PCN - APCOA at Birmingham Airport

Paulo205

Hello everyone,


Firstly, as a newbie, I have read through the newbies post, and searched and read about other cases on this forum.


I am asking for advice based on the belief that my circumstances are not fully covered by what I have read so far. Apologies if what I am posting has already been covered and I have missed it.


I have received a letter from Debt Recovery Plus (I know, you don't want to hear about one of these...!) stating that I owe £150 to APCOA for "dropping off/picking up outside of a designated area" at Birmingham Airport. The date of the offence was 3rd April 2016, the letter from DRP dated 16th September 2016. The reason this has taken its time to arrive at my door is due to a change of address and a little sloppiness paperwork wise on my behalf (V5C not updated). This has now been dealt with.


My question is based around what my next steps should be. Being from DRP, the advice on here seems to be ignore this letter, but this is effectively my first letter about the incident and therefore my NTK. Should I ignore this, or respond to APCOA through the appeal letter as would be the case if the letter had come from APCOA directly and received around the time of the incident? I have received no photographic evidence of the incident. IIRC I stopped outside the IBIS hotel due to a massive queue to get into the drop off parking.


If anyone can help with this, I'd be very grateful.


Paul

dazster

It is not your NTK. It's not even from the parking company, it's just a poxy debt collector.

Ignore DRP. You can also ignore APCOA, they are toothless.

Was this DRP letter sent to your previous address and forwarded to you? Or was it sent directly to your new address?

Paulo205

The DRP letter was addressed to my current address, not forwarded. No doubt they have been through various channels and obtained insurance information on the car linking it to my current address.

pappa_golf

VCS are obliged to get then details from the DVLA within 14 days of the incident (ANPR ticket) failure to do this makes the offence non POFA compliant


you may wish to send the following letter to the DVLA (amend accordingly) to find out when they applied for your info


Example Letter
[Your Address]
DVLA Vehicle Record Enquiries section
Longview Road
Morriston
Swansea
SA99 1AJ
Dear Sirs
Re: VRM AB12 XYZ
As the Registered Keeper of the above VRM could you advise who has accessed my personal details with regards to this marque, how often and when did the DVLA send the keeper details out. Please advise the information with regards to events between xx/xx/xx/ and xx/xx/xx.
I understand there is no charge for this information and look forward to your speedy reply.
Yours faithfully
Mr Registered Ke

Paulo205

Sorry, who are VCS?

Can I safely ignore the DRP letter, only responding via appeal if I receive correspondence from APCOA themselves?

pappa_golf

Paulo205 wrote: »

Sorry, who are VCS?

Can I safely ignore the DRP letter, only responding via appeal if I receive correspondence from APCOA themselves?

who is the parking company , who are DRP acting for?

Paulo205

It's APCOA, as per the thread title.

pappa_golf

ok as per this link https://bmpa.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/203653191-APCOA-Parking-UK-Ltd


"often make stupid mistakes"


as in getting your info late (as per your earlier statement regarding address) and forgetting to send you a NTK


you may wish to send that letter (above) to the DVLA to check when they got your details


add to the above letter asking for the location of said incident(s)


lets see if they have mentioned airport (bylaw) land

Paulo205

Thanks, I'll put a letter together based on your template and see what the DVLA come back with.

Paulo205

Bit of an update:


Having sent the letter as described above to DVLA, I have had no reply after around 2 weeks.


As I had ignored the DRP letter, I have duly received a further letter from them entitled "Notice of Intent of Court Action" and have until 17th October to respond.


Please could someone advise what my best next step should be? Should I contact APCOA with the letter detailed in the Newbie thread, go back to the source and get this stopped? I am very reluctant to let the 17th October come and go without doing anything, despite some people saying just ignore DRP!

Umkomaas

It's just a template letter, sent to thousands who have ignored this shower for more than a decade. And in that time, how many have DRP taken to court? Answer. NONE! Why? Because they can't. So that's the importance with which you should accord their threat.

Only APCOA can issue court proceedings. And how many court proceedings have they issued from almost two hundred thousand tickets in the past 2.5 years? Answer. NONE! Why? Because they wouldn't dare put an airport 'stopping' case before a judge, lest he decides against them and their airport cash cow is slaughtered.

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