ZZPS £170 demand for parking at a hospital

dms2020

Hi

Sorry if this is a bit long.

I am just posting to see if I can get some advice around my parking issues.

I received a PCN in March 2020 for parking at an NHS hospital from Civil Enforcement. The letter that came said I had not displayed a permit or paid for parking. I had my NHS permit displayed on my window at the time that I parked, so I appealed the PCN by sending an image of my permit on my car and an image of my NHS badge to show I worked for the Trust and had a valid permit. I got a letter from Civil Enforcement stating that they had cancelled the PCN. I later found out that this particular hospital car park had ANPR installed in January 2020. I wasn’t aware that this had occurred as I was transferred to work in a different NHS Trust from September 2019-April 2020. The newsletter that detailed the change therefore wasn’t sent to my email. However, they still cancelled the PCN.

I started to panic because in September 2019, I moved house. I did not update my V5 until February 2020 (yes I know, very stupid of me). I had parked at that particular hospital on two previous occasions – one time in January 2020 and one time in February 2020. So I contacted Civil Enforcement to ask them if I had any other PCNs that were sent to my previous address. I have still not received a response from them and it’s been over a month. I also contacted the DVLA to try make a Subject Access Request but have also not had a response. My previous landlord said he’d binned all of my post so I couldn’t see any of the letters if there had been any sent.

I got a text yesterday from ZZPS, who I rang back (which I think was probably the wrong thing to do). He told me that Civil Enforcement had issued a PCN to me from a parking incident in January at the same hospital car park; this PCN had went to my old address, hence I couldn’t appeal it as I didn’t receive it. I told him that Civil Enforcement had cancelled the PCN for the same kind of incident recently. He advised me to email him the proof of the cancelled PCN. I also told him that I tried to contact Civil Enforcement to try and see if I had any other outstanding PCNs but had no response; he told me to email screenshots of these as well.

So I was hopeful (naively) that they would not pursue the debt collection.

Today I received an email from ZZPS saying that they’re still wanting £170. I know that there will be another demand of £170 as I parked again in February, so that’s £340, which is a huge amount. As stated, over a month ago, I emailed Civil Enforcement to check whether I had any other PCNs. They didn’t respond to me and just referred the matter to the debt collection agency. So if ZZPS only pursued me yesterday, that surely gave Civil Enforcement time to reply to my request, so that I could have dealt with whatever lower invoice amount it would have been. But it seems that they’ve done this to try and get more money out of me. So now with this inevitable PCN from February, they won't notify me of it until it gets to ZZPS, by which point the 'fine' will increase.

I don’t think I should have engaged with them at all from what I've read but does anyone have any advice on what I should do next? The thought of ignoring them worries me, as I don't want a court order.

Thanks in advance.

Redx

Ignore zzps

Email a SAR to the DPO at CEL and obtain all your data attaching 2 copies of redacted utility bills as proof of I D under the GDPR

Read the newbies FAQ sticky thread near the top of the forum too

Do not phone anyone up , it cannot and will not help

beamerguy

dms2020 said:

Today I received an email from ZZPS saying that they’re still wanting £170. I know that there will be another demand of £170 as I parked again in February, so that’s £340, which is a huge amount. As stated, over a month ago, I emailed Civil Enforcement to check whether I had any other PCNs. They didn’t respond to me and just referred the matter to the debt collection agency. So if ZZPS only pursued me yesterday, that surely gave Civil Enforcement time to reply to my request, so that I could have dealt with whatever lower invoice amount it would have been. But it seems that they’ve done this to try and get more money out of me. So now with this inevitable PCN from February, they won't notify me of it until it gets to ZZPS, by which point the 'fine' will increase.

I don’t think I should have engaged with them at all from what I've read but does anyone have any advice on what I should do next? The thought of ignoring them worries me, as I don't want a court order.

Thanks in advance.

ZZPS are just part of the idiots brigade. ZZPS are so pathetic, it's not worth talking about them, just to say they are scamming you with an unlawful fake add-on and they think you are a mug ?    are you a mug ??

Debt Collectors (DRP & ZZPS) What they don't want you to know

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5859454/debt-collectors-drp-zzps-what-they-dont-want-you-to-know/p1

D_P_Dance

Please read this

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-patient-visitor-and-staff-car-parking-principles/nhs-patient-visitor-and-staff-car-parking-principles

and this

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

and complain to the SRS

https://www.sra.org.uk/

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, when life gets back to normal, it will become impossible for those scammers who are left to continue their vile trade, 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.

Fruitcake

Complain to the hospital trust/CEO/person in charge.

Complain to Dominic Raab now and Mr Johnson when he is better that he, Boris, said he was going to stop this sort of thing.

Get your union rep involved. They should be all over this already if they are any good. 

Umkomaas

Have you got your Trust involved in getting this cancelled?  They will have cancellation capability in their contract with CEL. Tell them that you do not need any extra stress as a frontline worker dealing with the C19 emergency. Tell them should it get to court you will be forced to take a day off from work, away from the frontline, not what the Trust, its patients or the country needs as some poxy private parking firm tries to drag you through the courts.

Which part of the country are you in?

dms2020

Hi everyone,
Thanks for all of your replies. I've not contacted my Trust to see if they can help me. I'll pursue the other options people mentioned if they don't do anything.

I've just read through the information on the newbies thread and saw this:

"What if your LBC-stage complaint to the landowner does not get the PCN cancelled?

You will probably get a court claim anyway and the results of the SAR will help you, as it shows you their evidence nice and early = easier to defend.
If you get a court claim, don't panic, c99% of defendants here, win!

You do not get a CCJ even if you lose; as long as you pay within 30 days of judgment, nothing stays on the register (your credit record). No 'risk' as long as you don't miss court deadlines, you may as well defend and fight!

ALMOST NO-ONE REPORTS A LOSS - YOU DON'T NEED TO WASTE MONEY ON A SOLICITOR OR ANY HORRENDOUSLY AGGRESSIVE 'APPEALS' COMPANY (WORSE THAN PARKING FIRMS - CHECK TRUSTPILOT IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE ME)."

Does anyone know of any recent published statistics, or have any links to Freedom of Information requests with statistics, that report how many PCNs get to court. Also how many cases are won by the parking company vs the defendant? I know it says 99% in the newbie thread but is this the actual statistic? By "almost no one reports a loss", is this to say that if it went to court, the amount payable would probably not be >£170?

Thank you.

MothballsWallet

Wait, have ZZPS taken to emailing people? If so, how did they get the OP's email address? The DVLA won't have it, so did they go to the Trust for keeper details, which could include an email address for employees?

Umkomaas

Let's have another go .....

Which part of the country are you in?

dms2020

MothballsWallet said:

Wait, have ZZPS taken to emailing people? If so, how did they get the OP's email address? The DVLA won't have it, so did they go to the Trust for keeper details, which could include an email address for employees?

Hi, they sent me a text asking me to call them "in relation to a personal business matter". I assume they use this misleading wording to lure people in.
The person on the phone told me to send them a scan of the letter from Civil Enforcement, plus the emails I sent to them to try and see if I had other PCNs and he said he'll see what he can do. So they got my email that way. That's when they emailed back saying they want me to pay £170, which they didn't even tell me when I initially called them!

dms2020

Umkomaas said:

Let's have another go .....

Which part of the country are you in?

Sorry - missed this. I'm in Hull.