IVA and Parking charges help!

Rolloyd24

Hi there,
I need help- I have had conflicting advice provided by citizens advice and grant Thornton and a private parking company and my IVA owners.
I incurred 6 parking charges over December and January and was not aware of them until may of this year (unfortunately I changed my address on my driving licence and not my V5) therefore the original notices were sent to my old address. WHen I did receive the charges through they were issued by debt recovery plus who have added a £60 charge extra for each of the 6 tickets on top of the £100 that the initial company 'national parking enforcement ltd had applied.
I had to enter into an IVA in march and as soon as I was made aware of the parking charges I notified my IVA company to which they told me because these are a criminal charge it couldn't be added.
Today I seeked advice from citizens advice in person who told me that actually it was not criminal but civil and that (information provided by grant Thornton Iva advice) I cannot except no for a answer the parking charges have to be included in the IVA.
Upon advising my IVA company of this they told me they have now contacted dept recovery plus and thrown 'a load of legal jargon at them' (his exact words) and they have thrown a load of legal jargon back to the effect that it would not be included because the tickets are under trespassing legislation and therefore criminal.
The debt recovery are passing the case back to the initial company who issued the tickets to advise that they should take me to court.
If they take me to court then this incurs court fines which I am liable for and my IVA does not cover- I am in an IVA because I was struggling and with the idea that the IVA takes every penny of my disposable income I haven't a clue where I stand!

Please please help anyone!

Geoff1963

The parking "fine" is actually a charge for a service.

Rolloyd24

Apologies I worded that wrong 'parking charge' I parked on private property- the charge isn't an issue I understand I am liable its the conflicting information I wondered if I can get clarification on

National_Debtline

Hi there and welcome to MSE,


Magistrate court fines or any criminal parking offence would be excluded from an IVA. Debt Recovery Plus is a private parking firm regulated by the British Parking Association and therefore, the tickets should be civil not criminal. However, perhaps you can clarify exactly what the tickets were for, so future posters can offer more clarification on that point.

I think the bigger issue is that most IVA companies will not add debts after the IVA has started as that affects the percentages creditors will receive. As the IVA started in March and the tickets were not discovered until May they will be excluded as they were not part of the original creditors meeting. To add them now may require a new creditors meeting and this starts to risk things such as the IVA failing or being extended. Check the original terms and conditions of your IVA and make sure you get full free advice before risking an IVA failing. This can have serious consequences, especially if you are a homeowner.


Laura
@natdebtline

Rolloyd24

Hi Laura,

Thank you very much for the welcome! And thank you for your reply. Let's take DRP out of the equation as there are so many threads they are in. These were parking charges originally made by a private parking company national parking enforcement ltd- I was advised because the charges occurred before the start of the Iva they should be added in now as they are not a nominal creditor in comparison to my others it wouldn't make a difference. However DRP (sorry to mention ha) have told my IVA company they cannot be added because they are a criminal charge of trespassing even though it was a parking charge and not damage and there is no claim of damages against me- does that make sense sorry!

DorisTrousers

Hi,

Let me assure you that these debts can and should go into the IVA, and that the parking firm are talking codswallop.

I cannot envisage a scenario in which a new creditors, or variation, meeting needs to be held either, as the debt involved seems minimal. It is generally only where a no vote from these debts, at the time where a creditors meeting was originally held, would have resulted in a rejection, or where the debt is significant enough, ballpark figure of 15% of the total at the creditors meeting, where any issues arise. 6 times £160 is £960, so go back to your IP and insist that these debts are added immediately and then let the parking firm challenge the IVA if they wish. Which they won't.

Hope that helps.

ToxtethO'Grady

Trespass is not a criminal offence it is a civil offence and DRP should not be saying that.

Raise a complaint with them around this, state that you want to know how they can state that a Parking Charge Notice is a criminal offence. The only parking/traffic notices that are criminal are Fixed Penalty Notices and they still can go in to an insolvency if they haven't been to court. By raising the complaint it should stop any action.

If they come back still saying they're criminal ask them what there next steps are - it'll be a county court judgement I bet and the court looks at what you can afford not what they want. If your on an IVA your credit file is shot anyway so offer a £1 for each CCJ. As you're on an IVA the court will very likely accept that amount until the IVA finishes. Not that they will go for a CCJ but that's how to manage it if they do.

If they do say a CCJ is the next step state that you are unhappy with their response and feel that they have misled you about the criminality of the contravention. Give them a chance to respond and then go the the Financial Ombudsman, or whichever regulatory body they are using, as they are giving your misleading information about it being criminal.

Try and use Resolver for the complaint and there's a link on the side of the forum here.