Anyone had a ticket from Northern Rail?

melanieconway

Hi all

I received a couple of parking charges from Parking Eye which thanks to this forum I have ignored :beer:. All is quiet so far on the PE front.

However, I have one from Northern Rail (apologies I'm at work and don't have the docs to hand) for breaching the conditions of parking at my local railway station. Yes I breached their conditions in that I didn't park between two white lines, I parked on the end of a row as I was rushing to get my child to hospital and there were no spaces left (I wasn't causing an obstruction by the way).

On my return I had an original sticky on my windscreen issued by the Rail co as it's private land rather than the council or police. I avoided paying as I'd seen people's warnings.

Then got a letter just before my hol asking me to pay up in 7 days or they'd send my details to the small claims courts. I have got a second letter which I think is from them which I haven't opened yet but it's definitely not a court summons.

Has anyone received charges from Northern Rail in Leeds before? Are these ones to ignore or should I pay up - I have looked and haven't seen Northern Rail in any of the lists of organisations not to pay.

Thanks in advance and sorry for the sketchy info.:T

peter_the_piper

Usually its not clear what to do but this one states claim will be county court so should be safe to ignore. Had it said Maggie Court then we would all have said pay.

melanieconway

Thanks for the info. I will clarify properly but I'm sure the original letter said small claims court.

vax2002

Yes I had one, in Leeds, they threatened all sorts of railway by-laws in the end, but I ignored them and I have not heard anything for over a year now.
I pulled in the short stay to collect someone, but the police had decided to search bags and put up metal detectors and it took us 20 mins to get out of the damned station.

RENEGADE_2

No doubt this is odd. Issued by the Train Operating Company (TOC from here onward on the thread) and mention of "small claims" which is civil and in the County Court.

To be 101% certain you are safe, can you confirm whether there is mention of Railway Byelaw 14? Even if so, what else does it say? Does it for example refer to a "debt"?

Kite2010

It might be the TOC deciding to become a PPC and issue invoices themselves.

Coblcris

That is quite common.

jlsmith_2

Even if they threaten magistrates' court they are likely to be sabre rattling. I received three separate threats from Meteor/Southeastern rail that I would be prosecuted at magistrates' court but they all timed out (6 month limit to lay information).

The process was that they issued a PPC parking notice in relation to a breach of terms & conditions and then when following up through debt collectors raised byelaw 14 and magistrates' court. My view is to ignore this as I have never heard of a genuine byelaw 14 ticket enforceable in court - just lots of tickets pretending that's what they are.

RENEGADE_2

Kite2010 wrote: »

It might be the TOC deciding to become a PPC and issue invoices themselves.

This is ABSOLUTELY stupid - not that I personally care. On the one hand you get idiot PPCs using false representation and committing fraud when declaring Byelaw 14 and on the other, TOCs who have the legal power of enforcement playing the greedy pig and aspiring to grab every penny for themselves.

To this end, I reckon a keeper can have a good case in court on the day of a hearing when issuing was genuine: everything out there spells fraud, illicit money-grabbing and harassment, where was the tell-tale sign that my case was different?

melanieconway

Thanks for the posts all. Right here we go with the facts. Sorry, there was a little misrepresentation by myself earlier:

1. First letter dated 21/7/11 from debt and recovery prosecutions unit - states I have not paid for my parking notice number XXXX, this is referred to at the top of the letter as a 'Penalty Parking Notice' and all references seem to begin with CP. It advises me the amount has now gone up, and that failure to pay this increased amount within 14 days means that legal action will be instigated (it's vague and doesn't mention whether small claims or magistrates etc - I'm afraid I assumed earlier regarding small claims) and the amount will go up to £100. There follows information about how to pay etc. Letter is very general, doesn't mention any byelaws etc.

2. Second letter dated 24/8/11 from the debt and recovery prosecutions unit - expresses their 'disappointment' that I hadn't paid (I did chuckle at this), and that again I have 14 days to pay or they will take 'legal action' against me (again very vague). They state that if this happens they will impose £100 costs plus anything 'awarded by the court' (again no mention whether small claims or magistrates). Again more advice on how to pay etc. In this letter the byelaw is mentioned but it doesn't state what number byelaw it is. It just states within the letter that 'byelaws apply' and further in the letter "*Railway Byelaw offences: Shall be liable on a summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 (£1000) on the standard scale".

Can anyone give me 100% clarity on whether I should pay this or not? On principle I hate these bandits fleecing us, and the fact that I was taking my son to hospital rather than just out for a jaunt is a bit more like salt in the wounds.

However, I'm very nervous about not paying as I'm a qualified accountant and if I get any black mark on my criminal record it could ruin my career!

Coupon-mad

Do not ignore a private parking ticket - from 2013 onwards things changed in England/Wales.

NORTHERN RAIL DO SOMETIMES PURSUE THESE TO MAGISTRATES COURT NOW, IN 2013 AND 2014.

Please click to page one of the forum, get off this old thread. See my signature below for where to click to read current advice. Please read the NEWBIES thread at the top of this very forum.

Did I say STOP reading this ancient thread, NOW??!!