Debt collection as first notice?!

Coupon-mad

I would send a formal written complaint to the Hospital Facilities Manager about the mishandling of the whole thing. State that all you wanted to do was to appeal or to have the thing cancelled but without ever seeing a PCN and without the PALs lady actually following up as promised you are now being harassed by 'threatograms' from a notoriously annoying debt collector firm.

natscat84

Finally got a call back from the Facilities Manager at LTHT. Apparently there was a ticket put on the car and they have a picture of it, along with the sign saying locum staff and which ward they were on, though I will swear on my mother's life that it was definitely, 100% not on the car when a) the temp permit was put in and b) at the end of the shift.

Anyway, having explained the situation, I have been given 2 options. They will reduce the parking charge down from £60 to £40, or I can go through the internal appeals process. I have been warned though that if the appeal is overturned then I will have to pay the full £60. More experienced people, is this correct?

Having read the newbies thread, I'm going to appeal using the standard arguments - not a true representation of cost etc and also that there signage isn't clear. The area where the vehicle was parked was marked as a permit area, but apparently (according to the facilities manager) wasn't a staff parking area which was definitely not made clear on the sign and certainly not something that a locum worker who had never been to that hospital before would know. I also have payslips showing that a shift was worked by the driver on that date, which I may also send in as proof that my car was parked there on work business, if that might also be a good idea, especially as it's from the locum agency.

I think I am more baffled and worried that there was no PCN affixed to the car when I got there, and am wondering if this is some sort of scam where they take a photo and then take it off again in order to get more money out of it because now it's my word against their picture :mad: It also doesn't explain why there was no NtK either...

If I could get some encouragement for this, that'd be great. I take my penultimate medical school exams in a few weeks and am already stressed out without having all of this added in to the mix! If you guys can give me awesome advice, that'd be great and I shall keep you updated

Umkomaas

I think I am more baffled and worried that there was no PCN affixed to the car when I got there, and am wondering if this is some sort of scam where they take a photo and then take it off again in order to get more money out of it because now it's my word against their picture It also doesn't explain why there was no NtK either...

This happens so many times, that there must be a grain of truth in what you have said. We regulars are banned by the MSE hierarchy from calling any of this stuff a 'scam', so we now don't call it a 'scam' (well some don't ).

You can go through your internal appeals procedure, but I'm as sure as hell they don't understand contract law and will base their decision on (lack of) mitigating circumstances and (if there is one involved) PPC spin - nothing to do with the legal side of things. I rate your chances worse than 50:50.

If there is no BPA approved PPC involved then this is an internal matter. But a big question is where did Newlyn get the personal information from? There might be a Data Protection Act issue here?

You could continue to just ignore this, but you do need to check on whether there are disciplinary issues attaching (check contract of employment or other docs you've signed). Are you a member of any Trade Union/Staff Association? Get them involved.

I'm sorry I've got little else that springs to mind to give you a potential easy 'out' on this - but others may come on later with their ideas. However, whichever way this proceeds, we'd be grateful if you could keep us informed, please.

natscat84

Thanks Umkomaas - AFAIK there is no issue in terms of employment for me as I'm not employed by the trust but rather the UK-wide NHS agency (which is where a lot of this gets complicated as different trusts have different rules for agency worker parking for 'scribble a note and pay £X' to 'get temp permit' etc)

LTHT are licensed by the BPA, but from what I can gather from the website it says 'no, no, no, yes' on the headings of 'ANPR, Debt Recovery, Self-ticket and Ticket' so I wonder if they even have a right to pass it on to Newlyn in the first place?

Part of me wonders if paying the £40 is going to be less stress right now with exams, but I don't want to let them win!!!

natscat84

Thanks Umkomaas - AFAIK there is no issue in terms of employment for me as I'm not employed by the trust but rather the UK-wide NHS agency (which is where a lot of this gets complicated as different trusts have different rules for agency worker parking for 'scribble a note and pay £X' to 'get temp permit' etc)

LTHT are licensed by the BPA, but from what I can gather from the website it says 'no, no, no, yes' on the headings of 'ANPR, Debt Recovery, Self-ticket and Ticket' so I wonder if they even have a right to pass it on to Newlyn in the first place?

Part of me wonders if paying the £40 is going to be less stress right now with exams, but I don't want to let them win!!!

Coupon-mad

You might like to read the whole of this thread, a similar case gone to appeal:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4938561

...the difference being that his NHS Trust are signed up for the Healthcare Parking Charter and I don't think Leeds Teaching Hospitals are (why not check first, you could work it into your appeal either way). That poster has some leverage as they've not really followed the Charter - not that it's 'law' or even very good at all - it's not, it's by the BPA Ltd after all - but it gives a benchmark of agreed procedures at least. You could argue the same sort of things as that poster, if Leeds are signed up, and if they are not you could ask why not because it is denying you the right to appeal to POPLA which is an independent appeal stage which would save the Hospital having to waster time & money on this matter.

natscat84

Thanks Coupon - Leeds are on that list so I think that gets me to a good start if I follow the one from the linked post.

Coupon-mad

Oh, so Leeds are on the list, so they have signed up to make all those promises & say they 'will use an AOS member' - and then they don't, and so you are denied access to POPLA?! You can certainly follow that other thread's example then!

Mashpotato

Hi everyone, sorry for posting randomly.. I have just made this account and have no idea where to write what as of yet.

I received a parking fine from Excel for parking at the Peel center Stockport in Oct 2013. I went away on holiday, came back and received the fine- did not have the ticket which I had purchased as must have thrown this away. As I was 100% sure I had purchased a ticket- mistakenly I contacted Excel asking why I had received a fine. They explained the Number plate did not match to mine.

Here's the thing. i had just purchased a new car the week before (New reg). I had previously had a private reg- which I had retained until I purchased my new car. When I brought my ticket- out of habbit- i typed in my private reg.

I then sent them an email apologising for that mistake but surely you can understand it was a slip- they then confirmed the reg I had entered was the reg I confirmed to own. They asked for documentation to prove this- I then forwarded on the details. They then had the nerve to ask for £10 for wasting their time or as they put it "Admin charges" It got to March and so I thought f*** it i'm not bothering with this harassment

Now on 19/05/14 I have received a call from Newlyn- HAVE NO IDEA HOW THEY HAD MY NUMBER asking why I hadn't responded to their letter.... I hadn't received a letter, till that day I get home from work and BAM there is a letter asking for £166. The lady on the phone said I had to ring back in 7 days and if i did not they would take me to court.

Help!

Stroma

Create your own thread please
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=163