Help with PCS

baeza

Hello, This is my first post , so please be patient.I’m trying to help a friend who received the following letter from PCS:
Outstanding Parking Charge Notice - £120.00


We are writing on behalf of the creditor in relation to an unpaid parking charge. We have obtained your details from DVLA under a "reasonable. cause" request as you were the registered keeper of the vehicle specified at the time of the parking incident shown. A Parking Charge has been issued because the vehicle was parked in a manner where the driver attracted a parking charge as brought to the driver's attention via signage and agreed to by the driver when the vehicle was parked on private land managed by the creditor Spring Parking Ltd.


A Notice to Driver, providing details of the incident, was issued via a Parking Charge Notice (PCN) that was affixed to the vehicle screen. The driver was required to pay the parking charge within 28 days of issue. The opportunity to pay at the reduced rate has now passed and the full amount is now due by the driver.


As the charge has not yet been paid in full and we do not hold a record of the driver's name and address, we are writing to you as the keeper of the vehicle. As such we now invite you to make payment of the parking charge shown or if you were not the driver of the vehicle at the time of the incident to notify us in writing, acting on behalf of Spring Parking Ltd, of the name and current serviceable address of the driver. Please also pass this notice to him/her without delay.


If this parking charge remains unpaid after a period 28 days of this notice and


we do not know both the name and current address of the driver, we will have the right to recover the charge from you as the keeper of the vehicle. At this stage we may pass the account to our debt recovery company where further costs may be added.


Our reference No: xxxxx Date of this Notice:25/08/2015 Parking Charge Date:22/07/2015 Time of issue:14:18:00 Parking Charge Notice No: xxxxx Vehicle Registration No: xxxxxx The Creditor: Spring Parking Ltd Location: xxxxxxxx Reason for issue: No Displayed Permit Outstanding Amount: £120.00





My friend was parked in the office car park where he was doing some work. He has parked here various times. But this time the manager advised my friend that there was someone taking pictures of his van. My friend went outside and saw the cowboy, sorry attendant sitting in his car. My friend asked why he had been taking pictures, the attendant simply said that he was going to give him a ticket. When my friend asked why and that he would leave, the attendant said that it was too late because he already had the ticket in his hand, and that a letter would be sent to my friend. My friend just left (confused) and the next thing he got the letter. A notice to driver was most definitely not issued and affixed to the vehicle windscreen, so would not have had a chance to pay the reduced rate. I have read through the newbies thread, but just got more confused as to whether he should completely ignore the letter (which was not singed for) or make some kind of appeal, and therefore confirm that he has received the letter. I have advised my friend to ignore them, but he is panicking about the “debt recovery company” bit. My question is, if my friend provides them with a name and address from someone in Spain or some other country, would that be the end of it, or could they still chase my friend if they don’t get any response? Also, surely if they intentionally not affix the PCN to make more money, that is breaking the rules? Sorry for the long post, but I would really appreciate some help to clarify what I should do. Many thanks in advance.

Redx

read post #4 of the NEWBIES sticky thread again

debt collectors should be IGNORED , totally ignored

if this event happened in england or wales then the registered keeper may be held to be liable for the invoice, if the PPC followed POFA 2012 to the letter, otherwise the RK can claim pofa 2012 does not apply

if the RK was not driving, they can inform the PPC (not debt collector) who the driver was , with a serviceable address, then they are no longer deemed liable under POFA 2012

the PPC (not debt collector) have up to 6 years to issue court claims for these invoices in england or wales

if the RK has an NTK, then they should send the template appeal letter to the PPC and to PCS (who are DRP in disguise) , appealing the NTK

naming the driver is the other course of action if the 2 are not the same person , if its the same person, forget this option

baeza

Hi, thanks for the reply. I have read post #4 which clearly confirms that deb collectors should be ignored. But in answer to my question about giving another address, what is a serviceable address ? what happens if the address is not in the UK, and what happens if they don't get a response from that address? The letter was in my first post, was there anything that does not comply with POFA 2012? Also, with regards to my question about completely ignoring the letter, can you advise if that is a good option at all, or is either appealing or giving another address a better option? I only ask because as far as anyone is concerned, I may had never received the letter. One thing I forgot to ask on my first post was, shouldn't the letter have some pictures to proof the PCN was issued? as already mentioned, the PCN was definitely not affixed to the windscreen, which at worse, my friend could have paid the reduced rate or appeal, but even the letter doesn't give an option to appeal. Does anyone know if PCS or Spring Parking Ltd have an option to see the photos online? I haven't checked because it asks for the PCN number which if I entered, would confirm I received the letter. Sorry for asking so many things, but I wanted to give my friend the best possible option, and not just me presuming. Thanks again.

The_Deep

£120, is that following POFA to the letter?

Castle

PCS is the trading name of Debt Recovery Plus Ltd (who also act as debt collectors) but in this instance this is a NTK (Notice To Keeper), not a debt collectors letter on behalf of Spring Parking Ltd.

However the amount claimed must be the same as that which is shown on the NTD (Notice to Driver); so £120 is naughty and of course since there was no NTD, (very naughty), they are too late to comply with POFA.

The RK will still have to appeal though, (and ASAP), otherwise the next letter they will receive will be from Debt Recovery Plus and it will be too late to use POPLA.

As far as too whether you received the letter or not it won't matter to PCS or Spring Parking they will just keep writing.

fil_cad

Whatever you do DONT part with your cash to these grubby scammers.

baeza

Thank you all for your responses. I just need someone to advise me regarding the pictures i.e.. none on the letter, and is there a way to see them online. Surely they must be able to at least show some proof that a PCN was affixed to the windscreen (and obviously taken off after taking a picture) or that vehicle was ever even parked there? Also, any advise regarding giving a foreign address and what is a serviceable address. Thanks again

baeza

Hi, sorry to be a pain, but I would really appreciate a response to my last post, since , as per the notice letter, we need to reply with 28 days from the 25/08/2015. Just to add another question, if my friend does actually need to appeal, should he do it to PCS or Spring Parking? Thanks again.

Redx

they can save their evidence for popla, so no you may not necessarily get the photos until the evidence pack to popla which is what happened with the UKPC debacle (see parking pranksters blogs)

any appeal should go to both, but as DRP or PCS is acting on behalf of the PPC then send it to them as a bare minimum , if in doubt send it to both with free certificates of posting from the PO counter

a serviceable address is a fixed address anywhere in the world , possibly with a zip code or a postcode , could be australia for all we care, just as long as the address is valid and can receive letters

so if the driver moved to australia, give them the drivers name and address (how hard can it be to understand ?)

ps:- they can "chase" whoever they like, even after somebody else is named, but the proof of the pudding is what they can prove to a judge in order to win a case , in your case its what the defendent can appeal to a judge so the case is thrown out

so the crux would be a court case like Barry Beavis, with a legal outcome decided by one or more judges

the PPC (not PCS) have 6 years to bring about a court case in England and Wales

baeza

Thanks Redx. Just one last one, I promise. Would you advise that I should just send them the template letter on the Newbie's post, give them a serviceable address (would that be the end of it?), or add the serviceable address to the template letter?. Than you once again.

Redx

nope , either you are making an appeal using the template letter and adding the pcn number and Keeper details, or not making an appeal and informing them of the drivers details instead , to comply with POFA 2012

I dont think you have a "handle" on this as yet