Advice needed

WiganNW

There is such a huge amount of information on this forum to wade through that I'm not sure what I should do.


I received a Penalty Charge Notice last March for staying 3 hours and 17 minutes in a retail car park on a Saturday night. I thought it was the cinema car park but it wasn't. I also assumed, because the shops were closed, and the car park was empty, that you could park for free. I didn't check the signs.


I received a PCN for £100 or £60 if I paid within 14 days. Somewhere on the internet I received the advice that I could write to Care Parking and offer them an amount that I thought was reasonable and proportional. I sent them a cheque for £20 and heard nothing more back. I assumed the matter was closed.


Yesterday I received a letter from SCS Law demanding £160. The advice on here was not to ring them so I contacted Care Parking. They told me that they had returned my £20 with a letter which I did not receive. I asked if they would reissue the letter but they said that I now have to correspond only with SCS.


Do I pay up or have I any defence?


Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

KeithP

WiganNW wrote: »

There is such a huge amount of information on this forum to wade through that I'm not sure what I should do.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Why don't you start at the beginning?

Start by reading the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread to understand the game you are now caught up in.

It is not an easy read, but neither is it rocket science.
It will probably take several reads to get to grips with it.

Did you receive a Penalty Change Notice or was it perhaps a Parking Charge Notice you received from Care Parking?

WiganNW

Sorry, it was a Parking Charge Notice.


I've spent ages reading through all the posts and links and I'm still not clear on what I now do. I totally understand that I don't contact SCS. But I do just sit and wait for a court summons or do I appeal to Care Parking?

Coupon-mad

Reply to SCS Law.

Find some other examples by searching the forum for 'Dear SCS' and 'show posts'.

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 they will be out of business by Christmas.