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£150 fine for turning around in a car park and driving out
zennor4
Posts: 13 Forumite
Please help as I am really worried,
I drove into a private car park in Cornwall last year, I turned my vehicle around, waited for about 1 minute (not in a space) whilst my friend got in the car and then drove out. Was definitely in the car park for no longer than 3 minutes. Could have stopped on the road outside but being a busy coastal resort i thought it would be better to not cause further congestion.
A month later I received my first letter from Premiere Park Limited saying I owe £100 for the alleged contravention of 'Unauthorised Entry/Parking'. The letter also included 2 pictures of my car , one entering the car park, and another in the centre of the car park with my reverse lights on (proving I was turning around). No photos show at any time that i was parked in a space (which i wasn't).
Because of this , and reading advice from various forums, I chose to ignore the letter.
Over the next 3 months I received a total of 4 threatening letters from Premiere Park and their chosen debt collector raising the cost until reaching £150 until they reduced it to £99.99 (which I thought was a fairly odd figure).
I still ignored and heard nothing until today (7 months later) when I received a letter from a genuine Solicitors threatening that if I dont pay £150 within 14 days they will initiate court proceedings for the recovery of the debt and court costs.
I have now become really worried again as I dont want to have to go to court and am expecting my first baby so have other things on my plate but on the other hand I still feel strongly about not paying as all I did was drive in , turn around and drive out.
All the forums say it will rarely get to court but have not seen anyone say that they have received a genuine solicitors letter. The Solicitors letter has a phone number and email and genuine website so pretty sure its legit.
Can anyone please advise of what I should do, either still ignore, or ring/email the solicitor, and if i did happen to go to court, what would the worse case scenario be cost wise??
Hoping someone can reassure me.
I drove into a private car park in Cornwall last year, I turned my vehicle around, waited for about 1 minute (not in a space) whilst my friend got in the car and then drove out. Was definitely in the car park for no longer than 3 minutes. Could have stopped on the road outside but being a busy coastal resort i thought it would be better to not cause further congestion.
A month later I received my first letter from Premiere Park Limited saying I owe £100 for the alleged contravention of 'Unauthorised Entry/Parking'. The letter also included 2 pictures of my car , one entering the car park, and another in the centre of the car park with my reverse lights on (proving I was turning around). No photos show at any time that i was parked in a space (which i wasn't).
Because of this , and reading advice from various forums, I chose to ignore the letter.
Over the next 3 months I received a total of 4 threatening letters from Premiere Park and their chosen debt collector raising the cost until reaching £150 until they reduced it to £99.99 (which I thought was a fairly odd figure).
I still ignored and heard nothing until today (7 months later) when I received a letter from a genuine Solicitors threatening that if I dont pay £150 within 14 days they will initiate court proceedings for the recovery of the debt and court costs.
I have now become really worried again as I dont want to have to go to court and am expecting my first baby so have other things on my plate but on the other hand I still feel strongly about not paying as all I did was drive in , turn around and drive out.
All the forums say it will rarely get to court but have not seen anyone say that they have received a genuine solicitors letter. The Solicitors letter has a phone number and email and genuine website so pretty sure its legit.
Can anyone please advise of what I should do, either still ignore, or ring/email the solicitor, and if i did happen to go to court, what would the worse case scenario be cost wise??
Hoping someone can reassure me.
0
Comments
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Genuine solicitors lol , sorry but is it graham white or zenith collections ? They are a joke whoever it is! This will never ever reach court, there is no loss of £150 for parking for 2 minutes, and there is no grace period to enter the car park, read and accept the T&Cs , and exit the car park on rejection on those said terms.When posting a parking issue on MSE do not reveal any information that may enable PPCs to identify you. They DO monitor the forum.
We don't need the following to help you.
Name, Address, PCN Number, Exact Date Of Incident, Date On Invoice, Reg Number, Vehicle Picture, The Time You Entered & Left Car Park, Or The Amount of Time You Overstayed.
:beer: Anti Enforcement Hobbyist Member :beer:0 -
If it was me and it happened exactly the way you stated, I would wait for the court papers to arrive, enter my defense and then have my day in court. I mean, was there any signage? Could you read their T & Cs without exiting the car?
But that's me who is not easily intimidated and will make a stand when I know i'm in the right.PLEASE NOTEMy advice should be used as guidance only. You should always obtain face to face professional advice before taking any action.0 -
All the forums say it will rarely get to court but have not seen anyone say that they have received a genuine solicitors letter. The Solicitors letter has a phone number and email and genuine website so pretty sure its legit.
Can anyone please advise of what I should do, either still ignore, or ring/email the solicitor, and if i did happen to go to court, what would the worse case scenario be cost wise??
Hoping someone can reassure me.
Sending you a letter from a solicitor is all part of the scam to scare you into paying. Don't fret or take this seriously.
Only take genuine court papers seriously. The likelyhood of you getting these is miniscule. Chill out, its a Saturday evening.
Still, your example just shows everyone that these private parking companies are the scum of the earth don't you think?Got a ticket from ParkingEye? Seek advice by clicking here: Private Parking forum on MoneySavingExpert.:j0 -
@zennor4. Please confirm the precise name of the Parking Company on the Parking Charge Notice you've received, because the name you have put on this thread doesn't seem to be listed on the BPA AOS list - which puts a quite different slant on things.
Please be very precise when replying.
Is it definitely Premiere? Or is it Premier. Big difference when it comes to this stuff.Please note, we are not a legal advice forum. I personally don't get involved in critiquing court case Defences/Witness Statements, so unable to help on that front. Please don't ask. .
I provide only my personal opinion, it is not a legal opinion, it is simply a personal one. I am not a lawyer.
Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; show him how to catch fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.Private Parking Firms - Killing the High Street0 -
Genuine solicitors lol , sorry but is it graham white or zenith collections ? They are a joke whoever it is! This will never ever reach court, there is no loss of £150 for parking for 2 minutes, and there is no grace period to enter the car park, read and accept the T&Cs , and exit the car park on rejection on those said terms.
Hi,
I already received the 'notice of debt recovery assignment' threats from Zennith Collections last year. Also other threats from a company called 'Debt Recovery Plus Ltd' I ignored all these. The new letter is from Trethowans Solicitors based in Southhampton. Think they are genuine.0 -
@zennor4. Please confirm the precise name of the Parking Company on the Parking Charge Notice you've received, because the name you have put on this thread doesn't seem to be listed on the BPA AOS list - which puts a quite different slant on things.
Please be very precise when replying.
Is it definitely Premiere? Or is it Premier. Big difference when it comes to this stuff.
Hi,
No sorry for bad spelling, its 'Premier Park' and I think they are part of BPA.0 -
Umkomas is right. Was it a typo when you wrote "PremierE"? Omit the "e" at the end?
Edit. You answered.
Got a ticket from ParkingEye? Seek advice by clicking here: Private Parking forum on MoneySavingExpert.:j0 -
Yes they are genuine and part of this scam, they cannot issue a small claim unless they are acting for basically the landowner, I bet my house on them saying they are acting for the parking company. They would be clinically insane to issue over this. And debt recovery plus and zenith collections are exactly the same companyWhen posting a parking issue on MSE do not reveal any information that may enable PPCs to identify you. They DO monitor the forum.
We don't need the following to help you.
Name, Address, PCN Number, Exact Date Of Incident, Date On Invoice, Reg Number, Vehicle Picture, The Time You Entered & Left Car Park, Or The Amount of Time You Overstayed.
:beer: Anti Enforcement Hobbyist Member :beer:0 -
If it was me and it happened exactly the way you stated, I would wait for the court papers to arrive, enter my defense and then have my day in court. I mean, was there any signage? Could you read their T & Cs without exiting the car?
But that's me who is not easily intimidated and will make a stand when I know i'm in the right.
To be honest, I didnt look at any signs, I was driving in to turn the vehicle around and drive out. There definately were no obvious signs as I drove in saying "you will be fined if you drive over this line".
Also, i dont know anything about court, what would it involve, would I have to say exactly what happened in front of everyone or will a statement be read out on my behalf?? Sorry for being so naive!!0 -
Hi,
No sorry for bad spelling, its 'Premier Park' and I think they are part of BPA.
Yes these
http://www.premierpark.co.uk/
And the bpa are the parking companies as the directors of that own parking companies, so guess who's interests come first ?When posting a parking issue on MSE do not reveal any information that may enable PPCs to identify you. They DO monitor the forum.
We don't need the following to help you.
Name, Address, PCN Number, Exact Date Of Incident, Date On Invoice, Reg Number, Vehicle Picture, The Time You Entered & Left Car Park, Or The Amount of Time You Overstayed.
:beer: Anti Enforcement Hobbyist Member :beer:0
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