Got a letter from Zenith collections for parking illegally

frankaaai

Hi sorry this is my first post and i just stuck on what to do, cut a long story short, last easter i parked on crossed yellow lines in parking area at a local cinema, i didnt notice the signs saying i would get fined etc, but they took a photo of my car parked on the crossed lines, the car park was packed as it was easter holiday,i noticed other people doing it so i did it as well, i had a car full of screaming kids, so needed to park somewhere before i went bonkers, i got a letter in the post saying i have to pay 90 pounds, i tried to appeal it stating what happended etc, they said no i have to pay, now i have a letter from zenith collections, they are now saying they will take me to court if i do not pay, i live in Northern ireland, should i ignore it? will it go on my credit file if i do ignore it? can someone please put me in the right direction, i would appreciate it thanks

Stroma

Read the sticky threads from coupon mad.

In answer to your questions and observations

1) there is no criminal matter with this, so no illegality or fines!
2) this will not affect your credit files
3) you are NI so no keeper liability
4) Debt Recovery Plus / Zenith Collections (same company) are useless powerless scammers
5) Yes you should ignore them unless you receive a letter before claim

That's it

Coupon-mad

That is indeed it in a nutshell, for Northern Ireland. Covered in the sticky threads at the top and same situation as Scotland. CCJ worries are not an issue, look:


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


HTH

frankaaai

Thanks for the reply what do you mean before claim letter?

Coupon-mad

Only take seriously a Letter before Claim. Google it.

Won't happen though!

SevenTowers

Was this UKPC at Cityside (Yorkgate) by any chance?

In N.Ireland you can ignore with impunity, UKPC have never taken anyone to court and no Private Parking Company has ever been known to take a case in NI.

There is no fine, no debt and no risk to your credit rating, despite what they would have you believe. A debt can only be established by a credit agreement or a CCJ, a speculative invoice from a parking company establishes nothing.

I got a ticket a Cityside in Jan 2013, got the expected series of junk mail and haven't heard a thing from them since June.

Do not have any correspondence with UKPC/DR+ or Zenith (who are the same company as DR+), ignore all letters from them, ignore, ignore and then ignore some more.

HO87

... and that includes telephone calls. Do not be tempted to contact them - it simply encourages more letters from them. If they call you (it is a big if) you are within your rights to invite them to go forth and multiply or just FRO - whichever you feel is more appropriate.

frankaaai

Yeah it was in cityside, I was emailing them before but now I've stopped, il just keep ignoring it, they sent me out all the photos of my car parked illegally etc, i even got my solicitor to write them two letters basically to say I wasn't paying it and to send all correspondence to him but they totally ignored it lol cheeky gits, thanks for replies guys appreciate it

trisontana

You were not "parked illegally" as this is a civil matter and you haven't broken any laws.

peter_the_piper

I'd love to see any PPC's try to justify the term "Illegal Parking"

SevenTowers

frankaaai wrote: »

Yeah it was in cityside, I was emailing them before but now I've stopped, il just keep ignoring it, they sent me out all the photos of my car parked illegally etc, i even got my solicitor to write them two letters basically to say I wasn't paying it and to send all correspondence to him but they totally ignored it lol cheeky gits, thanks for replies guys appreciate it

You will now have realised the futility of contacting UKPC, the only thing they are interested in is getting their hands on your money. Have a listen to this;

http://www.tracykiss.com/product-reviews/my-ukpc-parking-charge/

It's a pity that you wasted time, money and effort getting your solicitor to contact these clowns, they should not be treated seriously.

The yellow lines, on private land, that you parked on have the same legal status as grafitti. You cannot park illegally in a private car park. They have just decided that you have broken some of their petty rules and are trying to extract money from you under the pretence that they have some right/authority to do so.

Be prepared for more junk mail, but just sit back, relax and ignore, ignore, ignore!