Aldi parking ticket. Not driver, firm still writing - FINAL NOTICE!!!

inthemix

Hi,
I was NOT the driver of the vehicle which parked in Aldi and outstayed it's welcome by 40mins.
I have had 2 letters requesting a £70 fee (reduced to £40 if paid within 14 days) On the top of the letter it says 'Parking charge notice to owner'.
I replied to second demand with Martin's letter stating that I wasn't the driver and was not obliged to discose who was.
They replied say my appeal was unsuccessful (I didn't use the word appeal anywhere in my correspondance) and that I was still liable to pay the fine.
I then sent the second template as suggested by Martin, referring to harrassment. I had the same latter back from them, appeal unsuccessful, still liable to pay!
I didn't reply to that and have today had a 'Final Demand' stating I now have to pay the full £70 or they will instruct their solicitors to obtain the money through court.....

WHAT NOW?!

vax2002

inthemix wrote: »

Hi,


WHAT NOW?!

same as before
IGNORE THEM

This is a complicated multi layered impersonation of authority scam .
It works by impersonating authority figures.
They change which characters to impersonate if the first does not work.
Debt collecters, solicitors offering you free legal advice, snow white and the seven dwarfs, they will all put in a show.

The legal position is what you have is an invitation to pay a private invoice, it is no more valid than the local women's knitting circle fining you for wearing a non wool jumper.
Anyone can sue for a unpaid invoice, the trouble starts when they try it, as they will loose as they can not demand a penalty from you, only real authority can, and this is not, it is an impersonation.

27col

"Now what". Now nothing. There, that's settled that, then.
No doubt the regulars will be along soon to confirm what I have said. The advice will be to ignore and to not make further contact.

inthemix

So, regardless of how many red letters or court threats they send, they can't take me to court?

trisontana

I presume this is Parking Eye. Well known on here and can be ignored. As you can see they don't read letters and just churn out that meaningless drivel in reply.

AltheHibby

They can take you to court, but the WILL lose as you are not the driver. Not only that, you could probably sue them for harrassment. GTFA can advise on that.

As the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy says - DON'T PANIC!

Stephen_Leak

Firstly, the legal stuff.

Any warning signs are usually so badly positioned and worded, that they don’t create a fair and legally binding deemed contract between the car park owner and the driver in the first place. Stating that the charge for parking is, say, £85.00, is unreasonable. (The Unfair Contract Terms Act 1997.)

Even if there is a contract, all the car park owner can claim from the driver in damages for any breach of contract is what they’ve lost as a result. If this is a free car park or they paid, this is £0.00. By asking you for more, which is unreasonable, it’s become an unfair contract penalty, which is not legally enforceable. (Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co. Ltd. vs. New Garage & Motor Co. Ltd., House of Lords, 1914.)

Under various legislation, only councils, the police, train operators and Transport for London can impose legally enforceable fines or penalties. Private parking companies can't.

What do I do now?

Don’t appeal. They always reject them. What’s in it for them to let anyone off?

Actually, there is something in it for them: information. They need to know the identity of the driver of the vehicle involved at the time, because that’s who the alleged contract was with. If they don’t know who the driver was, they have to make do with chasing the registered keeper.

With windscreen notices, an appeal letter will tell them your name and address, and maybe that you were driving at the time. If they don’t know who the driver was, they have to buy the details of registered keeper from the DVLA.

With postal notices, they’ve done this already. But they still need to know the identity of the driver.

They sometimes say that they have the right to ask for this information. This doesn’t mean that you have to tell them.

However, even if you’ve written and confirmed who the driver was, it doesn’t make their actions any less unlawful. It just means that instead of unlawfully harassing the registered keeper, they can now unlawfully harass the driver.

What will they do to me?

They will send you a series of letters, then a debt collector and then a solicitor. The debt collector and solicitor are usually also the PPC, but using different headed paper. These will threaten you with all sorts of financial and legal unpleasantness, to intimidate you into paying.

But, they can't actually do anything, for the same reason that a blackmailer couldn't sue their victim if they didn’t pay.

What should I do then?

Continue to ignore everything you get from the PPC and their aliases. Yes, it does seem counter-intuitive to deal with something by ignoring it. Eventually, they will run out of empty threats to intimidate you with, and stop throwing good money after bad.

give_them_FA

Just sue them. I did. If you told them that you weren't the driver and they are still sending you threatening and harassing letters then they are breaking the law.

PM me and I will tell you how. It is very cheap to start (and you get your outlay back on top of the damages) and simple to do.

This is a risk they take with their behaviour.

bargepole

inthemix wrote: »

... I didn't reply to that and have today had a 'Final Demand' stating I now have to pay the full £70 or they will instruct their solicitors to obtain the money through court.....

WHAT NOW?!

They will probably send you a "Final, Final Demand". Followed by a "Final, Yes This Is The Last Chance To Pay We Really Mean It Demand". Then .... nothing.

The mistake was to send them a letter - no matter what you write, they just send back their standard "appeal unsuccessful" letter - so now they think you're the kind of mug who might actually cave in to their threats. If you keep ignoring them from now on, they'll move on to some other victim.

ManxRed

give_them_FA wrote: »

Just sue them. I did. If you told them that you weren't the driver and they are still sending you threatening and harassing letters then they are breaking the law.

PM me and I will tell you how. It is very cheap to start (and you get your outlay back on top of the damages) and simple to do.

This is a risk they take with their behaviour.

This. And don't forget to name Aldi as co-defendants.

Stephen_Leak

bargepole wrote: »

<snip> [STRIKE]The[/STRIKE] Their mistake was to [STRIKE]send them a letter - no matter what you write, they just[/STRIKE] send back their standard "appeal unsuccessful" letter <snip>

Fixed for you.