Vehicle Control Services - to pay or not to pay?! advice please!

lisaanssari

I received a Parking Charge Notice in July for going over my 4 hours parking (honest mistake, I didn't realise the hourly rate had increased). I appealed, stating I hadn't seen the sign advising me of the charge increase and also stating that the machine had not given me change (if it had, it would have prompted me to query why)..the machine did not state 'no change given' or that the rate was per hour or part thereof. I also said I thought the fine was disproportionate (initially £80, now increased to £120). Today I received a letter saying I basically entered into a contractual agreement when I entered the car park. It doesn't answer my comments about the fine being disproportionate, just offers for me to pay in installments, if I request this in writing. It says at the end 'Failure to comply may result in the issue of court proceedings whereby further costs could be incurred'. Sorry to ramble but has anyone been in a similar situation who could advise me? Thanks

trisontana

Hundreds, if not thousands of people have been in the same situation. Just ignore these scammers and everything will be OK.

AlexisV

It's not a fine, it's a speculative invoice. As you've discovered, there is no 'appeals process'. It's a trick to make you think it's all legit.

Legally, if it costs a pound an hour to park, you pay £4 for 4 hours and you park for 4 hours 10 minutes, the maximum you owe them is 16 pence.

You entered into a contractual agreement to pay a pound an hour and by breaching this you owe them the amount your breach has cost them ie. 16p. The £80/£120 they seek amounts to a contractual penalty - it bears no relation to any loss they might have suffered. It is legally unenforceable and they know it. They are just hoping you don't and that you will send them the money.

So simply ignore them. You will receive 4 or 5 threatening letters from powerless debt collectors demanding more and more money and saying you will be taken to court. It's all rubbish. They send out hundreds of these letters each day and hope a percentage of their victims will fall for it and send them a cheque.

Disregard them and get on with your life. VCS are very well known on here.

Headsetuser

Hi, Iv'e been hit with a parking charge off UKPC Ltd, £80, or £40 if I pay up in the next 14 days, the charge is for not parking correcty within the bay. This was at the Ashton moss Leisure Park, I did take up part of another bay I admit, but merely because the vehicles parked either side of the 2 free bays were pretty much on there lines it was weekend and the carpark was rammed, I drive a Van, of transit size, not too big I agree, but if I had of parked correctly as they put it , I would of surely have inconvienienced the other vehicle owners, as they would not have been able to access there cars, nor would I have been able to exit mine, do I have any grounds here for refusing to pay or should I simply pay the ridiculous charge, it seems carparking bays are getting smaller and smaller with no thought or provisions for vans !:mad:

trisontana

Of course you don't have to pay. All they can claim off you is the actual material loss suffered by the landowner. In this case this amounts to a big fat zero. Just ignore all the stupid letters they will send and don't correspond with them.

Headsetuser

Thanks for the fast response and advice, much appreciated, but legally where do I stand with these people ??

trisontana

Headsetuser wrote: »

Thanks for the fast response and advice, much appreciated, but legally where do I stand with these people ??

I have explained the legal position. This is all covered by contract law, hence my mentioning actual loss to the landowner. Anything above that would be deemed an unfair penalty. This is against the law of the land which states that one private citizen (the parking company) cannot punish another private citizen (the motorist).

Coupon-mad

Headsetuser wrote: »

Thanks for the fast response and advice, much appreciated, but legally where do I stand with these people ??

@Headsetuser and lisaanssari:

This is where you stand, read and watch the Watchdog clip as well:

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=46975

It's a scam, read the forum here and stop taking them so seriously:

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

Once you have seen the Watchdog solicitor I am sure you will get it - and be a little fed up that you actually thought it was a 'parking ticket' and that you had to 'have grounds for refusing to pay' what is a clear and pretty well-known scam!

Lastly you MUST both be ready for the threatogram letter-chain, we do not need an update every time you get a predictable scary letter please. The letters are shown in our top thread 'PPC letters, what to expect'. So just play snap with each letter and laugh at them, debt collectors, fake solicitors' letters and all.

Kite2010

Headsetuser wrote: »

Hi, Iv'e been hit with a parking charge off UKPC Ltd, £80, or £40 if I pay up in the next 14 days, the charge is for not parking correcty within the bay. This was at the Ashton moss Leisure Park, I did take up part of another bay I admit, but merely because the vehicles parked either side of the 2 free bays were pretty much on there lines it was weekend and the carpark was rammed, I drive a Van, of transit size, not too big I agree, but if I had of parked correctly as they put it , I would of surely have inconvienienced the other vehicle owners, as they would not have been able to access there cars, nor would I have been able to exit mine, do I have any grounds here for refusing to pay or should I simply pay the ridiculous charge, it seems carparking bays are getting smaller and smaller with no thought or provisions for vans !:mad:

Ignore the PPC, the letters will soon go away as they move onto the next potential victim of the scam

esmerobbo

Headsetuser wrote: »

Thanks for the fast response and advice, much appreciated, but legally where do I stand with these people ??

Legally do you believe a Judge would think you agreed to a contract that if you parked with your wheels touching a line you could be charged £95?

A contract must not only be offered and accepted it must be fair to both parties!

lisaanssari

thanks to everyone, I can sleep easy now!!! :O)