PCN Debt Collectors chasing me

AnnoyedStudent19

Hello,

I’m a university student who received a windshield PCN in my university car park from Parking Solutions 24, on 2nd March 2018. The reason for my PCN was ‘no valid permit / pay and display ticket’. It claimed that the parking charge was £60 but reduced to £30 if paid within 14 days.

Annoyingly, my reason for not having a valid ticket doesn’t have much standing behind it. I had previously been buying monthly permits which meant I only had to worry about paying once a month. I then left uni for Christmas break and a large placement block, but had an exam on the 2nd March (the day I got my PCN). Due to exam stress, and me being used to having a monthly permit, it completely slipped my mind to buy a quick ticket.

I then received a Notice to Keeper on 4th April informing me that my charge had gone up to £78 (£60 charge + £18 admin fee). This letter informed me that I could appeal online, which I did, and I explained my circumstances – please note, I sent my appeal in 5 days later, which was within their 28 days limit. I also admitted to being the driver at the time of event. I never received any acknowledgement that they had received my appeal, nor did I receive anything informing me that it had been rejected. They also never provided me with the POPLA details which they said they’d provide if the appeal was rejected.

Fast forward to 4th June 2018, I received a letter from Ultimate Customer Solutions who were now asking me to pay £120 (£60 principal balance, £60 admin fee). I sent a complaint into the website regarding their lack of acknowledgment to my appeal, which now conveniently for them, meant I was expected to pay an additional £42 on top of the £78 they tried to claim previously. I never had a reply.

I’ve now (23rd March 2019) received a letter from CSB Solicitors asking me on behalf of their client to pay £120 again, ‘to prepare for possible legal proceedings’: “You should make payment for the amount shown above within 14 days of the date of this letter to avoid legal action being instigated against you”. There are no forms attached to this, and having read some threads on this forum I don’t think this is a letter before claim?

Apologies that this is a very generic debt collections question. I’m feeling quite stressed about the situation and I am wondering if I should make any contact with them, pay them, or ignore this recent letter? Or do you think it could be worth contacting the university directly to see if there is any chance of cancelling the ticket? Thank you in advance.

Redx

seems to be a debt collector letter, which should be ignored

ALWAYS , ALWAYS complain to the landowner to get a cancellation, that goes without saying and should have been done at the beginning

you could email the BPA AOS team with this saga and complain that no POPLA code was received after your appeal, include scans or pics of the documents and a brief timeline

D_P_Dance

Complain to your MP. On 18th March 2019 a Bill was enacted to curb the excesses of these private parking companies. Codes of Practice are being drawn up, an independent appeals service will be set up, and access to the DVLA's date base more rigorously policed, and persistent offenders denied access. Hopefully life will become impossible for the worst of these scammers.

Until this is done you should still complain to your MP, citing the new legislation.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2019/8/contents/enacted

Just as the clampers were finally closed down, so hopefully will many of these Private Parking Companies.

wrestling231

is it salford uni by any chance?
im in the same situation....
whats the update m8?

Mark2spark

The O.P. doesn't appear to have returned after submitting the question(s).
My advice at this stage would be to send a SAR to try and determine if the appeal process was properly followed through, - that's after the rather obvious ask of the Uni to get the ticket cancelled.