Help with Parking Eye - CCJ

unfitwellhappy

Not sure what 'HTH' means but you are all outstanding people!

I was in two minds as to whether to send a begging letter to Travel Lodge rather than a complaint.

It was the naive side of me I think - my wife soon sorted me out when I mentioned this to her.

ampersand

Good, you need to be team-working on this one and your wife could do no better than emulate c-m!

HTH/hth = hope this helps:-)

Now, get stuck into reading. Ensure you make a bullet point list of things you need to INSIST on from Peter Gowers. Keep half-way's #7 uppermost in your mindset.

You don't have to fear taking a big breath and getting it all wrong: your computer is your best friend now, with ccp at your fingertips.

Do work together on this - 'my wife soon sorted me out' is very encouraging:-)

unfitwellhappy

Thanks for all your help everyone!

Draft 1 of the letter to TravelLodge has been written so i'm taking it from there.

I will keep you all updated!

ampersand

ufh - do not feel shy or wary of posting your draft here. This opportunity should not be wasted. Comments will not be critiques of you, but essential input to ensure maximum chances of success, from posters who have the experience and track records to help.

Your rebuttal needs to include all points germane to having this ccj overturned and reminding Travel Lodge of their supremacy over, and responsibility for, the actions of their agent .

Travel Lodge can, and should, instigate this process immediately.

unfitwellhappy

Here is the draft that my wife and I have put together, any thoughts/help is greatly appreciated...


Dear Mr Gowers,

On the 13th of March 2014 I visited a guest of one of your hotels, who was staying at the Travelodge in Rugby Central while attending a funeral of a family member, please see enclosed invoice. I was asked to visit him in order to provide some moral support during a very difficult time.

Upon my arrival at the hotel I parked in the available parking area and was advised that parking was free as long as you were a guest of the hotel. I was not made aware that I needed to inform the hotel of my registration number.

Recently, my wife and I have been actively attempting to purchase our first property and we were surprised to find that my wife – as the registered keeper of our car – had been issued with a County Court Judgement. After contacting the relevant court, we were informed that this CCJ was issued by Parking Eye Ltd acting as agents on behalf of Travelodge Hotels Ltd.

As we had moved from ______to_______to start a new life, there was a delay in the updating of our V5 record for our vehicle and ALL notifications relating to any parking charge were sent to our old address, including court papers. We had no chance to defend ourselves. As this is a free car park, we do not believe there was any loss to Travelodge Hotels Ltd or Parking Eye Ltd and the charge levied against us is unfair and disproportionate. We believe had we received the paperwork from Parking Eye Ltd our appeal would have been upheld, as is the case in 65% of appeals made to this company.

We are now faced with the possibility of NOT being able to purchase our first house, our next car or being provided with any financial assistance for the next 6 years. As you can imagine, this has caused severe stress on both my wife and I’s mental health and our relationship has suffered due to this. We are also faced with significant legal fees with any attempts to have the CCJ removed.

As previously stated Parking Eye Ltd are acting as agents on behalf of Travelodge Hotels Ltd and as such we request that you contact Parking Eye Ltd and demand that this charge is withdrawn so that we may have a chance of removal of the CCJ. My wife and I both frequent Travelodge hotels for both business and pleasure purposes, as do the respective companies we work for. Given the treatment we have received from a company that is representing your brand, it is in the best interests of your company to assist us is this very distressing matter. We will not hesitate in leaving a negative review on TripAdvisor for the hotel and will ensure our friends, family and employers do not use any of your establishments in the future, should your assistance not be satisfactory.
Yours sincerely,

ampersand

Good start, uwh - note that 'Court' always takes a capital 'C'.

Suggest:
'On the 13 March, 2014, I visited one of your hotels, the Travelodge in Rugby Central, while attending a funeral of a family member. [Please see enclosed invoice.] I was with one of your guests, providing moral support during a very difficult time.

Upon arrival, I parked in the designated area and was advised that parking was free to guests of the hotel and their visitors, but not made aware that I needed to give my registration number.

Please note: at no stage was I asked for this.'

Then, try something like:

'Had we received your agent's paperwork at our correct address, the tried and tested moneysavingsexpert path would have prevailed, as in virtually 100% of their Forum-assisted Appeals. Increasingly, the company you have chosen to profiteer from your car parks does not even contest a POPLA Appeal, for which they must pay £27 a time. They are unable to substantiate or prove any genuine pre-estimate of loss or compliant signage, to name just two of the grounds upon which POPLA Appeals are consistently upheld. In fact, this company has a pattern of capitulating without a challenge when seeing these points raised at POPLA.

Delays in updating our V5 record, meant ALL notifications of this alleged parking event, including Court papers, were sent to our old address. Therefore, we had no chance to defend ourselves against this unenforceable invoice.

As this was a free car park, there was NO loss to Travelodge Hotels Ltd or Parking Eye Ltd.

Further, the charge levied against us is unfair and disproportionate. '[add in some relevant decisions]
#
Alter:[too personal and lacks telling points]
'We moved from ______to_______to start a new life.
Now, your Agent's actions are set to prevent us purchasing our first house, our next car[which will become necessary], or successfully applying for a loan, for the next SIX years.[this section still feels clunky to me - see what others say]

To say this is causing us severe stress, undermining my wife's health in particular, is an understatement. [do you really want to include this sort of ref. to your wife? I understand your reasoning, given that the ccj is against her]

We are also faced with significant legal fees in any attempt to have this County Court Judgment removed.[ one 'e' in 'judgment']

Because Parking Eye Ltd have acted as your agents, we hereby formally request that Travelodge Hotels Ltd direct ParkingEye to withdraw this charge, as a precursor to removal of this County Court Judgment.

My wife and I both patronise Travelodge hotels for business and pleasure, as do the staff of our respective companies. They are fully aware of what has happened and,
like us, await your confirmation of urgent remedy.

Given the treatment we have received from a company representing your brand, it must be in the best interests of your company to assist us in this very distressing matter.
[ufh- I'm not really happy with those last 2 paras, but won't delay putting something up for others to comment on/rebuild]

We look forward to a positive response and thank you for your attention.

Yours faithfully,
uwh.
#
c-m is the one to direct you to points of law, from the cases she linked in #11.
Go through those again, esp. #4 of this one:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5090108

- but no leapfrogging. Take notes from each one and then look again at your draft.

Half_way

You could also drop a line in saying that you believe that travelodge are being deceitful/negelgent in alowing a company such as Parking Eye to act as their agents.
the antics of parking eye are well documented and in the Parking eye vs Somerfield case a Judge stated
"Hence the Judge found ParkingEye was guilty of the tort of deceit on those occasions when the third letter was sent on its behalf. ParkingEye does not challenge this decision. "
http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2012/1338.html

By allowing parking eye to operate on their site Travelodge must take full responsibility for any issues and problems that their agents have caused

unfitwellhappy

Thanks for all your replies - apologies for the delay in getting back to you.

My wife and I have both been bogged down with work so haven't had much time to deal/cope with this.

I will work on Draft 2 and post again if you guys don't mind taking a 2nd look.

Thanks!!