I received a parking charge whilst I was abroad

RayaanG

Hi ...
I'm new here so please accept my apologies if I'm posting on the wrong forum or if this question /topic has already been discussed before .

I have been away to Canada for a few months .. upon arriving back I have opened a letter with a demand for payment .. unpaid parking charge notice £160 .(UK Parking control ) .. offence .. Parking in Disabled space without displaying Badge .

Parking charge date was 29/06/19 .... which I can prove I was on holiday at this time . A few friends had spare keys to my house .. and my car keys were also left at home as I told them to pop in and check my mail and start my car up once in a while . Obviously one of them has drove it and received this ticket and not told me about it .

I have a feeling no one us going to own up to it when I ask them ....
I have called up the parking company and explained the situation and they told me that I am responsible to pay as I am the registered keeper/owner and I must pay the full £160 .. either in full or instalments .
Please advise what should I do next ? ( apart from choosing new friends .. I already know that now !! )

waamo

All you can do now is wait. They may try to take you to court as the registered keeper. Unless they can show they have jumped through all the legal hoops to transfer liability they will struggle.

You will get a mountain of threatening letters that you can ignore. Come back here for further advice if they eventually do decide to try court.

Johno100

I assume the location of the alleged violation is local to you and somewhere your 'friend(s)' may have gone to? Just ruling out any potential misread of your registration.

Fruitcake

Sadly our government brought in a law that means someone who was not even in the car at the time, the keeper, can be held liable for such a charge. Daft ain't it, but that's the law?

I suggest you send a late appeal using the template in blue from post 1 of the NEWBIES and add a one liner that since the keeper was out of the country, and can prove it, this is the first opportunity you have had to appeal.

I doubt it will make any difference but if it does go to court you can show you tried to be reasonable and resolve the issue on your return.

Other than that, have a good read of the NWWBIES and also complain to the landowner and your MP about this unregulated scam.

Half_way

check the documentation through carefuly, ads times/dates that letters etc were posted top you. does it comply with the protection of freedoms act?

beamerguy

So UKPC told you that you owed £160 ???? THEY LIED

UKPC are known fraudsters. They are not complying with the law which is POFA2012 and that's bad news for them.

Did you also receive letters from brain dead debt collectors

This is abuse and you can read here what the courts are saying about ABUSE OF PROCESS
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6014081/abuse-of-process-district-judge-tells-bwlegal

While this is still with UKPC, suggest you write to them asking on what authority have they added an extra £60. There answer will be of immense interest to us and you.
Suggest to them that at this early stage they should cancel the charge before it goes further under POFA2012

RayaanG

Unfortunately I forgot to notify DVLA
I had changed my address .. so all previous correspondence was sent to the house I lived in before .
This is the first letter I have received at my new address ... sent from Debt Recovery Plus ( they said they used a tracing service to find my current address ) demanding £160 within 14 days ..
Date of notice 4.10.19
Parking charge date 29.6.19
Does this mean I have lost the right to appeal ?

KeithP

RayaanG wrote: »

Does this mean I have lost the right to appeal ?

Yes it does.

Please re-read post #2 above. It gives you all the advice you need at this time.

beamerguy

RayaanG wrote: »

Unfortunately I forgot to notify DVLA
I had changed my address .. so all previous correspondence was sent to the house I lived in before .
This is the first letter I have received at my new address ... sent from Debt Recovery Plus ( they said they used a tracing service to find my current address ) demanding £160 within 14 days ..
Date of notice 4.10.19
Parking charge date 29.6.19
Does this mean I have lost the right to appeal ?

No appeal now available, if UKPC want to take it further you will hear, then come back here

You DO NOT owe £160, welcome to the scam. Please ignore DRP they are powerless and complete idiots
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5859454/debt-collectors-drp-zzps-what-they-dont-want-you-to-know&highlight=debt+collectors+drp

Half_way

Have you checked the documents etc for compliance with the protection of freedoms act??
Who's car park was the vehicle parked in?


You said that you were out of the country at the time, and you dont know who could have been driving, is this correct?
There is no obligation on your part to find out who was driving, especialy if the parking companys documents that they have sent do not comply with the protection of freedoms act.


If the documents do not comply with the protection of freedoms act, then you can tell the parking company to sod off....


Re parking charge notice #xxxx on dates (from-to) i was out of the country and as such i could not have been the driver at the time, as you have failed to comply with the requirements as set out in the protection of freedoms act you must now take this matter up with the driver on the day and cease pursuing me, as registered keeper with immediate effect

But before you send anything like that, has the parking company complied with the protection of freedoms act????

RayaanG

This letter from Debt Recovery Plus is the only document I have received so far .. so I'm not sure how much the initial charge was as everything else prior to this has been sent to my previous address... it's states in the letter that the vehicle was parked in a retail park .

And yes 100% I was out of the country at the date of the parking charge.

So do I send them a letter now stating I was not in the country and so I couldn't possibly be the driver of the vehicle ,and also ask them to send me any previous letters they have sent to my previous address to see if they comply with POFA2012 ??