Euro Car Park PCN - 'Letter Before Claim' received

Peachey27

Hi there,

Back in January of this year I received a windscreen ticket for overstaying at a Lidl car park in Cardiff. The ticket was served by Euro Car Parks. The charge was for £50, and at the time I was unemployed and could therefore not afford such a substantial amount.

Four months later I am now being pursued for a hefty £135 by Control Account PLC who have been instructed by Euro Car Parks to recover the amount. I am beginning to wish I had just paid the initial £50 as it's stressful having this going on for months and I understand it is no longer good practice to simply ignore the letters, which is what I've been doing! I had hoped they'd simply go away.

I have received 2-3 letters from Control Account now, the latest one dated 21st May 2014 with the heading 'LETTER BEFORE CLAIM'. I am now greatly concerned that I will be taken to court and will have a bad credit rating!

The first letter I received back in March, stated that I had 14 days to pay or I will face 'serious legal consequences' and that they 'have 'firm instructions to start Legal Proceedings and apply for a County Court Judgement'. I also received a 2nd letter saying the same.
The latest letter from Control Account this month is a chaser letter for payment and again are threatening with the County Court, stating that the following documents (copy of PNC, photographic evidence, and diary notes of collection attempts) will be relied upon in court.
They also state that this communication complies with current pre-action procedures and guidelines. I am concerned as this letter seems like the final straw before they proceed to court!

To date, I have made no contact with either Lidl, Euro Car Parks, or Control Account PLC. I would be most grateful if someone could advise on what I should do!

Many thanks

Redx

and you have read the NEWBIES sticky thread at the top of the forum ?

Coupon-mad

Redx wrote: »

and you have read the NEWBIES sticky thread at the top of the forum ?

Seconded.

Peachey27, post #5 of that sticky thread is all about ignoring/responding to debt collector drivel. You missed a trick by following 2012 advice from 2 years ago by ignoring this though, and we have no idea why you considered whether you could 'afford to pay it' seeing as it wasn't a real fine and after all, you had time on your hands to Google it and learn you should have appealed it. You missed the simple answer which was to appeal and win at POPLA = too late now and you've opened the door to these letters and brought them upon yourself. But so what, they are LETTERS?!

Why don't you email a complaint to the CEO of Lidl like loads of people have done in another sticky thread also at the top: 'Successful Complaints about PPCs'?

And what did you find when you Googled 'Control Account parking 'LETTER BEFORE CLAIM' or similar; that letter is mentioned on forums a lot. Debt collectors cannot start a court claim. You can even restrict a Google search to MSE forums by searching

'Control Account parking LETTER BEFORE CLAIM site:forums.moneysavingexpert.com'

...as your search words then read lots of other cases like yours and how people complained or ignored or responded. They are ONLY LETTERS!

Peachey27

My mind is a little fried and was hoping for some clear cut advice if I'm honest. When I researched my PCN back in January, I only came across advice for their letters to simply be ignored, and so I did (believing that appealing was not necessary & that contacting them would only make them chase you more).
So I received my latest letter this month decided again to look into on here.
I will certainly contact the CEO of Lidl, do you know of any templates used previously that could help me?
What contact should I make with ECP or the debt collectors?

My apologies for the questions, I'm new to this & was struggling to know what to do.
Many thanks

Redx

Peachey27 wrote: »

1) When I researched my PCN back in January, I only came across advice for their letters to simply be ignored, and so I did (believing that appealing was not necessary & that contacting them would only make them chase you more).

So I received my latest letter this month decided again to look into on here.

2) I will certainly contact the CEO of Lidl, do you know of any templates used previously that could help me?

3) What contact should I make with ECP or the debt collectors?

My apologies for the questions, I'm new to this & was struggling to know what to do.
Many thanks

1) not from here you didnt as its been DO NOT IGNORE for the last 15 months or so

2) always , always , always contact the landowner or retailer and get a cancellation , that goes without saying (at any time and at all times)

3) that is up to you but there is a whole section about it in the NEWBIES thread , including debt collector letters , and always appeal to the PPC (at any time)

the bad idea was the ignoring, which is why its more difficult now that the appeal timings have lapsed months ago

Coupon-mad

When I researched my PCN back in January, I only came across advice for their letters to simply be ignored

Not here, not in January. We haven't advised this for well over a year - you read old 2012 stuff and sadly, you would have been one click away from page one of any forum you found yourself on. When you Google and read a forum result always check the date and look at the top of the page for the breadcrumb trail to click through to the current advice on the forum itself (page one). In the case of MSE it's the blue link at the top (tiny writing) as explained in my signature on every post I make.

I will certainly contact the CEO of Lidl, do you know of any templates used previously that could help me?

In the 'Successful Complaints about PPCs' sticky thread in Crabman's stickies near the top of the forum. There are links to people who've complained before in post #2 of it (copy one) and the email addy is given in post #3 of it (the Successful Complaints thread). Get there by clicking on that blue link breadcrumb trail mentioned in my signature then looking for Crabman's 'parking forum stickies'.

What contact should I make with ECP or the debt collectors?

That's explained in post #5 of the Newbies thread, top of the current forum. Either ignore them or respond as shown.

HO87

@peachey27

1. Debt collectors have no more powers than you or I to enforce a debt. That means, ultimately, that all they can do is to ask for the money. Of course, they don't want you to know that and so they dress their letters up to strident terms full of threats of doom and gloom. They are not going to take this matter to court. Why? Well, because they are not empowered to do so. You concern is understandable but, with respect, misplaced. The upping of the purported debt is to increase the pressure on you and for no other reason. Stop worrying about them.

2. Follow the advice given by Coupon-mad and go to the guidance on how to deal with a Letter Before Action. Get on to that with a decently drafted version and that will stop things. Euro Car Parks do not "do" court to any great degree but by dealing with this letter you can stop things.