PCS Notice on behalf of WY Parking Enforcement Ltd

shaflh

Hi, I am completely new to this so apologies in advance for stupid questions/making myself look like an idiot. I've never had a private parking notice before but have read up a little about them and would REALLY appreciate some advice.

So I parked outside a CLOSED car garage on a Sunday albeit there was a notice saying you cannot park here. But I didn't think I was causing any obstruction/harm for all of 10 minutes as it was closed. Anyway, a few days later I received a "Notice to Keeper" letter from PCS managed by WY Parking Enforcement issued "following the use of a warden operated camera system" and Reason for issue: 4 - Parked in a permit only parking area without clearly displaying a valid permit" saying if I pay within 14 days it is at a reduced rate of £54.00

- It was within 14 days of me parking there.
- There was no ticket left on my windscreen.
- The "garage/land" is a small private business called Sagu Motors in Bradford and they also own the land (I rang them to confirm this but did not disclose any details)

I initially ignored the first letter however a friend mentioned to me that paying these tickets are not a legal requirement so just ignore or put on a false name. I didn't take any action.

Today I received a second letter from "Debt Recovery Plus" demanding the unpaid charge of £149.00 to be paid by 29/10/2015.

I understand from the forum there is a way to appeal however (stupidly) out of frustration, I rang up Debt Recovery today asking why they had sent me this letter and that I had written to them with details of the individual driving as I was not driving and passed the original notice onto the driver. (This was not true of course but from previous experience when you tell a company as such you wrote to them and they say they have not received any correspondence, they will usually say "okay please send again and we'll look into it etc" which is what I was expecting. However the response I got was "No we didn't receive anything so as the registered keeper you're now liable for the charge." End of basically. So I hung up and rang the number on the original PCS (which I later realised was actually also Debt Recovery Plus) and argued the same thing expecting a different response. However at this point I also mentioned that strictly speaking it's only been 26 WORKING days yet and the letter mentions 28 days and does not specify so arguably I could have assumed it meant 28 working days. At this point the lady on the phone said something like "okay well I don't know about that, it generally means 28 days including weekends but you can email us the details of the other driver and we will get back to you." Again I hung up.

I have not yet sent that email, which would have been made up details, because I realised that if they reject it then I have dropped myself in it. To clarify, all the time on the phone, I used the phrase "the individual driving the car" so I said "I sent you a letter with details of the individual driving the car and I passed the original notice to the individual" which of course I never did but this is what will be recorded on the phone conversation.

So have I screwed myself over? What are my options at this point? Should I pursue the "email false details to them on the basis it has been 26 working days only" I know this is not very ethical but neither are these guys to be fair. But what are the chances they accept my argument of working/non working days? What are my alternatives to paying this fine?

Sorry about the long thread but lastly the original letter also mentioned the right to appeal within 28 days however "if your appeal is outside of these timescales it will be rejected as the time limit will have expired and you will therefore not be given the option to use the Independent Appeals Service (POPLA)" ... As mentioned, I am currently on 26 WORKING days but past the limit of 28 days including weekends. PLEASE HELP!

Fruitcake

Ignoring a parking ticket is bad advice since the law changed in 2012. Whoever told you to ignore is presumably going to help you out with any costs you may incur as a result of giving you bad advice?


Read the Sticky thread for NEWBIES and appeal anyway using the template appeal letter you will find there.


Do not edit it and send the appeal template exactly as it is, and don't send anything else.


Ignore debt collectors (but not the parking company). It tells you why in the NEWBIES thread.

Jim_AFCB

You need to read the NEWBIES thread at the top of this forum and understand the issues therein.

shaflh

Thank you for responding so quickly. Yeah I guess it's not the smartest thing I have done.

Do I send the appeal directly to WY Parking Enforcement at this point? Is email/online the best method of contact?

Also, the first appeal template mentions:

"e). I believe that the signs were not seen/are ambiguous and the predominant purpose is to deter so there is no contract to pay this charge, which is a penalty."

As mentioned originally, the garage does actually have a "warning" sign up with the typical black and yellow block border so can I still include this in my appeal?

Jim_AFCB

WY are BPA so should offer POPLA. You need to appeal quicklybefore the 28 days to get a code. I think you're on Day 26?? So act quickly.

shaflh

When attempting to appeal online on WY Parking Enforcement, I am automatically redirected to "Parking Collection Services" which is actually Debt Recovery Plus. This is my only option of how to appeal online. Is this where I want to send my online appeal?

Herzlos

submit your appeal there, and find an email address for WY and send a copy to them too. A lot of the smaller companies use PCS for back-office duties like the automated rejection of appeals.

ampersand

The act of lying stupidly to one side, NEVER EVER RING DEBT COLLECTORS OR COMMUNINCATE WITH THEM IN ANY WAY.
#
Working your way through the newbies stickies means you should have seen this point by now, heavily emphasised.

shaflh

Thanks. I have sent an online appeal and received automated email confirmation of them receiving it. Also sent a copy to the contact email for WY parking enforcements themselves. How long should I allow for them to contact me now? If I do not hear from them for a certain amount of time, should I contact them?

Thanks for the help

bod1467

Keep evidence of appealing. Do not contact them unless they contact you (either to accept/reject your appeal, or if debt collectors write to you ... in which case you complain to BPA that WY are in breach of the CoP by not considering your appeal).

shaflh

Hello, thank you for all those that replied to this thread. I did exactly as advised and I have not yet heard anything back from them in regards to that original parking charge.

However, just 2 days after posting this, I received another PCS notice, exactly the same as this for the exact same incident. The date on the notice was 22.10.15 and the parking charge date 13.09.15.. with the same reference as the original but this time I was advised that the "reduced rate" to pay within 14 days is £90!! Please note, this was NOT a follow up reminder from the original, it was like a brand new parking notice but for the same incident. 4 days later on the 26.10.15, I received YET another letter in the exact same format except with the new date on, again for the same incident that this original thread was created for. This time it stated the "reduced rate" is £54 within 14 days and the full amount is 90 days. I intend to deal with this this time, within the 28 day window (working off none-working days this time as I don't want them to have a leg to stand on).

1. Firstly, I'd like to know how I should approach this? I've learnt not to contact the debt collectors at all. But do I appeal in the same way and request a POPLA code the standard way?
2. Surely it is illegal for them to issue me with THREE different parking fines for the exact same offence anyway? Although I have noted that the reference and PCN no. remains the same. But they have in essence issued 3 separate tickets. Is there not something I can do about this or raise this? They can't be getting away with this?
3. If the outcome is, that I should just do the appeal method as advised previously and get a POPLA code as this is the only way, do I do it for both Parking Charges issued? So I would be treating them as two separate charges?

As mentioned, I am currently on my 24th day (working from the second notice on 22.10.15) so responses would be much appreciated. Oh and also, does this mean for now I can disregard the original PCS I received and appealed for seeing I have had no response?

Thank you in advance for your replies!