Notice of Intended Leagl Action from National Debt Collectors

RB56

Hello,
In the past I have simply ignored 'car parking charges' and they have gone away. I recently got one (at work) from First Parking for parking in an admittedly unmarked space which I have safely used for years. I ignored the notice and now have a letter of 'Notice of Intended Legal Action' from 'National Debt Collectors,' who say they have been instructed to commence County Court proceedings against me if I don't pay the now £150 fine. My instinct is to bin the letter, but I don't want to live to regret this!
Any advice/guidance greatly appreciated.

many thanks|!

onlyfoolsandparking

Unfortunately we're not in the past now and advice has been NOT to ignore since late 2012.


You need to read the NEWBIES section to give you a better idea of what you could be up against.


You need to be precise with what the letter from the debt crawler scumbag says, does it say they WILL commence Court proceedings, they MAY commence Court proceedings or even they WILL/MAY instruct their scammer client to commence proceedings.


A debt collector cant commence proceedings unless they have bought the 'Debt' which hardly ever happens these days.


There's a definite reply you should do if you have received a genuine 30 day LBA/LBCCC and this is covered in the NEWBIES section.

RB56

Thanks so much for this. The letter says 'our instructions are to commence County Court proceedings to recover the above sum immediately without further reference to you.' Later in the letter it says 'To prevent the creditor commencing court proceedings, you must pay the full outstanding balance,' which suggests that it is First Parking (the creditor) who will initiate the proceedings, not the debt collectors, from whom the letter comes.

In either case, am I best just paying it? I did park in an unmarked bay, even though this has never been a problem in the past.

Thanks so much again. I really value your help....

beamerguy

RB56 wrote: »

Hello,
In the past I have simply ignored 'car parking charges' and they have gone away. I recently got one (at work) from First Parking for parking in an admittedly unmarked space which I have safely used for years. I ignored the notice and now have a letter of 'Notice of Intended Legal Action' from 'National Debt Collectors,' who say they have been instructed to commence County Court proceedings against me if I don't pay the now £150 fine. My instinct is to bin the letter, but I don't want to live to regret this!
Any advice/guidance greatly appreciated.

many thanks|!

National Debt Collections LTD are just another one of those useless, powerless money grabbers with no power

'Notice of Intended Legal Action' ????
THEY WISH ...... BUT NO POWER TO DO SO

"they have been instructed to commence County Court proceedings against me"
IN THEIR DREAMS ..... ONLY FIRST PARKING CAN DO THAT

It's just debt collector rubbish and you can read all about such people here

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/74439905#Comment_74439905

IGNORE ... National Debt Collections, they simply have no power

RB56

OK. So am I OK to ignore it for now and see if First Parking take it to court? If they do, presumably I have another chance just to pay up?

beamerguy

RB56 wrote: »

OK. So am I OK to ignore it for now and see if First Parking take it to court? If they do, presumably I have another chance just to pay up?

Yes just wait now and NEVER think about paying scammers.

Meant to say ...... you don't owe £150, they have added a scam amount of £50 ....... the courts do not like scammers

Umkomaas

In the past I have simply ignored 'car parking charges' and they have gone away.

How many of these things do you rack up in a year? If it's quite a number, you've lived a charmed life over the past 3 years. Maybe you're running out of road.

Despite the misinformation spouted by the debt collector, F1rst Parking have started dipping their toes into issuing county court proceedings. But that's no reason to knee-jerk into paying, just wait to see what F1rst's (or their solicitor's) next move is - ignore the debt collector right now.

RB56

Thanks so much, that's all very reassuring.

I've never had an infraction with First Parking! I only ever had a parking charge notice at our local Morrison's, about 7 years ago, and held firm and it all went away. I've had 2 notices in my lifetime for being in bus lanes, but I always paid those promptly because bus drivers have a hard job and I didn't realise I was in their way.

Thanks again. I'll sleep better tonight!

The_Deep

Very few of those who fight them in court end up having to pay. Especially if they try to claim against someone who entered a wrong VRN, visited twice, parked in their own space, parked a few centimetres over a line, or a fluttering ticket claim.

Failure to pay claims are slightly trickier, but even then they have a large number o
f hurdles to jump to win in court, knock one down and it is game over, so why pay them a penny.

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 become so widespread that MPs agreed to enact a Bill to regulate these scammers. It has cleared Parliament and hopefully, this will become law shortly.

Student_1121

Hi I’m currently in basically the same situation as you but I got 3 parking tickets from first but the letter is still asking for £150, i was just curious as to what happened when you left it did they ever get back to you or what

RB56

Hi Student 1121,

I'm afraid my husband gets very concerned about these things and so for the sake of a quiet life I contacted by university about it, the contacted First Parking and had the claim withdrawn and offered to allow me to 'settle' it for the original $80 fine (late fee applies). In fact I keep forgetting to send the payment, but I suppose I will. I'd have been happy(ish) to stand my ground and wait it out, but he was losing sleep over it and it wasn't worth it!

Not a great ending....