NCP and my mistake

laura170_2

I parked in a railway station car park (run by NCP) on a bank holiday. As it was a bank holiday I didn't think I had to pay and the cars either side of me did not have tickets so I stupidly didn't look at the ticket machines (they do have a ticket box where a person usually sits but that was unoccupied). I returned to my car an hour later to find that I had a Parking Contravention Charge Notice from the NCP. The charge was £100 (or £50 if I paid within 14 days).

I wrote to the NCP to appeal the decision on the grounds that it was a bank holiday, there was nobody in the ticket booth to ask, and the cars either side of me also did not have tickets which confirmed my assumption. I then received a letter from NCP today (dated 17 June) saying that they had declined my appeal and giving me a further 14 days from the date of the letter to pay the £50, or £100 thereafter and also saying that if that £100 is not paid thereafter, they will follow a recovery process which includes passing the case to a debt collector who will seek to recover the outstnading debt on their behalf and admin costs. It also said that they reserve the right to use the courts to recover the charges due to them.

I ignored the letter and I received a follow up letter which said that I had 28 days to pay the £100. I also ignored that and I have today received a letter from a company called Newlyn which says that I must pay them £142 as a matter of urgency and that further action may be taken at considerable cost to me if the debt is not cleared. It is a scary looking letter and I'm not sure if I need to pay this now?

I receive benefits so I don't have this sort of money readily available but also my credit rating is already quite bad and I don't want it to become worse or put a black mark against my name. Equally I do not want to go to court? What will happen if I continue to ignore the letter, will the bailiffs come round? I am really worried now.

Thank you in advance.

Coupon-mad

Your only 'mistake' was to think you could actually 'appeal' - but no harm done!

Even though you will have heard of NCP and think they might be a decent parking firm there is no such thing with private parking.

You are in the middle of a mail scam, the letters are part of the scam so just ignore them like you would if you got a series of phishing emails telling you that you'd won the Nigerian Lottery and just had to supply your Bank details to collect your winnings...

You must sit down and read a few more important threads. You need to see the Watchdog paper aeroplane excerpt which is linked in a sticky (permanent info) thread near the top of the forum thread list:

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

It's an absolute must-see for people who actually think a Private parking fake ticket is a real one. The Watchdog link is on the sticky thread near the top of that list called 'WELCOME, please read before posting'!!!!

Then look at the top sticky thread 'PPC letters, what to expect' and make sure that the registered keeper of the car is ready to play a fun game of snap with each matching letter as it arrives. The Newlyn letter-chain is on there, take a look now to see what might come next.

Yes the scary letters do look sort of 'official' and will be on debt collector and maybe 'let's pretend we are a solicitor' headed notepaper. This is part of the scam, so nowt to worry about, Newlyn letters break some rules though as they pretend they are using their 'bailiff' arm when in fact they are only pen-pusher debt collectors when it comes to private parking matters. And there is NO DEBT anyway so you can see you are on safe ground.

You will not go to Court; that's so rare it's almost unheard of and NCP have never, ever taken anyone to Court. The odd other PPC that does chance its arm once in a blue moon lose almost every time with a defended case. No-one will come knocking, no bailiff will call (Newlyn cannot use their bailiff arm in this instance). Nothing about ignoring this con will affect your credit rating, just keep ignoring - you've done no harm but just wasted time trying to appeal a SCAM.

Next time just laugh if ever your car collects a piece of unwanted rubbish called a parking charge notice (a real PCN is a penalty charge notice).

laura170_2

Coupon-Mad, thank you so much for the informative and quick response. I have had knots in my stomach worrying about this but your message has really put my mind at ease. I am the registered keeper of the car also. I was concerned that by appealing, and admitting I was driving the car, I may have made things worse for myself but now you have confirmed that they can't do anything and I won't have any burly men at my door, I am feeling a lot more relaxed.

THANK YOU!!!!

Kite2010

Whereas the landowner (I'm assuming the railway company) has suffered a small loss (of whatever the daily P+D amount is, so say £4.50), the landowner can only sue you for those damages (of £4.50), not a 3rd party wanting to charge you hundreds of which nil gets passed back to the landowner.

Ignore NCP, if they had a case they would have taken you to court by now.

Buzby

CHECK that this is being pursued as a PPC claim (via Small Claims) and not a Railway Byelaws claim which is heard at the Majistrates Court and needs to be treated with respect. Only the ATOC/Network Rail and their agents can pursue this under RB, and it rarely happens, but you need to be aware of this in case.

jlsmith_2

Buzby wrote: »

CHECK that this is being pursued as a PPC claim (via Small Claims) and not a Railway Byelaws claim which is heard at the Majistrates Court and needs to be treated with respect. Only the ATOC/Network Rail and their agents can pursue this under RB, and it rarely happens, but you need to be aware of this in case.

Buzby, do you know of any case where it has EVER happened? I believe the railway byelaws threats are just sabre rattling. I've never heard of a case where these byelaws have been used in recent times for parking offences.

laura170_2

How do I know if it is a railway byelaw or not? I don't think it is as it is NCP?

I have got another letter from Newlyn today which says:

You are formally advised that unless the payment is received within 14 days, proceedings will be initiated in the County Court where a Judgement may be obtained. The County Court Judgement (CCJ) may then be enforced by a court appointed bailiff which will incur substantial costs ....

Do you think I might get a CCJ??? I'm intending to buy a house in the next year and don't want a CCJ. This has been going on for so many months, I really thought they might have given up by now.

Sirdan

laura170 wrote: »

How do I know if it is a railway byelaw or not? I don't think it is as it is NCP?

I have got another letter from Newlyn today which says:

You are formally advised that unless the payment is received within 14 days, proceedings will be initiated in the County Court where a Judgement may be obtained. The County Court Judgement (CCJ) may then be enforced by a court appointed bailiff which will incur substantial costs ....

Do you think I might get a CCJ??? I'm intending to buy a house in the next year and don't want a CCJ. This has been going on for so many months, I really thought they might have given up by now.

I think you have answered your own question , if they really had a case and were really going to issue a County Court claim they would have done it by now.

You won't get a CCJ.

For that to happen they have to
1) make a claim to the Court (0.0000000001 % chance)

2) Win (even less chance)

3) If 1&2 happen ...you only get a CCJ if you don't pay what the court orders you to (you're not going to do that are you ?)

laura170_2

Thank you Sirdan. As I suspected...scaremongering. But as I know virtually nothing about courts, I thought it would be wise to check with more intelligent people such as yourself. Thank you.

Certainly can't afford to get a CCJ against my name.

AlexisV

NCP have never ever done court anyway. Last thing they want is to have their lost posted all over the nationals. They like to keep their little scheme under wraps.

Relax and ignore.

Tilt

AlexisV wrote: »

NCP have never ever done court anyway. Last thing they want is to have their lost posted all over the nationals. They like to keep their little scheme under wraps.

Relax and ignore.

They appear to usung different tactics... take a look at this;

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?320793-NCP-towed-my-car-from-train-car-park-for-non-payment-of-private-parking-tickets

:eek: