Civil Enforcement Ltd

theconstantgardener

I wonder if I can get some advice/reassurance...? I received a Parking Contravention Enforcement Notice (sic) from Civil Enforcement Ltd, relating to an alleged offence in Weymouth back in August. I wrote to them straight away to explain the circumstances, and to appeal against the £75/£150 fine. (I now realise maybe this was a mistake, as it gave them my name - but never mind). They responded and rejected my appeal, but gave me another 14 days to pay the 'reduced' amount of £75. I wrote again, restating my case, and asking for them to exercise some discretion - basically, I was dropping off two 7yo children, and their safety etc was my priority. Needless to say they rejected this, and sent a very stroppy letter implying that my correspondence was vexatious: shut up and pay up.
I have now been looking at these villains on MSE forums, and feel inclined to ignore their nonsense. Can someone reassure me that this is a sensible strategy?
Cheers.

trisontana

Yes, just ignore. It's as simple as that.

pogofish

Ignoring is absolutely the way to go. All that having written to them means is that they may assume you take them seriously and may prolong their attempts to scam money out of you for a bit longer.

check the forum sticky for an idea of the letters they are going to send you and tick them-off till the end of the scam.

ManxRed

theconstantgardener wrote: »

...and sent a very stroppy letter implying that my correspondence was vexatious: shut up and pay up.

You just need to do the first one.

Ignore them from now on, cease all correspondence. They wull eventually give up and go away on the grounds that legally they haven't got a leg to stand on.

trisontana

As with most bullies, they don't like people standing up to them.

esmerobbo

Do you mean someone in their office could spell "vexatious" and furthermore understand what it means?

I is impressed.

Now ignore simply them!

theconstantgardener

Thank you everyone for your encouragement. Needless to say, 'vexatious' was my word not theirs...

HardWorker2010_2

A 'vexed' PPC parasite counts the cost of all the ignored letters and postage he's wasted thanks to this and other forums.




Then he tries to see if his special DVLA access is working....





Oh well, nothing else for it, just have to check the 'Lonely Hearts' column of the Wolverhampton Express & Star local paper...... again...

scousedicko

theconstantgardener wrote: »

I wonder if I can get some advice/reassurance...? I received a Parking Contravention Enforcement Notice (sic) from Civil Enforcement Ltd, relating to an alleged offence in Weymouth back in August. I wrote to them straight away to explain the circumstances, and to appeal against the £75/£150 fine. (I now realise maybe this was a mistake, as it gave them my name - but never mind). They responded and rejected my appeal, but gave me another 14 days to pay the 'reduced' amount of £75. I wrote again, restating my case, and asking for them to exercise some discretion - basically, I was dropping off two 7yo children, and their safety etc was my priority. Needless to say they rejected this, and sent a very stroppy letter implying that my correspondence was vexatious: shut up and pay up.
I have now been looking at these villains on MSE forums, and feel inclined to ignore their nonsense. Can someone reassure me that this is a sensible strategy?
Cheers.

Hi constant gardener,

Always best to seek out proper legal advice, meantime click on this https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/watchdog/2010/10/parking_tickets - and watch. Also look up Parking Eye vs Smith, 2011; they won £15 compensation for two "offences" and £95 costs after claiming for £120 twice (£240 + admin costs) and £4500 legal costs. Not much of a victory.
In my own, as yet unresolved, case I asked them to justify the high cost so I could work out for myself if I was being taken advantage of and that I could make them a reasonable offer (I was going to go up to £7.50) but they ignored my "offer to negotiate. This is important because in the unlikely event they do take you to court and are awarded that amount or less,a judge would normally refuse
to award costs if they have already refused to negotiate; that is also a likely outcome if they refuse to even negotiate on any level at all. Then, at least if they it will cost them more than they win off you!
On another front, check som things out yourself- like is the address of the alleged infringement accurate (on mine it isn't .... oh dear, strike it out!), that the warning signs are adequate (see BPA Code of Practice, and being of the minimum size - 450 mm X450 mm - does not make them so)? Is there a clear informative sign warning you your images are being recorded before you entered the car park (as required under Data Protection Act)? Are they in a position to take your attention on entering? Were there instructions with or on the Parking Charge Notice on how to complain to DVLA to the Information Commissioner? No!
All these are requirements of their trades Code of Practice, compliance with which is a condition of membership of the scheme whereby DVLA grant access to Vehicle Data - your details!
If you do decide to offer to negotiate with them, I strongly suggest you do so initially by email (office@ce-service.co.uk) and follow it up a few days later by post; they don't accept emails or faxes but another condition of their esteemed and unbiased trade association, British Parking Association, is that they offer adequate means of communication - at least email and postal addresses ...oops! And keep the email on file.
BPA work on a points per item of non-compliance - like a driving licence, and if the point build up they don't make prizes, THEY MAKE SUSPENSION!

Other interesting reading on the subject can be found by searching "The Administration of Justice Act 1970,Section 40, Wilson v. Love (1896), Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co. Ltd. v. New Garage and Motor Co. Ltd. (1915), Statutory Instrument 1999 No. 2083 section 5, Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 (you do have a contract in Civil Law which you made when you parked your car, so the latter item is a must).

Initially I was heartened to see advice saying don't pay, but having researched it I really believe it is best to offer to negotiate, hoping they will ignore or refuse. If you do offer a sum, make it comparable with any nearby charges and include their £2.50 to DVLA - I intended to do this and offer £7.50, but they ignored me!

Good luck with it,

Dicko

PS, I've complained to BPA, DVLA, Info Commissioner, my MP, Police. It's more fun than pulling the legs of spiders!

bazster

Or you could just ignore them, like you would some Nigerian email scam. Why negotiate to pay someone something when you actually owe them nothing?

BASFORDLAD

Hardworker i thought he used Plenty of fish ?