Advice following soft appeal response from Excel Parking

MrsBaz

I was wondering if I could get any advice please?
After initially ignoring a parking ticket from Excel issued in August 2013 (driver completely forgetting to get ticket, completely unintentional, it was late evening and was in a hurry) I followed advice on here and pepipoo forums and made a soft appeal last month.
Firstly, like many people I thought it best to ignore private parking fines. However, I hold my hands up and admit I hadn't fully done my research. Anyway, realising it was way over the initial time limit, I thought I had nothing to lose in appealing.
I had received the initial Notice to Keeper with a fine of £60, followed several weeks later with a second demanding £100. After ignoring both I sure enough received a letter from Roxburghe demanding £160. I then realised after reading various forums and advice I should probably write some letters.
Firstly I made a soft appeal to Excel stating the driver was a genuine customer of Peel Centre (copy of receipt included), the fine was not 'a genuine pre-estimate of loss' and they had no 'legal authority to issue these invoices'. I asked them to consider my appeal but on the proviso if it was rejected they would send me a POPLA code to then make a further appeal. I requested acknowledgement within 14 days and a decision within 35 days.
I also contacted Roxburghe denying any debt, told them not to contact me again and to refer the matter back to Excel.
I sent both letters by First Class Registered Post.

Here is the timeline:
Ticket issued: 12th August 2013
Appeal sent: 8th January 2014
Acknowledgement from Excel dated 23rd January 2014 (they stated appeal received 9th January 2014) received by me: 25th January 2014
Final response from Excel dated 13th February 2014 but received today, 15th February.

This is the response from Excel:

'We write further to your correspondence received 9th January 2014 in connection to the above parking notice.
The details of this account have been passed to our Debt Recovery Company Roxburghe as we have not received payment from you despite numerous requests.
All enquiries and payments must be made directly to Roxburghe.
We will NOT acknowledge or respond to any further correspondence'

So basically they haven't even acknowledged my appeal or disputed the points I've raised. They have failed to send a POPLA code, state it is being dealt with by debt collectors and emphasise strongly they will NOT respond to further letters. Also, is the 35 days up when I'm supposed to receive their response or the date on THEIR letter? My estimation of 35 days was until 12th February if you include the day they received my appeal.
Although late in appealing I have followed advice but feel I have got nowhere with Excel.

Please could I get some advice on what to do now as I'm stumped? Apologies for lengthiness but tried to keep it as short as I could!

Stroma

You should have appealed when you got this invoice back last year, they as you can see will reject anything out of hand, the course of action is to do nothing now and wait to see if Excel will issue a claim. Its pointless speaking to the barrel scraping Roxburghe as they are just a dca wanting money, they will not listen to anything apart from give us money.

You have have given excel copies of receipts so proving you are a customer, have you actually done the same to the landowner? If not make complaints now to them, show them copies of your receipts, see if they cancel this for you.

Redx

the problem here is you left it much too late to appeal and get a popla code, it was worth a try but it failed and they do not have to deal with you or your appeal due to the lateness of it

you can ignore the debt collectors and eventually they will refer it back to excel for possible court action , which is likely to happen

so as you have more or less ignored it for this long you may as well carry on ignoring it until an LBC or court papers arrive, then fight it out in court

you can try peel holdings (the landowner) but are unlikely to get anywhere with them

MrsBaz

Thanks for the advice. I knew this would probably be the case.

My other half thinks I should pay Excel directly what they are demanding or face extortionate charges and possibly lose if taken to court.

Do I offer Excel a payment to get them off my back or do I just wait? I realise I should have actioned this in August but I can nothing about that now. I'm reluctant to pay Excel but if it is going to save stress of court proceedings it might be the only way.

Any advice from others who've been in a similar predicament I'd love to hear from you. Many thanks

Redx

given the amount of money they are asking for, you may as well fight it in court, and with help from other people on here or pepipoo you may well end up beating them in court and cost them money too

ezerscrooge

Can the clock not be reset by naming the driver? Then the driver can start the whole thing again, but do it properly.

Umkomaas

You two have the same avatar. Do you know each other?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4897825

kirkbyinfurnesslad_2

I certainly wouldn't pay.
Ukm it's the new avatars tht mse are using now

bondy_lad

mrs,baz,,when you say excel have passed the case to roxburghe,this in reality means that ,,lucy loo the illegal,who works for excel for nothing,as they say they will grass her up otherwise,,passes the details to dumb john on the next desk along(he is dumb as works for nothing and does not realise he should be paid money),thats the scum/vermin who you are dealing with,dont pay them a penny,their charges are,,penalties,(ppcs not allowed to do this),,if it goes to court you will have a good chance of spanking them,stick it out and as redx says,you have with help a great chance of winning,dont let them scare you or harass you,good luck.

Redx

nothing would please me more than to see them lose in court several times over this car park (like they have done in the past)

the more the better , it is the only way they will change their ways if they kept getting beat in court and also it may set precedents for any other future cases on there too, also it may help prankster fight back for those who have paid without a fight

MrsBaz

Thanks for the replies and support. I'm going to go ahead and just wait it out now, I'm not prepared to pay Excel or their "Debt Collectors" Roxburghe a penny. If I do it only sets a precedent for these private parking companies to rip off the consumer with whatever figure they so wish.

I'd just like to know where to go if/when I do start receiving letters threatening court. Could anyone point me in the direction of post/websites where Excel have lost in court?

Many thanks in advance