parking fine- cant find answer

peachy_1989

Hi,

Ive seen a lot of great advice regarding these "fines" and appeal letters to send but these seem to mostly relate to sending the letter to a company, i.e the coop, to appeal the fine.

In february i parked in a UKPC private car park of a block of flats when i visited a friend. i didnt display a parking permit as i didn't think that i would be that long. anyway, fact of the matter is- i did, and i received a ticket NOT ON MY WINDSCREEN but through the post.

since then i have received all the letters from UKPC and debt recovery plus, and now i have received the first letter from Zenith solutions. i am concerned that as it came through the post that they have access to my details a the DVLA but the fact that they are now offering me a reduced fine makes this look like a less than legit operation!!

is it too late to appeal the cost to the land owner? what should i do? at first i read all the forums that said ignore, so i did, but now i read that this was not the correct thing to do!! ahh!!!

any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

thank you

Guys_Dad

You have missed POPLA I fear. Your friend should have the name and address of the managing agents and you could try contacting them. You will probably be out of luck. Your friend could try, though.

What are the arrangements for visitors' cars and did you contravene the so-called t&c?


You can safely ignore letters from debt collectors and tame solicitors, but NOT from Northampton court.

Not sure if UKPC would do court in this circumstance - others will, though.

Redx

stop calling it a fine and use the word invoice for a start

read the NEWBIES sticky thread as it has all you need to know, including a section on debt collectors

using the forum search box and words like zenith , dr plus or dr+ or debt recovery , and ukpc , flats , permits

there are loads of similar threads to yours , just use the search to find them , AFTER reading the NEWBIES thread that I believe you missed

like this one just near yours

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4957658

peachy_1989

Hi Guys,

I did just as you said and followed the advice for newbies.

I sent a letter to the landowner asking for proof of loss, and I sent the letter to the Debt collecting agency asking them to stop writing to me.

Zenith have subsequently replied to me explaining that, as I knew, POPLA has expired.

it states " the site in question is subject to term and conditions, which are stated on signs throughout the area. those signs state that drivers must clearly display a valid parking permit for the site. they also warn that failure to do so may result in the issue of a PCN." it then goes on to tell me about my car which breached said conditions.

Court Action
it then went on to state "I feel obligated to tell you that, under the pre-action protocol of the civil procedural rule, court action myust only be viewed as a last resort. I am attempting to abide by this direction by trying to settle the matter amicably without court involvement."

"internet templates:
I must also stress that simply sending in standard template responses, most likely from the internet, will not resolve the matter. in addition I would recommend that professional legal advice be sought on this matter as an alternative."

Finally it states what I should do now,
" Please ensure that £80.00 (reduced from £160) is paid by 21st July 2014.
What will happen if you do not pay what you owe
If the amount is not paid but he date shown above, we will recommend that court action be taken to recover the outstanding balance.

What if you do not agree
Although any correspondence that does not provide further evidence will be noted and retained, I cannot guarantee that we will reply to it."

Pen signed by Benjamin Davies.

Any thoughts as to my next move? I feel like my only option is to pay.. as I don't want to be liable for any more money that £80!

thanks,

Hot_Bring

Your next move should absolutely not be paying !!!! It's a fake invoice, a scam. Would you pay a Nigerian email scammer ?

Instead, send one final email to Zenith and then ignore them. Please note the ONLY paperwork you should deal with from now on is papers from the Northampton Court. If you get them ( which I seriously doubt you will ) then come back here for advice.

So for Zenith :

Dear Zenith,

Re : PCN ref xxxxxx

As well you know, Zenith have no ability under law to instigate court action. The debt is denied and so you should return the case to your client UKPC.

No further correspondence will be entered into with yourselves.

Regards,

Print name ( don't sign )

Redx

zenith are the debt collector, what do you expect them to say ? they cannot cancel the charge as its from UKPC

only UKPC or the landowner can issue court papers , only they can cancel the charge

if it comes down to the wire, you ask for popla as an ADR in your replies to any court papers, ignore in the meantime

this is all covered in the newbies thread, surprised you didnt check it again

bod1467

Redx wrote: »

only UKPC or the landowner can issue court papers , only they can cancel the charge

And even if UKPC do issue court papers (unlikely, and the landowner almost certainly won't) then one of your defence points will be that they lack authority to bring a claim in their own name (no locus standi).

bazster

UKPC don't do court, so ignore them unless they change the habit of a lifetime.

Coupon-mad

Any thoughts as to my next move? I feel like my only option is to pay.. as I don't want to be liable for any more money that £80!

Gawd no - now that would be daft!

This is just UKPC and the same tedious 'Zenith' (aka Debt Recovery Plus) letters we've been ignoring for a decade! What I say to newbies who miss the chance of POPLA is - what do you think we did before POPLA existed less than two years ago?! That's right...we ignored the PCNs and the debt collector letter chains and the sky does NOT fall in!

UKPC are not even litigious, nothing will happen except the DRP/Zenith letters which are pretty much still shown in the MSE (pre Oct 2012) OLD link under 'PPC Letter Chains' a sticky thread collated by Crabman 3rd from the top of the forum. We've been collecting these and showing the letter chain to posters for many many years; trust us. Look at the old MSE link and the DRP/Zenith letters shown in pictures under several PPC names in that sticky thread (don't just look at UKPC please, obviously, look at any entries showing DRP/Zenith letters).

I would stop taking the bait, you've stated your position now ignore them & file all the letters together until it all fizzles out, as it WILL. It's just some letters just like ignoring phishing emails and junk mail - no different. There is no effect on credit rating, no-one sends anyone round to knock on doors, these are not bailiffs and there is no CCJ - NOTHING at all to worry about, just...more letters then nothing.

Look here's someone who gets it!

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4957658

fisherjim

Debt recovery plus and their other desk further up the room Zenith Collections are lowlife lyers!
They send you template letters and tell you not to send out template letters.
They have cottoned on to the fact that people have read about "pre Action Protocol" and are using it as a scare tactic to look like they can take it further, they cannot!
And as for advising you take legal advice? Think about it, they are hoping you look at that threat and think Oh my god that'll cost the earth better pay up!
Take them for what they are scammers and keep your money in your pocket!
I have a full set of their silly letters that cost THEM money to send out.:rotfl:

Christa1

I am almost too frightened to post but I have read the newbies post as I am a newbie to this fine business etc.
I couldn't find that my problem was answered and i read as much as I could.
So after lots of letters asking for payment today a letter from DRP arrived, saying my daughter was being taken to court etc, etc. This is happening to her as her car was caught on camera at our local shopping centre where at that time she worked. However, both my husband and I are insured to drive her car and I was using it to shop on the day it was caught, I do use it regularly to shop as it's a small car etc.
My question, should I phone the company and explain this, my daughter is the owner and registered keeper.
Lots of apologies if I have put this in the wroing place.