University Parking - fines from private company and debt collector

benfilan

Hi guys,

Writing this with a hope that someone will have more wisdom than me when it comes to these things!

I've never had a parking ticket before, so this is all new to me.

I live in England, but am from N.Ireland. I pay to park in my university car park. There is a swipe in/swipe out procedure to get access to it. The car park I use most frequently has had building works going on for over a year, and is often filled with equipment/lorries taking up a significant part of the car park. The yellow lines/hatch markings/parking bay lines are mostly faded and worn out.

I received two parking "fines" in May from a company called "open parking" to my home address which is in N.Ireland. I didn't get them until last week, along with two further letters from a debt collection agency called "ZZPS".
The fines in total are £250 and are for parking "outside a parking bay" and for "parking on red lines/yellow lines/hatch markings" (the letter doesn't specify which the fine is for).

I've never gotten a notice on my car, so didn't even know about them until I got a bunch of post from home. They must have gotten my home address from when I got my parking permit, back when I first moved here.

Bit panicked when I first read the letters - they're seem pretty threatening and mention taking court action.

Immediately googled and found some info on this forum which is brilliant, but unsure where I stand and what to do next! :eek:

Any advice/guidance would be really helpful.

pogofish

ZZPS is fully covered in Post Four of the Newbies Sticky.

Umkomaas

Which parking company?

Keep the interchange of communications (but ignore ZZPS) between the PPC and your NI address. Don't use any England/Wales address - get someone at your NI address to contact you whenever mail from the PPC (or any Solicitors) is received, so you know what is being said.

benfilan

Umkomaas wrote: »

Which parking company?

Keep the interchange of communications (but ignore ZZPS) between the PPC and your NI address. Don't use any England/Wales address - get someone at your NI address to contact you whenever mail from the PPC (or any Solicitors) is received, so you know what is being said.

The parking company is called "Open Parking".

Johno100

Umkomaas wrote: »

Which parking company?

Keep the interchange of communications (but ignore ZZPS) between the PPC and your NI address. Don't use any England/Wales address - get someone at your NI address to contact you whenever mail from the PPC (or any Solicitors) is received, so you know what is being said.

From the OP - Open Parking http://www.openparking.co.uk
(An IPC mob)

benfilan

pogofish wrote: »

ZZPS is fully covered in Post Four of the Newbies Sticky.

Thanks, I searched for zzps but nothing came up. I've read that now.

System

Open Parking don't do court and they'd never try to in NI where they would have to start.

Expect a lot of nonsense from ZZPS (or ZZPS using Wright Hassall letterheads).

You could short circuit the whole issue by demanding Open take you to court if they have a case or otherwise cease/desist.

Umkomaas

Know who you're dealing with.

https://bmpa.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/203628671-Imperial-Civil-Enforcement-Solutions-Ltd

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

http://www.openparking.co.uk

benfilan

IamEmanresu wrote: »

Open Parking don't do court and they'd never try to in NI where they would have to start.

Expect a lot of nonsense from ZZPS (or ZZPS using Wright Hassall letterheads).

You could short circuit the whole issue by demanding Open take you to court if they have a case or otherwise cease/desist.

This is very useful to know, thankyou.

I was really panicked initially because I thought this meant they had ruined my credit rating for life or something, with the debt collectors letter. Came as quite a shock.

I'm going to hold tight and take your advice re: asking about the legitimacy of their case.

Umkomaas

I was really panicked initially because I thought this meant they had ruined my credit rating for life or something, with the debt collectors letter. Came as quite a shock.

Standard hysteria - and what the parking companies rely on to intimidate people into paying.

Always best to do some Google searches before hitting the panic button. Saves many sleepless nights - and grey hairs - and us having to explain it yet again.

benfilan

Umkomaas wrote: »

Standard hysteria - and what the parking companies rely on to intimidate people into paying.

Always best to do some Google searches before hitting the panic button. Saves many sleepless nights - and grey hairs - and us having to explain it yet again.

I did google... which brought me to this forum

Understand it must get repetitive giving out the same advice time after time. But it must be rewarding to know you're counteracting the influence of these types of companies?