Family dilema - UKCPM solicitors letters

haycorns

Hi, I have read lots of your hellpful advice but still have a dillema as it is not me being pursued.

My son is the registered keeper and has received a PCN through the post. The 'offence' was in April, PCN dated May (within 14 days), but due to various cricumstances the letter was only opened last week.

He was not aware of who the driver was, but they stayied 24 mins in a Pay and Display carpark that used to be free, . Signs weren't great, but they were caught on CCTV. Pictures only show car moving thoug and not parked.

PCN does not appear to hve all the right phrases for POFA ( nor mention POFA), but we missed the cuts off for appeal. They are an IPC firm, so looks like appeaal was not recommended anyway.

Also rececived a letter from Debt Recovery Pllus limited to my son at same addreess - again only opened last week.

I was thinking I/he needs to send a cease and desist letter to Debt company, then ignore evything.

Now another solicitors letter has been sent to my son at his current addreess, which states they have used a tracking service to find his current addrress. We did not change car address with DVLA as we still live at the orginal address and he was moving around in rented properties.

What would you advise? Son is caght in crossfire. Mum trying to put things right. I have learnt all letters need to be opened or forwarded to son .

Pay and display was 40p - Fine now £100. driver normally compliant - didn't notice signs and that the rules had changed. Only parks here every few months to have hair cut.

I know there is lots of advice , I have read it but am still not certain that all I need to do is write to the debt collecot at this stage.

I'd be very grateful of any specific advice for us. If it were just me that might end up in court I would feel more confident , but don't want son to be in a difficult place because of drivers actions

Redx

if the V5C is in your sons name then YOU are not involved so can do nothing

the debt collectors should be ignored , NOBODY should be contacting them at all

your son can name the driver so that the PPC chase the driver and not the keeper, using the law named POFA to do so

the daughter messed up so she should be putting it right, or carrying the monkey on her own back

or pay up in full so it goes away

the danger here is a court case within 6 years, in your sons name, when its too late to do anything about it and a CCJ could ruin his credit rating if the judgment was unpaid

Egbert_Nobacon

Read the NEWBIES thread (one click back, third thread down) to understand the game you are playing.

You are right that an appeal to a PPC in the IPC isn’t recommended.

Do not contact debt collectors - you will only encourage them !!

They have up to 6 years to make a court claim so remember to inform them of any change of keeper address avoiding a sneaky CCJ.

If there is no mention of POFA this could be your main defence point so do not divulge the driver and edit your original post accordingly.

Quentin

haycorns wrote: »

PCN does not appear to hve all the right phrases for POFA ( nor mention POFA), but we missed the cuts off for appeal. They are an IPC firm, so looks like appeaal was not recommended anyway...........

I was thinking I/he needs to send a cease and desist letter to Debt company, then ignore evything.....

You have misunderstood the situation regards appeals

Appeals are covered in depth in post #1 of the newbies FAQ thread near the top of the forum, together with an appeal set out to be used

Appeals to IPC companies should be made!

That's to have on file the fact that you didn't take a cavalier approach to the matter and ignored the "invoice" from the outset.

But you should realise that appeals to IPC companies are futile

And don't contact debt collectors ever. They won't cease and desist! In fact they might increase their efforts in the knowledge that they have got you rattled,

Umkomaas

1. The 'solicitor's letter' now received, to whom does it instruct your son to pay?

2. Your son needs to be dealing with now as, if it goes to court, he will have to defend the case at any court hearing. Getting involved at this stage will provide him with better preparation than leaving it to you until the critical stage arrives.

Fruitcake

There is nothing stopping the keeper from making a late appeal. It will no doubt be rejected by the scammers for being outside the appeal window, but so what.

A judge may think it perfectly reasonable for a keeper not to have read and acted on a PCN because they were away from the address for periods of time, but have made an attempt to resolve the issue as soon as reasonably possible.

If the NTK is non-PoFA compliant then carefully add a one liner to that effect, ensuring that the driver's identity is not revealed.

You can show us the redacted NTK if you wish.
Upload images to a web hosting site such as postimages or tinypic or similar, then post the URL here, but change https to hxxps. Someone here will change it back to a live link.

The keeper should also complain to their MP about this unregulated scam.

The_Deep

If you son was not driving and the PCN does not comply with PoFA then the scammers and their solicitors are flogging a dead horse.

If they are daft enough to take this to court, perhaps quoting Eliot v Loake, a judge will soon sort them out. Meanwhile complain to your son's MP. as nine times out of ten these tickets are scams.

Parliament is well aware of the MO of these private parking companies, and on 15th March 2019 a Bill was enacted to curb the excesses of these shysters. 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, persistent offenders denied access to the DVLA database and unable to operate.

Hopefully life will become impossible for the worst of these scammers, but 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.

haycorns

Thanks for everyones advice.


I have looked again and they aren't solictors letters yet - just debt collectors. Might it just go away with ignoring , or do UK CPM usully take it to court.?


I think we could fight it if necessary, but due to other life pressures I can't cope with it hanging over us for 6 years, so much as it grieves me I think we are going to have to pay.


If registered keeper names the driver , what happens next? Does a letter go to the driver and will it stay at £100 or go back to the £60.. I think I can guess!

Redx

UK CPM usually take it to court, plenty of court case threads on here your son can look at

the keeper can name the driver if they wish, so that they absolve themselves under POFA, thus may not stop a court case but is a part of any defence, so keep copies and free proof of posting (not signed for)


this may trigger an NTD to his sister to start the process all over again, but they may not do so, even though they should do so


once a court claim has been issued against your son, its too late to name the driver

Umkomaas

UKCPM are currently the country's most litigious operator. But they can't take every one of their unpaid tickets to court.

Fruitcake

haycorns wrote: »

Thanks for everyones advice.


I have looked again and they aren't solictors letters yet - just debt collectors. Might it just go away with ignoring , or do UK CPM usully take it to court.?


I think we could fight it if necessary, but due to other life pressures I can't cope with it hanging over us for 6 years, so much as it grieves me I think we are going to have to pay.


If registered keeper names the driver , what happens next? Does a letter go to the driver and will it stay at £100 or go back to the £60.. I think I can guess!

If the NTK was non PoFA compliant, why would you want to throw the driver under the tram?

Please show us the NTK so the regulars can advise you better. Don't throw away a possible winning hand.