Parking Ticket Hell!!

Aggrieved2

I got a £100 fine from Excel in January. They say I "overparked".

At the time they claim I was parked I was actually elsewhere. I have provided them with a receipt to prove this and they have completely ignored it and just issued a Final Demand Notice threatening me with court action if I don't pay up. It's pointless trying to go through their "Appeals" system because its them who decide whether or not you should pay!

Have a look at https://www.Roadsidelawyer.co.uk and type in "Excel". You will see just how bad this company are.

The only way you could end up with a CCJ was if Excel issued proceedings against you and won their case in court and then you didn't pay the fine within the time limit set out on the court Notice.

Don't be intimidated by this bunch and certainly don't pay them!

Good Luck


FINAL THOUGHT

Report them to the BPA and your local Trading Standards Office.

The BPA say that if several complaints are made about the conduct a Private Parking Company then they will review their membership (if their membership gets revoked then they can no longer obtain details from the DVLA and won't be able to issue any more fines) and trading standards can investigate them if they are falsely misrepresenting themselves e.g. claiming that they are legally licensed etc...

MKwife

I do this all the time!!

I just photocopy my ticket and the parking fine and sent a nice letter saying it blew off the dash board and I will take care in future.

I did this 3 times in one week and the fine was dropped each time.

I am much more careful now anyway.

sarahg1969

MKwife wrote: »

I do this all the time!!

I just photocopy my ticket and the parking fine and sent a nice letter saying it blew off the dash board and I will take care in future.

I did this 3 times in one week and the fine was dropped each time.

I am much more careful now anyway.

They are NOT fines!!!!!! They are invoices from a private company, for "damages" for your breach of contract. They are entirely unenforceable, and there is really no need to go to the lengths of explaining anything to them or copying anything for them. Just tell them you are not paying.

It really is as simple as that.

marleyboy

I second the message above, although they may look like official parking fines (complete with yellow n black stripes), they arent fines, just invoices, private companies do not have the power to issue fines, only a represantative of law can do that.

MKwife

Sorry!

How do you know it is not a fine??? The earlier poster said that a council parking ticket is a fine and not an invoice???

Confused.... please explain?

Aggrieved2

Excel Parking do not issue "fines". They are a private company and can only raise an invoice which if you don't pay then the only way they can pursue it is by issuing civil proceedings in the county court. They would also have to prove to the judge that that you have committed an offence.

The Council can issue "fines". They are legal and failure to pay is enforceable by the Magistrates Court.

The problem is a lot private parking companies try to imitate genuine council issued tickets to intimidate people into paying and this is what causes the confusion.

RadoJo

I think councils tend towards being a bit more reasonable as well - I got a ticket as my parking permit was obscured by another piece of paper on the dashboard. I just wrote to them with the details of my permit, and they confirmed that they cancelled the ticket.

I am not a legal beagle, but don't they have to prove that you intentionally failed to pay for the time in question?

Tallulah_Chicken

Thanks everyone for your advice - I was going to fight them but got a fit of the wobbles about it but you have helped me realise that what I am doing is ok!! I have got another letter from them saying that they won't consider any further 'appeals' from me unless they are different grounds and that now I must pay them £100. The pseudo-legal language really annoys me - they make constant reference to 'notices', 'appeals' and 'enforcement' which would really scare a lot of people.
They have also admitted that I probably did buy a ticket, but keep insisting that I am responsible for making sure it is displayed all day - surely that defeats the object of parking your car if you have to stay with it all day in case the ticket drops off??! Anyway I intend to write to them this weekend explaining my legal position as I see it and then at least if it does go to court the judge will see I did everything I could to avoid it.
Thanks again everyone!

hollydays

no-it wont go to court-they will just continue to threaten you with ever bigger consequences like bailiffs etc.

Aggrieved2

Don't expect Excel to accept they are wrong - they never do. They will continue to demand payment and threaten all kinds of enforcement but at the end of the day in order to "win" any case in court they will have to prove that you did not buy or display your ticket.

Given that you have a ticket and can prove it, who do you think the Judge will believe.

Good luck.