Parking Charge Notice from County Parking Enforcement Agency

beeeeeny

Hi everyone,

i keep on getting those letters chasing up the payment which started to annoy me and i just wanted to get some advice.

the PCN was issued by the County Parking Enforcement Agency Ltd for "Parking out of bay". When i received a letter from them i appealed it for the following reasons:

1. I said that I did not have it fixed to my window (i know i lied but do they really keep their photos?)
2. I parked there for less than twenty minutes since I just needed to drop some boxes as I was helping my friend in moving flats.
3. The car was not parked in the bays but it was not obstructing the car park at all so even an ambulance/fire engine could easily access the car park
4. there are no other place to leave the car, as there are no visitor spaces so isnt that a bit unreasonable to issue tickets?

Has anybody been in a similar position and would share their comments on this?

the appeal was rejected, blah blah blah, so i thought i might as well ignore the situation but I am now being chased by the debt recovery plus ltd but still ignoring them, is that a good idea?

any help would be appreciated!!!!:(

Guys_Dad

beeeeeny wrote: »

Hi everyone,

i keep on getting those letters chasing up the payment which started to annoy me and i just wanted to get some advice.

the PCN was issued by the County Parking Enforcement Agency Ltd for "Parking out of bay". When i received a letter from them i appealed it for the following reasons:

1. I said that I did not have it fixed to my window (i know i lied but do they really keep their photos?)
2. I parked there for less than twenty minutes since I just needed to drop some boxes as I was helping my friend in moving flats.
3. The car was not parked in the bays but it was not obstructing the car park at all so even an ambulance/fire engine could easily access the car park
4. there are no other place to leave the car, as there are no visitor spaces so isnt that a bit unreasonable to issue tickets?

Has anybody been in a similar position and would share their comments on this?

the appeal was rejected, blah blah blah, so i thought i might as well ignore the situation but I am now being chased by the debt recovery plus ltd but still ignoring them, is that a good idea?

any help would be appreciated!!!!:(

There is loads of help already on the forum in just about every second thread and Coupon Mad's NEWBIES sticky thread.

You have missed your appeal to the Independent Appeals Board(s) so now you are in the PPC's hands. Ultimately they can issue court papers, but until then, unless you feel like paying, you should ignore all communications until court papers or a LBCC arrives.

But do read a few active threads till you find one that is from someone in your shoes.

beeeeeny

Hi, yes i know i have read quite a few but none with similar circumstances, i know that they may send me the court papers, but im just wondering whether the fact that there is no visitor spaces etc and so i had nowhere to park, would that be any defence at all? if not then i guess its a bit whether or not they will issue the court papers and if so ill have to pay even more!

Guys_Dad

That is mitigation and neither PPCs nor POPLA/IAS do mitigation.

You broke their t&c. Your excuses are like a non-criminal-law equivalent of claiming that as it was 2.00 a.m. on an empty motorway, it was ok to speed.

And, yes, if they issue court papers and go with your current defence, you most certainly will have to pay more.

And, finally, you may think your circumstances are unique or that no others are the same. Not so, you have a generic situation and the only real difference is your vehicle registration number !

Sorry to sound harsh, but I would rather be straight with you than !!!!!foot around.

The one thing in your favour - and others may correct me - is that I think that this PPC is not one of the litigious ones.

beeeeeny

Guys_Dad wrote: »

That is mitigation and neither PPCs nor POPLA/IAS do mitigation.

The one thing in your favour - and others may correct me - is that I think that this PPC is not one of the litigious ones.

Yeah i understand. one last thing, you mentioned that you do not think they are one of the litigious ones, what do you mean? i know you are not 100% sure about this, but lets assume you are right - what should happen? they would eventually stop sending me those letters?

My sister had the same debt recovery plus ltd about 4 years ago... and after she ignored a few of their letters, they started sending her letters saying that as a good will gesture they will accept a reduced amount etc. lol and eventually they were asking for about £30 compared to the £149 that they wanted in the past. But of course as 4 years have passed, I wondered whether they still do the same things... Thanks

Guys_Dad

Forget the Debt Recovery people - it's the original "Creditor" that would have to take you to court.

Coupon-mad

And yes the debt collector letter chains haven't changed much at all since your sister ignored hers. There is an FOI on the forum somewhere showing court cases with various PPCs in the past year, and the year before, and I can't recall CPEA featuring heavily if at all.

4sibbs

I have experience of this company operating in the car park of block of flats, they ticket residents who according to their lease have the 'exclusive' right to park meaning people are paying 'fines' they don't need to.
We established that CP were not employed by the land owner and make their money from ticketing, they have to prove you have a contract with them or that you were trespassing and it is unlikely they can. The letters are bully boy tactics, there is a Template letter on the Parking Cowboys website to send to debt collectors, we sent it and never heard from them again, follow the advise on here and other fight back forums there is a good one on FB 'Don't pay your private parking tickets'.
We are currently fighting CP who operate in our local hospital car park, I wrote to the chief executive under the FOI act and they have confirmed that NONE of the monies CP collect goes back to the hospital they pocket it all to line their own pockets and the contract on entering the car park is with the hospital and NOT this independent company it is disgusting when I'm sure most people who pay up think the money is going to improve services

Umkomaas

Coupon-mad wrote: »

And yes the debt collector letter chains haven't changed much at all since your sister ignored hers. There is an FOI on the forum somewhere showing court cases with various PPCs in the past year, and the year before, and I can't recall CPEA featuring heavily if at all.

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/179544/response/444525/attach/3/A%20FINAL%20REPLY%20TO%20LEWIS%2085865.doc

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/205660/response/510306/attach/3/AA%20REPLY%20TO%20Craig%20Lewis%2090006%203.doc