PE and DR+

shaniannie

My mum got a "parking charge notice" from PE, dated end Oct 2012(edited date). It was a shopping area, and on that particular day she spent in excess of £4k in 2 shops (one for a sofa, one for a bed) so naturally it took some time to browse and order and went over their "allowed time" to park.

At the time, I told her to ignore all the correspondence (backed up by the YouTube video from Anne Robinson and the solicitor saying to make a paper aeroplane with it!), which she did.

She's now just received the 3rd letter, from DR+.

After googling this, I've seen that on some occasions they do issue court proceedings.

Now I read that perhaps a better course of action would have been to appeal?

What should we do? Continue ignoring?

The_Slithy_Tove

You are right in that, in hindsight, it appears appealing to PE is the best approach, as they seem to be issuing court papers to some of the "ignorers". However, we are where we are now. Appealing at this stage is unlikely to help, so continuing to ignore is probably still the best policy.

If they are daft enough to try court for overstaying in a FREE car park, a robust defence will see them off. People here and elsewhere would be able to help, if that circumstance arises.

Meanwhile, it is best not to expand with any more detail around your mum's incident, i.e. don't reveal places, times, and obviously not names or registration numbers. PE are known to trawl these forums for any identifyable PCNs they have issued.

nigelbb

I suggest that in the first instance that she should go back to the shops where she spent all that money & tell them that she wants them to sort it out for her.

Anyone in similar circumstances should contact the store as soon as they receive any parking charge notice.

shaniannie

Thank you both

I edited the actual date on my post so as to make it harder for anyone to identify my mum.

I'll see if I can get a copy of mum's receipts/invoices and write to both the shops on her behalf.

I'll be sure to come back should they be cheeky enough to try take her to court!

bondy_lad

please keep in touch and dont worry about parking SPY.

fil_cad

And dont worry about dr+ just use there begging letters for emergency toilet paper, you never know when tou will run out. :money:

Coupon-mad

shaniannie wrote: »

My mum got a "parking charge notice" from PE, dated end Oct 2012(edited date). It was a shopping area, and on that particular day she spent in excess of £4k in 2 shops (one for a sofa, one for a bed) so naturally it took some time to browse and order and went over their "allowed time" to park.

At the time, I told her to ignore all the correspondence (backed up by the YouTube video from Anne Robinson and the solicitor saying to make a paper aeroplane with it!), which she did.

She's now just received the 3rd letter, from DR+.

After googling this, I've seen that on some occasions they do issue court proceedings.

Now I read that perhaps a better course of action would have been to appeal?

What should we do? Continue ignoring?

Yep, you are too late to try POPLA so just carry on ignoring, here's a thread like yours with the same advice. My post #4 has links to other threads too:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4539295

Just play snap with the whole DRP and Zenith letter chain, shown in the 'PPC letter chains' sticky thread. Click on the OLD archive link on that sticky thread, to the pre-October pics because the other link hasn't got enough pics yet - maybe you can help? If so send pics to Crabman on MSE or to Fredd on pepipoo.

shaniannie

Thanks everyone

Just out of curiosity, how often do PE go the court route?

I was just a little shocked by the fact that when I googled the DR+ letter (to show my mum the fabulous love letter they send to many, many people) the first one I came across ended up with a court summons!

(It was this thread on pepipoo http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=74087 )

pogofish

PE do seem to be throwing out a few cases just recently - which was something they virtually never did before.

A great many of these are likely to be dropped when a defence is lodged, or that PE will simply fail to show in court. The likelihood of a case succeeding is very slim indeed, so don't worry, the vast majority of their tickets are still going to go nowhere beyond the letter chain.

interstellaflyer

One thing I would mention about DR+ is that they seem to acidentaly on purpose allow their name to show in the window on the envelope, I had 3 letters from them and all three were clearly identifiable as from DR+, if they are doing the same to your mother then I'm sure this is ilegal as bailiff/Debt Recovery letters are supposed to be confidential, I was going to pursue this but didn't bother, I still have an unopened letter from them that clearly shows Debt Recovery Plus in the window.

edward123

pogofish wrote: »

PE do seem to be throwing out a few cases just recently - which was something they virtually never did before.

A great many of these are likely to be dropped when a defence is lodged, or that PE will simply fail to show in court. The likelihood of a case succeeding is very slim indeed, so don't worry, the vast majority of their tickets are still going to go nowhere beyond the letter chain.

If they do this as a practice then what could be the consequence for them as it would be an abuse of sorts of the small claims court would it not?