Debt Recovery

Person123_2

I have read through the threads on this forum and the newbies thread in some detail but I am not sure how best to deal with this so would be grateful for some help please! I wish I had come on here first but anyway...

Received a ticket / notice from PCM who manage the car park where I live. I have a permit but it fell from the dashboard. I responded saying as much and that PCM have my details on their system. Car park is gated with fob access only so a "secure" car park. This was of course rejected.

I have now received a letter from Trace Debt Recovery saying that I have to pay £X in Y days and that if I don't further action will be taken The letter also says it is too late to appeal the original parking ticket and that the next step is the county court and that PCM can initiate legal proceedings at any time.

I suppose I feel aggrieved that I have got this ticket because I pay a premium for a permit and who else is going to park in a secure car park that they can't get access to?! But that is besides the point. Essentially, can I fight it (and if so, how?) or do I just pay it?

Redx

yes you can fight it

you can and should IGNORE the debt collectors like post #4 of that NEWBIES sticky thread tells you to do

if the PPC issues an LBC or an MCOL, then you fight it

meanwhile , you complain to the MA that engaged these morons and take them to task over it , after checking your lease etc first, insisting that they cancel any pcn,s with these par@sites

your major task here is to check what your lease says , then read other similar threads about "own space" parking with similar issues, like the daniel san thread etc (there are plenty on here about similar issues)

Person123_2

Thanks. I am actually vacating my place in a few weeks too. I rent from a Housing Association and it galls me that they are able to profit from people in this way. Unfortunately the tenancy agreement doesn't say anything about a parking space. Had to pay separately for a fob and a permit.

I did see that post 4 of the Newbies thread said to ignore it but then wasn't sure what to do when it said to treat it as NTK.

Redx

the fact that you pay for a space and fob is evidence of a contract to park, so if you read a dozen or more similar threads about these types of "own space" issues and look at threads and blogs about LINK parking , Overstone Court, the JOPSON case and many more on similar topics to yours you will see patterns emerging

the MP,S have been caught out and been involved so watch the video about them debating this on feb 02 , read about what Sir Greg Knight says and has proposed etc

you are not the only one being victimised like this, tenants etc are a captive audience waiting to be slaughtered by private parking companies

if you pay for a fob etc , your VRM should have been placed on a "whitelist" by the MA and the PPC, permits can and do get misplaced , fall down etc

once you provided proof that you have permission to park they should have cancelled the charge

you will get other replies to this thread that give you greater detail than I can, suffice to say it has been discussed to death on here over the years, with some very interesting threads you should read

Ralph-y

links that Redx mentioned ....

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.



you will beat this if you follow forum advice ...

Ralph:cool:

beamerguy

Person123 ... everything Redx has said is correct,
he is a highly experienced member of this forum

PCM are just parking scammers well known to be
money extortion merchants who are members of
the biggest scammers, the Gladstones/IPC wild bunch

Trace Recovery, like all debt collectors, feed off
the great parking scam but ... there are debt collectors
and there are debt collectors ?
Trace are a time wasting bunch who already know
that they have no powers whatsoever and they just
want to scare you .... WHY, because any so called
debt belongs to PCM and as PCM cannot sell any debt
to a debt collector, it really makes Trace look idiots
even thinking they can do anything
PACE ARE JUST DEBT JUNKIES TO IGNORE

If PCM want to take this further they will probably
get the highly incompetent Gladstones Solicitors to contact
you.

If you want to good laugh read up on this incompetent
duo

http://parking-prankster.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=pcm

So, if this went to court, it would be a case of showing
the judge the key fob and permit and requesting the judge
to ask

"How else did MR ..... enter the secure care park" ????

This could well be yet ANOTHER whooping in court
on a residential case . that's PCM

The_Deep

If the HA are a registered charity, complain to the Chariry Commissioners

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.

Person123_2

Just wanted to say thanks for your help. Have drafted a letter to the landlord and am waiting to see if anything further comes from PCM.

Coupon-mad

Come back at small claim stage - the scam goes that far, but almost everyone wins.