Parking fine received when I wasn't parked where they said!!!

LBlack

Hi

Back in April I received a letter from UK Car Park Management demanding I pay £100 for parking without a permit in a location that I have never even been before!

They included a photograph of the rear of my car (and reg plate).

I was told by friends to not worry and just "ignore it" as I wasn't in the said location, and it's not a government fine. This may not have been the correct way of thinking, but I did nothing at this stage.

I have received two letters since then, threatening solicitor/court action, and the fee is now £149. I decided to finally send them an appeal letter arguing that I was not in the location specified in the original document.

Today I received a response from them saying that because I didn't appeal within 28 days of the original letter, I am still liable to pay.

I disagree that I should be forced to pay this fee when they are saying I was somewhere I wasn't!! I am hoping to get a mortgage soon and don't want this (or any CCJs because of it) to go against me!

Any advice/help would be greatly appreciated.

Redx

presumably you have just joined and failed to read the sticky thread at the top of this forum ?

the one for NEWBIES like yourself

please read it, especially the debt collector section

what you agree with or disagree with is irrelevant here , what matters is any laws including POFA 2012 , the contracts laws and any laws of trespass etc

telling a judge you disagree with it is hardly likely to win the case if it goes that far

I assume your "friends" havent a clue what to do about this now but I feel they should pay it due to giving you appalling advice

bazster

So they are effectively saying "we claimed that you owe us money, and because you didn't deny it within 28 days you do owe us money."

Utter cobblers of course. Tell them to Foxtrot Oscar.

Coupon-mad

Please do read the NEWBIES thread although you did miss a trick by appealing late. Now you will have left the door open to receiving all sort of rubbish debt collector letters over the coming months whereas an appeal would have stamped on it. the NEWBIES thread shows you links about debt collector stage. Nothing to worry about! CERTAINLY DO NOT PAY.

I am hoping to get a mortgage soon and don't want this (or any CCJs because of it) to go against me!

Doesn't work like that - this fake PCN has no effect on credit rating, no bailiffs are involved and no CCJ. Even if the firm tried a small claim (rare but we help people defend them) and even if you then lost - guess what, NO CCJ if you pay promptly at that point if you did actually lose (unlikely).

So all the time it's debt collector letters just ignore the silly letter chain that we've ignored for YEARS, keep them all in a file and maybe go and take a photo of the signage as it stands now, in case they change it. Or is the place not local at all?

Do you mean someone else was driving your car and the photo is definitely of your car?

Shielder

If you know you were nowhere near the location in question, you may need to consider whether your car has been cloned. If you suspect this, then report it to the police, get a crime number and attach that to any appeals you send in. It might not make any difference at all, but it is something else that any court should take into account.

Andy

bazster

Is it really your car in the photos? Might it be a clone (same model and colour)? If you are certain it's your car, do you have any idea where the 'photo might've been taken, and might someone else have been driving your car?

I think it's a bit much accusing the OP of missing a trick by appealing late. If the whole thing is fabricated the only appeal he should be making is to PC Plod.

The_Slithy_Tove

Like bazster says
1. Was it definitely YOUR car in the photo?
2. If so, where was your car at the time/date of the photo? Could it be another car park entirely, or was it somewhere else altogether?