Parking Eye "invoice" + new debt collection letter--- HELP :'(

cherry2013

Firstly let me apologize if you have covered this topic, I am new to this.

A couple months ago I got a parking "invoice" from Parking Eye, in a retail park ( I am a member of a gym there). The max stay is free for 3 hours and I over stayed for 12min or something stupid. (no option to buy a ticket)!

I received 2 letters from them, first £60 and then £100. REALLY! it is not like the car park was full. Anyways I read posts from here and decided to ignore them.

Now I have a letter from a debt recovery agency and I am starting to panic, they have increased the fee to something like £175 and are threatening to take me to court. To top it up I now have two dept collection letters, another one from a different retail car park.

Someone please help me, if I have to pay I will. I am scared they will ruin my credit rating also what if they take me to court? I feel like I am in such a mess. I have never had a debt recovery letter nor been to court for anything.

Any help will be much appreciated.

p.s I am a student (if that helps):o

Stroma

Okay stop panicking ! You've quite rightly said its an invoice requesting you pay, now it's at the debt collector stage so there is no appeal available to you. So your only choice is to ignore debt recovery plus and zenith collections when they write to you, they are in fact the same company. They are in fact powerless

Now parking eye do small claims in England and Wales , but they give out almost 700k tickets a year, about half don't pay, so the chances of you getting a claim is minute. And if you do get a claim we can help you defend this with the guys over on https://www.pepipoo.com , they help a lot of people in your position.

Now you mention a second ticket , is it off parking eye also ? Have you complained to the retailers or owners of the retail park about the harassment you are getting from their agents?

cherry2013

Stroma,

Thanks for replying.

The second one is from another parking company not parking eye and not from the council (just another retail car park management). The ticket was given last year and I only had one letter saying they will send a notice to keeper.

I am worried about my credit, can they mess it up without going to court?
I will write a complaint to the retail park owner tomorrow, just wanted to get advice first.

I pay monthly to use the gym and they harass me for over staying by 12min, how unfair can these people get.

Also how long does it usually take them to stop sending letters? As I am at uni, I am moving houses for my final year and I will have to change my details with DVLA. Will they pay again to obtain my details? Is there anything else I can do to shut them up?

Thanks for your help

Stroma

No they can't mess with your credit rating unless they take you to court, which as I mentioned is unlikely , they win the case, then you don't pay the judgement within 28 days. That will not happen without your knowledge.

They can write in theory for years, but this usually follows a chain of letters that finishes after several months when you get to the zenith letters its the last ones. Your problem of moving complicates things, I suggest redirecting your mail to your new address for 6 months or so, you can do that with the Royal Mail for about £30, something you should do in any case.

I don't think popping your head up over the parapet is wise right now, as I said parking eye do claims. The other parking company, who are they and who is writing to you in regards to them?

cherry2013

I had a look at the letters again and to clear things up. (I was on panic mode, sorry).

Parking Eye have sent a "Letter before action".

The other letter is from Roxburghe Debt Collectors and is about "Unpaid parking charge from AEJ Management LTD". The charge was received late 2012 for parking in a disabled badge holders only bay.

I was dropping my grandmother to Nandos, she is elderly and needed me to park close to help her get out. I did not think it was a big deal as the parking enforcement guy clearly saw us.

Also I have access to my old address to collect letters and my new address, which I will move to in Sept is around the corner. I am now at my parents house for the summer holidays.

Thanks for your help and sorry for the confusion.

Stroma

Don't worry about Roxburghe / Graham White they are toothless wonders the same as that Mickey Mouse parking company.

The Parking Eye one is what to keep an eye on, the letter before action could mean you will get a claim, if you do please don't panic. This is just another form of intimidation. We can help you with a defence for this.

Make sure you maintain access to the property as you don't want to get a default judgement because you failed to look for mail, make sure you are picking your mail up at least once a week.

Coupon-mad

Stroma wrote: »

Don't worry about Roxburghe / Graham White they are toothless wonders the same as that Mickey Mouse parking company.

The Parking Eye one is what to keep an eye on, the letter before action could mean you will get a claim, if you do please don't panic. This is just another form of intimidation. We can help you with a defence for this.

Make sure you maintain access to the property as you don't want to get a default judgement because you failed to look for mail, make sure you are picking your mail up at least once a week.

Agreed - you MUST keep checking your post weekly over the Summer re the Parking Eye one (but DO NOT PAY THEM!). You mustn't miss a small claim if PE decide to try one - as they have done recently in some cases. If you get a small claim it's defendable and we can help you but you MUST respond within 14 days saying you will be sending a defence.

Re the other one from 'AEJ', if you were dropping off an elderly/infirm passenger then she (and you as her carer/driver) may well qualify as a 'protected person' under the Equality Act 2010 anyway in which case you can use 'disabled bays' on private land if needed (no Blue Badge applies in spite of signage). Particularly if your grandmother has any medical conditions which slow her down at all or affect her daily living/mobility. Not that I am saying to respond to useless old Roxburghe with their 'Graham White letters' - yes, they all come from the same Roxburghe calls centre, staffed by students younger than you!

Read this to understand why the Roxburghe/Graham White rubbish means nowt at all and CANNOT affect your credit rating nor just result in a secret CCJ:

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=24362

Prioritise a way to see all your post just in case Parking Eye get norty - could be as simple as a trusted friend opening your post, or a 3-month Post Office redirection of mail to you at your parents' address until Sept. Be aware that you must respond within 14 days if you do get a small claim (don't panic either because pepipoo forums have people willing to help with defences - and a small claim attempted DOES NOT mean a small claim won).

Star1505

Hi
I have today received a demand from parking eye for £100 stating i failed to pay for car parking at the Adelphi hotel car park in Liverpool, i definately did pay and display covering me for 4 hours and stayed just over 2 hours, i think i may have typed my registration in a digit wrong at the ticket machine but had no idea they would fine me for that! I have no evidence that i did pay as obviously didnt keep the ticket! i e-mailed the appeal to state that i paid so i am waiting for a response. Not sure what to do next.

Guys_Dad

Star1505 wrote: »

Hi
I have today received a demand from parking eye for £100 stating i failed to pay for car parking at the Adelphi hotel car park in Liverpool, i definately did pay and display covering me for 4 hours and stayed just over 2 hours, i think i may have typed my registration in a digit wrong at the ticket machine but had no idea they would fine me for that! I have no evidence that i did pay as obviously didnt keep the ticket! i e-mailed the appeal to state that i paid so i am waiting for a response. Not sure what to do next.

Wait till your appeal fails. Then come back, but when you do, start your own thread so we can advise you personally

Star1505

Ok, thank you very much

cherry2013

I will get the redirection done straight away, thank you so much for your help and support. You have saved me £200 xx