How to pay charge?

minipiggle

Hi,
I'm new to this and totally overwhelmed by all the info in your newbie sticky thread. It doesn't seem to quite fit my circumstances, and I need some advice on how to deal with my situation.

On Easter Sunday around 8pm I was at the out of hours GP with my 5yr old and had to go to the chemist for a prescription for her. Town was packed with people and taxis and there was nowhere close by to park with a sick child to get to the chemist. I made the mistake of parking in a car park that was permit only. I didn't realise it was permit only at the time, i was pretty tired and stressed and the only sign I noticed said "Free Parking on Saturdays". It was a Sunday and the car park was empty so I stupidly thought I'd be alright. I parked and was about 10-15 mins in the chemist, but when I came out there was a man taking photos of my car. I ignored him and drove home (no ticket). I expected a letter with a charge, but nothing came. I thought I may have "got away with it" until today when I received a letter from Debt Recovery Plus demanding £160.
Now I know advice all says to ignore debt recovery letters, but the thing is, as much as I hate the unfairness of it, I AM LIABLE for the parking charge. I did park there, and I didn't have a permit. Unfortunately I haven't received a letter asking for payment of the charge in order to pay it and I don't see why I should pay inflated debt recovery costs.
So what do I do now? Do I ignore the debt recovery letters and wait for it to go to court and incur more charges? Do I contact the company direct (JD Parking) and explain and offer to pay the initial charge?
Please help, I'm terrified of it going to court. I just want to pay what I owe for the mistake that I made.

HO87

Despite your understandable caution, your circumstances are in fact identical to everyone else's. You have been issued with an arbitrary invoice intended to help JD Parking make a fat profit. The demand is not intended as recompense for the minimal element of inconvenience they might have suffered.

You may have parked in the car park that they monitor (they certainly do not own it) but that does not mean that you have done something wrong. This is the very sentiment that such companies exploit when making their utterly groundless demands.

Calm down. Go and make yourself a tea/coffee/milkshake etc etc and then come back to the Newbies thread again. Court - if it ever happens - is a long way off and there are a good few steps that JD have to go through to get there. Your case is hardly hopeless and there is plenty you can do to bring this to an end.

bazster

We don't help people to pay here, we only help people not to pay.

JD Parking has never brought a court claim against anyone as far as I am aware, although one of its directors (Joseph Grinion) was in court quite recently when he was convicted of offences under the Private Security Industry Act.

Do you seriously think your mistake warrants a charge of £100? And was it your mistake at all? How prominent were the signs? (Hint: obviously not prominent enough for you to see them).

You need to grow a pair. File and forget everything you receive unless it's a genuine Letter Before Claim (not a poxy debt collectors' letter vaguely threatening legal action) or real court papers.

Ignore the stupid increasing sums the toothless debt collectors keep coming up with. You will find that if you continue to ignore them they will start making you desperate offers to accept decreasing sums, and eventually they'll just go away.

nigelbb

If there was no ticket on the car then a letter known as a Notice To Keeper should have been sent to you within 14 days of the parking 'crime'. As that did not arrive the only person who can be chased for this alleged debt is the driver whose identity they don't know unless you tell them. You need to write as the Registered Keeper to Debt Recovery Plus denying the debt & referring them back to their client.