PCN in Scotland

daz1701d

Hi

Ive just received a PCN from Britannia parking for "failed to make a valid payment". I normally go to the cinema there in the evening when there's no charge, but on this day I went at lunchtime as it was Xmas holidays. Force of habit Im afraid.

The car park is in Scotland, and the offence took place on 22nd Dec. The PCN is dated 6th Jan, and I received it 9th Jan. It shows the car entering and leaving, but says they dont know who was driving and that they have contacted me as registered keeper.

Do I have any grounds for appeal, did they miss any deadlines for sending it to me, can I ignore it, or should I just learn to not make daft mistakes?

Herzlos

They can only pursue the driver, if you don't tell them the driver then there's nothing they can do.

Ignore it completely, ignore the debt collectors letters that come later, and only respond if they are trying to take it to an actual court (they won't because they know they've got no grounds).

daz1701d

OK thanks for that. Wasnt sure if rules were different in Scotland. I guess they just send the letters to see what they can get away with charging? Whats to stop you from never paying for parking (not that I plan to), other than them getting fed up with repeat offences and actually taking you to court?

catfunt

do not contact them at all.

You will probably get letters in scary language in red font, but in Scotland, they can only legally pursue the driver, and that's only if they know who that is.
If you don't contact them, they will never find out who the driver is.

pappa_golf

daz1701d wrote: »

OK thanks for that. Wasnt sure if rules were different in Scotland. I guess they just send the letters to see what they can get away with charging? Whats to stop you from never paying for parking (not that I plan to), other than them getting fed up with repeat offences and actually taking you to court?

to save retyping read http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=71897624&postcount=6

beamerguy

daz1701d wrote: »

Hi

IIt shows the car entering and leaving, but says they dont know who was driving and that they have contacted me as registered keeper.

They are correct, they don't know who the driver is hence in Scotland you simply ignore them as they can do nothing without knowing who the driver is.

Do not contact them and NEVER admit to who was driving.

That's it, you will probably get debt collector letters stating all sorts of rubbish ... IGNORE THEM AS WELL.

Sooner or later, they give up

If you get menacing letters threatening court or an impact on your credit rating .... they cannot do anything of the sort, so pass any such letters to Trading Standards Scotland to deal with

Forget it, but do tell your friends what to do if they get parking tickets. PASS IT ON ...

THIS ONLY APPLIES IN SCOTLAND AND N. IRELAND

daz1701d

OK thanks for that. I'll look forward to the red letters. How many can I expect, and how long can it normally take before they lose interest? Ive read some of the threads about Britannia not being the hardest to fight. I assume I just need to watch out for any court threat letters if they decide to go that far?

beamerguy

daz1701d wrote: »

OK thanks for that. Wasnt sure if rules were different in Scotland. I guess they just send the letters to see what they can get away with charging? Whats to stop you from never paying for parking (not that I plan to), other than them getting fed up with repeat offences and actually taking you to court?

They can only take you to court if they know who was the driver ... end of

beamerguy

daz1701d wrote: »

OK thanks for that. I'll look forward to the red letters. How many can I expect, and how long can it normally take before they lose interest? Ive read some of the threads about Britannia not being the hardest to fight. I assume I just need to watch out for any court threat letters if they decide to go that far?

how long is a piece of string ??
Really all depends on how stupid they are

Forget court threats and only take notice if you get a summons.
BUT HEY, they don't know who was driving and you are not going to tell them are you
Who would they take to court ???? not the keeper

Coupon-mad

daz1701d wrote: »

OK thanks for that. I'll look forward to the red letters. How many can I expect, and how long can it normally take before they lose interest? Ive read some of the threads about Britannia not being the hardest to fight. I assume I just need to watch out for any court threat letters if they decide to go that far?

Britannia would not have the foggiest clue about court in England, let alone Scottish law!

In my experience of ignoring fake PCNs like this before we got POPLA for appeals in E&W in 2012, was maybe a letter a month for 5 or 6 months...the sky did not fall in, I was not sued, nothing affects your credit rating (as long as court papers are not ignored - but Britannia do not go there).

It is quite fun finding the letters online as you get them - Google a sentence from them and the name of the sender - e.g. Google: 'Debt Recovery Plus landmark Beavis case' (which is a typical letter in the chain) then click 'images' and you will see 'your letter' all over forums!

Herzlos

daz1701d wrote: »

OK thanks for that. I'll look forward to the red letters. How many can I expect, and how long can it normally take before they lose interest? Ive read some of the threads about Britannia not being the hardest to fight. I assume I just need to watch out for any court threat letters if they decide to go that far?

You'll get maybe 5 or 6 over the course of a year, using bigger and redder fonts to highlight how serious they are, then it'll stop.

As for how they stop people never paying for parking, well they could have a pay-on-exit barrier. But then they can't send people speculative invoices for pretend infractions. Your car is a very rare case where the driver actually owes some money, but the tariff + about £5 in costs, and not the sum they are asking for.