PCN from CP Plus

Krayzee

For a family member, who isn't confident on forums:

I work in a hospital and park in the hospital staff car park using prepaid scratch cards (paid to the hospital) which are scratched for the days you work. I inadvertently scratched one day on a previous day's date (not wearing my glasses) but amended it when I realised. The charge I pay for parking is 50p per day!

I received the PCN stuck to my windscreen on 3 Jan 2014. I wrote on the ticket that they were wrong to give me a ticket, that I had scratched the date off correctly, and sent the PCN back along with a photocopy of the scratchcard.

I received a letter dated 1st April from Parking Collection Services and it does look like it is a rejection of an appeal, although my 'appeal' was handwritten on their PCN - does this count as an appeal? No POPLA code code on there and they state "there are signs throughout the area", though I have a photo of one small sign on the entrance to the staff car park that only says "Staff Parking Permit Holders Only". No terms, conditions or which parking company is tasked with patrolling the car park. They have not provided any evidence of my "policy breach".

I then wrote a letter that was similar to what I wrote on the PCN (I can upload a copy of the letter if required?) and again included a copy of the scratched parking permit.

I have just received another letter, dated 7 May 2014 "Notice of intended court action", this time from Debt Recovery Plus Ltd. It doesn't acknowledge the letter I sent to PCS after I received the first letter dated 1st April, it just tells me to pay by 21 May or court action will commence.

Wish this forum would allow me to attach the letters to this post!

So, what's my next step please? If I need to send them another letter, what do I need to put please?

Thank you very much

Stroma

PCS are debt recovery plus. So who is the original company, it must say on their letter to you, otherwise how can you tell its real? Also have you complained to the nhs trust over this?

Umkomaas

Wish this forum would allow me to attach the letters to this post!

With 81 posts to your name you should be able to do so.

Otherwise host the picture(s) on Photobucket or Tinypic or similar, then post up the link to your pic(s) but remove the http:// - then we can view them.

Coupon-mad

Krayzee wrote: »

I have just received another letter, dated 7 May 2014 "Notice of intended court action", this time from Debt Recovery Plus Ltd. It doesn't acknowledge the letter I sent to PCS after I received the first letter dated 1st April, it just tells me to pay by 21 May or court action will commence.

So, what's my next step please? If I need to send them another letter, what do I need to put please?

In the NEWBIES thread I ask/beg for no new threads about two things (Peel Centre, and Debt Recovery plus). The search of the word 'Recovery' will tell you why. The NEWBIES thread is at the top of the forum with 'please read this first' next to it. Here are two threads like yours which explain why I am so bored by DRP and why you will be too:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4955769

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/65489750#Comment_65489750

Wish this forum would allow me to attach the letters to this post!

So glad you didn't...please don't! Please search the forum for ONE keyword 'Recovery' and as well as boring yourself silly with all the thousands of threads from other people laughing at the same letter chain, please also read the 'PPC letter chains' sticky and 'NEWBIES' sticky!

Try this as a Google search (it will do the search itself):

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Debt+Recovery+Plus+too+late+for+POPLA+site%3Aforums.moneysavingexpert.com

Please, please, search the forum and read the NEWBIES thread. Get your life back, these are LETTERS!

You haven't said which PPC issued the silly PCN in the first place which would be much more relevant than showing us yet again the usual letters from tedious old DRP and PCS (same firm).

Krayzee

Thank you Stroma, it was CP Plus, thread title changed.

Thank you for the links Coupon-mad, I'll go through them tomorrow

Coupon-mad

CP Plus don't do court. This is nothing to get in a tizz about at all.

Krayzee

OK great, tvm. The first PCN I got years ago was ignored and the letters stopped but since then the laws changed regarding this so that these letters couldn't be ignored, and if they were ignored and you were taken to court, more often than not, you'd lose.

Yes this is very simplistic but it's how I understood the changes. My wife got a PCN fairly recently, don't remember when, and ignoring the letters this time did not work (Parking Eye I think, maybe it's different for them than with CP Plus) and maybe that's why there are more people posting about help with PCNs? Because word has got around that the letters can't simply be ignored - this is why I posted.

I was contemplating a short letter stating something like: ...being disappointed with my previous letter not being acknowledged, nothing further to add as valid evidence has already been provided and then invite them to cancel the ticket or issue a POPLA code. No other communication will be entered into...

But can ignore any future letters if that still works.

ColliesCarer

The reason you have been advised you can ignore is because you are unlikely to now get a POPLA code from CP plus and they don't do court. You should still keep an eye out for a Letter before County Court Action or Court Papers arriving from either CP+ or a solicitor acting on their behalf in case CP+ change their MO, and they have 6 years to decide.
Pretend ones from DR+ don't count - they can do nothing except pester you to pay up.

Ignoring is not the advice for other Parking Charges you ever receive - a number of other parking companies and especially Parking Eye do do court - especially P E who are the most litigious PPC now - issuing around 1000 cases a month against people who have ignored the charge or who have submitted appeals lacking in the right legal content.

So for future reference should you get a private parking ticket - the advice is not to ignore, not to pay but to appeal - the appeals however need to be based on the relevant legal arguments - anyone appealing without knowing what they are is more than likely doomed to failure. The NEWBIES thread gives all the information needed about appealing correctly.

You can try a letter but if you do send it to the parking company not DR+.
If you want to respond to DR+ the only letter you should send is one stating that you deny the debt and refer them back to their client CP +

Coupon-mad

Krayzee wrote: »

My wife got a PCN fairly recently, don't remember when, and ignoring the letters this time did not work (Parking Eye I think, maybe it's different for them than with CP Plus) and maybe that's why there are more people posting about help with PCNs? Because word has got around that the letters can't simply be ignored - this is why I posted.

I was contemplating a short letter stating something like: ...being disappointed with my previous letter not being acknowledged, nothing further to add as valid evidence has already been provided and then invite them to cancel the ticket or issue a POPLA code. No other communication will be entered into...

But can ignore any future letters if that still works.

Yep try the short letter to state your position, that's all. But ignore them if it doesn't work. As CC says, the only reason you are being told to ignore this is because of the stage it's at (too late for POPLA).

Krayzee wrote: »

... since then the laws changed regarding this so that these letters couldn't be ignored, and if they were ignored and you were taken to court, more often than not, you'd lose.

Well ParkingEye are very litigious but most PPCs are not. Ignoring is still an option but because we know how to win at POPLA - and it costs the PPCs money every time, to lose every time - that's why we say 'appeal' these days! For those who get this letter chain of drivel, it's far from a foregone conclusion that people 'will' be taken to court. The vast majority will simply being ignoring the letter chain like we always did back in the day, if they missed the chance of POPLA.

The law doesn't say what a person 'has' to do - you are allowed to ignore these but of course don't ignore court papers! After all, if you keep that scratch card along with copies of all letters exchanged (for up to six years in case they try a late claim) you have ample evidence to help with a robust defence. And we'd help you with that of course, cases are won a lot!

Krayzee

Following our letter back to CP+ last week (which also copied in DR+, BPA and DVLA), CP+ responded today with a letter that enclosed their original letter from January which "was never sent to you, as you failed to provide a correspondence address" !! Also, "we don't have an agreement with the DVLA; therefore if you don't provide an address....we are unable to contact you....". And yet they somehow managed to.

This did make me laugh. We failed to provide an address to a company we didn't know wanted to contact us, so they could send us a letter we weren't expecting! Yet they still managed to get our address to send the subsequent letters...

They sent copies of the photos - the one of the scratchcard is just of a scratchcard, it could've been from anyone's car.

It also came with the POPLA booklet and form, but this was from over 4 months ago so I think the POPLA ship has sailed.

Interestingly, CP+ put absolutely nothing about how they would like us to proceed, no mention of paying, or deadlines, or response. Nothing. So, of course, we shall oblige.

Coupon-mad

Check when the POPLA code on the form was generated, you never know it may be a fresh code. There's a POPLA code checker linked in post #3 of the NEWBIES thread.