Civil Monitoring LTD parking fine

mlatta

So,

My wife visited a restaurant with her friends (one that they have been visiting for many years) they had a afternoon tea and left.

Months later she gets a letter to say she used the car-park without using the facilities and is required to pay a fine.

The reason for the delay in the letter was that they were sending the letter to an old address (three addresses and 10 years ago) the car is in no way associated to that address and neither is her driving license.

Two of her friends got the same letter, they called restaurant, provided a bank statement (only one of them paid for the whole thing) and the fine was dropped. But my wife is being told she has to pay (even though she has explained the situation and provided the same bank statement and has 4 witnesses, 2 of whom got off for the same thing), that the restaurant tells everyone that enters that they need to validate parking (baring in mind this is a new requirement) and that there are signs on all tables (there weren't)

The solicitor involved is saying that the 28 day period to argue the ticket has passed (due to the wrong address being used) and that the restaurant advised all guests to validate parking.

My argument is that they let off her friends for the exact same issue (thus proving they don't tell everyone) and that sending the letter to the wrong address nullifies the 28 period to argue. And we have witnesses to the fact she actually was in the restaurant.


Thanks

ShakeItOff

How come they were sending correspondence to an old address? They have the ability to check with the DVLA to see where the car is registered. They can only check once.

Have you read the NEWBIES thread? I can't see who Civil Monitoring Ltd is, from looking at Google, so unsure if they are a member of BPA or IAS, so unsure which camp a formal appeal would fall to.

waamo

Do you mean Civil Enforcement Ltd?

mlatta

Sorry, Civil Enforcement Ltd (doing a monitoring course, got the word in my head)

No idea as to how they got the old address, the car was after we moved.

Coupon-mad

The solicitor involved is saying that the 28 day period to argue the ticket has passed

If it's CEL, they don't use a solicitor, except at debt collector stage (QDR) where you shouldn't be drawn into any replies!

You need to complain to the Restaurant Manager that CEL have failed to cancel one of the party's PCNs and can they please sort this out or the family will never return.

Maybe they've traced you to an old address, so also email CEL's DPO a data Rectification Notice to erase the old address, to ensure they only use your current one.

Yes I know you may have already told the appeals people of the proper address - but this is the DPO (see NEWBIES thread section on sending a SAR). The data needs rectifying and the old address erasing.

waamo

mlatta wrote: »

Sorry, Civil Enforcement Ltd (doing a monitoring course, got the word in my head)

No idea as to how they got the old address, the car was after we moved.

Check the address on the V5c. It's amazing how many people forget to update it.

Fruitcake

Go back to the restaurant, take pics of the lack of notices on the tables about entering a VRN if you can, and complain to the owner/manager in a polite but firm voice, preferably with other customers in earshot.
Point out how they will lose you and your friends, your family and your friends' families, and anyone else you care to mention as customers if this isn't cancelled.

Social media such as Trapadvisor, Tw@tter, and Fakebook are also available to you.

Point out the comments made by our MPs concerning this unregulated scam.

The_Deep

If the restaurant has Facebook and TripAdvisor pages write bad stuff on then, and complain to your MP

The whole industry is a scam, relying on threats of court, and the public's ignorance of the Law, A bill is currently before parliament which will regulate the scammers, many of whom are ex-clampers.

This is an entirely unregulated industry which is scamming the public with inflated claims for minor breaches of alleged contracts for alleged parking offences, aided and abetted by a handful of low-rent solicitors. Is has been suggested by an MP that some of these companies may have connections to organised crime.

Parking Eye, CPM, Smart, (especially Smart}, and others have already been named and shamed in the House of Commons as have Gladstones Solicitors, and BW Legal, (these two law firms take hundreds of these cases to court each week), hospital car parks and residential complex tickets have been especially mentioned. They lose most of them, and have been reported to the regulatory authority by an M.P. for unprofessional conduct

The problem has become so widespread that MPs have agreed to enact a Bill to regulate these scammers.

Sir Greg Knight's Private Members Bill to curb the excesses, and perhaps close down, some of these companies passed its Second Reading in the Lords this month, and, with a fair wind, will l become Law later this year..

All five readings are available to watch on the internet, (some 7-8 hours), and published in Hansard. MPs have an extremely low opinion of the industry. Many are complaining that they are becoming overwhelmed by complaints from members of the public. Add to their burden, complain in the most robust terms about the scammers.

DoaM

waamo wrote: »

Check the address on the V5c. It's amazing how many people forget to update it.

OP says they got this car well after leaving that address - the car was never associated in any way with that old address. (See post #4).

Umkomaas

I can't see how anything could have possibly been sent to an address vacated 10 years ago, unless there's some foul-up somewhere along the line with the V5C.

@OP, I think it's time to contact the DVLA to check what address they hold for you (not the driving licence section - the vehicle registration section).

You should also do a written request to the DVLA about who (and when) accessed your data at around the time of the parking event. Provide a short time frame (from/to) dates which includes the date of the parking event. You need to provide the registered keeper's full name and address, the address on the V5C logbook and the Vehicle Registration Mark of the vehicle involved in the parking incident.

SubjectAccess.Requests@dvla.gov.uk

This service is free of charge.