UKPC charge in free car park. Left it late to appeal - Advice please

Tom7879

Hello,

I was issued a Parking Charge by UKPC a few months ago, but unfortunately I have not responded as I have been travelling a lot over the past few months, but they are now sending me letters from Debt Recovery Plus - typical threatening further action kind of stuff. I know I should have tried to resolve this sooner, but it is what it is, and I was hoping I may be able to get some advise on best way to get this sorted.

I feel the fine is completely unfair and an extremely harsh punishment for what was a genuine mistake. Details below:

Location - Park Royal Leisure Exchange, London (free car park)
- An evening in January, I went to the Pure Gym. The weather was absolutely horrendous that evening with very heavy rain. I parked in a spot which looked just like a regular spot amongst other cars in a 'regular' area within the car park. I was in the gym for about an hour but when I came out there was a ticket on my windscreen. Initially i thought it was a mistake but then realised that half of the parking space (well what I thought was a parking space) I was in, was half covered in a yellow hatched area. This hatched/lined area was basically an 'overflow' from the space next to me which was a disabled bay (the space was amongst other cars and looked just like a normal parking space!). As the weather was terrible it was really difficult to notice the lines as I was parking up.

- Over the course of the next few weeks, I received payment notifications, threats etc posted to my home address. Eventually letters have been coming from DRP.

-The last of these letters was received this week, offering me a settlement of £136 if I pay within two weeks. They are saying they have recommended to the client that they take court action against me, however when taking court action they need to show the court that they did as much as possible to resolve outside of court, and so are making this offer.


I have looked through the forums and I can see it is advised in the first instance I should contact the retailer (in this case Pure Gym)...but I am just conscious I have left it quite a while now so not sure if that is the best course of action to take now.

Does anyone have any advice on what steps I should take? I do not feel this fine is justified in the slightest.

Thanks in advance!

The_Deep

They may not be around for much longer.


http://parking-prankster.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/ukpc-winding-up-order.html

beamerguy

Tom7879 wrote: »

-The last of these letters was received this week, offering me a settlement of £136 if I pay within two weeks. They are saying they have recommended to the client that they take court action against me, however when taking court action they need to show the court that they did as much as possible to resolve outside of court, and so are making this offer.

As you can see on here, almost daily, DRP ARE TO BE IGNORED

Offering a discount is not mitigation when the parking ticket has not been proven.

Anyway, treat DRP as you would sewer rats, they are at home there

Only UKPC can take you to court but UKPC appear to be in a lot of trouble with HMRC as the deep says.

DRP CAN DO NOTHING SO IGNORE EVERYTHING THEY BEG FOR

If you get real court papers then come back here

Coupon-mad

I have looked through the forums and I can see it is advised in the first instance I should contact the retailer (in this case Pure Gym)...but I am just conscious I have left it quite a while now so not sure if that is the best course of action to take now.

Of course it is - why would you not try want the certainty of getting it cancelled, seeing as UKPC use solicitors to sue people and might not end up being wound up, who knows?

Tom7879

Hello again,

After a couple of months of the regular threatening letter from DRP, including a settlement figure - all of which i continued to ignore. It all went quiet for about 6 months. Then a couple of weeks ago i received a letter from SCS Law, RE: Debt owed to UK Parking Control.

On further review of the letter I realise it actually has no SCS law telephone or email on there, but instead it is telling me to direct all enquiries to DRP.

The letter is basically saying their client has been requesting payment from me but they have not received it and unless they receive payment within 14 days UKPC may take steps towards commencing legal proceedings against me by way of Letter of Claim. They also add please note this is not a Letter of Claim.

Anyone able to kindly offer some advise on this? Should I still ignore or respond?

Thanks!

Quentin

Treat it like all other debt collectors letters.

Only respond to a lbcca or Court correspondence

The_Deep

This is an entirely unregulated industry which is scamming the public with inflated claims for minor breaches of contracts for alleged parking offences, aided and abetted by a handful of low-rent solicitors.

Parking Eye, CPM, Smart, and another company have already been named and shamed, as has Gladstones Solicitors, and BW Legal, (these two law firms take hundreds of these cases to court each year). They lose most of them, and have been reported to the regulatory authority by an M.P. for unprofessional conduct

Hospital car parks and residential complex tickets have been especially mentioned.

The problem has become so rampant that MPs have agreed to enact a Bill to regulate these scammers. Watch the video of the Second Reading in the HofC recently.

http://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/2f0384f2-eba5-4fff-ab07-cf24b6a22918?in=12:49:41

and complain in the most robust terms to your MP. With a fair wind they will be out of business by Christmas.

Tom7879

Thanks Quentin. I'll just ignore it for now.