MPS/MIL collections

desres52

Hi all
Tried to read through all posts, got confused as none fit my scenario, any help would be appreciated: Company is Millenium Parking Services.
PCN dated 19/1, read details here and waited for ntk. NTK dated 57 days later, I appealed immediately, no response. Debt collector letters arrived from Debt Recovery Plus, I responded stating that an appeal was ongoing, I then received further letters both from DRP then Zenith Collections. I contacted MPS by letter asking why they had not responded to my original appeal and enclosed a copy of my original appeal letter - they told me I was too late to appeal. So I was left in no man's land, no popla code to appeal through proper channels and directed back to the debt collection company. Now received letter before action from MIL collections stating they have bought the debt from Millenium Door and Event Security, this is the first mention of this company name, but I gather that they all belong to Mill-Group. They have given me 14 days to pay or take me to court. Any suggestions on how to respond?

pappa_golf

they do not all belong to the MIL group!


MIL is a firm of solicitor's down in Cornwall (?) that "supposedly buy "supposed" claims from scum for £1 each


lots have been said on here /pepipoo and indeed parking prankster


google is your friend , you are searching for MILparking


https://www.google.co.uk/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=&oq=mil+parking&hl=en-GB&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GUEA_en-GBGB680GB680&q=mil+parking&gs_l=hp...0j0i22i30j0i22i10i30l3.0.0.2.17151...........0.fMHXpcpCJxY

hoohoo

The pranksters site contains many MIL cases. Also google champerty and maintenance. MIL are not buying an actual debt, but the right to sue. And unfortunately for them, this is not allowed. They go straight to court so make sure you write asap to head them off.

desres52

thanks, forgot to mention that the letter before action from MIL(Truro) was in the same envelope as the 'Debt Sold under Agreement of Assignment' from Swansea.

pappa_golf

yes and they both had the same barcode! , as per hoohoos comments and SEARCH this and the other places


it has all been mentioned and sorted before


where does the Swansea bit come in?

Coupon-mad

MIL are nothing to do with Millennium but you will learn most be reading the sort of thing shown by pappa golf first. You need to understand the issues before you just send a template response. Also search this forum for 'MIL' because the assignment isn't one which holds legal weight but they use this and court claims as a cheap scare tactic of making money, with no intention of turing up to hearings (they don't need to, because enough people get intimidated into paying them).

You should respond robustly, as you will learn from other posts here and from the Parking Prankster Blogs. You will see you need to respond with a clear formal response making it clear that they won't win if they try a small claim in your case.

You need the usual LBCCC response with a bit more, something like this based partly on wording from the Prankster and bargepole, maybe:



Dear Sir

Ref ****

I note your letter dated **** which includes among its inaccuracies and misrepresentations a statement that it is compliant with the Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct. This is as fictitious as the debt itself.

Your modus operandi is well-known and you have no prospects whatsoever of success in the small claims track. I am not liable to the original parking company and MIL has no connection to that matter and has no grounds to issue court proceedings. This alleged debt is disputed and denied in its entirety and I suggest you read the following before wasting a court fee on top of the pound that MIL has spent on purchasing the non-existent 'debt':

MIL has no valid assignment of debt in the form of a Deed of Assignment pursuant to s136 of the Law of Property Act 1925. Absent such evidence, you have no cause of action.

Even if there was a valid Deed of Assignment, MIL has no interest in, or privity to, any purported original contract, and such an assignment would be champertous.

The sole purpose of MIL purchasing old private parking 'charges' is to enable MIL to instigate legal proceedings. This is a chose in action and on that basis I will defend any claim and immediately move for it to be struck out by the Court, should you commence court proceedings. In addition, I will claim my costs if I incur any expenses in defending this baseless and vexatious form of extortion.

MIL is using the small claims track process and paperwork frivolously, as an aggressive but cheap form of pseudo-debt collection and I consider your contact to constitute unwarranted harassment.

Cease and desist with all contact regarding this matter.

yours faithfully,

desres52

Hi all, thank you for your replies, sorry it's taken a while to respond.
I've sent a letter to MIL collections however have now received court papers from Northampton Court. I understand I need to acknowledge receipt and advise that I will defend my case, which gives me an additional 14 days to prepare my defence. Having read more threads again, I wonder if anyone could advise me:
1 - should I contact the BPA as Millenium's failure to respond to my initial appeal has resulted in no POPLA code being available to appeal through normal channels, hence the reason the matter has got to this stage.
2 - ask that they provide photographic evidence given that the alleged offence was over 14 months ago?

I have all the copies of all my letters to MPS and DRP and MIL to send to the court with my appeal, but realistically what are my chances of winning? I intend to request a hearing closer to home if this continues as I am both Primary and Secondary carer for elderly relatives and unable to travel to Northampton.

I am continuing to read through the posts to gain more information, however, can someone give me advice? Many thanks.

Redx

the claim is via Northampton Bulk Centre, which is where the GOV has decided to set up shop, you would not be travelling there anyway , so that isnt an option , its a paper and online handling centre , not a county court AFAIK

the claim needs acknowledging online ticking the I WILL DEFEND box (or whatever they use), write NOTHING AT ALL in the defence box for now , giving you an extra 14 days on top of the 14 allowed , leave that defence box entirely blank, I cannot stress this enough

forget about the PPC and the BPA etc for now, the only matter to concentrate on is this court claim

I suspect you may get a pm from a respected member on here, possibly HO87 who may advise you further, do as he tells you, if he pm,s you

there are several other threads on here from 2016 about this matter, but most of the dealings are taken off the forum, in private

like this one https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5425804

so if you have not done so, acknowledge online, dont fill the defence box in, that comes in a few weeks time

nb:- this is no longer a parking issue, its a debt issue where the ppc sold it to MIL for maybe £1 and they are chancing their arm in court , so put aside any parking issue and concentrate on the legal aspects of the "sold on alleged debt", so its now an alleged debt matter, not a parking matter

desres52

acknowledgement done last night and read through a few items. having done a bit more research I now know who the landowner is, would it be any use to contact them? Also found that Millenium Parking Services have moved from BPA to IPC back in November 15, which would be too late for me to contest with them anyway.

Redx

at the time of your incident they were BPA members and so popla was the appeals route, it still would be if this was a parking case

but its no longer a parking case, its an alleged debt that MILLENIUM have sold on for a nominal sum and so is now an alleged unpaid debt case

its not the PPC issuing court papers, its the debt company

its always worth contacting the landowner , especially if you can get them on your side with a witness statement, but this is now a court case based on alleged debt and no longer about the parking

doesnt matter if they moved to the IPC last year, because its not relevant

similar cases to this are brought to court by debt companies for not paying for goods or services and they chase the alleged debt, not necessarily the original issue that brought about the case

Umkomaas

This linked thread is about Millennium who have been kicked off the residential development - the Copper Quarter in Swansea - by the landowner.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/70416210#Comment_70416210

You haven't said where your parking event was in Swansea, but if it was at this development, you'd be pushing at an open door in getting landowner support I'd guess. Long shot on where your event occurred, but thought I'd point you in this direction.