Indigo/ipaymypcn

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 most of these companies may well be put out of business by Christmas.

Fruitcake

hineyb wrote: »

Hi Guys

latest update, received a letter today from QDR solicitors

saying i now owe £206, and they have been instructed by zzps who are acting on behalf of indigo parking solutions uk limited and i have to pay within the next 14 days.

failure to make payment in full or contact us to discuss repayment of this debt may result in us recommending to the car parking operator that the matter be enforced through criminal court proceedings.

please call us to make payment bla bla bla.

Standard rubbish, i guess i just continue to ignore?

The issue date was 27/11/2017 so i guess they have till the 27th may to take me to court?

No, the landowner or TOC have until then to take The Owner to court.

In your previous post you quoted Byelaws, but it only mentions The Owner. Neither the landowner, the TOC, or the PPC know who the Owner is, nor do they know who The Driver is.
The scammers and their minions only know who the Keeper is, but the Keeper (you) can't be taken to court for an alleged Byelaw breach.
The scammers can't even tell the landowner or TOC who the Keeper is, as that would be a breach of the DPA.

The_Deep

What Fruitcake is saying is that they are Friar Tucked. Add to their problems, complain to your MP.

Coupon-mad

Send a copy to your MP and also to local Trading Standards (not the CAB, not Consumer Focus) to complain that a private firm have:

- issued a 'ticket' offering POPLA as an ADR

- refused to offer POPLA or any ADR at all

- are now threatening criminal court and have ratcheted up the alleged charge

- have mixed that with threatening debt collection, earlier on

- are not a TOC so cannot lay a case before Magistrates

And wait 12 days, to add some time on, then reply saying you have reported them to Trading Standards and your MP. Ask on what basis did Indigo or ZZPS get your data, and did they describe the event as a parking charge or as a Penalty when applying to the DVLA, and on what date? Ask again for the POPLA ADR promised in the PCN (you won't get it, but an average consumer not on a forum would not know that and it's reasonable to expect an offered ADR).

waamo

I suspect a court may well agree that to offer an Alternative Dispute Resolution that is recognised throughout the parking industry then deny access to that service before heading to court is an abuse of process.

That in itself could well see a prosecution fall flat on its face and is probably a risk to far for these clowns. The publicity alone would damage this little scam no end.

Handbags-at-dawn

waamo wrote: »

I suspect a court may well agree that to offer an Alternative Dispute Resolution that is recognised throughout the parking industry then deny access to that service before heading to court is an abuse of process..

On the nose!

It could also be an abuse of process to prosecute only after they have wrongfully and unsuccessfully tried to impose their own unenforceable home-made penalties. No-one but the Court can impose a penalty for breach of the Byelaws.

I guess your letter from QDR is the standard template one, same as in post 66 in this Pepipoo thread:
http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=116115&pid=1349682&st=60!!!ent r%20%20y1349682

Indigo/ZZPS's initial Notices to Owner seem to recognise the fact they cannot impose a penalty. They describe them, not as something you are legally obliged to pay, but as offers to avoid prosecution - a kind of out-of-court settlement more usually seen in civil proceedings. The essence of an offer of settlement is that you are entitled to say no thanks.

Now, however, they are making out they have the power to impose their own penalties which must be paid. Worse, these penalties are dished out on the basis of an alleged contravention, before trial and whilst the accused is still deemed to be innocent. And with no opportunity whatsoever for an independent appeal.

In truth there is no "debt". No "outstanding liability" . These assertions are misleading and aggressive within the meaning of the Consumer (Protection from Unfair Trading) Regulations 2008 as amended - for which Indigo and the TOC can themselves be prosecuted in the criminal courts (as well as sued for damages (eg for the distress caused) in the civil court).

Not only that: to bring a prosecution in such circumstances could be seen as a cynical attempt to use the prosecution process to scare others into paying their unenforceable, illegal penalties. Looks like an own goal to me.

hineyb

Hi All, Just to update, i have heard nothing on this since, they haven't contacted me in anyway shape of form, Which means its over the 6 months period. Just thought i would post an update for anyone in same situation or following this post. Thanks

Fruitcake

Thanks for the update. Not everyone has the curtesy to come back and tell us what happened.

It's entirely up to you, but you could contact the scammers and point out that since the PCN is now statute barred, you now require them to confirm this is the case, and that they have destroyed any and all personal data they held about you.

Or, you send an SAR to see if they do indeed still have your data, and if they do, then complain to the BPA, DVLA, and the ICO for breaching data protection laws/GDPR.

What happened when you complained to your MP?

hineyb

i didnt get a reply from my MP!

Although i also made a claim about pothole damage, and i emailed my MP about that and she didnt reply, though i dont think she helped, i ended up winning it against the council all the same!

The_Deep

If I ere you, I would be inclined to be rather rude to your MP.