Militant ignore, push for POPLA or await LBCCC?

gingarthur_2

Some months ago now, I got a windscreen PCN for parking on an industrial estate car park in the evening. When pulling into the car park, I checked for parking restriction signs but there was nothing shown on the main entrance boards so I (wrongly) assumed I was ok to park there.

It was dark when I arrived and when I left and I didn’t even see the small notices dotted around the car park on the of the brick walls. The car park is very poorly lit and I didn’t even notice the windscreen PCN until daylight the next day when I went to use the car again.

Anyway, after reading the PCN I asked friends if they had ever received a ticket for parking on the same carpark to which one of my friends said that they had and subsequently they had chosen to ignore it and never heard another thing about it.

It seems I have been a little more unlucky as I’ve now received a letter from the PPC since they contacted the DVLA for the owner details (owner is my wife but I was the driver) and now they have passed the case on the their debt recovery (sister) company and I have had 3 further letters the latest one stating quite aggressively that the outstanding amount (plus administration charges) should now be paid or advise that you (my wife) is not the correct person … IMEDIATELY.

So far I’ve gone down the ‘militant route’ and not responded to any of these letters at all but now I’m starting to wonder if I should respond now and try the POPLA route or continue to wait for an LBCCC and respond then.
As it’s in my wife’s name, I am also getting pressure from her to put an end to it or at least get her name out of the equation.
The latest letter offers the opportunity to name the driver within 28 days (again) or the keeper of the vehicle is liable for the outstanding charges. This is in one paragraph and then threatens that if action isn’t taken ‘today’ to contact the debt recovery company or pay the outstanding amount, the matter will be referred to their litigation department.

My main annoyance is that on entering the carpark I actually looked for a parking restriction notice and there wasn’t any at the entrance. Then, as it was so dark I didn’t even notice the small signs on the wall so ended up getting a windscreen ticket. I’ve since read up on the code of practice for BPA approved companies and I thought entrance signs were mandatory?

Secondly, it was an evening and all of the businesses on the site were closed so parking there wouldn’t have caused anyone any issues or losses, especially true for the vacant building that I parked in front of.

I have also noticed that the windscreen ticket refers to a slightly different location to that of the letters I’ve had from the PPC and debt recovery company.
Could this be good grounds along with poor signage & lighting to push for an appeal now?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Captain_Leaky

Can't advise anything further until the PPC is known. You say 'some months ago' - how long? What is the date you received the ticket? How do you know that you can appeal to POPLA? You can only appeal to POPLA if the PPC is a member of their scheme and not a member of the IAS. We cannot tell you that until we know the name of the PPC.

Fruitcake

The advice has been NOT to ignore for nearly three years so you have not done your research very well.

Read the Sticky thread for NEWNBIES at the top of the main page which is your one stop shop for all private parking queries.

If this is a litigant parking company such as Parking Eye, you may be advised to reveal who was driving. This is not normally advised if you haven't ignored the NTK but in this case it might help. If on the other hand it is an IPC memeber or a one person band outfit, ignoring might be an option.

As above, we can't advise until we know who the PPC is.

pogofish

Why ignore when the law changed back in 2012 - and we have a range of effective tactics for seeing PPCs-off detailed in the Newbies Sticky - the very first thread on this forum?

gingarthur_2

Thanks for the replies so far.

Granted, my research waswas very late and subsequently poor... A lesson that I shouldn't take advice from freinds in future and to check these forums straight away. Maybe it will be an expensive lesson learned.

Ticket was received in February from UK Parking SolutionsSolutions ltd and has now been passed to TNC management ltd. Both appear on the BPA list.

Thanks.

Northlakes

This may be a case where naming the driver works and winning at POPLA will be the route out.

Umkomaas

Northlakes wrote: »

This may be a case where naming the driver works and winning at POPLA will be the route out.

Won't work, the driver has already had the chance to appeal, as below. Will only work with an ANPR camera PCN.

Some months ago now, I got a windscreen PCN .....

No magic solution now available, pay up (not advised here) or ignore anything further other than a LBA or MCOL papers (acronyms in NEWBIES FAQ sticky!).

@OP - you need to read post 4 of the above sticky - all you need to know about debt collectors in the context of a private parking charge.

Coupon-mad

Don't worry about UKPS or DRP letters. Forget it - DO NOT PAY. Read the NEWBIES thread post #4 about 'ignore the debt collectors' (an easy stage).

It is very simple to Google each letter each time to find other people who've ignored it for a decade! Search for a phrase from each letter on Google and lo and behold you will find that letter mentioned online a hundred times by cheerful ignorers. You are wasting time worrying about nothing!

Here's confirmation:

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=96495

One of ZILLIONS of online threads all boringly worrying about the same old letter chain. At least that guy came back on pepipoo forum, to confirm that it ends, as we know it does.