Ringo PCN

cloudburster

Hi all. Looking for some advice.

In November I paid to park at a Ringo car park in Bristol and although the app said I had paid, upon returning to my vehicle I saw a PCN attached to my windscreen. I checked my emails and I hadn't actually received a VAT receipt from Ringo like usual, so the app had obviously malfunctioned and not processed my payment.

I wrote to the address on the PCN appealing the fine and explaining it was the apps fault not mine, and I believed I had paid in good faith, and thought nothing more of it. A few months later I received collections letters from PCS stating I had missed the appeal window and now I owed £160. Now, I know that you should ignore them but I have exchanged emails with them where I explained I DID appeal but they are saying I need to provide evidence of a recorded delivery, something of course I don't have because it was just a letter so I didn't send it by recorded delivery.

Anyway I got in touch with the car park operator and they are saying it's not their problem and I need to deal with the debt collectors, and they also aren't part of the BPA so can't give me a POPLA code, and Ringo are also washing their hands of the whole affair. My question is: can I just ignore PCS from now on? The other bonus is that I have moved house since the original PCN so surely they will have no way of locating me? Shall I refrain from any further communication with PCN or is it likely to escalate?

Thanks in advance

Umkomaas

1. PCS are part of Debt Recovery Plus, so as debt collectors they can be ignored - see newbies sticky post #4.

they also aren't part of the BPA so can't give me a POPLA code

Who are 'they'?

The other bonus is that I have moved house since the original PCN so surely they will have no way of locating me?

Extremely naive I'm afraid! They don't need to 'locate' you; the PPC (not the debt collectors) could issue court papers to the address they hold for you. Likely you wouldn't even know, you could then have a default judgment registered against you (as you didn't defend the claim) which you wouldn't pay (because you didn't know about it), have a CCJ and credit reference endorsement - potentially disastrous for you!

If you are responding to any of the parties in the near future, you should clearly inform them if your new address. This time send the letter first class with a free certificate of posting from your PO.

Ralph-y

and update your details with the DVLA

Ralph:cool:

cloudburster

'They' are County Parking. This is the email I received from them when I explained the situation, and that I appealed in time.

---

Good afternoon,

I’ve received a response from PCS regarding your case.

PCN issued 27th November 2015
If you wished to appeal the PCN you had 21 days from the date of issue, see reverse of PCN.

I gather that you only appealed after the Notice to Keeper had been sent. At this stage you can only appeal if you have an exceptional reason why you didn’t appeal off the PCN.

You also claimed to have appealed off the PCN. A request was made for you to provide proof of the appeal, which you then admitted you didn’t have.

Upon admitting this you were sent a rejection advising it was too late to appeal.

I’m a little bit confused as in your email to me, you state you wrote to the address on the notice the following day of the PCN’s issue to appeal explaining the error.

CPEA patrol and issue PCN’s at the Temple Quay car parks on behalf of the landlord, we have no responsibility for taking payments for parking.

It is the responsibility for motorists to make sure they pay for their parking and receive any relevant confirmation from Ringo prior to leaving the parked vehicle.

We cannot be held responsible for the Ringo App not functioning. Any issues you have with the functionality of the App needs to be taken up with Ringo.

As we are not a member of the BPA we cannot supply you with a code to appeal to Popla.

On this occasion I cannot assist you further and any future communications including payment of PCN needs to go through Parking Collection Services.

Regards,

Elaine
CPEA

---

They state that I can only deal with the debt collectors now. They also talk of a 'landlord' which I don't understand.

Ralph-y

have you read through the newbies thread ?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4816822

if not then please do ...

ignore section on the PBA .......

the letter you received back shows how they make up rules as they go ...

the thread will show why you are now in ignore mode ....

where was the car park?

a train station ?

good luck

Ralph:cool:

cloudburster

I haven't, but I will. Yes, its a Ringo carpark next to Bristol Temple Meads. I was also confused as to why they basically said its nothing to do with them, because surely as the car park operator its everything to do with them, not the debt collectors.

Thanks

cloudburster

This is also the email I received from PCS when I told them I had appealed in time

---

Thank you for your email regarding the above Parking Charge Notice (PCN).

As per the Independent Parking Committee’s (IPC) Code of Practice, a motorist has 21 days from the date of the PCN being issued to challenge the charge. Appeals can only be accepted after this date under exceptional circumstances.

As details/evidence of an exceptional circumstance have not been provided, the time to challenge the charge has now expired and therefore access to the Independent Appeals Service is no longer available.

However, in order to resolve this matter, I will offer the following comments as to why this PCN was correctly issued and is still payable.

My findings

The site in question is subject to terms and conditions, which are stated on signs throughout the area. Those signs state that all vehicles must be parked in an authorised manner.

On the date in question, the vehicle was parked in an unauthorised manner and a PCN was correctly and legitimately issued as a result.

What you need to do now

Please ensure that £160.00 is paid by 02/05/2016. Payment can be made online or by phone.

What will happen if you do not pay what you owe

If the amount is not paid by the date shown above, we will recommend to our client that court action be taken by them to recover the outstanding balance.

What if you do not agree

Although any correspondence that does not provide further evidence will be noted and retained, I cannot guarantee that we will reply to it.

Coupon-mad

Just update them (the PPC and PCS) and the DVLA with your correct address, then ignore this, as advised in the NEWBIES thread.

They play games, they will send debt collector letters but this is all covered on the forum and in the sticky thread. Rare to see this lot try small claims.

cloudburster

Thank you. Im wary of giving PCS my correct address, but if you're sure I'll do as advised, cheers

Umkomaas

cloudburster wrote: »

Thank you. Im wary of giving PCS my correct address, but if you're sure I'll do as advised, cheers

I'm afraid moving address is your Achilles Heel in this case. By withholding your new details, it leaves you vulnerable to some potential nasties at any time in the next 6 years (the amount of time the PPC has to pursue you), which you will be blissfully unaware of until it smacks you in the face, by when you'll have considerably more hassle and significant expense to rewind the clock. And that's without any credit rating endorsement - which can have a devastating affect on your life.

CPEA are not currently litigious, but as things can change rapidly in PPC-world, you need to have all your angles covered.

https://bmpa.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/203682202-County-Parking-Enforcement-Agency-Ltd

http://www.bmpa.eu/companydata/County_Parking_Enforcement_Agency.html

You need to also let CPEA know, as they are the ones who can bring about a small claim at the county court.

But have you also informed the DVLA? If you haven't, you're staring at another fine - a real one this time. You must do 2 notifications to the DVLA - one for your driver's licence, the other for your vehicle (V5C). There's no 'read-across', one to the other.

cloudburster

I'm glad I posted - I had no idea that I needed to do this! I have told the DVLA. I will inform the goons in due course. Thanks for the advice.

County Parking may not be a member of BPA but they ARE in the IPC. Should I lodge a complaint? My main niggle is that I appealed well within the timescale given but this was ignored so I wasn't granted the proper appeals process.