UKPC Fine

john-306

Wife has just got back to her car at work to find a "Parking Charge" "Parking in a permit space without displaying a valid permit"
The ticket states...
"A parking charge of £70 is therfore payable within 28 days of the date of this parking ticket. A reduced charge of £35 is payable if payment is received within 14 days of the date of this parking ticket"

The wife works on a business park where all the offices have parking spaces, they are not enclosed in any way, they are all open but you can tell which ones are for which offices. This morning due to traffic the wife was late and there were no spaces outside her office, she parked in the space of the adjacent office which is empty and has been for some time, on returning to the car the ticket was there.

I've read loads on this company and was going to just ignore any letters like what is recommended and to not enter into any correspondence with them at all, but just read my local evening paper, where Martin Lewis just happens to have written an article which states

If a private company gives you a ticket, it's not a fine, just an invoice for an alleged breach of contract, if you think it's unfair, write to reject it, they must go to court to enforce it

Now he is telling us to write and reject it!!!
I'm confused

peter_the_piper

That is old advice, generally its safest and more satisfying to let them spend £2.50 on getting your details and then continue to ignore them.

HappyMJ

Just ignore and save your pennies. No need to waste your time and money writing letters that will only be ignored anyway.

john-306

peter_the_piper wrote: »

That is old advice, generally its safest and more satisfying to let them spend £2.50 on getting your details and then continue to ignore them.

Hi Peter, it's not old advise as it's in todays evening paper.

taffy056

john-306 wrote: »

Hi Peter, it's not old advise as it's in todays evening paper.

It may be in today's paper, but they quoting Martin Lewis from about 3-4 years directly from this website. The current advice is to ignore as you have been given above. You go to pepipoo , CAG, Pistonheads and any motoring forum and you'll get the ignore advice.

Also BBC Watchdog has covered this a few times with legal experts on the programme saying the same, they are available on this forum to watch if you search for watchdog videos

Coupon-mad

It is old advice from the 2009 article I mention in my signature, nothing new and we think, not worth wasting a stamp on. Writing anything at all tells the scammer that they are sending letters to a 'live' address with someone who is connected with the car and is reading the letters. Why let them know that?

Kite2010

If the office is empty than the landowners damages are quite simply zero. Ignore the clowns of UKPC, and tell your friends/family/work colleagues to do the same.

john-306

Thanks all, wife just added that UKPC are paid to control this unnocupied office parking area, my wifes office told them to get lost and they don't control hers, she was just one parking space out of her office parking area and got nabbed

Kite2010

What a waste of money, getting paid to patrol parking spaces of an unused office