I messed up, please help?

luciavs

Hello,

I'm sure this is common but I was wondering if you can help, my vehicle broke down in a car park in July. I then received 3 parking fines before I could move the car.

I've recently received letters from Debt recovery plus for those three parking charges urging me to pay, I did not appeal when i needed to because I'm an irresponsible !!!!!!!.The guy from debt recovery said too late, now you pay, which is up to £500!

Shall I wait for court, I've contacted Horizon Parking and used their online appeal in case it does let me appeal. What evidence should I start gathering, I think I have photos of the vehicle broken down?

Can I appeal anywhere is this too late? Can I make a statement in court?

Thank you for the help
:A

Fruitcake

They are not fines.

Debt crawlers can safely be ignored. You should never have contacted them. Never do it again.
Never 'phone a parking scammer either.

There is nothing stopping you sending a late appeal, just expect it to be rejected.

What happened when you complained to the landowner?

Do you have any evidence of the car being broken down such as from a recovery company or garage receipt?
You should also get pics of the site and signage including the entrance(s).

Don't forget to complain to your MP about this unregulated scam.

If it gets to court, there is a whole section about how to defend in post 2 of the NEWBIES, but you are not at that stage yet.

Umkomaas

Too late to make a meaningful appeal, but you've gone through the motions in an attempt to resolve the issues (useful for a court to see you've tried).

You can completely ignore DRP - they are powerless. Read the NEWBIES FAQ sticky, post #4 to learn about debt collectors.

You should be getting photographic evidence of the car park, its layout, the signage on site - where it's placed, and close-ups of what the signage says. Any breakdown/towing reports/invoices as confirmation of what happened.

Have you contacted the site owner and asked fo their help for getting the tickets cancelled for this overstay beyond your control?

Horizon aren't overly litigious, but they have recently starting taking the odd case through the civil court, so you need to be alert to the receipt of a formal Letter of Claim, or real court papers. Come back on this thread if you get either. They have 6 years to sue you.

So nothing to do at this stage, other than contacting the car park owner to ask for help.

Coupon-mad

This is repeated ad infinitum every day:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6066568/help-required-dr-and-initial-parking-ltd

And post #4 of the NEWBIES thread should have stopped you phoning DRP, LOL!!

luciavs

Thanks I know I must seem like a pain!