Parking Charge Notice from Vehicle Control Services LTD

breadstick123

I have read and seen a lot of contradicting things regarding the action that should be taken on a received PCN, any advice would be of help. The vehicle in question was parked in a close (on private property) overnight. The warning signs around the close were not noticed until the morning when it was too late - as the notice had already been put onto the windscreen (at 8.30am according to the paper - who is awake at that time on a Saturday?!!).

The PCN was left by a company called Vehicle Control Services, and on the back it states that they are an approved operator and a member of the British Parking Association and that they operate in accordance with the "Code of Practice for Enforcement of Parking on Private Land" (whether this is true or not I don't really know)

First option obviously is to pay up - the vehicle was parked on private property without a pay & display ticket or valid parking permit, so this seems fair enough.
However when scrolling through the internet I have seen a lot of advice to ignore the notice, though the situations I have read have been different to mine (eg, parked too long in a retail carpark etc).
Third option would be to appeal the notice, though I don't know how much ground there would be to stand on, per se.

So what shall I do? Pay the £60 fine (which apparently increases to £100 after 14 days), ignore the notice (and tell the registered keeper to ignore any subsequent letters, which according to these forums can be quite demanding), or do I make an appeal?

Redx

your choice , but VCS LTD is an BPA member so if you dont want to pay this INVOICE (not fine) then you can follow the advice in the NEWBIES sticky thread , using the blue text template , then go to popla whenj they refuse the appeal and issue a popla code

at that point your appeal will be based on legal arguments (as explained in the NEWBIES sticky thread) and if you are successful you pay nothing at all

if you are unsuccessful , you would be held accountable for £100 and a possible court case in the next 6 years using the MCOL small claims system (google it)

you can also google the BPA website , plus you can download their latest CoP from their website too , when you read it , this will tell you the rules VCS LTD "should" follow

only a fool would IGNORE it and the advice changed in 2012 , so 4.5 years ago (since POFA2012 came in)

so those are the facts , you must do as you wish , not expect us to tell you what to do because adults make their own decisions, hopefully when they know all the facts

good luck

Coupon-mad

VCS is in the IPC, so no POPLA:

https://theipc.info/aos-members/v

First option obviously is to pay up

No, it really is NOT. We urge everyone - DO NOT pay these.

Do not be that person who sponsors this bunch and funds the next PCNs against vulnerable victims. If no-one paid private PCNs this 'industry' would not have become the monster they have done recently.

The PCN was left by a company called Vehicle Control Services, and on the back it states that they are an approved operator and a member of the British Parking Association

The PCN says they are in the BPA AOS? Or the IPC AOS and happen to also be corporate members of the BPA?

Redx

its the other VCS , VCS LTD aka FLASHPARK (cos I made that mistake too at first and edited my post asap)

Coupon-mad

But the OP names 'Vehicle Control Services LTD'?

Redx

yep , and the BPA list says this

Vehicle Control Solutions Ltd t/as Flashpark Ltd http://www.flashpark.co.uk

I thought it was the other mob too, but I think its actually Flashpark

so I thought the OP had used the wrong word in the name , seeing as it mentions being a BPA member and not the IPC

need the OP to clarify which VCS it actually is , lol (I am not sure myself now)

I think it is a Flashpark self ticketing pcn, which is how it was left by 0830 ( a local resident on a commission ? )

Jdee

I have ignored all demands for payment from this company but have today received a 'Claim form' for county court business centre and a total amount of £243.44 to be paid.
I'm slightly concerned now. Should I ignore or appeal? Any advice would be welcome.

Redx

neither

if you have an MCOL from Northampton CCBC you need to do the AOS and prepare a defence because you have received a real live civil court claim

see post #2 of the NEWBIES sticky thread for help on this (especially the BARGEPOLE posts) , then post your draft defence on here for critique (after the AOS has been done on the MCOL website) you have extended the time for your defence submission from 14 to 28 days)

I warned you in post #2 that this may happen , a year ago

Jdee

Thank you I'm a little lost regarding the abbreviations used, could you please clarify? Also could you if possible provide a quick link to the relevant post you refer to as I'm a little slow at navigating these forums!! Thank you

Redx

go to the top of this forum locate the NEWBIES faq sticky thread , about the third thread down normally , and click on it

post #2 delas with court claims with plenty of links

post #4 deals with acronyms

please read that thread a few times until it sinks in , especially posts #2 and #5

Jdee

I cannot find the sticky thread?