Debt collection letter for NPE and lost appeal rejection letter

gingercheapskate

Hi, I received a windscreen fine from NPE in Norwich on Earlham Road and appealed it. I received a rejection letter. Having spoken to several people I ignored it and now have a debt collector letter for £149 and it expired on 3 Jan.

Something made me check on here (I hadn't previously) and I see the advice is not to ignore. Oops. I have had a look through the advice but I don't have a POPLA code (I binned the appeal rejection letter- don't, I know) but now I'm in a quandary as to what to do now.

Any tips gratefully received.

Half_way

It may be possible to contact the car a park owner, if you know who it is? a check on google maps shows a Co-op on that road?

gingercheapskate

It was the car park at the co op but they don't own it. I think the company that bought all the flats there owns it.

What about the DC? Ignore? Or write and say I'm taking it to POPLA even tho I don't have the code?

Cheers.

Coupon-mad

You say you came here and read the current advice so what did you decide when you read the sticky threads here...? Kind of surprised at all the new threads this week where no-one seems to have read these (why did I bother?):

Sticky: NEWBIES!! PRIVATE PARKING TICKET? EVEN AN OLD ONE? ***READ THIS FIRST*** Thankyou!

and

Sticky: Successful complaints about private parking tickets - how to get them cancelled!

You don't need the landowner because the stickies tell you that. You need to start with the Co-op. And the first link tells you about debt collectors and what your options are - we do want to help but we can't re-type the same old replies every time which is why the sticky threads were created.

DaveTheMus

gingercheapskate wrote: »

I'm in a quandary as to what to do now.

Any tips gratefully received.

Pay the fine...

Coupon-mad

DaveTheMus wrote: »

Pay the fine...

It is not a fine so you must be joking or a PPC employee!

gingercheapskate

Coupon-mad, I did read through lots of threads but still couldn't work out what to do, hence starting my own.

There is a *lot* of info on this subject and my situation didn't seem to fit into one of the boxes.

In one of the threads you have linked me to it states "Always complain to the landowner/retailer very quickly and assertively:"
which contradicts what you've said in your slightly snotty reply.

I can't complain quickly as I received the parking notice in August and have appealed the windscreen fine but had it rejected. It's now with the DC so I am unsure what to do given that I don't have a POPLA code.

Are you saying that even though I am at this late stage I can still go back to the co op (even though it is not the only shop there and given that the advice on the sticky says to go to the landowner even though you are saying that I don't need to?)

Sorry to be thick but it really isn't clear to me.

As for the DC I know I can either ignore or write to them but given that my situation doesn't quite fit any of the scenarios I have read about that is why I asked.

As for you DaveTheMus, cheers! I hadn't considered that option. Oh wait, yes I had but then read everything on here and decided to ask for some help.

Hot_Bring

DaveTheMus wrote: »

Pay the fine...

Oh dear !!!!!!!!!!

Redx

to be fair here, coupon-mad responds to dozens of posts every day on here, has to read the sob story each person brings, then decide what to tell them, its also a free service that she brings here and has a busy working life as well , so she has gradually built up a sticky thread that tries to cover all eventualities and to tell anyone who first reads it what to do in their case, as soon as possible after the event, not 6 months later as in your case !

she is not responsible for your predicament, you are for ignoring the initial letters, so had you read her sticky thread 6 months ago when the event was fresh then maybe it would appear more relevant to your circumstances, after all you have been a member here for years and so could have spent 10 minutes reading it last august instead of ignoring both the letters and her advise !

she tries to tell people what they need to do with the best of intentions, but she clearly gets exasperated by so many people that need spoonfeeding and can only spread her time thinly so yes maybe it comes across as a "snotty reply" , but maybe she has other things to do and is more abrupt (which I can be too)

the fact is that she does not have to help you, you do not have to follow her advice or that sticky thread, but without it there would be hundreds of people losing money to these shysters , you included !

if you really want to nitpick over who to complain to then you really need to consider what you are saying

ie:- complain to the co-op, complain to the landowner (often not easy to track down) , complain to your council planning office, to your local councillor , to your mp , to trading standards, to whoever you wish to complain to, nobody is stopping you !!

ratltle all of their cages , that sticky thread gets amended on a weekly basis, maybe she will reword it just to satisfy you ? - who knows ?

but even if she does reword the sticky thread, or her reply to you, it still hasnt cleared the alleged debt has it ? that is for you to do , with actions of your own, not by shooting the messenger

ok so shoot down my reply too , it still wont help you by shooting the messenger

nobody said this was easy, you could even pay for legal advice and use a solicitor , but I doubt that you will do that, so you will rely on the advice of more experienced lay members like coupon-mad to guide you in this, especially if it got to court !!

just remember , this isnt facebook, we are not your "friends" , we just try to help others who have been kicked in the teeth by a PPC, sometimes that means taking bad medicine, taking a knock on the chin , taking "one for the team" , growing a pair and getting on with the advice being given instead of nitpicking because nobody here has the exact same scenario as yours, well guess what, nearly every scenario on here is different, there is no "one size fits all"

but her advice is good, even if it conflicts slightly with the sticky thread, in which case , do both , complain to everybody

the aim of this is to get rid of the parking charge without paying !!

dont lose sight of that when complaining about replies or answers or words

now please get back to the object of your initial post , which is to clear a charge you are responsible for and your own actions have possibly closed all the easiest routes to getting it cancelled , because if court papers are issued you will be begging for her help , believe me !

gingercheapskate

You're right, it IS my fault, I KNOW that. I was acting on what one of the shop owners had assured me was the right thing to do - and then several people more than him. I should have double checked on here too.

I DO appreciate what everyone has written and that Coupon-mad has obviosuly put a lot of time and effort into trying to make this as straightforward as possible.

I know you aren't my friends etc, but I do think that if you are going to choose to go out of your way and help people then you don't have to be rude when doing so.

Thanks for your reply, I will now complain to co op, the landowner etc and see where that gets me.

You know, that's pretty much all I was asking for, a bit of clarification, given that this hasn't happened to me before.

Redx

no problem , I do not dispute your right to ask for help but maybe you should have covered that with the caveats that you had read the sticky thread and there was conflicting advice you needed help on , but you have been rude to CM which was uncalled for if you spend some time reading her actual help for those who need it with information NOT in that sticky thread , she has saved members thousands of pounds and we should all be grateful and maybe overlook abruptness at times

I realise its hard when you know this could have been easily resolved by now with a soft appeal and popla code, possibly a landowner or shop complaint 6 months ago etc

the point is that its never too late to complain to the shop or to the landowner , or both (tracking down the landowner is hard at times , I agree , but the shop may know who it is, may pay them rent , may have had the problem before , etc)

as for a popla code, its never too late to ask for one , not until the court papers arrive anyway (if they do)

recently coupon-mad helped somebody (kenxxx on here) to get a popla code when an LBA had arrived , because she worded a letter so successfully that the PPC had no option but to refer it through popla instead of issuing court papers

reading through other threads, even if they dont seem relevant, always gives you pointers or help or advice , so much so that I have helped with 2 relatives cases using info from here and both charges are now cancelled

you still have time to be pro-active as no LBA has arrived and no court papers either

so its NEVER TOO LATE to complain to the shop

its NEVER TOO LATE to complain to the landowner

its NEVER TOO LATE to complain to the PPC

its NEVER TOO LATE to demand a POPLA code

its never happened to me before either, but if it wasnt for coupon-mad , guys-dad , umkomaas , stroma and several other members here my relatives would not be happy either