received 11 private parking charges

awkward_turtle_90

hi, i have been so depressed & stressed these last 2 weeks because i have been bombarded with about 11 private parking charges from OPC..

i parked there not realising that there was a 2 hour limit, i continued parking there until i got my first 2 fines through the post, which was three weeks later. i understand these things take long to process but i didnt even receive a warning to say you are parking in the wrong place and overstaying. obviously once i received my first 2 fines and since then i have been receiving at least one fine every day at most i have received 4 at once, and about 9 fines in just the last week... each fine is £50 if paid within the first 14 days for my first 3 fines my 14 days will be up on the 30th of december 2011...
i havent spoken to the company as i didnt know it was the best thing to do addmitting to the offence and trying to tell them to come to an agreement.

i am soo lost as to what i am goin to do i dont know what the out come could be if i go through the appeals process..?? the car is in my fathers name and i was driving it at the time could he get a ccj or a bad credit rating??

i am student and can't afford much let alone £450 worth of fines to pay... i have literally been in tears over the matter.. i have not actually had a chance to speak to a solicitor or anyone as such seen as though its christmas... but i would greatly appreciate it if some one can give me some advice thank you very much :'(

jd87

Don't do anything. Put them in the bin. Ignore them. These "fines" are not worth the paper they are written on. Whatever you do, don't write/call/speak to the company at all.

There will be no CCJ's or anything - only a court can do that and that isn't going to happen.

awkward_turtle_90

i feel there will be more of a possibility they will take me to court as they have given me so many fines

HO87

I'd go along with all of jd's advice except putting the tickets in the bin. Just put them to one side.

Then have a look at the "stickies" at the top of this board making sure that you watch the Watchdog videos. They should reassure you. OPC have not done court for sometime unless you count the occasions earlier this year when they appeared as the defendant. Read Here

It is important that you realise that you have committed no offence (that is what happens if you break the criminal law - and you certainly haven't done that). What you have done is to breach a made up rule and what OPC have sent you is not a fine. Only courts can impose a fine. What you have been sent is a series of invoices inviting you to pay them money. You can quite rightly refuse to pay and simply get on with your life.

They will threaten to send you case to a debt collector. Well debt collectors have, as coincidence would have it, exactly the same powers and authority as you and me to enforce debt. All that they can do is to ask you to pay up. They cannot hurt you in any other way.

As I've said, have a thorough read through the "stickies" - this includes copies of the letter chain you are likely to receive.

As intimidating as the letters are - that's exactly what they are intended to do - keep the faith. Do not contact the company. Do not appeal - there is no appeal process worthy of the name operated by an private parking company and there is reason to believe that appeals processes are used to obtain information about their potential victims. So don't be tempted to provide them with any information.

I'd edit your original post as soon as possible to delete the number of tickets you have and the detail about what you are currently doing and who might have been using the car at the various times. Remove any precise date information as well.

Bikertov

Have a look at this advice on private parking 'fines' by Martin Lewis on the main MSE site ...

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/private-parking-tickets

HO87

Bikertov wrote: »

Have a look at this advice on private parking 'fines' by Martin Lewis on the main MSE site ...

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/private-parking-tickets

This advice is two years out of date and the standard advice now given on this forum is to ignore all demands from PPC's and their debt collectors.

robredz

If the car park is FREE then there is no consequential loss to sue for, and the charge is an unenforceable CIVIL PENALTY, and an individual or organisation cannot legally ask for ridiculous amounts as a charge such as £60 for overstaying in a free car park, as their loss under the law of contract is zilch, zero, nothing. If they did do court they would risk losing and being spanked by the judge,

Best policy ignore, and do not contact them

fil_cad

Just ignore all begging letters of those thieveing paracites, if you have a pet hampster there silly junk mail when shredded makes a nice warm bed

bromsgrovebarry

I have not quite reached a score of 11 Mickey Mouse 'fines' from private parking contractors but I am doing my level best to beat it. The threatening letters are designed to scare you, that is all they can do. Don't get worried, get angry with this scum that make money by conning the vulnerable. Do not be tempted to respond to them or pay them, I know the advice on this forum is sound because I have followed it regularly and laughed at the silly demands from Private Parking Scammers. Now chill out and enjoy Christmas!

Coupon-mad

awkward_turtle_90 wrote: »

i feel there will be more of a possibility they will take me to court as they have given me so many fines

Is this thread also about you?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3690933

As per the advice already given - ignore the OPC letters and if you actually get Court papers then post on pepipoo forums for help. All the time you are just getting debt collector letters 'threatening' Court then you should just file them all. Don't throw them away, just keep them all and ignore them.

ashleypride

awkward_turtle_90 wrote: »

i feel there will be more of a possibility they will take me to court as they have given me so many fines

Not really, I assume you are talking about a supermarket car park where they have 2 hours free parking. The problem for the PPC is that they don't state any charge over and above the 2 hours free parking on their signs. They could take you to court for breaching the contract, but they would need to show an actual loss - which doesn't exist.

The best option at the moment is to completely ignore, do not fall for their fake appeal process, or contact them in anyway.