ParkingEye letter and now EQUITA letter. advice on what I need to do please

lollyhev

I have read through the threads, however I am very confused over my situation and felt the need to ask for advice please.

My Partner was driving my car on the date stated in the Parking Charge Notice. We received a letter which said time in car park was 2 hours and 1 minute. I can't see that it states what offence occurred as the wording seems very sketchy and not specific to our vehicle/circumstance.

Instead it simply says ; 'by either not purchasing the appropriate parking time or by remaining at the car park for longer than permitted, in accordance with the terms and conditions set out in the signage, the Parking Charge is now payable to ParkingEye Ltd) as the creditor'.

The date of the event is stated as 16/07/2015. We ignored the letter as we didn't receive a copy until we moved house and got the letter in December 2016, with which they enclosed (as stated by them) the original Parking Charge Notice. We didn't take any actions upon receiving this letter as it was the date of my Grandad's funeral (not relevant) but my partner had taken my young son to the retail park before returning to us at the wake. It was in an area we are not familiar with as we live in a completely different county. At the point in December it was over a year prior to that point, to which he couldn't remember the car park, but was certain that he would have paid as he usually does when in a car park if it is pay and display. We also ignored the letter as it wasn't actually clear to what was the reason of the charge as it said as I already stated 'by either not purchasing or by remaining in the car park for longer than permitted'. They attached photographs of my vehicle apparently dated and with times of arrival and departure (of course none to my partners recollection due to the time passed).

I am growing concerned as I have now received a letter from a company called EQUITA referring to Parking eye ltd writing to us and that we now need to pay an outstanding sum of £145.00 in full. **further down the page it states 'if you cannot pay the debt in full at present and are experiencing financial difficult, please call us immediately to discuss payment of this debt'.
In the letter they say 'if you do not take action to resolve this matter immediately, we may recommend to Parking Eye Ltd that they commence enforcement action against you. this could involve legal action through the County Court'.

I do not know what my reaction should be to these letters and what even my actions should be. It is worrying me, but I am also concerned as to whether things are being done correctly. There is no explanation as to why my information has been passed to EQUITA, as they do not explain themselves as debt collectors in any way, nor do they quote the details of the reason for the charge in their letter to me (e.g. date/time/charge or even explanation of the cost being £145).
**Letter from Parking eye stated £50 to be paid within 14 days, or £85, there is nowhere that states on any of the paperwork explanation of how charges may go up in any way.

I am sorry for the huge information above, and apologies if it does not make much sense, I am slightly stressing :eek: and confused and trying to wrack my brains around this, and also that £145 is a lot of money to have to pay if it comes to us having to.

Thanks in advance for any advice that can be offered.

System

Equita letters usually go nowhere unless anyone else knows differently.

fisherjim

The alleged debt has not really been passed to Equita they, and Parking Eye are both owned by that greedy juggernaut that is trying to take over the world, Capita (also known by some as Crapita).

So basically Parking Eye are using their in house debt collectors to put the frighteners on.

This is also thought by some to be against the rules as they are double charging for the same Parking charge.

The charge is now £145 as they have put on their debt collectors scam charge on top, you certainly should not be paying this.

Debt collectors can be ignored they can do nothing only send silly letters, and the usual feeling on here is that when Parking Eye, who are nasty and take more people to the small claims court than any PPC, it's because they can't or would likely fail in a court claim.

Maybe the fact you live in another country put paid to that!

Pity you didn't come here first and not ignore, but what's done is done, someone else will come along soon, but I think ignore and see what happens, but what ever you do do not phone either of them that is very important.

Umkomaas

Debt collectors can be ignored they can do nothing only send silly letters, and the usual feeling on here is that when Parking Eye, who are nasty and take more people to the small claims court than any PPC, it's because they can't or would likely fail in a court claim.

Definitely +1 on the above.

While you might not think it at this stage @lollyhev, PE having put Equita into play is rather good news (or perhaps not such bad news) for you.

PE are ordinarily so swift to sue through the small claims court that we very rarely see PE cases with a debt collector becoming involved. On top of which, in those cases we have seen where a debt collector has become involved, I can't remember any that have progressed to the small claims court.

I know it was a long time in the past and recollection might be hazy, but was this an Aldi car park by chance? The reason I ask is that despite dealing with hundreds of PE/Aldi cases, we have never seen one appear at the small claims court. We are convinced that Aldi have refused PE permission to sue their customers.

If your PCN is not from an Aldi car park, would you care to share the type of car park it was and if it was attached to an obvious main landholder (large store, or hotel, restaurant, shopping centre etc). It will add to the intelligence we build up here so we can give those soon to travel along the path you now walk, the best, most accurate and most up to date advice to fight their PCN.

Turning to yours and Equita - as others have said (and will say) - it should be ignored, do not make any contact with them. If PE defy the logic we are applying in the advice we are giving you, and serve court papers, please do come back - there is real help available to you to defend yourself, free of charge.

lollyhev

UMKOMAAS it was a retail park 'Crown Wharf Shopping Park' in Walsall. Thank you to you and others for advice. I guess you just have the typical image of people knocking your door demanding money when thinking of debt collectors and this slightly scares me.

Thank you for advice I will ignore and will repost if I get any other information especially regarding court papers which I hope I won't.

Is there a time period of which they have to do things by? As this is almost 2 years ago now. Also now I've received one from EQUITA is it typical to receive numerous ones from now on? Just wondering if theres experience of a system they usually run by as to know whether to be expecting court papers or not.

waamo

Equita is Parking Eye. They are the same company. Parking Eye tend to use Equita letters when they have no intention on carrying out their threats, often because their contract does not allow them to.

Of course this may change at some point but so far the best course of action has been to sit tight.

fisherjim

Equita cannot take you to court.
You are likely to get a number of silly letters from them then it will eventually stop.
PE can carry on pestering for another 4 years.
Debt collectors do not turn up on door steps, that is bailiffs, these are not the same.
You have been told numerous times now to ignore tame debt collectors stop over thinking it.

If you live outside the uk you PE are not likely to take you to court anyway.

lollyhev

Thank you, glad to know some more information on it, so clear to see why they manage to scam so many people.

Thank you for putting me at ease

Coupon-mad

It was in an area we are not familiar with as we live in a completely different county. At the point in December it was over a year prior to that point, to which he couldn't remember the car park, but was certain that he would have paid as he usually does when in a car park if it is pay and display.

Crown Wharf is pay and display but by all accounts, some areas of the car park (by the restaurant?) do not make that clear at all - and in the dark any terms are illegible and any P&D machines hidden in a corner. Even the entrance sign (which is big) does NOT mention £100.

DO NOT CONTACT EQUITA. They are no-one in this; ignore them. But PE do sue people.

What happened when you complained to the site agent who cancel PE tickets all the time? The one mentioned on other recent Crown Wharf threads, found by searching the forum for 'Crown Wharf'?

MD001

All these posts are very interesting, thank you.

I have just had my POPLA appeal rejected. My wife parked the car in Morrisons, paid and left within the time period and we still have the ticket as proof. However, she entered the car registration for our other car. I wrote to them and explained exactly what had happened. Initially they offered me a reduced £20 fine, but I was adamant and refused that. They would not back down and now POPLA have rejected the appeal. I cannot understand how this has been rejected, as they clearly have photos of the car entering and exiting and as such dont have photos of the other car, yet are happy to receive the £1 parking fee.

Citizen's Advice say "You should pay your parking ticket" if you formal appeal has been rejected. I have a good mind to sue them for the £1 parking ticket that I paid and have as proof.

Fruitcake

MD001 wrote: »

All these posts are very interesting, thank you.

I have just had my POPLA appeal rejected. My wife parked the car in Morrisons, paid and left within the time period and we still have the ticket as proof. However, she entered the car registration for our other car. I wrote to them and explained exactly what had happened. Initially they offered me a reduced £20 fine, but I was adamant and refused that. They would not back down and now POPLA have rejected the appeal. I cannot understand how this has been rejected, as they clearly have photos of the car entering and exiting and as such dont have photos of the other car, yet are happy to receive the £1 parking fee.

Citizen's Advice say "You should pay your parking ticket" if you formal appeal has been rejected. I have a good mind to sue them for the £1 parking ticket that I paid and have as proof.

Your case is completely different to the one started by the original poster. If you need advice on what to do next, you should start your own thread after reading the Sticky thread for NEWBIES.

What you should not do is pay the scammers.