UK CPM ticket while parked on my own spot

Coupon-mad

DRP and Zenith letters - if you search the forum for Zenith you'll find threads galore telling you about this letter chain. Hasn't changed for years.

The only thing to take seriously would be if you get a letter from the firm itself 'Letter before court claim' which you must respond to, or a letter from a Solicitor (which is often the debt company sending it and can be no biggie!) but we recommend a response to any solicitor letter now.

lexicalmatt

Letter received from DRP today rebutting my argument (of course), and reinforcing the payment deadline lest they unleash a poorly trained solicitor.

lexicalmatt

For the sake of keeping this thread current, a response today from UK CPM stating no "appeal" to be processed as "outside the 28 days".

The_Deep

Yet another reason to give them a kicking. In any case, Popla is for wimps.

Coupon-mad

lexicalmatt wrote: »

For the sake of keeping this thread current, a response today from UK CPM stating no "appeal" to be processed as "outside the 28 days".

I would reply and state that their refusal to consider appeals at this relatively early stage and trying to apply an arbitrary time limit (when POPLA impose no such time limit on POPLA codes being generated by a private parking firm) is sharp practice. As such if they pursue the matter in court you will show that they have refused to consider the industry's bespoke ADR when it was fully available and when they knew the car has a permit so were already fully aware that it was not parked by a person without authority.

Say you are keeping all letters and consider this to constitute harassment, and so if they should pursue the matter you'll counter sue for damages/distress. Cite anything from your lease or tenancy agreement (or from your landlord's lease if they are helpful) that states you have a right tot 'peaceful enjoyment' of your property and/or an allocated bay and aright to park a car there. Clearly as they don't own the land and the car was legitimately parked in your allocated spot (and that car has a valid permit) then there has been no loss involved and there is no debt to pursue. And if they say there is, why do they not mitigate these 'losses' at the outset by simply keeping an exempt list of cars with permits then?

And complain to the managing agent - whoever the bright spark was who thought it was a good idea to let loose a PPC against residents and visitors. Ask (seriously) to remove your bay from the stupid permit scheme as you refuse to recognise the PPC and want to opt out of the whole scam. This must be in writing - this isn't something to discuss over the phone.

lexicalmatt

Thanks for your reply, Coupon-mad. Your (welcomed) advice is along the same lines as the letter I had started drafting before getting too distracted by the week's work...I'll look to completing it this weekend.

My land law is getting a little rusty, having not been used in 3 years, but to the best of my knowledge (though my lease does not state it in any explicit way) a quiet enjoyment clause is an implied contract term - it should hold as much force in any letter to UKCPM with or without being able to quote directly from a lease. Unfortunately my lease makes no mention of the parking spot, either (though it does bare my flat number in large white lettering...).

I have complained to the management company, in part only to make them aware of the situation. I will continue with these efforts (and likely copy them in to further communications), but their tone is not at all receptive. I wonder if there's a matter of commission here....

I plan to respond to this letter, despite having changed my mind multiple times throughout the week, but would you consider this a good point to end communication with UKCPM/debt collectors? If they do not reply, or continue their refusal of the facts, I can see no point in going on with the back and forth unless your experience would say otherwise?

Thanks

Coupon-mad

Yep you could state this is your final word on the matter, they have no prospects of success with any claim and unless they proceed to court papers within, say, 21 days you consider the matter closed and any further letters will be considered harassment.

lexicalmatt

Hi all,

A long overdue update on this, for anyone interested. I decided not to reply to UKCPM, from whom I have received no communication after a final 'reduced settlement' offer many months ago.

Having misplaced my permit now (3 months ago, I believe I left it in a hire car..) and in truth having no desire to approach them for a new one, it should be interesting to see what happens. My willingness to cooperate with this company seems to have got lost in the absurdity of the situation...

A colleague of mine - a member of the judiciary - suggested I reply to any further problems with the offer to meet them at court. I'm inclined to agree. I don't suggest others to quote/follow this suggestion of course.

Umkomaas

I think sometimes a 'put up, or shut up, I'll see you in court, please get on with issuing proceedings' is the best way to deal with lots of these parking firm bullies.

See who blinks first; well done on your resoluteness.

lexicalmatt

So, lets dig this up again. Note that the original post refers to a "ticket" which has now gone "dead" following me ignoring the debt collection letters.

Without a permit (which I have now found...), I received two "tickets" both within the same week.

Following the advice, I did not ignore it and instead sent a cursory letter to UKCPM noting a couple of points (remember, the parking spot in question is assigned to me only).

I received a very long reply which I have uploaded here:
http://imgur.com/a/BX8ue

I think it might be of interest to some, as it refers to their interpretation of the Parking Eye v Beavis case. To avoid a very long post, I'm going to summarise my ordeal with UKCPM in points:

• This is a residential case, referring to my flat's small (8 space) car park.
• In November 2013 I received parking charge 1, on the vehicle.
• My car was parked in a space allocated solely to myself. The permit was simply not on display that day (it had slid off).
• I ignored this, resulting in the typical letter chain and communication drop off.
• I misplaced my permit earlier this year, resulting in charge notice 2 & 3 in April 2015.
• I sent a single cursory letter of appeal in response to both notices, this was not a sincere effort as I knew there was no chance of success
• I receive a long letter of reply (rejection), noting the reference of only a single charge notice.

Looks like I'll have to go through POPLA this time..