Uk cpm unfair parking charge treatment

Nellinko

I got a ticket parking in a friends flats car park. I thought it must have been in error as my friend had given me a visitor's permit. I tried to query the ticket on the company's website. It was difficult but i finally found a way to send a message. Unfortunately in the first message i forgot to add the parking charge number but i followed it up immediately with another message adding in the PCN. This was the day after the ticket was issued. I received a reply by email a few days later asking for the PCN. I sent it. I remained convinced the error was theirs. They replied explaining that the permit was only valid until 6.30pm and i had been given a ticket around 7pm. However, by then 14 days had elapsed so the charge had gone up to 100. I checked with my friend and she was dismayed to see this was the case. She hadn't read the small print. However i decided to try appealing with mitigating circumstances as we hadn't realised and had attempted to park legally. My friend kindly also wrote a letter of support. The conpany do not play fair to the customer, as although they had corresponded with me in emails, they only accept appeals by post and only have a premium charge number. They also gave ridiculous reasons to reject my appeal at first by saying they needed to know the driver and could not process my appeal and agaim demanded £100 when i had put all the required information in my first appeal letter.
They rejected my appeal and ignored my point that of o had to pay, then due to the fact I did not know the pcn was valid until after 14 days, then if they refused mitigation i should at least be able to pay the original rate, and the email trail provided the evidence to support that.
So i appealed again to the IAS. This took some time too, but they also dismissed the claim, ignored my points about the dodgy unfair procedure of the company, and that i wrote that i would accept we made the error and pay the original fine of 60, but it was unreasonable to demand 100 for the reasons stated above.
I replied to the IAS on this and their unanswered points but heard nothing back. Then i got a debt collectors letter demanding £160. I called them saying i wanted to pay 60 but they were unpleasant and said this would not be possible i had to pay £160.
I am wondering what the risk is now if i don't pay. I don't want bailiffs at the door, but i feel the treatment is so shoddy that if they decide to take me to court over this i would like to bring their way of conducting business into the light, as they are using law to extort and be unfair, which i think is an abuse of the legal system. Any advice gratefully received, thank you.

Fruitcake

Unfortunately you have made any manner of mistakes and shot yourself in the foot by giving away the driver's identity.

The Sticky thread for NEWBIES was written for people like you so they would know how to deal with these unfair charges.

All you can do now is ignore anything and everything you get for the next six years except real court papers.
Post 4 of the NEWBIES tells you why it is safe to ignore debt collectors.

You and your friend should however complain to your MPs.

These are some of the comments made by the MPs in Parliament concerning the unregulated parking industry (Feb 2018):

https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2018-02-02/debates/CC84AF5E-AC6E-4E14-81B1-066E6A892807/Parking(CodeOfPractice)Bill

''Rip-offs from car park Cowboys must stop''; unfair treatment; signage deliberately confusing to ensure a PCN is issued; ''years of abuse by rogue parking companies''; bloodsuckers; ''the current system of regulation is hopeless, like putting Dracula in charge of the blood-bank''; extortionate fines; rogue operators; ''sense of injustice''; unfair charges and notices; wilfully misleading; signage is a deliberate act to deceive or mislead; ''confusing signs are often deliberate, to trap innocent drivers''; unreasonable; a curse; harassing; operating in a disgusting way; appeals service is no guarantee of a fair hearing; loathed; outrageous scam; dodgy practice; outrageous abuse; unscrupulous practices; ''the British Parking Association is as much use as a multi-storey car park in the Gobi desert''; and finally, by way of unanimous conclusion: ''we need to crack down on these rogue companies. They are an absolute disgrace to this country. Ordinary motorists and ordinary residents should not have to put up with this''.

These are the exact words used, so you should quote them to your MP in a complaint and ask him/her to contact Sir Greg Knight MP if he wants further information about this scam.

System

hadn't read the small print

There is a high likelihood you have a defence of failing to convey the restrictions in a clear manner. Which parking company?

Coupon-mad

It's UKCPM.

To the OP, why not just search the forum for UKCPM? Someone beat them in court only last Friday on this forum, and this person won today on pepipoo forum, despite English not being their first language:

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=107768

... and we do see 99% of well defended cases won. Almost none lose, no risk, no CCJ.

Also please read the NEWBIES thread to see which stage you are at and why the IAS was pointless.

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.

Parking Eye, CPM, Smart, and another smaller 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 nearly always lose) and have been reported to the regulatory authority by an M.P.

Hospital car parks and residential complexes 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.

Nellinko

Thank you for some reassurance.. i hope what has been written means they do not bring bailiffs to the door.
Unfortunately i cannot claim misleading information, as it said the times on the actual permit i was given, on the front, and i was foolish not to have double checked the permit my friend had given me to use. I had used it many times before when visiting, so didn't think to.
So i have said i accept that foolishness is not a valid reason, and i would pay the origial price. The higher cost and evidence i presented regarding why that should not be paid is what gripes that they disregarded, without fair grounds. I don't know how well that would go down in a court case, but i side with the MP and would be happy to bring these unfair practices to light in hope that more regulation can be made regarding their operating procedures.

Umkomaas

i hope what has been written means they do not bring bailiffs to the door.

Who's going to 'bring bailiffs to the door'?

nosferatu1001

Before panicking about bailiffs, why notdo some research into when they can be used?

As a clue, it would require losing a court case first. Youre not there yet.

Nellinko

The debt collectors? I am not experienced with this (thankfully)...

nosferatu1001

No, debt collectors and bailffs are not the same thing.

We arent expecting you to know this already. but you can do some research on this.