can somebody please help or suggest something?

Ludvig

Hi there, I'm new to this and even after reading the newbie instructs link I'm still a little confused....Lets see if I'm in the right place,

Ok so June 2019 I first received a letter from a debt collection agency named DRP acting on behalf of a company named Private Parking Solutions London LTD who claim to be employed By Tescos for parking monitoring. The penalty states that I got a penalty ticket in February 2019 yet I never had a ticket nor any letter from PPS prior to all this, also the letter was sent to my mothers address of which I have not resided at for over 35 years which I found really odd and so I contacted Tescos. After speaking with Tesco head office they gave me the phone number for the company they do employ to monitor this particular Tesco express land. ( Horizon ), I contacted this Tescos parking company and they confirmed that PPS is not the monitoring parking company for Tescos and that they are and that they had never even heard of Private Parking Solutions London LTD (PPS).

I wrote a letter to DRP debt collectors, I did not put my address or contact. I advised them that the company they were representing were not working for Tescos as they claim and that I never received a ticket nor any follow up letter from the said company, I also included that I had spoken with Tesco head office and also the actual employed parking company of Tescos and that they too could contact Tescos to get the same confirmation.

A 2nd letter dated 9 July 2019 arrived today 12 July 2019 , to my mothers address again. DRP replied, thanking me for my correspondence and that this penalty has reached the collection stage thus they will no longer accept any appeal and I must pay £160 or I will be prosecuted for £1000 by a supreme court.

I contacted the employed park company of Tescos again today and again they confirmed they had never heard of the said company claiming to be working for Tescos and that I am to write to them explaining the situation and they will send me confirmation in writing that they are in fact the employed park monitoring company employed by Tescos. Perhaps I shouldn't have but I rung DRP debt collectors (withheld my number of course), I tried to reason with the chap I spoke to but he wouldn't have it and said they have photo evidence and so I must pay. I explained to him that the company that they are acting on behalf of are not even the employed company of Tescos that they are claiming to be and that I in fact never had any ticket on my window nor did I ever receive any notice or correspondence from PPS outside of these DRP letters, the chap still told me that they will be proceeding with this matter and seeking monies from me and that they would continue to contact my mothers place of residence. I feel sick to the tummy with all this, I've never had many tickets in my 38 years of driving maybe just 4 in total and I have always paid them quickly to avoid the higher charge. I cannot for the life of me understand how a debt collection agency can act on behalf of a company/person claiming to be working for a company that they are not working for which has been confirmed twice now and will be in writing shortly, just an easy phone call DRP could do but they will not make that call and instead confirm that they are still going to continue to act on behalf of whoever and pursue me for money.

My anxieties are out the roof at the idea of bailiffs attending my mums home and causing her upset more so, she is disabled and recently had major surgery ( of which I tried to explain to DRP today but they were uninterested ), These demanding letters and how they present have completely stressed my mum out and of course that means that i am now worried sick, I'm getting on a bit myself now so none of us are so physically equipped to deal with these type of problems any more to be honest.

Can anybody suggest anything that may be helpful or at least point me in a direction that I could try...many thanks.

waamo

First check the address on your V5c. Don't guess, actually look and check it. Is it your current address?

DRP are debt collectors. They are utterly powerless to do anything other than send scary letters. You should never, ever contact DRP. As an aside you aren't reading those scary letters properly. They do not say you will be taken to the Supreme Court.

Have you contacted Tesco head office and complained? You want the organ grinder not the local monkey.

Umkomaas

1. DRP are powerless - ignore them, they cannot harm you. Don't ring them again. Read the NEWBIES FAQ sticky, post #4 about dealing with debt beggars.

2. Send PPS a SAR which will provide you with information on all the data they hold about you and your car. The NEWBIES FAQ sticky, post #2 gives information about how to frame and phrase a SAR.

3. If they are writing to you at your mother's address, it will be the address provided to them by the DVLA. Check your V5C (logbook) for the address shown on it. It's not a company/lease/hire vehicle by chance?

I wrote a letter to DRP debt collectors, I did not put my address or contact. I advised them that the company they were representing were not working for Tescos as they claim and that I never received a ticket nor any follow up letter from the said company, I also included that I had spoken with Tesco head office and also the actual employed parking company of Tescos and that they too could contact Tescos to get the same confirmation.

If you didn't put your address or contact details, what was the purpose in that? They would likely throw it in the bin - an anonymous letter!

I must pay £160 or I will be prosecuted for £1000 by a supreme court.

I think you should read any correspondence for this case very carefully. Your letter would most certainly not have read 'prosecuted', '£1,000' - I can't believe that amount was quoted in the letter, and no one is prosecuted in a 'supreme court', there is only one, and that is The Supreme Court. You won't be going there!

My anxieties are out the roof at the idea of bailiffs attending my mums home and causing her upset

You can both rest absolutely assured that no bailiff will come anywhere near the house. You would first have to lose a court case, refuse to pay whatever the Judge ordered, the parking company would have to seek an enforcement order against you before any bailiff could be appointed. Not a chance in a million!

Ultimately, once you've got your information from your SAR (it will take up to a month for a response) you can check precisely where the parking event took place, if it was at Tesco and Tesco confirm they do not contract with PPS (very important - get all this in writing), then you can make a formal complaint to the BPA of which PPS is a member. Come back and we'll help with that once you've got all the above ducks lined up.

Redx

This is the second thread this week about Tesco and a different PPC , something like horizon and highview


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6022960


Personally I thought that thread was about a retail park where Tesco express was probably one of many retailers on site, meaning that just because it was a visit to Tesco express, it does not make Tesco liable

The one that used to be near me was on a retail park where Parking Eye monitor the car park, nothing to do with Tesco even if you shopped at Tesco

waamo

Redx wrote: »

This is the second thread this week about Tesco and a different PPC , something like horizon and highview

Personally I thought that thread was about a retail park where Tesco express was probably one of many retailers on site, meaning that just because it was a visit to Tesco express, it does not make Tesco liable

The one that used to be near me was on a retail park where Parking Eye monitor the car park, nothing to do with Tesco even if you shopped at Tesco

Good point. Ludvig, where did this heinous crime occur? The exact location please.

Ludvig

waamo wrote: »

Good point. Ludvig, where did this heinous crime occur? The exact location please.

Tesco & esso express high road bushey heath wd23 1el - the boards on display there also show the name Horizon as the parking monitoring company yet the company claiming to work for Tescos on the letter are Private Parking Solutions London LTD.....

Ludvig

Umkomaas wrote: »

1. DRP are powerless - ignore them, they cannot harm you. Don't ring them again. Read the NEWBIES FAQ sticky, post #4 about dealing with debt beggars.

2. Send PPS a SAR which will provide you with information on all the data they hold about you and your car. The NEWBIES FAQ sticky, post #2 gives information about how to frame and phrase a SAR.

3. If they are writing to you at your mother's address, it will be the address provided to them by the DVLA. Check your V5C (logbook) for the address shown on it. It's not a company/lease/hire vehicle by chance?


If you didn't put your address or contact details, what was the purpose in that? They would likely throw it in the bin - an anonymous letter!


I think you should read any correspondence for this case very carefully. Your letter would most certainly not have read 'prosecuted', '£1,000' - I can't believe that amount was quoted in the letter, and no one is prosecuted in a 'supreme court', there is only one, and that is The Supreme Court. You won't be going there!


You can both rest absolutely assured that no bailiff will come anywhere near the house. You would first have to lose a court case, refuse to pay whatever the Judge ordered, the parking company would have to seek an enforcement order against you before any bailiff could be appointed. Not a chance in a million!

Ultimately, once you've got your information from your SAR (it will take up to a month for a response) you can check precisely where the parking event took place, if it was at Tesco and Tesco confirm they do not contract with PPS (very important - get all this in writing), then you can make a formal complaint to the BPA of which PPS is a member. Come back and we'll help with that once you've got all the above ducks lined up.

thanks so much for responding- my mothers address isnt the address my car is registered at, DRP said they had tracked my mothers address from another source which I thought odd but what do I know.
I am going to do what you say and request a SARS and check everything else. I can tell you that the letter does in fact state that failure to pay the amount outstanding then i will seek recovery and that I will be facing prosecution and fined up to £1000 plus court costs.

I have only had my car a couple of years and I haven't lived at home for over 35 years thus I am not registered with anything at my mothers abode which again makes me wonder how and or why they would write there. I know live Herts My mother is in London. I am going to check my DVLA documents for my car as you suggested as I my car may still be registered at my previous address but that address was not my mothers either which again confuses me. Thank you fir helping me, I was at a total brick wall before I found this site.

Ludvig

waamo wrote: »

First check the address on your V5c. Don't guess, actually look and check it. Is it your current address?

DRP are debt collectors. They are utterly powerless to do anything other than send scary letters. You should never, ever contact DRP. As an aside you aren't reading those scary letters properly. They do not say you will be taken to the Supreme Court.

Have you contacted Tesco head office and complained? You want the organ grinder not the local monkey.

defiantly going to check car documents as you suggest, what I do know though is that my car is definitely not registered at my mothers address. I really appreciate your help, thanks so much.....

Ludvig

waamo wrote: »

First check the address on your V5c. Don't guess, actually look and check it. Is it your current address?

DRP are debt collectors. They are utterly powerless to do anything other than send scary letters. You should never, ever contact DRP. As an aside you aren't reading those scary letters properly. They do not say you will be taken to the Supreme Court.

Have you contacted Tesco head office and complained? You want the organ grinder not the local monkey.

I did contact Tesco head office in June, they gave me their parking monitoring companies telephone number, they are called Horizon, I spoke to a lady there and she confirmed that they are the monitoring company for Tescos and at the said branch, she said they had never even heard of Private Parking Solutions London LTD and they are going to write me a letter to confirm that. I will go back to Tescos again now you have mentioned it, it would be good if they will help a little bit with this, PPS are claiming they are employed by Tescos, it states it on the DRP letter so surely thats fraudulent if they are not employed by Tescos. I feel for people who have and are having to deal with similar problems like this, it's very concerning plus £160 is a lot of money for a lot pf people

Ludvig

Umkomaas wrote: »

1. DRP are powerless - ignore them, they cannot harm you. Don't ring them again. Read the NEWBIES FAQ sticky, post #4 about dealing with debt beggars.

2. Send PPS a SAR which will provide you with information on all the data they hold about you and your car. The NEWBIES FAQ sticky, post #2 gives information about how to frame and phrase a SAR.

3. If they are writing to you at your mother's address, it will be the address provided to them by the DVLA. Check your V5C (logbook) for the address shown on it. It's not a company/lease/hire vehicle by chance?


If you didn't put your address or contact details, what was the purpose in that? They would likely throw it in the bin - an anonymous letter!


I think you should read any correspondence for this case very carefully. Your letter would most certainly not have read 'prosecuted', '£1,000' - I can't believe that amount was quoted in the letter, and no one is prosecuted in a 'supreme court', there is only one, and that is The Supreme Court. You won't be going there!


You can both rest absolutely assured that no bailiff will come anywhere near the house. You would first have to lose a court case, refuse to pay whatever the Judge ordered, the parking company would have to seek an enforcement order against you before any bailiff could be appointed. Not a chance in a million!

Ultimately, once you've got your information from your SAR (it will take up to a month for a response) you can check precisely where the parking event took place, if it was at Tesco and Tesco confirm they do not contract with PPS (very important - get all this in writing), then you can make a formal complaint to the BPA of which PPS is a member. Come back and we'll help with that once you've got all the above ducks lined up.

you've been so helpful - I will get on with the necessary and come back to you....One thing, should I write to tescos or just call them again and ask for them to send me a letter confirming that they don't employ PPS? Horizon are going to send me a letter confirming that they are employed by Tescos and not PPS also so I will have that in writing also. I do hope these letter of confirmations will be enough to make these people go away. Thank you again.

BrownTrout

Can you please show us where it says you will be prosecuted by a supreme court? Is that like the supreme leader? Ir something? Where are these supreme courts?