I need help :(

HannahB9115

So my partner left me and whilst clearing up his things and boxing them to give back I find letters from Debt recovery plus - the creditor Anchor Security Services Ltd and also a letter from Zenith Collections. 

The date of the parking is from a when I were on holiday. 

I have rang them today to try and discuss the parking fine as if I had seen the first initial letter of the fine I would have paid the amount but I have never seen it. The gentleman on the phone has gave me 3 options; pay the amount of £160, pay the amount of £160 in instalments or seek legal advice. 

I just don’t know what to do about it, I don’t feel it right to have to pay the £160 and they are being so rude towards the matter. I am going threw an extremely difficult time and don’t really know what my options would be. I have seen that people just ignore them but I was trying to do the decent thing and pay the original parking fine but they don’t want that they want the full £160 which I just simply don’t have. 

D_P_Dance

It is not a fine, it is an invoice from and ex clamper for damages for an alleged breach of contract  and you owe them nothing unless a judge says you do.  Never ever phone a private parking company or a debt collector, if this goes to court you will need a paper trail.  

They are demanding an extra £60 which is unlawful, read this

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6014081/abuse-of-process-district-judge-tells-bwlegal

Also, please read the stickies which explain your options in detail.

Nine times out of ten these tickets are scams, so consider complaining to your MP, it can cause the scammer extra costs and work, and  has been known to get the charge cancelled.

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.

Ralph-y

as above plus send a SAT SAR to the DPO  at Anchor Security Services Ltd  to find out what info they have on you.

Who is the paperwork addressed to ... the driver or keeper?

is the address on the keepers  V5 the address you are now at?

depending on the above you can complain to the BPA that you never received a NTK

Ralph

D_P_Dance

 He means a SAR..

Redx

If the alleged debt is in your partner's name then it's nothing to do with you

HannahB9115

Thank you for your responses it means a lot! 

The car is mine and therefor the debt collector has addressed to me, I’m worried about it going to court and getting a ccj against my name! 

I did ring them to say what has happened and the guy I spoke to was just blatantly rude and told me to seek legal advice which I can not afford to do! Should I just let it go to court and see what happens or...? 

Sorry if I sound really thick I have never experienced this to this stage, I have normally always paid parking fines before the 14days for the reduced amount 

Redx

If you lose in court , pay up , in full , preferably on your way out of court with a cheque for the full amount , or within 30 days

That way you won't get a CCJ against your name , so no credit issues either

It's the fools who don't pay , or fail to pay within the 30 days that get a CCJ against their name, so don't be one

A debt collector cannot alter anything , they can only take the full amount plus their own added £60 fee for collecting it , phoning them was foolish

If you were not the driver , then write a letter to the parking company , naming the Driver and their current address , stating that you no longer have liability under POFA for the alleged debt due to providing the driver details

Keep a copy and get a free certificate of posting from the post office counter , staple it to your copy and keep it Safe for 6 years , taking photos of it too

Coupon-mad

 if I had seen the first initial letter of the fine I would have paid the amount

I am glad you didn't then, because this was not a parking fine and NO-ONE here pays them!

The gentleman on the phone

He was no gentleman.  Don't ring him again and no answering the phone to him, and block the number.

We win cases in court, ordinary non-legal people like you win all the time, with another few reported today:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5991834/county-court-help-needed-with-defence/p2

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/76924088#Comment_76924088

''We were in and out in less than five minutes''.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5875531/pcn-for-showing-expired-blue-badge-in-error/p11

''The court was Birmingham and the Judge (I think it was Judge Thompson) was lovely and I hardly had to say anything as she seemed to have decided after reading my witness statement.''

D_P_Dance

Two pieces of advice

1. use a search engine

2,  do not phone a scammer

HannahB9115

Thank you everyone for your help! I’ll keep you updated with what I receive from them! 

Thank you so much 🙏🏼

Fruitcake

Do you have the NTK? If so it should tell you where the alleged event occurred meaning you can complain to the landowner/retail manager.

Complain to your MP about this unregulated scam. The government introduced the PoFA in 2012 allowing someone who was not in the car at the time of the alleged event to be liable for the charge. This is blatantly not fair, but that's MPs for you. They believed the lies they were told by unregulated parking companies and their unregulated trade associations that this law would reduce the load on UK courts.
It did the opposite.
In the whole year before the PoFA was introduced, the number of court cases was around 850; now it runs into tens upon tens of thousands per year, and is still rising.