Apcoa

Wooly

Having successfully ignored PE in the past having run the full gamut of letters,phone calls etc I know that the advice to ignore actually does work - however we have now fallen foul of APCOA. My relative is a nurse and uses parking vouchers to park on the hospital site. On this particular date her voucher had admittedly slipped down on the dashboard and was partially obscured but the same parking attendant patrols everyday and her car being rather distinctive would have known that she displays vouchers everyday. Now I would normally encourage her to follow the same route as with PE but she is concerned that if she does just ignore APCOA that she may in some way end up being clamped if she does not pay particularly as she parks in the same place each time. I seem to remember reading somewhere in APCOA blurb something about clamping re-offenders or non-payers but how this would be enforcable or even practical to do I don't know. Basically she just needs someone other than me to reassure her that the advice is still to ignore..

peter_the_piper

Be nice if they did clamp as its illegal to do so. Continue to ignore is the best advice assuming that its apcoa chasing and not the hospital.

Fergie76

You cannot be clamped.

Just ignore. She bought a ticket, therefore no loss.

The_Slithy_Tove

Clamping is now a criminal offence. Even before October, clamping non-payers would have been illegal. Ignore APCOA. They have no case.

Coupon-mad

Wooly wrote: »

...APCOA...private 'ticket'...

...Basically she just needs someone other than me to reassure her that the advice is still to ignore...

OK, advice and links for your relative, as follows! As others have already said, clamping is ILLEGAL NOW, since 1st October.

The registered keeper can just ignore the 'ticket' and ignore the other letters that will arrive. The letters are easy to ignore and laugh at, when they arrive at the address of someone who knows it's all hogwash and not a real parking ticket at all.

The whole scam of fake PCNs relies firstly on people's ignorance of the fact that a random private company can't fine anyone, and secondly on their natural fear of parking tickets and the escalating costs/bailiff scenario. So PPCs copy the look of a real parking ticket and - hey presto! - the cash rolls in from victims who know no better.

There is no fine, no CCJ, no bailiff, no debt, no effect on credit rating, no Court, no repercussions at all from a pathetic, unenforceable fake PCN (= invoice) issued by a random third party.

Tick off the threatening letters, one by one, here.

Watchdog clip with expert Solicitor's opinion (the only change since then being that the PPC can now write to a registered keeper if they do not know who the driver was, but both can ignore!) here.

Barrister's opinion - read the answer at the bottom, it's very clear! - here.

So I recommend from now on that your relative just plays snap with the threatograms from debt collectors - choose to ignore and laugh at the scammer and their attempt to extort money. It's like deleting obvious phishing emails from your 'Bank'; it's a very similar con based on impersonation of authority.

DID I SAY DO NOT PAY?!!!!!!!!!!

Wooly

Thanks for the replies - basically what I told her anyway. Just wanted to show her so she doesn't even try to contact them and 'appeal' the charge. And yes it is APCOA not the hospital (apparently they just state that any payment or query is to be directed to APCOA).