Parking fines during Covid 19

Rigger68

Hi 
I work in central manchester and was using the euro car park on Charles street for a few months prior to Covid. I came in one morning and was told all car parks are free in Manchester due to Covid. I questioned this around the office and a few people confirmed it. The following week I parked as normal then got a letter from euro car park advising I hadn’t paid to park and gave me a £60 fine. A further 4 of these came through the post. I told the company secretary what had happed and she said NO it’s only NCP that is free. I contacted euro and told them I had been misinformed and could I pay the 4 days worth of tickets totalling £28 as it was a genuine mistake , they sent a letter saying no pay the fine. I’ve been seeking further advice and now I have dept recovery plus and Zenith demanding £170 for a £60 initial fine. Could you please advise the best way forward as these letters are relentless , 4 per day for weeks , just come across your website on line 

kind Regards 

paul

Rigger68

Sorry , to clarify there are 5 separate cases , £170 x5  

Regards 
Paul 

Redx

read the newbies faq sticky thread at the top of the forum

ignore the debt collectors as the fourth post tells you

nothing will stop the demands unless you either pay up in full or let a judge decide

I can assure you that many private car parks were not free, possibly the council and possibly NCP, but not ECP

and each PCN would have been no more than £100 each , not £170 , the additions are unlawful addons, not allowed

Timeouts

Please understand that DRP and Zenith are akin to clowns in the local circus and in the parking industry, debt collectors can be ignored and palmed off as money scammers ..... ZERO THEY CAN DO

They are annoying little vermin with their letters of garbage but they are wasting their money so treat them as complete idiots and NEVER respond or contact them. Promise you, they live in the sewers and that's all they can do.
Wait to see what NCP do next and come back here

D_P_Dance

Nine times out of ten these tickets are scams, so consider complaining to your MP, sometimes it can lead to cancellation.,

fisherjim

Rigger68 said:

.......they sent a letter saying no pay the fine.

I am absolutely certain they never said this did they, it's an invoice not a fine.

Debt Recovery Plus and Zenith are the same company of scammers as you are now in their sights it's wait and see what ECP do next don't engage with debt collectors they will eventually give up.

But in this greedy day and age never ever take hearsay advice over parking, you parked you read the signage, you pay accordingly.

None of your colleagues are much use now they have dropped you in it are they.

Follow the advice on here it's your best option, you are now in the filthy rat infested sump of the private parking multimillion pound scamdustry!

bradders1983

Just going back to the OP....if it was anything like where I live, then surely it only referred to Council run car parks.

Redx

bradders1983 said:

Just going back to the OP....if it was anything like where I live, then surely it only referred to Council run car parks.

Strictly speaking , you are correct , so unless a private car park or company followed suit , then it's bad information

It's also possible they mixed up NCP with ECP , one different letter can make a big difference

This one is ECP , afaik ECP car parks were not free

Coupon-mad

Rigger68 said:

Sorry , to clarify there are 5 separate cases , £170 x5  

Yeah but they aren't that amount are they?  The signs didn't say £170 per PCN; they said £100.  Anything in 3 figures is extortion.

 

CHANNEL YOUR ANGER ABOUT THIS PATHETIC CHARGE TO CHANGE THE WAY THE PARKING INDUSTRY WORK:

CALLING ALL NEWBIES!  An urgent task – deadline approaching in a week or so:

Please now make a real difference because not enough people have yet, and time is running out. 

The Government is consulting for just a few more days, about a new statutory code of practice (CoP) and framework intended to rein in the rogue parking firms. 

Does it go far enough?  Read and comment on the draft CoP proposal and the enforcement framework consultation (two separate consultation documents).

HOW TO DO THE SUBMISSIONS:

BSI PAS 232 – COMMENTING ON THE CODE OF PRACTICE AS DRAFTED :

1.    You will need to register then log in, to comment on the CoP and enter an occupation even if you are retired or a homemaker.  

 

2.    Register, log into the BSI page, and download & read the cover letter here:

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

 

3.    Read the cover letter again and note the suggested extra questions... if you agree that, say, the 'loading/unloading and dropping off, asking for directions, and disabled people parking on double yellows as they can on street' activities listed should be exempt (not parking events, what do you think?) then please go to the Annexes at the end of the PAS Code and find the one about Exempt Vehicles and state what other activity you think should be added to the exempt list. 

 

4.    Download the PAS itself and start commenting on what you wish to say something about.  Quick links to each section appear on the left of your page. 

 

You don’t have to comment on everything, e.g. you might want to skip the definitions and focus on later sections, and certainly look at the Annex tables at the end that show things like consideration & grace periods and exemptions.

 

5.    Submit comments when you are happy with them. Don’t just ‘SAVE’ and forget!

 

THAT IS HALF THE JOB DONE!

THE MHCLG CONSULTATION IS EASIER AS IT IS JUST A LIST OF QUESTIONS. 

 

6.    You can do it first if preferred or pushed for time:

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=EGg0v32c3kOociSi7zmVqAVPfAOtwRxLhHRwQ610oElUMzhQSVo0WUQ4SERVSEZaUU9DTUhFQ1VMUy4u

If your answers exceed 4000 characters (approx. 500 words to a single question or 16000 words (approx. 2500 words) for all the questions below, you can email your answers to parking@communities.gov.uk as long as you state who you are.

THESE ARE THE QUESTIONS YOU WILL SEE, FOR RESPONSES TO THE FRAMEWORK:

Q1 Do you agree or disagree that members of APAs should be required to use a single appeals service appointed by the Secretary of State?

Strongly agree/Somewhat agree/Neither agree nor disagree/Somewhat disagree/Strongly disagree

 

Q1.1 Please explain your answer

(free text)

 

 

Q2 Please provide any other feedback on the determination of appeals, including the funding model and features that an appeal service should offer e.g. telephone or in-person hearings, the ability to submit evidence online

(free text)

 

Q3 Please provide any comments you have on the proposal to enforce the Code by combining the ATA’s existing audit procedures with additional safeguards.

(free text)

 

Q4 Please outline any alternative means by which the Code could be monitored and enforced. You may wish to cite evidence from other regulatory frameworks which are relevant.

(free text)

 

Q5 Please provide any feedback you have on the proposed governance arrangements for monitoring the new Code of Practice

(free text)

 

Q6 Which parking charge system is most appropriate for private parking?

 a) the Three-tiered system

 b) Mirroring the Local Authority system

(free text)

 

 Q6.1 Please explain your answer. You may, for example, wish to make reference to other deterrent frameworks (for example, for railway tickets or traffic violations)

(free text)

 

 

Q7 What level of discount is appropriate:

40% as is currently offered in private parking and suggested in the three-tiered system, or

50% as is offered in Local Authority parking?

a) 40%

b) 50%

 

Q7.1 Please explain your answer, including whether the discount should be set at a different level

(free text)

 

 

 Q8 How should the level of parking charges be set and how should the levels be revised in future?

(free text)

 

 

Q9 Do you agree or disagree in principle with the idea of the Appeals Charter?

Agree/Disagree

 

Q9.1 Please explain your answer

(free text)

 

 

Q10 Do you agree or not that the examples given in the Appeals Charter are fair and appropriate? Agree/Disagree

 

Q10.1 Please explain your answer.

You may wish, for example, to suggest additional cases to be covered in an Appeals Charter or query existing examples.

(free text)

 

Q11 Do you agree or disagree that the parking industry should contribute towards the cost of the regulation?

Agree/Disagree

 

Q11.1 Please explain your answer.

(free text)

 

YOU CAN INSTEAD GIVE MORE CONCISE ANSWERS ONLINE, USING THE MHCLG PAGE LINK.

Don’t forget that answering these questions is the easier bit…

Looking at the BSI PAS (the draft code of practice itself) involves logging in and submitting comments again, and again and again and takes more time!

There is a discussion about PAS submissions and what the pages look like, here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6195417/am-i-doing-something-wrong/p1