euro car parks invoice

keanda

Hi
I'm new to the board but looking to get advice.
I got a letter dated 3/10/12 saying that on 28/9/12 I was the registered owner/keeper of a car which overstayed the free parking period and therefore I am being issued a £70 fine.
I did in fact overstay by 30 minutes but there were mitigating circumstances. I am disabled and unfortunately on the day in question I had an accident whilst out and was unable to drive the car back home. I had to get my daughter to pick me up in her car and my husband who is insured to drive my car went over to pick the car up as soon as he arrived home from work.
I have read the posts on here advising not to acknowledge the letter or fine and to expect follow up letters but I also see that on the main board it has templates for writing to the company and appealing.
I'm just looking for advice about whether I just ignore the letter or should I send off the appeal?
My gut instinct is to just completely ignore it as they cant prove who the driver was and the "offence" happened in September before the new law came into play.
Appreciate any advice

bazster

The stuff on the main board is not great and should be disregarded.

What sort of car park was it? Supermarket/retail park, or something else? Who issued the ticket/wants paying?

keanda

Hi
It was a retail park with shops like asda, next, vue cinema etc and it was issued by euro car parks. I see from the site that Euro Car parks is on sticky list at the top of the threads. It is a private company not council run.
thanks

bazster

No problem then, simply ignore it. It's not a fine. Do NOT appeal.

keanda

Thanks for the reply, that was the answer I was edging towards.

The letter they sent me was dated the 3/10 but it actually happened on the 28/9 so am I right in thinking the change in law isnt applicable to me on this occassion

The_Slithy_Tove

keanda wrote: »

The letter they sent me was dated the 3/10 but it actually happened on the 28/9 so am I right in thinking the change in law isnt applicable to me on this occassion

Correct. If you do get a letter which mentions the Protection of Freedoms Act or Registered Keeper liability, do let us know. We can cause the PPC all sorts of trouble if they claim powers they don't have.

taffy056

keanda wrote: »

Thanks for the reply, that was the answer I was edging towards.

The letter they sent me was dated the 3/10 but it actually happened on the 28/9 so am I right in thinking the change in law isnt applicable to me on this occassion

Just to say the best advice has already been given, ignore euro they never ever ever do court, and I know for a fact they never initiated a claim in 2011 due to the fact that an FOI request was made to the courts and they weren't on that list.

As mention if you do receive letters mentioning keeper liability or the protection of freedom act do please come back, we could effectively get them suspended from access to the dvla database they currently enjoy.

RENEGADE_2

Firstly, pre-October 2012 laws apply; second, neither pre- nor post-October laws deem Euro Car Parks demands as valid. It may help you to know that the landowner can only seek losses which he would have to analyse before a County Court judge. What you have been issued certainly looks like a "fine" but you will neither find that word, nor "penalty" in the wording. Only courts can fine, and citizens have no right to penalise each other, and Euro Car Parks is not an authority. If this were a free car park, losses to the landowner are ZERO and this is all he can pursue. In addition, he may only seek this from the driver, and you as registered keeper have no obligation to name the driver regardless of whether it were you. Keep ignoring, they have no evidence that you are receiving the letters and less proof that you drove. If they tried court on this scanty evidence, coupled with their unequivocal demand for an amount beyond losses, the judge will tear the papers before a date of hearing is set and you won't even have known it happened. Why? Because your antagonist will soon consist of debt collectors and possibly solicitors for the landowner; have no fears, these people have no authority, and you have no obligation to pay the alleged debt unless it is registered, and this they will not be able to do per explanation in previous sentences.

Bin everything from this nexus.

Coupon-mad

keanda wrote: »

Hi
It was a retail park with shops like asda, next, vue cinema etc and it was issued by euro car parks. I see from the site that Euro Car parks is on sticky list at the top of the threads. It is a private company not council run.
thanks

I got a Euro Car Parks fake PCN about 4 years go and just ignored it. They never ever try any Court cases at all and their top banana admitted as much in a Telegraph article because they don't have the foggiest about their legal position.

Do not pay and do not reply to the letters; the info on the main forum was written in 2009 when Martin Lewis wanted to hedge his bets a bit rather than just say it's a scam and to ignore it - like we do!

Just play snap with the letters as we have preview pictures. Like all the other posters on this board, you have a fake PCN.

As you have seen on the forum, ignoring it is the usual advice, as long as you are the registered keeper, who will be the one getting the threatograms ('scary' debt collector template rubbish letters). I still carry mine around in my handbag to show any colleagues or friends who might get a fake PCN themselves, so you can spread the word that it's all a mail scam.

Tick off the threatening letters here.

Watchdog clip with expert Solicitor's opinion here.

Barrister's opinion here.

Your other alternative, as the ticket refers to an incident since 1st October, is to have a bit of fun & cost them some money by using the new POPLA appeals service.

PPCs who are AOS members (as ECP are) have no choice but to pay £32+ for each and every appeal forwarded there and the motorist can stil totally ignore the outcome and the threatograms. If you'd like to try that then click back one click on the breadcrumb trail (the link back to the main parking forum, as explained in my signature) to read all the current advice.

:D

keanda

Thanks for all the advice. I will post back if they attempt anything about the change in the law.
Hi Coupon-mad they date they sent the letter out is the 3/10 but the parking "ticket" is for the 28/9, we are in Scotland and unfortunately the POPLA appeals service wouldnt have been an option for us as it appears only to cover England and Wales at this time. (if I've read the info correctly).
Really appreciate the advice and feel reassured after reading the replies.

taffy056

Yes you got that right popla doesn't cover Scotland , but if you get any letters claiming that it does we would be interested in getting a copy of that if you don't mind