UKPS Parking Charge - unsure what to do next

annamarie401

I received a Parking Charge Notice from UKPS back in November and have been ignoring letters ever since but am a bit unsure of what to do as I think I have left it too late to appeal and now getting a bit worried as I am leaving the country for 6 weeks in 3 weeks time so I do not want to miss a court summons if one comes and have it affect my credit rating.

The car was parked in a car park behind a bank as there is a restaurant next door to the bank which states that there is customer parking at the rear. The driver parked the car, walked round to the restaurant asked if they could park in the car park, they said yes but on the left hand side and gave a menu to put on the dash. It was parked on the right hand side so the driver walked back round to the car park, moved the car to the left and put the menu displayed on the dash. So the car was there for probably about 3 minutes or so. There was no plastic envelope notice on the car when the driver returned to it. So the driver wasn't even aware that they had got a ticket until the first letter came through. If the driver would have seen the notice on the windscreen then they could have taken pictures to prove it had been moved and times, etc.

So received the first letter from UKPS which does not have any date on it - it just has the date of the incident (26/10/2016) and the issued date (03/11/2016) saying that the reason it was issued was because a permit was required. It shows two pictures of the car when you can see that there is no notice on the windscreen. It said that the charge was £60 if paid within 14 days and £100 if paid after. I ignored this letter completely.

Received a second letter dated 02/12/2016 from UKPS saying that te amount due was £100 - ignored this one as well.

Then started receiving letters from DRP. First one received dated 12/01/2017 saying that the charge was £160 and gave me two weeks to pay it - ignored this.

Then I received two more identical letters from DRP dated 27/01/2017 saying that in reference to their letter "dated 27/01/2017" (must be a typo) I must pay charge of £160 by 10/02/2017 - ignored both of them.

Received another letter from DRP dated 13/02/2017 offering a final settlement of £136 due by 27/02/2017 - ignored.
All the letters arrive at least 4/5 days after the date stated on them.

Now today started receiving letters from Zenith Collections.
First one received today (05/03/2017) dated 28/02/2017. Says notice of debt recovery assignment and that the amount outstanding is £160 but they are prepared to accept £136 and they "urge me to act now to take advantage of their discounted settlement offer of £136".

Was planning to continue to ignore all letters. Was just looking for any advice on what to do next/if to do anything. The only reason I am slightly worried is because I am going to be out of the country for 6 weeks and don't want to miss any letters or LBCC or anything.

Any advice help greatly appreciated!
Thanks

Umkomaas

We can't advise on how not to miss something in the 6 weeks you are away other than to get someone to check your post and contact you if anything of concern comes through. You can't put the case 'on hold' while you're away, it doesn't quite work like that.

However you are in the debt collector phase (Zenith and DRP are the same company by the way!), where debt collectors can do nothing other than write letters (but they can't issue LBCCCs or instigate court proceedings, only the PPC or their solicitor can do that).

If your ticket is from UKPS Ltd they are pretty benign in terms of litigation (see link)

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

There's also UKPS (North West) Ltd who are equally benign

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

But you can't take anything for granted in this game (as you did when you ignored the ticket in the first place!). We can't guarantee anything but my hunch would be that nothing much of consequence is going to happen in the time you're away, but it's really anyone's guess and I've been proved wrong before!

Please confirm which UKPS you are dealing with. There are others with similar names, so please double check and tell us, as advice may change if it's neither of the above.

Fruitcake

Please confirm the name of the parking company as there are three with the same initials. Someone may then be able to tell you the likelihood of court.

The advice to ignore private parking tickets has not been given here since the law changed in 2012. You can however safely ignore debt collectors as they have no powers.
Only the PPC can take you to court.

There is nothing stopping you from making a late appeal but it will no doubt be rejected.
You should edit your post to remove information about who did what. Only ever refer to The Driver and The Keeper, who are two different people as far as anyone is concerned.

annamarie401

It is UKPS Ltd. Address in Leamington Spa.

Think when I first got it I assumed if I appealed I was admitting fault. But I think a mixture of speaking to people and reading out of date information on here was the reason why I ignored in the first place.

Also, on that link that you out it says advice is to ignore until court papers.

Fruitcake

annamarie401 wrote: »

It is UKPS Ltd. Address in Leamington Spa.

Think when I first got it I assumed if I appealed I was admitting fault. But I think a mixture of speaking to people and reading out of date information on here was the reason why I ignored in the first place.

Also, on that link that you out it says advice is to ignore until court papers.

What is the NAME of the company. There are three parking companies with the same initials.

The NEWBIES does not tell you to ignore a private parking ticket (except in very special circumstances). It does not tell you to wait for court papers. That only apples to non-ATA members and to IAS (IPC member second stage) appeals. A first stage appeal is always recommended unless you or the event are in Scotland or NI, or the PPC is not in an ATA and cannot get keeper details.

The three companies with the initials you mention are all ATA members, two in one and one in another, therefore a first stage appeal is recommended in the NEWBIES, unless it is a fourth company not in an ATA. That is why it is essential we know the name of the company.

annamarie401

It just says UKPS Ltd.
The logo is UKPS in red with a black oval around it which says Carpark Management on it.
Their address and everything al just says UKPS Ltd. Office address in Leamington Spa.

annamarie401

Didn't see the newbies thread until way after I started receiving the letters.
But it's done now. Can't go back and change it.

Fruitcake

annamarie401 wrote: »

It just says UKPS Ltd.
The logo is UKPS in red with a black oval around it which says Carpark Management on it.
Their address and everything al just says UKPS Ltd. Office address in Leamington Spa.

This one?

http://www.theukps.com/contact/4590565304

They are IPC members.

Send the IPC template appeal from the NEWBIES thread anyway just before you go away.

Umkomaas

Also, on that link that you out it says advice is to ignore until court papers.

It might well do, but you need to know what you're doing and understand the risks you take by doing so.

Our advice here is not to ignore, but to appeal (which doesn't admit any culpability, in fact quite the opposite) as this shows you are dealing with the issue. What would you rather say to a judge - you completely ignored it and did nothing about it, or that you've actively tried to resolve the disputed invoice? The court expects that attempts to resolve the issue are entered into to avoid the court being involved.

Anyway, you are where you are. If you get court papers come back, but spend a bit of time researching how to deal with any such action. Assuming it will go quietly away is likely to deliver a bite on the backside. Know what you have to do next should the worst occur will put you in a much better place than where you are currently.

Have you asked the restaurant to try to get this cancelled for you? If they won't help, comment on their Facebook/Twitter/TripAdvisor Pages.

annamarie401

Yeah, that's the one.
Okay thanks, will do. Is online the best for that?

Fruitcake

annamarie401 wrote: »

Yeah, that's the one.
Okay thanks, will do. Is online the best for that?

Use whatever option was given to the keeper on the NTK or their website. Only post if there is no other option, and then only from a Post Office counter, obtaining a free proof of posting at the same time.