Excel Parking; quick query

Tobster86

I could find the answer to this, but I'll keep it brief.

Excel Parking stuck an envelope to my car.

Da_rule's flow chart (http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=65106611&postcount=12) says to appeal straight away if it's from NCP or a small company; otherwise wait for a letter before appealing.

Where do Excel stand in this? Do I appeal straight away or wait for a letter?

Thanks.

Redx

some say wait , others say not

I say wait for NTK as it costs them money and you get a written notification, then check it for accuracy , also making sure it doesnt arrive outside the 29 to 56 day window ( or you send the appeal in the newbies thread at day 25 by post with free certificate of posting at the PO ) , as RK not driver (keep it all third party and tell em nothing)

the point about this is that they may fail all kinds of rules like POFA 2012 for england and wales , so no point helping them to beat you

softly , softly , catchee monkey

Coupon-mad

Excel are not 'small fry' and they will send a NTK. So wait for it.

Tobster86

Cheers. Waiting it is then!

Tobster86

Ok, it has arrived in the 28 to 56 day window, alleging 'Parking after expiry time of ticket', and I'm putting appeal stage 1 together.

The question is, should I opt for honesty or underhandedness at this stage?

Honesty: acknowledge that the ticket may have fallen a bit short but challenge their charge on GPEOL etc?

Underhandedness:
-Deny that the ticket was short and ask them to prove it (i.e. photographic evidence that the vehicle was still there after expiry and that the ticket had expired, that the monkey's watch was suitably calibrated, that the machine couldn't have been playing up, etc)?
-Deny that a notice was affixed to the vehicle at all (it was a rainy day with a lot of scallies around!) and nothing was received in the post within 14 days so therefore their rights to claim under POFA are invalid; and requiring them to provide proof of postage or photographic evidence of the notice affixed to the vehicle?

nigelbb

Lying is never a good strategy with something that could ultimately end in a law court. Anyway you have no need to lie as the usual appeal points will see you home & dry when you take it to POPLA after your initial appeal to Excel is inevitably rejected.

Coupon-mad

Honesty - challenge their charge on GPEOL etc?

...is the right answer and will win if worded well as per the NEWBIES thread post #3 'How to win at POPLA' link. Copy a recent Excel or VCS appeal and show us your draft suitably tweaked to suit your exact case but without admissions. Do NOT 'acknowledge that the ticket may have fallen a bit short' (tell us where you ever see any admissions made in our example POPLA appeals?).

Tobster86

Bringing this up again. In the interest of it originally being brief, I stated that they had stuck a notice on my car; they had actually done this to a relative I was with at the time.

The said relative sent the appeal I drafted but never heard anything since; aside from recently starting to get letters from Excel's toothless 'debt collectors'.

From my reading this evening, it seems that (but please validate these statements!):
-Excel very rarely take cases to court.
-Excel now use the IAS which shouldn't be bothered with as a court defense is far easier to succeed, but a lost IAS appeal would be disadvantageous to have occurred in this circumstance.

The relative is already fed up with the debt collector letters. Assuming my assertions above are correct and Excel should therefore be ignored; how long are the letters likely to continue?

And failing the above, what should I do next?

Redx

if you appealed the invoice in good time, and they ignored it , complain to the BPA as per the NEWBIES thread , with a timeline and copies of all paperwork etc

also complain to the landowner too (always do this)

ignore the debt collectors, they are toothless and can do nothing at all except send threatograms

6 years is the statute on the small claims court , therefore that is the length of time you were looking for

bear in mind that excel were with the BPA when this happened so popla is the correct IAS for this , not the IPC IAS - meaning any appeal would be a popla appeal as it was at the time when this all happened - ie:- prior to excel joining the IPC (which was jan 2015)

hope that helps

hoohoo

+1 BPA email is aos@britishparking.co.uk