' letter-headings are part of the mail scam but nothing happens, no effect on credit rating as it's obviously not a real fine.

The other thread I mentioned has a link to Watchdog, make sure you and your son watch that clip and learn what a clued-up specialist solicitor would do if any of his relatives received a bogus PCN like that.

Then you may like to read any thread on that first page - it's updated with new queries like yours every single day as this con is soooo rife - and even worse, universities, supermarkets and other retailers currently all blindly support the scammers by allowing them to infest their car parks, seemingly oblivious to the fact that it's all a con based on mail threats. Have a look at the signage when next in a supermarket car park - chances are you have lots of scammers locally as well, just waiting for an excuse to slap a fake ticket on your car.

It's possibly an illegal practice as well, you may like to keep your eyes out for the outcome of this Court case that Trading Standards in Hull are about to bring against UKPC (a similar scam):

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=63597

HTH put your mind at rest that your son is right.

mikrt

Wow, very quick replies.

Thanks, I'll ignore and keep my fingers crossed. :beer:

trisontana

:j

mikrt wrote: »

Wow, very quick replies.

Thanks, I'll ignore and keep my fingers crossed. :beer:

Why? You don't have to do that. Nothing will come of this, they are just empty and meaningless threats. That's their whole "business model" - sending out official looking (but sham) paperwork with the sole intention of conning people into paying up. Some people would even class this as demanding money with menaces.

daedalia

Had the same thing myself today. New scare tactics.

trisontana

daedalia wrote: »

Had the same thing myself today. New scare tactics.

Nothing new about this con. It's been going on for a few years.

shytorque_2

So, ignoring the letters will no doubt generate more threatening letters, but at what point do they give up?

trisontana

Four to six letters are the norm. Please look at the letter-chain thread at the top of the forum to see what to expect.

rappo85

Had the exact same letter for £210 this morning. Ignored the first one from NGP so ignoring this one. To further reassure the OP, I did a lot of reading after the first letter on here and fight back forums and in order to be successful in court they would have to prove that by parking in their car park they suffered damages equivalent to the amount charged, whereas excessive amounts are defined as penalties, which cannot be enforced by a private company. The original invoice was £75, so clearly falls into the penalty category, and would be seen through by the judge. The car park I parked in was not clearly signed and is free and was nigh on empty, so in my view their losses amount to sweet FA, so they can go do one!

Please correct me if I have interpreted the information incorrectly! Waiting for my solicitors letters now, after explaining to my Mum exactly why they couldn't extract any money from me!

Coupon-mad

rappo85 wrote: »

Had the exact same letter for £210 this morning. Ignored the first one from NGP so ignoring this one. To further reassure the OP, I did a lot of reading after the first letter on here and fight back forums and in order to be successful in court they would have to prove that by parking in their car park they suffered damages equivalent to the amount charged, whereas excessive amounts are defined as penalties, which cannot be enforced by a private company. The original invoice was £75, so clearly falls into the penalty category, and would be seen through by the judge. The car park I parked in was not clearly signed and is free and was nigh on empty, so in my view their losses amount to sweet FA, so they can go do one!

Please correct me if I have interpreted the information incorrectly! Waiting for my solicitors letters now, after explaining to my Mum exactly why they couldn't extract any money from me!

You are not wrong.

If Mum wavers, show her the Watchdog paper aeroplane clip - it's linked on the sticky threads at the top of here and on pepipoo forum as well.