Excel Parking Services 'fine' - stopping on roadway Liverpool John Lennon

pizzle1984

Hi all

Late august /early September last year I got a notice through the door for stopping on a road into Liverpool John Lennon airport.

£60 fine, £100 if not paid within x many days etc. I read up on here and it suggested to just leave it.

Unfortunately I didn't see that before deciding to appeal. In the email I confirmed I was driving. In truth we'd stopped not seeing any signs to say we shouldn't, because we were trying to find a car park. A rubbish time all round given we were only there for the day to fly to my uncle's funeral!

I've since had the notice, a further notice (saying the fine had gone up) and now a debt recovery letter for £149 saying if I don't respond by 2 weeks time I may have a court summons.

I've read a lot of threads about it and seems like they don't normally have a leg to stand on. As I've revealed I was driving, has anyone been in the same boat as me and not been taken to court? Should I appeal via POPLA or just leave it?

Am getting a bit concerned with this all at a time when I really don't need it.

Thanks for any help.

Redx

did you read this ? https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4816822

in this first appeal , when they replied (if they replied) was a popla code given because if they refused your appeal (which they do) they should have issued a popla code by return

YOU cannot take it to popla unless THEY issue a popla code , this code if issued is valid for 28 days only

I know its too late now but you should not have admitted being the driver either

ps:- its definitely NOT a "fine" and wont mention the legal word FINE anywhere on the paperwork you received

its a parking charge invoice , one that hundreds of people have complained about in recent years on here and pepipoo and cag

pps:- they have up to 6 YEARS to take people to court , if they wish to do so

pizzle1984

Thanks for the link.

I don't know if they produced a POPLA code or not - I don't have any of their letters now.

It sounds like I should write to debt recovery plus denying the charge and again to excel parking services with the typical reasons why I dispute the charge (disproportionate cost, poor signage, no contract etc).

If they say its too late then it sounds like it's never too late to go through POPLA?

Redx

you cannot go to popla unless VCS give you a popla code, this is highly unlikely

BUT, if you had that original rejection letter then it should have had a popla code on it

if it didnt, you could have complained to the BPA that VCS had not followed the BPA CoP

unfortunately we cannot know this due to you ignoring this and also because you have thrown away their letters so cannot answer my questions

you can deny the debt , but it wont stop the debt collector mithering you to clear the alleged debt

so clearly you have not done yourself any favours and its almost impossible to help you due to the above

I suppose you could send another soft appeal into VCS and say you did not receive a rejection letter with popla code , see what transpires from that, they may even issue one, then you can put in a standard VCS popla appeal

what you cannot do is go to popla without a VCS generated popla code , that is definite

or you wait for up to 6 years for court papers or LBA or LBCC and then fightback as per the sticky threads

ignoring or not chasing up the initial NTK and your first appeal has brought you to this point, binning the paperwork hasnt helped anyone to help you further , so now its your choice as explained in the NEWBIES thread , where it clearly states ITS NEVER TOO LATE TO APPEAL TO THE PPC, until court papers arrive !

Rover_Driver

If the location is covered by the airport byelaws, can a PPC claim more than the penalty for failing to comply with the byelaws (£5)?

Coupon-mad

Please look for that rejection letter - don't tell me you threw away your POPLA code as well as throwing away the absolute exemption a registered keeper has with an Airport site PCN...by telling them who was driving. If they take you to small claims I would sincerely hope your research would be better, sooner.

And in the newbies thread I don't say you 'have to' write to a debt collector. You can ignore them, it's your choice because they can't take you to court (VCS could try though so look out for a real 'Letter before Claim' from VCS themselves or court papers later on).

Stop throwing away letters, you need to keep them all now. What a wasted opportunity, it seems you appealed and gave away the driver, at the stage that you were always going to get a rejection letter from - then threw away the golden ticket to have won 'round two'. Oh dear, please read more info from the sticky threads and learn about the letters of drivel from DRP and Zenith.

Don't PAY though, that would be the icing on the cake of this mess.