APCOA Parking Notice from April 2014

Karnan

Hi,

I was cleaning up today when I discovered behind the radiator a parking fine notice from a company called APCOA. The letter had a photo of my lease car entering and leaving a private Travel lodge car park on the 12/03/2014 - I was there for an hour. Im pretty sure I paid but I can't remember since it was ages ago.

My 2 year old is notorious for picking up mail in the morning and stuffing them somewhere.

Anyway, this letter was sent on the 23/04/2014 and I haven't heard anything since. Normally fines go to the Lease company and I guess it was them that supplied APCOA of my address for the April letter but I have heard nothing about this from the lease company since then as well. Its been 5 months and nothing, no bailifs, no letters etc

I'm now worried that they will turn up one day demanding silly money but I have no proof to defend myself for that period. Not sure what to do, should I just contact them or gamble and ignore?

Karnan

Has anyone had any experience with this company, are they legit? I guess they might be since Travellodge are using them. Not sure and very worried.

bazster

Legit because TravelLodge uses them? Oh puhleeeze. TravelLodge is just as bad and has its own version of exactly the same money-making wheeze: it sends people speculative invoices claiming they smoked in their room and demanding hundreds of pounds for cleaning.

You certainly needn't worry about toothless APCOA. If you've paid then you've paid (more fool you), and if you haven't then let sleeping dogs lie. No-one is going to send the heavies around, at worst all you'll get is a few more pathetic begging letters.

Karnan

Several questions:

- I can't remember if I paid for parking or not. The PCN states I was there for an hour. I sometimes pay by card when Im at the Travel lodge and there is no transaction for the 12/03/2014. So I'm guessing that I must have paid with change. However, since it was so long ago I don't have a ticket to prove it. So I guess I am at fault

- Neither myself or the lease company have heard anything from since the letter in April. Is it safe to assume they have dropped it or is this just building up into something bigger - debt collector or even court action.

I only discovered the letter today. Not sure what to do, I'm tempted to call the APCOA but since they havent contacted me since the original notice Im wondering if they dropped it. Its a long shot.

- Considering the time frame, roughly how much would they charge me if I contacted them?

bazster

Karnan wrote: »

Several questions:

- I can't remember if I paid for parking or not. The PCN states I was there for an hour. I sometimes pay by card when Im at the Travel lodge and there is no transaction for the 12/03/2014. So I'm guessing that I must have paid with change. However, since it was so long ago I don't have a ticket to prove it. So I guess I am at fault

That isn't a question. Anyway, you did nothing to warrant them demanding £100 or whatever.

Karnan wrote: »

- Neither myself or the lease company have heard anything from since the letter in April. Is it safe to assume they have dropped it or is this just building up into something bigger - debt collector or even court action.

It's not "safe" to assume they've dropped it, but at the same time there is no danger. Debt collectors aren't big, they are pygmys with no powers whatsoever who should be totally ignored. APCOA doesn't do court action.

The biggest "danger" is that the lease company pays them and tries to charge it to you. You need to make it crystal clear to the lease company that, now APCOA has written to you, the lease company has no liability and must not pay - or if they do, you ain't refunding them!

Karnan wrote: »

I only discovered the letter today. Not sure what to do, I'm tempted to call the APCOA but since they havent contacted me since the original notice Im wondering if they dropped it. Its a long shot.

- Considering the time frame, roughly how much would they charge me if I contacted them?

I already told you what to do. Ignore them. Absolutely do not contact them.

Karnan

I should ignore them even if there is a possibility that I might not have paid for the parking ticket? NO idea at all about the day or why I was even at the Travellodge. I could have been waiting for a colleague and just sat in the car outside.

Well, its been 5 months and neither myself or the lease company have heard anything. I'll ignore it and see what happens.

I feel like a bit of a crook considering that this company has screwed over so many innocent people and it looks like I might actually be guilty

Ive read stories of bailiffs turning up and clamping your car overnight and refusing to take it off until you pay up. Can they do this legally? I thought only cops can

Coupon-mad

Ignore them as long as the lease co aren't likely to just pay up if they get a letter. You could write to the lease company and tell them they are not liable as they have named you as driver but if they hear further can they forward the letter to you, or a copy of it and you will handle it and you will not be paying. Remind them that the POFA 2012 no longer applies (as they have given your name & address) so there is no excuse for 'lease co' to pay it.

Karnan

Coupon-mad wrote: »

Ignore them as long as the lease co aren't likely to just pay up if they get a letter. You could write to the lease company and tell them they are not liable as they have named you as driver but if they hear further can they forward the letter to you, or a copy of it and you will handle it and you will not be paying. Remind them that the POFA 2012 no longer applies (as they have given your name & address) so there is no excuse for 'lease co' to pay it.

Its unlikely the Lease company will pay. Since they have given my details to them, I assume they will hassle me directly.

In other threads people advise to use the protocol stated in the newbie thread. Ive had a look but none of it is relevant to my circumstances:

- a letter was sent in April and I only found it now. However no letter has been sent since then.

- i spoke to the lease company and they confirm they have heard nothing. the guy i spoke to thinks it might have been written off due to the time frame but not 100% sure

So my question is, since I have not heard anything for over 5 months, should I still go through the appeal process? What if I just ignore it and then if they send a "solicitor" or bailiff letter I just say I received no letter and question them why they are only contacting me now after 5 months? Writing an appeal letter would confirm that I have indeed receieved something which they have no way of proving since it was not recorded/signed delivery.

If what Im saying is making sense.

I will go with whatever you guys advise is best. Im just confused.

Umkomaas

You need to see what their next move is - and let sleeping dogs lie for the moment. Nothing much you can do directly with APCOA will resolve things now; you're more likely to flag yourself up for renewed attention. But this is not a guarantee that nothing more will be heard.

Bailiffs only appear after a court finds against you and you refuse to pay any order against you and then only if the claimant applies to pursue via bailiffs. So don't imagine the sky is going to fall down just because it's been up there for zillions of years!

I've also replied to your question on Diane99's thread, so read the above in conjunction with that, but please restrict any further questions to this, your own thread, from here on please.

bazster

How many more times? Ignore them. They cannot and will not send the boys round. They cannot and will not clamp your car. Just file and forget.

Karnan

Umkomaas wrote: »

You need to see what their next move is - and let sleeping dogs lie for the moment. Nothing much you can do directly with APCOA will resolve things now; you're more likely to flag yourself up for renewed attention. But this is not a guarantee that nothing more will be heard.

Bailiffs only appear after a court finds against you and you refuse to pay any order against you and then only if the claimant applies to pursue via bailiffs. So don't imagine the sky is going to fall down just because it's been up there for zillions of years!

I've also replied to your question on Diane99's thread, so read the above in conjunction with that, but please restrict any further questions to this, your own thread, from here on please.

In the other thread you wrote:

"You're watching too many Crimewatch programmes! Go back to your own thread - all your advice will be placed there."

LOL, why do you say that? I was just curious how much these fines can go up to if we keep ignoring and it goes to court.

I'm just curious why they have not contacted me for over 5 months. Based on what Ive read from others on this forum, these guys appear to hound people repeatedly, at most a month or two apart. Ive heard !!!!!! all. Don't get me wrong, Im sure they will come back out of the blue with some silly request for money.

The thing is if it goes to court, I will lose. Since I did use their carpark but I did not leave the car though. I think was waiting to pick someone up. Who in their right mind pays for parking in those circumstances? There were no signs that said you had to pay even if you were still in the car.