MET Parking services and Debt recovery plus

Demanos

Hi All,
Sometimes in 2018, i had a party with friends at Mcdonalds in Leytonstone London. We were a group. I parked at the car park( I have used that Mcdonalds a couple of times). I got a parking ticket from MET Parking services. I took the ticket to Mcdonalds and the management said they will cancel the ticket. In 2 years, i heard nothing again. Then this week a letter came from the debt recovery company called Debt Recovery plus. I was told i have to pay £160 or else face the risk of CCJ. While talking about this, i was told there was another ticket for same location and i have to pay another £160. The car is registered to my wife and ever since 2018 when the first ticket was sent to me, there has been no correspondence from MET or the debt company. Now i am being bullied to pay £320 in this difficult times. 2 years no correspondence!! Please can anyone advise or help? I am distraught as i do not have that kind of money.

Le_Kirk

You should read the NEWBIE sticky at the top of the forum first page.  It was written for just such an event.  Looks like your are too late to appeal either of the PCNs but it gives you good advice about how to deal with debt collectors.  You should also submit a SAR to the DPO of the PPC.  All acronyms are also explained in the NEWBIE.

Coupon-mad

Did you miss the entire section in the NEWBIES thread about ignoring the tedious debt collectors?

Demanos

Coupon-mad said:

Did you miss the entire section in the NEWBIES thread about ignoring the tedious debt collectors?

Because i am not the registered keeper( My Mrs is the registered keeper) , she has been panicking. The car is my car and i paid fully for it. The letter say if i don't pay up in 7 days it will go to court. Should i still ignore?  I am willing to defend myself in court as i thought the matter has been settled with the landlord and 2 years later out of the blues the debt collector letter turned up.

D_P_Dance

Nine times out of ten these tickets are scams, so consider complaining to your MP., it can cause the scammer extra costs, and in some cases, cancellation. 

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 later this year,

Just as the clampers were finally closed down, so hopefully will many of these companies, 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/of these Private Parking Companies.

beamerguy

Demanos said:

Coupon-mad said:

Did you miss the entire section in the NEWBIES thread about ignoring the tedious debt collectors?

Because i am not the registered keeper( My Mrs is the registered keeper) , she has been panicking. The car is my car and i paid fully for it. The letter say if i don't pay up in 7 days it will go to court. Should i still ignore?  I am willing to defend myself in court as i thought the matter has been settled with the landlord and 2 years later out of the blues the debt collector letter turned up.

You really must read about DRP then you would not worry.

Everything has been said about DRP and just to confirm, DRP are just blithering idiots, money scammers of the likes the media tells you to ignore

DRP live in cloud cuckoo land, leave them alone, they love wasting their time

fisherjim

If your wife is the registered keeper it dos not say you as owner will have to go to court they have no idea or interest in who "owns" the car.

What do you mean "while talking about this" surely you have not phoned Debt Recovery Plus? For goodness sake stop contacting those Muppets if you have they can't do anything, but you would know this IF you had read the newbies thread.

We all know about DR+ we don't need any panicking posts about bullying idiots, follow the advice you have been given and stop panicking, read things properly, and don't believe anything DR+ tell you.

nosferatu1001

Does it say it WILL go to court? That would be very unusual. SHow us the letter. 
More likely it says they will recommend court. That is of course completely different. 

Coupon-mad

Maybe this is one where your wife needs to transfer liability to you, so the letters come to you to laugh at!

But come on it's only MET!

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/rwo8ayb8jdbfzknpfdihg/Total-PPC-Court-Hearings-2019.xlsx?dl=0&rlkey=r06ik64dd7h0ohidhwy5lseeh

Do you see them listed for a hearing in court last year?  No, because there were none from them. 
We win 99% of the court cases we assist with, anyway.  There is NOTHING to worry about.

Thanks to Iamemanresu for compiling the stats about court hearings for the BMPA.

Please now make a real difference - A TASK FOR SEPTEMBER.

The Government is (this month only) consulting about a new statutory code of practice (CoP) and framework to rein in the rogue parking firms.  Read and comment on the draft CoP proposal and the enforcement framework consultation, and get everyone you know to do the same.

You will need to register to comment on the CoP and enter an occupation even if you are retired or a homemaker, but otherwise it is easy to navigate, and comment upon each section/subsection individually. You can save comments to edit later and or submit comments once you are happy with them.

https://standardsdevelopment.bsigroup.com/projects/2020-00193#/section

You do not need to register to comment on the enforcement framework which can be found here. It has a link on page 5 to make comments.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/913272/Code_Enforcement_Framework_consultation.pdf

At the very least, we say the parking charge level should be £50/£25 or higher level £70/£35, as per Council PCNs in E&W.  

And we say the added fake 'debt recovery' costs are just double counting the cost of letters, and MUST GO because that is unfair and illegal.

Please be heard.  You can bet the hundreds of PPCs will be commenting.

No apologies for repeating this vital 'call for action' to consumers, on every thread this month!