CP Plus, Debt recovery Plus, Zenith Collections Threatograms Update

HardWorker2010_2

I notice that the begging letter chain from CP Plus in the sticky is a little out of date.

Here's some of their newer efforts:


CP Plus:

Charge Notice (Thanks for the free Hamster bedding).
http://i1166.photobucket.com/albums/q619/hardworker20101/CPPlus1-NewerStyleChargeNotice.jpg

Charge Notice Reminder (Thanks again but I hadn't forgotten. I'm just not going to answer you).
http://i1166.photobucket.com/albums/q619/hardworker20101/CPPlus2-NewerStyleChargeNoticeReminder.jpg

Legal Action Pending (Is that the legal action where CP Plus might get taken to court for harassment and attempting to charge for parking where they have no legal right to do so?)
http://i1166.photobucket.com/albums/q619/hardworker20101/CPPlus3-NewerStyleLegalActionPending.jpg


Debt recovery Plus
These appear not to have changed. Same 3 as already on the sticky. The last one really made me laugh, where in a desperate attempt to scam anything they can, they offer a reduced payment again.... In the spirit of a reduced the payment I'll be paying £0.00 by ignoring them.


Zenith Collections
DR+ now pretend to be another company after being ignored as Debt Recovery Plus. They're even stupid enough to use the same fake signature as they used as DR+, just changed persons name and sex!!!

Notice of debt recovery Assignment (How very interesting. How's the 'gender reassignment' coming along?).
http://i1166.photobucket.com/albums/q619/hardworker20101/ZenithCollections1-NoticeofDebtRecoveryAssignment.jpg

Notice of intention to Commence Legal proceedings. (OMG! Really? You mean after all the proceeding empty threats and bluster you 'Really Really Really' mean it this time? ... I smell burning. OMG! Your pants!....... I guess you must have to buy them in bulk).
http://i1166.photobucket.com/albums/q619/hardworker20101/ZenithCollections2-NoticeofIntentiontoCommenceLegalProceedings.jpg

Perhaps the sticky can be updated to reflect these.

Thanks.

HardWorker2010 'Ignoring for England!'

trisontana

"Your ability to obtain credit in the future may be affected if we have to take this matter to our solicitors for further action"

So how does that work exactly? Have these so-called "solicitors" a hot-line to the credit reference agencies? I think not. No wonder these PPCs and their tame DRCs are held in such contempt . I wonder if the BPA are proud to be the mouthpiece of these companies?

Crabman

Thanks for this Hardworker2010, I've updated the sticky thread. :beer:

HardWorker2010_2

Crabman wrote: »

Thanks for this Hardworker2010, I've updated the sticky thread. :beer:

The pleasure was all mine! :j

Anything I can do to help save innocent motorists from the clutches of these evil parasitic scammers I do with a smile on my face.

(I understand from one of my guys that there might have some Parking Eye toilet paper coming to add to my collection - WhaHoo!, another bunch of scammers wasting money on DVLA info, printing & postage) :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

loobyloose

A friends parents have just received a penalty charge from CP plus from visiting moto services, I've cut'n'paste someones post about what to do, ignore it etc.. but these are oap's and are worrying, it said they stayed 3minutes over the 2hrs, they are confused as there blue badge says 3hrs on it. Of course armed with the info i sent them from here they were still unsure so rang the local police who told them they have to pay it. Now i am miffed, because they cant afford it.
If it were my car i wouldn't pay it and let them beg.
But it seems a bit strange as the week before they had spent full 3hrs there resting and never received a ticket through the post, is it a lottery if they get you.

Stephen_Leak

The police are wrong. In fairness, this is not a criminal matter, but a civil one and it would be too much to expect them to be expert in every aspect of civil law.

Firstly, the legal stuff.

Only councils, the police, train operators and Transport for London can impose legally enforceable fines or penalties. A private company or individual can't. A private parking company (PPC) call their tickets “Parking Charge Notices”, not “Penalty Charge Notices”. In law, they’re called “speculative invoices”.

Any warning signs are usually so badly positioned and worded, that they won’t have created a fair and legally binding deemed contract between the car park owner and a driver entering the car park in the first place. See The Unfair Contract Terms Act 1997 and Excel Parking Services vs. Cutts, Stockport, 2011.

All the car park owner (CPO) can claim from a driver in damages for any alleged breach of any alleged contract is what they’ve lost as a result. If it’s in a free car park or the driver paid, this is £0.00. Demanding more has been judged to be unreasonable and therefore an unfair contract penalty under the terms of The Unfair Contract Terms Act 1997, which is not legally enforceable. See Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co. Ltd. vs. New Garage & Motor Co. Ltd., House of Lords, 1914 and countless cases since.

There are also now recent landmark court cases, VCS Parking Control vs. Ronald Ibbotson, S!!!!horpe, 2012, HM Revenue & Customs vs. VCS Parking Control, Lower Tax Tribunal, 2012 and VCS Parking Control vs. HM Revenue & Customs (Appeal), Upper Tax Tribunal, 2012. In these cases, the judges ruled that only the car park owner can take drivers to court. The Upper Tax Tribunal is a court of record, equivalent to the High Court, and therefore its judgement sets a legal precedent.

The Blue Badge scheme doesn’t apply to private car parks. Anyone, who’s disabled under the terms of The Equality Act 2010 can use a disabled parking bay. If they’re also Blue Badge holders, they don't need to display it. The Equality Act doesn't say that able-bodied drivers can't also use disabled parking bays. OK, maybe they shouldn't, but they can. This probably contravenes the terms & conditions for the car park, which usually state that you shouldn't park in a disabled bay without displaying a badge. This, in itself, contravenes The Equality Act.

What should I do now?

We don’t condone not paying or overstaying in a pay car park. If you owe the CPO the original charge, then you ought to write to the CPO, offering this in “full and final settlement”. In any event, you should write to the CPO, advising them that they are "jointly and severally liable" for the actions of their agents, the PPC, and that any further actions by either of them would be regarded as harassment under the terms of The Protection from Harassment Act 1997. This ought to make the CPO call off the PPC and, hopefully, realise the potential cost of doing business with a PPC.

Don’t appeal to the PPC. 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 harassing the registered keeper.

With windscreen notices, an appeal letter will tell them your name and address, and maybe who was 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 had to do 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 told them who the driver was, it just means that they can now harass the driver instead of harassing the registered keeper.

How will they do this to me?

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

The more unpleasant threats usually include mentioning that, if the case goes to court, a county court judgement (CCJ) will be issued, that bailiffs will be appointed and that your credit rating will be ruined. For things to actually get to this stage, the car park owner would have to take you to court and win the case. Then, you would have to refuse to pay, to get a CCJ issued after 28 days. Then, you would have to still refuse to pay, to get bailiffs appointed.

But, they can't actually do anything, for the same reason that a blackmailer can't sue anyone who didn’t pay them.

What should I do then?

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

If they still consider it a fine, then they need to pay. If they now consider it a scam, then they needn't. I respect their decision.

HardWorker2010_2

loobyloose,

Your friend's parents sound like ideal targets for PPC scammers. What a shame the police will have caused them more anguish.

Can you direct them to the Watchdog clip of the solicitor on Youtube?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3J-Xl6rSlk

The guy is a specialist in this subject.

loobyloose

Thanks i've forwarded all info and links to my mate.
:beer:

kinksfan

with respect to the PPC, I have received a ticket for overstaying in a retail car park, beyond the free two hours slot, it is a "parking charge notice" not "penalty charge notice" so can i safely ignore all letters, but presumbly they have to buy my details from the DVLA to be able to tie up my car reg to my house, so question is if they are a private company how come they can access DVLA details? any advice appreciated

taffy056

Just ignore them , they access the dvla records because they are in the bpa aos scheme that allows this for £2.50 a shot

Coupon-mad

kinksfan wrote: »

with respect to the PPC, I have received a ticket for overstaying in a retail car park, beyond the free two hours slot, it is a "parking charge notice" not "penalty charge notice" so can i safely ignore all letters, but presumbly they have to buy my details from the DVLA to be able to tie up my car reg to my house, so question is if they are a private company how come they can access DVLA details? any advice appreciated

They can only get the DVLA data if they are an AOS member (not all PPCs are). Look at the BPA AOS members' list by Googling it and you'll know if your firm will be in touch next month with some rubbish threatograms!

And the question about the DVLA has been asked loads of times before on here and in the press, on Watchdog etc:

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=dvla+selling+data+to+private+parking+companies

Let that search result load and you'll see lots of articles about this shocking sale of data. Nothing was ever done about it; the DVLA just keep selling the data even though they are (now!) aware that private companies who do not own the car parks, have no enforceable charge to make...

Just ignore your PPC and tick off the letters against our letter-chains pictures.