Back from living abroad, 4 debt collector letters, ParkingEye car parks, Scotland

s5612

Hi there,

Right, so got a few tickets from when I lived in Glasgow, back in 2018 into 2019, I then left (February) to NZ, lived there and then lived in France before arriving home in March, 2020.

2x parking fines for: Morrisons, Parking Eye car park, letter issued by DCBL. 

- Both  £170 "Notice of Debt Recovery".

1x parking fine for: Premier Inn Glasgow, Parking Eye car park, letter issued by DRP.

- £170, "Notice of intended court action - unpaid charge".

1x CST Law, no information about case, no PCN information,

- £170, "Unpaid Debt - Reminded Notice", it does say: "Instructed by Debt Recovery Plus ("DRP"), as the agent of parkingeye LTD in relation to the above debt". Not sure which letter this refers to, the 2x fines are Morrisons or the 1x at Premier Inn.

This is the only letters I have, potentially binned other ones... I have read the newbies bit, it clearly says "Do not ignore ParkingEye", but it also says to ignore DRP, DCBL and CST. If I did have ParkingEye letters, they probably got binned.

I doubt I can appeal, I could ask the Morrisons Store manager, but ultimately it was a long time ago, so no proof of receipt, or information of how long I over stayed. Same for Premiere Inn, I didn't stay there I know that.

Really not sure where to go with these, or how to appeal if I don't have a good reason to why I overstayed.

s5612

PS, yes I am pretty stupid, I was always told by friends they never paid them either, I just assumed they would have dropped the cases. However ParkingEye seems pretty persistent, and I am very stupid for binning the original ParkingEye letters too..

Fruitcake

In Scotland, only a driver can be held liable, not the keeper. It is important therefore that the driver's identity is never revealed.
The easiest way to ensure this never happens is never to contact the parking scammers, ever.
Perhaps you missed that part of the NEWBIES where PCNs in NI and Scotland are specifically mentioned.

Alternatively, The Keeper could write to Parking Lie stating that they cannot be held liable in Scotland, and The Driver's identity will not be given, so the scammers should cancel now and save themselves money.
You could also state the same thing to the scammer's DPO instructing them to erase The Keeper's data.

Debt collectors can be ignored in all parts of the UK. This is also explained in the NEWBIES. The letters from DCBL, DRP, and CST Law are all from powerless debt crawlers.

They are not fines.

Do make the landowner complaints but ignore everything else unless the keeper gets real court papers.
If court papers come from an English court, point out that you are outside that court's jurisdiction.
Otherwise watch out for a claim from a Sottish court using the Simple Procedure (Act of Sederunt.)

Do be aware that Scottish MPs have sold Scottish motorists down the sewer and keeper liability will soon be a thing in your part of the UK due to the recent introduction of the Transport Act - Scotland.

Do complain to your MP about this unregulated scam.

Umkomaas

It's highly unlikely that this will proceed any further than silly debt collector letters, especially given you are a resident of Scotland. ParkingEye, until recently, the most litigious of all UK parking firms, are well capable of commencing court proceedings themselves, having, at one stage, issued over 130,000 in one year.  To forum knowledge, they have never issued one single claim in Scotland, and I don't think they're about to break that record on you. Court cases in Scotland are far more complicated for parking companies than run-of-the-mill cases in England/Wales. 

But you do seem to have had some run-ins with parking companies. Do you routinely ignore the requirement land owners place on motorists using their property?  How come you've racked up so much trouble for yourself?  Why do you think that more and more land owners are employing private parking firms?

s5612

Right, thanks for the advice, will make sure I keep an eye out for any real court letters, and if so follow the advice above. Thank you both. Lets hope the 5 years will pass and the Transport Act Scotland won't get me in that time period. Thanks again.

nosferatu1001

It cant as it cannot be retroactive. 
if it were it would be a very easy challenge. 

DoaM

The TA (Scotland) won't apply to you anyway - it cannot be applied retrospectively so will only apply for parking charges which are issued after the Act is ratified and enabled into law (which hasn't happened yet to my knowledge)..

beamerguy

As said above.  DCBL live in a cloud fantasy world by adding unlawful amounts

They are simply blöds / dummkopf..... that's German for stupid

Umkomaas

I think there's a potential DPA/GDPR issue here. If the OP writes to the PPCs involved, tells them that as the registered keeper he denies any liability, he is unable to provide them with the driver(s) details because of the passage of time, there is no legitimate reason for continuing to pursue the keeper in Scotland, and the sharing of the keeper's personal data breaks DPA/GDPR regulations. Call off the debt collectors, confirming that action in writing, as well as confirming that all proceedings have been terminated or an immediate complaint will be raised, without warning, with the DVLA and the ICO.  

Coupon-mad

This one is soooo simple! 

Email Morrisons Head Office like in every single Morrisons thread...they cancel them all.

Coupon-mad

This one is soooo simple! 

Email Morrisons Head Office like in every single Morrisons thread...they cancel them all.