ECP+DRP threatened court action for multiple unpaid PCNs

studiousowl

Hello all

I am in desperate need for advice. I am a member of staff at X hospital and have not been provided with a parking permit due to lack of spaces and long waiting lists..etc. As such for the past year I have either been parking offsite or paying for visitor car parking. On multiple occasions (9-10) I have either been running late, and so paying an hour or so after parking; or leaving work late due to emergencies/sick patients having not had the time to extend my parking time, and each time beautifully received PCNs.
In honesty, I have been overwhelmed by work this past year and have not been able to keep on top of these PCNs and did not appeal. As such I have received over 100 letters from DRP over the course of the past year threatening court action. Despite their alarming quantities and sensation of panic every time a letter was shoved through the door I have been ignoring them - as I had no other option really.
However, last week I received a letter from DRP stating:
Notice of intended court proceedings - multiple unpaid parking charges totalling £1080.
They expected a reply by deadline of 7/10 which I have missed as I was on night shifts and left that morsel of mail unopened.
Suffice to say I have not been able to sleep since opening this letter. My colleague was in an almost identical predicament, received said letter, panicked and called DRP and managed to haggle her bill down a few hundred pounds (still paying around 700).
My huge worry is as they are after the cost of multiple PCNs with such a substantial amount of money - they will take this to court.
Do you have any advice on how to proceed from here as the amount of debt is HUGE and having not appealed, I do not see a way out of paying this fine.
Please help

Half_way

These are not fines.
don't panic
don't phone anyone at the parking company or Drp (this is important)
familiarise yourself with the NHS parking principles for staff patients and visitors

Fruitcake

Debt crawlers are powerless and cannot take anyone to court. Post 4 of the NEWBIES tells you why it is safe to ignore them.
Please re-read the latest piece of bog paper they have sent you. It will not say that they, DRP, intend to start court proceedings but they will/may recommend to their client that they do.

Only the PPC can take you to court.

Your colleague was very foolish to pay a debt crawler. They didn't haggle down to £700, they haggled themselves up from zero.

You need to make time for this as the scammers have six years to start court proceedings. The more PCNs you receive, the greater the likelihood they will do this at some point.

A copy and paste of the blue text appeal in post 1 of the NEWBIES will take you a few minutes. This assumes the hospital is in England or Wales.

As already advised, look up the government parking guidelines for hospitals. Get your union reps involved. Get together with other victims and form a collective.
You should be fighting this. You should be getting angry not worried.

You should also complain to your MP about this unregulated scam.

The_Deep

Have you read this?

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/nhs-nurse-hospital-parking-tickets-university-hospital-of-wales-cardiff-indigo-park-services-150000-a7845126.html

You need to get your MP on board.

Half_way

another few bites, at this point you should not attempt to guess as to who was driving on those days where your vehicle was parked, if the parking company has not complied with the protection of freedoms act there can be no keeper liability, you need to check all documentation the POFA compliance.

Union reps are there to keep, but it's unusual to find any who will be up to speed and up to date with the in and outs of the private parking world, often calling then fines, add you have done so. there is no easy solution, you will need to spend time on this and research.

so far you haven't mention who the parking company is, this can and does make a huge difference, from PoFA compliance to how to proceed, add the advice required, likewise with the hospital/nhs trust.

is also worth bearing in mind that the NHS has a staff shortage, and if you have the right skills/qualifications three will be other sites that would happily employ you, not to mention the private sector

The_Deep

is also worth bearing in mind that the NHS has a staff shortage, and if you have the right skills/qualifications three will be other sites that would happily employ you,

Indeed, if Hospital Trusts behave thusly they must their actions to have consequences.

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Nine times out of ten of these tickets are scams so consider complaining to your MP, it can cause the scammer extra work.

Parliament is well aware of the MO of these private parking companies, many of whom are former clampers, 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 [/FONT]

studiousowl

It is Euro Car Parks.
My colleague had already tried to get the security staff at the hospital to cancel the tickets, but they fobbed her off saying it was out of their hands as the debt had been passed on to a 3rd party (i.e. DRP).
So there will be no help from the hospital. I will try complaining to my MP and see how that goes
Thanks

Half_way

studiousowl wrote: »

It is Euro Car Parks.
My colleague had already tried to get the security staff at the hospital to cancel the tickets, but they fobbed her off saying it was out of their hands as the debt had been passed on to a 3rd party (i.e. DRP).
So there will be no help from the hospital. I will try complaining to my MP and see how that goes
Thanks

Was/is your colleague clued up on the ins and outs of the private parking industry? ( ie these are not fines and so on)

Did/do the parking charge notices comply with schedule 4 of the protection of freedoms act?
Did/does the car park signage meet the test as laid out in the beavis case for clear and prominent charges?
With all that in mind, did your colleague use and quote the NHS parking principles when dealing with this?

The whole its been passed onto DRP so we cant do a thing is a nonsense at best, deliberately misleading ( and possibly fraudulently so ) at worst as it could be seen as trying to make someone pay a charge that they are not obliged to do so.


Even if court papers have been issued, and even if a date has been set, the principal ( ie the hospital) could withdraw support for the action and effectively pull the rug form under the parking company, without permission from the landowner/land holder the parking company has no case, regardless of any contract that may or may not exists between the hospital and its agents

Umkomaas

ECP (at the time of writing) have never, ever issued court proceedings, although the higher the number of outstanding tickets, the nearer it might get. But you won't be the only one with multiple tickets, and they've never yet proceeded to court.

Not much you can do but see what their next move might be.

KeithP

You have already been pointed to the NHS patient, visitor and staff car parking principles.

This sentence is pertinent...

Contracted-out car parking

NHS organisations are responsible for the actions of private contractors who run car parks on their behalf.

How can 'the security staff at the hospital' say 'it was out of their hands'?

The hospital's Facilities Management Department need reminding of their responsibilities, and if they don't listen, go to the Trust management.

Fruitcake

I doubt this has anything to do with the hospital security staff, but everything to do with the CEO/Trust/Senior manager who employed the scammers.

Take this to the top and take your union rep with you. They should be fighting this on behalf of you and every other member of the hospital staff.
Tell them to come here and read the NEWBIES if they are ot up to speed on this scam yet.