Ukpcs ltd parking fine in a disabled bay

Nigzy

Hi all, some advice on here would be great,

parked in a disabled bay right in front of a toy shop in order to nip in pick it up and collect a toy, admittedly the rest of the car park was pretty empty, but i had my 2 year daughter with me and just wanted to nip in and out, literally 10 minutes in the shop we came out unsuccessful as they didn't have it in stock anyway. we drove home and later realised there was a sticker on the car from ukcps, pay the fine within 14 days of £60 or it will rise to £100. Parking in a disable bay.

Well anyway I followed some advice to ignore it, which we did, I made no contact what so ever. Then 3 days ago we received another letter, you now need to pay £100. I rang them up today, and said that I was unsure as who was driving, I don't recall driving the car that day, as I have access to a company car, the car is registered to me but my wife and brother use the car too. I reluctantly do not want to pay this fine for nipping into to a toy shop to buy my daughter a gift.

I am a father of 4 family of 6. I serve in the armed forces, we do not earn a great deal a year. My wife does not work, due to lack off it, so our income is pretty poor.

Any advice would be great, or should I just pay the fine and have it done with.

Stroma

Please don't use disabled bays if you don't need them, I appreciate the car park was empty but still it doesn't excuse that you don't need them.

So not here to judge you, but ukcps have been known to issue a small claim on occasion, so bare it mind. You shouldn't contact them further as its pointless as they turn down all appeals.

Don't pay them anything, if you do get a claim we can help with a defence, so don't worry about that unless it happens.

In terms of your debts, don't pay a company to do something you can get done for nothing, look at the debt free wannabe forum

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=76

Tilt

It's not a fine, it's a speculative invoice. Private co's cannot issue fines or penalties as they have no legal authority to do so.

Also, disabled bays have no meaning on private property although it is morally wrong to use them unless you are disabled. Even the BB scheme does not apply on private land.

Ignore it and do not contact them again even though they will send you more letters designed to intimidate you into paying.

Coupon-mad

Have to second the response to say - PLEEEEEASE DO NOT THINK BECAUSE YOU HAVE A CHILD WITH YOU THAT YOU CAN TAKE UP A DISABLED BAY!

Having said that, obviously you don't pay a scammer some money over this mistake.

Not sure why you stepped outside of the 'ignore mode' you had decided to follow? Just because you are getting the usual letter-chain that everyone gets? Did you not notice the PPC letter chains thread?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2329119

I hope you blocked/hid your phone number before you rang them because they will be harassing you and calling you on it now and - as you obviously decided appealing it and then appealing to POPLA (as explained all over this forum as the recommended option!) wasn't for you, then you should have carried on ignoring them, you are not being singled out and you ONLY got the usual letters which was no reason to phone them up!

It is covered in practically every thread here that you either:

IGNORE (and that doesn't mean phone them!)

OR

appeal with a legal challenge sort of letter and then a strong legal challenge to POPLA as well (if this was in England/Wales). You are maybe too late for the appeal option now though so you are choosing IGNORE. So carry on IGNORING!

The_Slithy_Tove

Agreed with what's already been said.

However, you lieing to UKCPS when you called them is not helpful. YOU were driving, YOU did get a ticket on the car, as you have said in your first paragraph. If they ever went to court, that conversation will seriously affect you credibility.

P.S. Don't even think of paying.

Nigzy

Thanks for all the advice and telling off's so far, yes my bad for parking in a disabled bay, i certainly wont be parking in one again.

thanks for the advice on my debt, i will be looking into that a lot more.

back to some of the advice, when i rang them i did ring them on a withheld number, so thankfully they cant get in touch with me via the phone. as far as the appeal goes i have not made one or wrote any letters. all ukcps know so far is that yes i did ring them, and yes i did say, i was unaware as to who was driving that day. and that yes i or we where unaware of the fine in the first place. this was said because it was advice i had from elsewhere. my bad again for not researching this any sooner, so i may have shot my self in the foot there.

however, having seen that i was in the wrong, people are saying totally ignore all letters, but to what point do you ignore up to. and having read the case so far, do i even stand a chance if it goes to court..

atilla

You ignore all correspondence from them or their 'appointed debt collectors', checking and retaining said letters of course.
Only when you get official looking documents, ie, court papers do you sit up and take note. Come back on here and pepipoo and good guidance will be given.
In the meantime, if possible, edit your original post in this thread. The saddo's have nothing better to do but trawl the web for clues and you've given them plenty in that post.

Coupon-mad

Nigzy wrote: »

however, having seen that i was in the wrong, as i know i was, people are saying totally ignore all letters, but to what point do you ignore up to. and having read the case so far, do i even stand a chance if it goes to court..

We are now only saying 'ignore' to you because you started that approach which was your choice, even though that's not what we advise on here now.

We normally say appeal - and then as a second stage, appeal to POPLA - as already explained on pretty much every thread on this forum. Are you actually too late to challenge this now? Is this letter a Notice to Keeper/Owner? If it is then you are NOT too late to send a legal challenge, so why not read their rubbish letter and see if an 'appeal' is still possible - rather than panic and ring them up pointlessly?

So please tell us, is the latest letter a Notice to Keeper/Owner and does it say you can challenge? If so just tell us and we can help word a challenge - DO NOT just fire off a 'sorry my fault' appeal that drops you right in it!

DO NOT REPLY TO ANY PRIVATE MESSAGES AT ANY POINT OVER THE COMING WEEKS AND MONTHS, WANTING TO TALK ABOUT THIS INCIDENT.

PPCS LIKE UKCPS HAVE POSTED ON HERE BEFORE AND HAVE SENT PM'S TO VULNERABLE UNSURE POSTERS BEFORE NOW, OFFERING TO 'HELP' BUT IN FACT JUST GETTING ENOUGH DETAIL TO IDENTIFY YOU AS THEIR NEXT (RARE) COURT CLAIM - TO BE FAIR YOU DO WRITE AS IF YOU ARE A VICTIM COMPLETELY TAKEN IN BY THIS RUBBISH! SO DO NOT RESPOND TO ANY PM ABOUT THIS UNLESS YOU GET A SMALL CLAIM ITSELF AND THEN GET HELP BY PM FROM A REGULAR ON PEPIPOO FORUM.

Please don't make out we told you to ignore because we didn't, ignoring it is 'old advice' and you seem to have missed all the threads about POPLA and legal challenges. If you are too late to challenge this then IMHO you've made it harder for yourself in some ways, if they attempt a small claim over this - because you are on the back foot now having not bothered to challenge it so far. And if you still don't.

On the other hand, certainly don't be scared of a pathetic PPC like UKCPS. I suggest you watch this from 9ish minutes onwards:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01qgr1l

You will see Court Sherrifs visiting the 'nerve centre' of UKCPS!

Also, just to correct your post, this is not a fine and not a debt at all. You owe nothing but they will pester you and try to intimidate you with their letters. But now I have shown you the letters that you could have found at the top of the forum along with the POPLA info, you will be ready for the rest of the letters even if you are too late to challenge it.

But I wonder if you still have time to challenge, so please tell us what letter you have there, what is it headed and what does it say about appeals?