UKPC - Advice

London_d1981

Afternoon,

I need some advice as to how far I can take this complaint with UKPC - any advice/similar experiences appreciated.

I live on an estate where UKPC 'regulate' parking - I use regulate loosely as the rats often try to scam people.

I had to get a temporary parking permit as my annual one had expired (I was unable to renew this as I was away on business) - this was issued by the management office on the estate in a correct and valid manner.

UKPC ticketed my vehicle a couple of days later - the permit was within date.
The reason that they gave was that the permit was 'photocopied' and that for that reason it was not valid. (This is an accusation of Fraud right? Fabricating a parking permit ) despite being a genuine permit - stamped by the estate management company.

I spoke to the management company and they confirmed the ticket should not have been issued.

So, after checking them (UKPC) out online I decided to initially ignore them.
Then they persisted to send me various requests for payment, out of irritation I wrote back to them to tell them not to respond and talk to the management company as it was not my issue but rather the relationship between themselves and the management company to resolve this.
I also told them that any further communications would be considered harassment.

Guess what? They completely ignored everything I said and sent another request for payment. This was the last straw (I've had dealings with them in the past but they usually don't bother responding).

Considering that I told them I would consider further correspondence as harassment and they replied, I eventually was able to get a note (begrudgingly) from the manager at the estate office to verify the permit was correctly issued.
So I wrote back to them, to the effect that I was going to take legal action against them for harassment, and also for defamation (for the accusation of fraud).
I also sent all of my evidence and all of theirs, when looking at their photographic evidence the photos were taken at least two feet from the windscreen, there is no way they could tell based on that if the permit was photocopied or not, plus it was dark - so effectively, it's a clear cut - 'scam' trying to make money for the sake of it.
I had to take two days off work to get all of this sorted out with the management office etc... so I also invoiced them at my daily rate for this.

They responded a few days ago effectively saying "The ticket has been cancelled, apologies for the inconvenience"

So basically, would I be within my right to still take action against them to recover my losses (Days off work) and also to pursue the harassment and defamation issues? It's about the 6th time in 18 months I've had an issue with them and I'm tired of their cr*p.

Any thoughts appreciated.

Many Thanks,

LD

Coupon-mad

So, after checking them (UKPC) out online I decided to initially ignore them.

Not a good plan. The advice for over 3 years has been to appeal and beat them at POPLA.

I had to take two days off work to get all of this sorted out with the management office etc... so I also invoiced them at my daily rate for this.

Sounds good, the invoice idea - why not?!

They responded a few days ago effectively saying "The ticket has been cancelled, apologies for the inconvenience"

Even better.

So basically, would I be within my right to still take action against them to recover my losses (Days off work) and also to pursue the harassment and defamation issues? It's about the 6th time in 18 months I've had an issue with them and I'm tired of their cr*p.

Yes you could try. Start with a Letter before Claim. Firstly, read the pre-action protocol for the small claims track, look for County court Guides and/or the Which? guide to starting a small claim, which is pretty straightforward.

I believe the poster called GertySingh got a payment after issuing court papers to a parking firm.

beamerguy

It's amazing that the management company allow such scammers as UKPC on the premises.

No reason why you should not invoice UKPC and take them to court but get all your facts correct. Hopefully others will advise you on this as has coupon mad.

1: Are the UKPC signs correct and do they have permission to behave like this.
2: As UKPC are now becoming famous for dodgy/doctored pictures, you may care to bring this to the attention of the DVLA.
Right now, UKPC are on their final red card with the DVLA, and it sounds like you are the person to tip them over the edge so they cannot get info from the DVLA
Their bad behaviour should be reported to the BPA
3: A petition from all residents to remove UKPC. Are the management aware that UKPC are scammers ? MAYBE THE MANAGEMENT GET A RAKE OFF
http://parking-prankster.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=ukpc

UKPC ARE SCAMMERS AND HARASS PEOPLE

Guys_Dad

Your action should be against whoever issued you with the defective permit.

London_d1981

@Guys Dad - That's the problem, the permit was completely valid, confirmed by the management company - UKPC were just trying to make a quick buck by hoping that I wouldn't challenge them.

@beamerguy - There are UKPC signs but I was parked in my allocated bay with a valid permit. I do also believe that the Management company are getting a rake off - they are reluctant to remove them. I'll be reporting them to the DVLA and BPA.

Guys_Dad

Try to get in writing from the management company that the ticket was invalid.

beamerguy

London_d1981 wrote: »

@beamerguy - There are UKPC signs but I was parked in my allocated bay with a valid permit. I do also believe that the Management company are getting a rake off - they are reluctant to remove them. I'll be reporting them to the DVLA and BPA.

Do you know if it was an actual employee of UKPC ?
UKPC operate a self ticketing system whereby any old bod can act on behalf of them for a 10% bounty, this could range from a resident to the management company ?
http://www.ukparkingcontrol.com/Self-Ticketing-Service

QUOTE:
"We will provide you with all the necessary signage and parking permits for you to issue to genuine visitors or staff etc. When your staff want to issue a ticket they simply take a digital photograph of the vehicle breaching the terms and conditions and upload it to our WardenWeb"

Could this be why the pictures were so poor ?

London_d1981

Yes it's a UKPC 'Traffic Warden' I've seen him in the underground car parks, he often patrols at about 2am. All of the tickets I've received since living here, have been between 2300 and 0300, and also on Bank Holidays - when nobody is available in the Management office to provide parking permits.... convenient arrangement...

beamerguy

London_d1981 wrote: »

Yes it's a UKPC 'Traffic Warden' I've seen him in the underground car parks, he often patrols at about 2am. All of the tickets I've received since living here, have been between 2300 and 0300, and also on Bank Holidays - when nobody is available in the Management office to provide parking permits.... convenient arrangement...

Well apart from you reporting to the DVLA, which you must do, if that was me, I would ask all the residents if they have the same problem and then take your own action to actually watch what does happen between these hours and capture this on camera.
Because the so called warden maybe wears a black coat with UKPC on the back, does not mean he is employed by them.

This person is more like a stalker operating from behind the bushes and preying on cars when the owners are asleep.
You need to dig deep into this night prowler

leeda84

The reason that they gave was that the permit was 'photocopied' and that for that reason it was not valid. (This is an accusation of Fraud right? Fabricating a parking permit )

The broad definition of fraud is gaining from someone else's loss by false representation, by failing to disclose information, by abuse of position.

So, they can attempt to accuse you of fraud (much like they did to me and I kicked up a stink about it) but even if you did have a photocopied permit, there is no loss to the other party as you are more than entitled to park there!

The_Deep

Have you seen this

UKPC are former clampers who have been involved in quite a number of sordid scams, for example

Hull Trading Standards took them to court on 15 counts of fraud. UKPC won all but one, but only because they had a better lawyer, a Q.C. If I recall correctly

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=63597

They were bested by a Winchester barrister

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?377246-UKPC-liable-for-trespass-**SUCCESS**

They were involved in a large scale scam which resulted in a DVLA suspension

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/11858473/Parking-firm-UKPC-admits-faking-tickets-to-fine-drivers.html

They are in trouble in court

http://parking-prankster.blogspot.co.uk/search?updated-min=2016-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&updated-max=2017-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=50

And then of course there was Tracey Kiss

http://www.tracykiss.com/product-reviews/my-ukpc-parking-charge/