Urgent help pls - Formal letter of claim received

great_bird

Apologies to post this as I'm sure the answers are on the forum somewhere, but I've spent all afternoon reading to no avail!

An overview of my situation. Back in June 2016 I was a passenger in a car that parked in a London Underground station NCP car park. I wanted to make the payment so attempted to use the machine. The machine was voiding all payments (card and cash) so I used the text facility. The number I text did not send any sort of acknowledgement of payment, so when I returned home that evening (still within the timescales to make the payment) I telephoned to check that the payment had gone through. I was told that I may have paid but there was no way of checking. However to avoid non payment I could pay again over the phone to make sure. I did not pay a second time, citing that there should be some way to check whether I had paid or not for that particular registration or not - to make me pay twice to make up for poor systems was unfair on me.

At this point I will state that I was not the driver of the vehicle, or the registered keeper. I have never been the driver or keeper of the registration I was trying to pay for, I was a passenger.

An ANPR final reminder notice was sent through to the keeper over two months after the date of parking. I followed up as an original notice had never been received and I was the person who was trying to make the payment.

NCP's online service (no telephone available) asked me to go through the appeals process which I did. They rejected my claims despite providing text and phone call evidence through telephone bills of my attempts to pay. The parking fee should have been £2 which I have never tried to avoid paying for. Unfortunately I do not have a copy of the online appeal I sent through as I did not screen shot, but I think I may have identified the driver/keeper at this stage.

After NCP rejected my appeal, I then sent a final letter to NCP stating that I was attempting, for a third time, to pay for the parking, as I had never disputed this from the outset. I also further clarified the turn of events but at no point in this letter identified the driver/keeper.

After this NCP stopped replying and instead I received a notice from ZZPS Ltd requesting payment of the PCN plus other charges. I did nothing on receipt of this letter (and now unfortunately cannot find the copy of it). I then received a second letter from ZZPS requesting for a second time the payment. I also did nothing regarding this letter.

I then received a letter from Wright Hassall, acting on behalf of ZZPS Ltd citing the car park operator NCP Ltd. This asked for now £196. From the previous letters from ZZPS I can see that this is the £100 'penalty' from NCP, £60 from ZZPS and £30 plus VAT from WH. It stated throughout that they 'may' continue to court action but was vague so I continued to ignore. On reflection I believe this was now an error as I have now received a 'Formal Letter of Claim' from WH requesting once more that I pay up the £196.

So my questions are - what now? The letter states in the last paragraph that it is a "Letter Before Claim pursuant to the Practice Direction on Pre Action Conduct and Protocols". I believe this means that next steps are court action which is obviously something I would like to avoid.

However, I feel vindicated on two points. Firstly, it is not my car and I was not the driver. I was simply someone trying to make payment. Secondly, I have never tried to avoid making payment. I have wanted to pay fairly for the parking used and have never disputed this. Surely this makes any amounts over and above the £2 unfair and excessive?

One final issue is the date of the final letter from WH. It had a postal date of 30/01/17. They requested payment within 14 days otherwise they 'anticipate instruction to commence county court proceedings against me'. However, I have been in Australia on business between 28 Jan and 18th Feb so would not have been able to comply - does this mean I've missed my opportunity to resolve and this is now already with the court system?

If someone could reply ASAP I would be extremely grateful.

Many thanks in advance!

Coupon-mad

Does the WH letter say they are acting for 'ZZPS' or for NCP? Read this, if it's a ZZPS version then ignore it:

https://bmpa.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/203747112-Wright-Hassall

NCP never, ever try court and if they try this one when you were neither driver nor keeper, we will laugh our heads off as you defend and win! You cannot be liable!

Redx

reminds of this recent thread about a ZZPS letter with WH appearing to send it

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5583756

we would bet you any money you have a debt collector letter from ZZPS, not an actual WH letter from WH

if its a ZZPS letter , IGNORE IT

as mentioned above, this would be laughable if it went to court

do not expect these people to read or to understand what you have written to them

they are greedy , not interested in your words, only your cash or chequebook

they are greedy sc@mmers

great_bird

These are brilliant and speedy replies guys - thank you so much!

I had seen the scanned WH letters Coupon-mad, and mine are very similar in wording and layout. The only two things that are different that concerned me were:

1. The first of the two letters named the carpark operator (NCP) but still stated they have been instructed by ZZPS Limited who are acting on behalf of NCP Limited. Does this change things?

2. My letters have been signed by what looks like an actual employee of WH. Not original signature, rather a printed one so could quite reasonably still be a templated letter I assume.

Finally, should I now ignore the letter or contact WH? I'm assuming that if this actually gets sent to the court system the first thing I should do is disclaim all liability as it's not my car and I was not the driver? What would then happen to the actual driver/keeper assuming that they received the original NTK? Does the process start again?

Thanks for your help!

Coupon-mad

I don't think 1 or 2 changes anything.

Finally, should I now ignore the letter or contact WH?

Ignore WH because it's really ZZPS.

I'm assuming that if this actually gets sent to the court system the first thing I should do is disclaim all liability as it's not my car and I was not the driver?

Well yes as part of a full defence (never a one point defence!) but NCP never do court. This would be hilarious for us if they chose such a no-hoper, but we bet they will not.

What would then happen to the actual driver/keeper assuming that they received the original NTK? Does the process start again?

They don't know who that person is and you will not be helping them. It would be too late for them to have reasonable cause to obtain keeper data from the DVLA.

great_bird

Thank you Coupon-mad - I may now actually get some sleep tonight! :j

Final question then.... if I did inadvertently confirm the driver when I did the initial online appeal (which I can't check because I stupidly didn't screen shot what I wrote) could NCP actually restart this PCN with that person? Would I have to identify them as the driver in order for them to do that? I'm assuming that if they did want to try and charge the keeper/driver they would have to start from the beginning again? This is also assuming they got the right keeper in the first place on the original PCN of course....

This is such a mine field - god bless this forum for keeping me sane tonight!:rotfl:

Coupon-mad

If they were to pursue the driver you would have had to have given them the name and postal address of that person. You can't have done - or they would have transferred liability to that person. No worries - DO NOT name the person now!

They just didn't read your appeal properly and assume you are either keeper or driver. This is amusing, not that it will ever be tested in court because NCP got their fingers burnt up to their elbows in an old clamping court case, a few years ago, that cost them six figures in costs.

great_bird

Brill, thanks for this. Feeling much calmer about the situation now. I will keep you posted if this goes to court as I will definitely need some help with that!

I am so glad that I have fought this parking charge so far - the money isn't the issue here, it's the principle. Basically bullying scare tactics which I am sure many people bow down to. Glad I am the person who fought the PCN - maybe this could be a suitable avoidance method for motorists going forward!