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Parking Eye - Debt Collectors letter for 30 sec overstay.

I received a PCN from Parking Eye (cowboys) back in May 2013.
We parked in the Trinity Church car park in Newquay whilst on holiday.
We paid the required ticket amount for 3 hours and came back to the car in time to buckle up and get out. However driving from our parking space to the exit (with ANPR) the time lapse by 30 seconds !!!
When we got back from holiday to a lovely PCN surprise to pay £100 in 14 days or £120 after this time.
I wrote a letter of appeal to PE and sent it off. I heard nothing back from them. After 6 months I presumed it was dealt with and the ticket cancelled.
Then 15 mths later I receive a debt collection notice from Debt Recovery Plus Ltd demanding £150 for a charge not paid.

I have replied to the debt collectors and explained that I will not be paying this disproportionate amount of £150 for 30 seconds but I am willing to pay the 1.8p that has occurred in supposed damages / losses. Plus advised that I have sent an appeal letter off to PE a week after receiving the PCN.
Clearly PE have never received my appeal letter or have "lost" it.
The DRP Ltd are not interested and say that the appeal time has lapsed and have said that if I don't pay up by the 20th Aug they will start court proceedings ....

Surely no small claims court will justify the fact that the over stay was 30 seconds and had not even clicked to the next full minute, hence no breach of contract has occurred. It does not say on the terms and conditions that they take into account time in seconds.

Please can you advise on this... Many thanks.
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Comments

  • Redx
    Redx Posts: 38,084 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 12 August 2014 at 5:13PM
    yep, read the newbies thread , post #4 , and ignore DRP

    DRP cannot instigate court proceedings, only PE or the landowner can do that

    if you have complained to PE and have proof of what appeal was sent and when, complain to the BPA and DVLA asap , POST #6 of the NEWBIES THREAD

    anything can happen in court (or before) and yes they are numpties when this happens so never say never as they do take many people to court, so avoid it asap by complaining , loudly

    also complain to the landowner too, asap
  • Coupon-mad
    Coupon-mad Posts: 152,826 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 12 August 2014 at 5:18PM
    Dawn74 wrote: »
    I received a PCN from Parking Eye (cowboys) back in May 2013.
    We parked in the Trinity Church car park in Newquay whilst on holiday.
    We paid the required ticket amount for 3 hours and came back to the car in time to buckle up and get out. However driving from our parking space to the exit (with ANPR) the time lapse by 30 seconds !!!
    When we got back from holiday to a lovely PCN surprise to pay £100 in 14 days or £120 after this time.
    I wrote a letter of appeal to PE and sent it off. I heard nothing back from them. After 6 months I presumed it was dealt with and the ticket cancelled.
    Then 15 mths later I receive a debt collection notice from Debt Recovery Plus Ltd demanding £150 for a charge not paid.

    I have replied to the debt collectors and explained that I will not be paying this disproportionate amount of £150 for 30 seconds but I am willing to pay the 1.8p that has occurred in supposed damages / losses. Plus advised that I have sent an appeal letter off to PE a week after receiving the PCN.
    Clearly PE have never received my appeal letter or have "lost" it.
    The DRP Ltd are not interested and say that the appeal time has lapsed and have said that if I don't pay up by the 20th Aug they will start court proceedings ....

    Surely no small claims court will justify the fact that the over stay was 30 seconds and had not even clicked to the next full minute, hence no breach of contract has occurred. It does not say on the terms and conditions that they take into account time in seconds.

    Please can you advise on this... Many thanks.
    The newbies thread post #4 covers debt collector stage, nothing new or important about that and you don't have to respond to them. The only relevant bit I have picked out is the bit I have put in bold. Covered by the Newbies thread again, post #6 tells you how to complain to the BPA by email if a PPC doesn't reply to an appeal, for example. I would go for that angle as it's your best hope to claw this to POPLA stage and away from the possible court claim that PE like to try.

    Unless...the registered keeper can name the other person in the car as the driver and then PE will have to send a new PCN (again this is covered in the Newbies thread). But that will only work if the keeper has so far NEVER said who was driving (no 'me/myself/I' when writing to them about the parking event?).
    PRIVATE 'PCN'? DON'T PAY BUT DON'T IGNORE IT (except N.Ireland).
    CLICK at the top or bottom of any page where it says:
    Home»Motoring»Parking Tickets Fines & Parking - read the NEWBIES THREAD
  • Dawn74
    Dawn74 Posts: 16 Forumite
    I will have to wait for PE to come back with their rejection as usual. They should provide me with a POPLA rejection code on the rejection letter shouldn't they ?
  • Redx
    Redx Posts: 38,084 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Dawn74 wrote: »
    I will have to wait for PE to come back with their rejection as usual. They should provide me with a POPLA rejection code on the rejection letter shouldn't they ?
    they SHOULD have done that 18 months ago, but didnt

    they may argue it now and say you are too late for popla (they will not wish to issue a popla code at all)

    no point speculating now, wait for the reply as the ball is in their court

    doesnt stop you complaining to the landowner demanding a cancellation though , does it ?

    also doesnt stop you complaining to the BPA and DVLA with copies of all paperwork, if you have them , does it ?
  • Dawn74
    Dawn74 Posts: 16 Forumite
    I know what they will say - that I didn't submit an appeal ... But why if this is the case have they not sent any other letters to me ? I will not be able to prove this.

    I know I will have to pay these cowboys !!! I'm so frustrated with a
    All this and the fact that they can get away with this and it is allowed get as far as court at all is a wonder to me.

    How can a small claims court even allow it to go through ???

    Does anyone in this process apply common sense ?
  • Redx
    Redx Posts: 38,084 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 12 August 2014 at 9:22PM
    no they dont, its a money making sc*m and they all like to make money

    anybody can issue an MCOL against another person providing they pay the money to make the claim, proving the case is different however

    so yes it may be your word against theirs , even if it does go to MCOL

    they issue tens of thousands of these at the moment per year
  • Coupon-mad
    Coupon-mad Posts: 152,826 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Dawn74 wrote: »
    I know what they will say - that I didn't submit an appeal ... But why if this is the case have they not sent any other letters to me ? I will not be able to prove this.

    I know I will have to pay these cowboys !!! I'm so frustrated with a
    All this and the fact that they can get away with this and it is allowed get as far as court at all is a wonder to me.

    How can a small claims court even allow it to go through ???

    Does anyone in this process apply common sense ?
    Complain to the BPA, already told you! Not that they have common sense/nor are they on your side but they'll investigate complaints re a PPC not replying to an appeal.
    PRIVATE 'PCN'? DON'T PAY BUT DON'T IGNORE IT (except N.Ireland).
    CLICK at the top or bottom of any page where it says:
    Home»Motoring»Parking Tickets Fines & Parking - read the NEWBIES THREAD
  • Shielder
    Shielder Posts: 80 Forumite
    Seventh Anniversary 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    Dawn,

    DO NOT PAY them anything!!!!

    You sent off an appeal. They ignored it.

    You now need to take heed of the advice on this forum and send letters of complaint to the BPA and DVLA.

    Why do you want to pay these people???

    They rely on the ignorant masses for their revenue stream. If everyone came here before giving these "people" their credit card details, then these "people" would be out of business.

    Their business model is based on fear and ignorance.

    Once again, DO NOT PAY them anything!!!

    Follow the advice given on this forum and you'll be fine.

    Andy
  • Parking-Prankster
    Parking-Prankster Posts: 313 Forumite
    edited 13 August 2014 at 8:13AM
    I would send parkingeye a copy of their Hill-Dickinson letter
    http://parking-prankster.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/hill-dickinson-try-and-gag-prankster.html


    Dear ParkingEye,


    You instructed Hill-Dickinson to take legal action against the Parking-Prankster because you said he was lying when you charged clients for very short overstays.


    "You allege, for example [...] that our client issues parking charges for very short overstays and does not allow a five minute grace period. [...] This is simply untrue."


    In light of the fact I am being overcharged for a 30 second overstay, I wonder whether you could confirm either that you will cancel my ticket, or that you were lying when you informed Hill-Dickinson that you never charge for very short overstays.


    And to Hill-Dickinson;
    [EMAIL="Katie.mickleburgh@hilldickinson.com"]Katie.mickleburgh@hilldickinson.com[/EMAIL]
    Dear Ms Mickleburgh,
    I understand you wrote to the Parking Prankster informing him that ParkingEye never issue parking tickets for short overstays. I enclose a copy of a parking charge issued to me for a 30 second overstay. I believe you were therefore misinformed by ParkingEye


    And to me...
    [EMAIL="prankster@parking-prankster.com"]prankster@parking-prankster.com[/EMAIL]


    Please send me a copy of the ticket just in case ParkingEye ever restart their campaign of harassing me. :-)


    I can then use it to show the court they regularly misinform their own counsel, as well as the courts, judges, POPLA, their own customers and, for good measure, the motoring public.


    Also, it may be worth contacting Ivor PEcheque. I believe he spoke with the Vicar at the church in question, so he may be able to give you his address. I believe that the vicar will be more than happy to get this cancelled if ParkingEye are unhelpful.
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  • bazster
    bazster Posts: 7,436 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Was it clear from the Notice to Keeper they sent you that the overstay was just 30 seconds?

    If so, you've got lots of legs to stand on and ParkingEye has none. The sorts of things you will be throwing at them are:

    - the BPA Ltd. Code of Practice: "You should allow the driver a reasonable period to leave the private car park after the parking contract has ended, before you take enforcement action. "

    - 3JD08399 ParkingEye v Ms X. (Altrincham 17/03/2014): The judge ruled that merely being in the car park (in this case driving around looking for a space) is not the same as parking.

    http://parking-prankster.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/waiting-for-space-is-not-parking.html
    http://nebula.wsimg.com/c289944f81b4afb375a97d05d5a80df6?AccessKeyId=4CB8F2392A09CF228A46&disposition=0&alloworigin=1

    - the threats made to the Parking Prankster by PE's legal pygmies Hill Dickinson where they stated it is "simply untrue" that PE issued charges for overstays of 33 seconds and 50 seconds.

    http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1AgkpGSKFAg/U20mHXzvKGI/AAAAAAAACKM/szUDJWkxPgA/s1600/image-4.jpg


    If it's clear from your NtK that the overstay was just 30 seconds I'm sure Pranky would love to receive a copy!

    prankster@parking-prankster.com

    Have you complained to the church and the Diocese and Bishop of Plymouth about the egregious contradiction between their claim to be a "Celebrating, Caring, Learning & Living Church" and this flagrantly predatory behaviour by their agent ParkingEye?

    http://www.mostholytrinity.co.uk/
    http://www.plymouth-diocese.org.uk/
    Je suis Charlie.
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