Excel PCN - Letter from Solicitor

Coupon-mad

 So I should contact Excel with an unofficial appeal asking them to justify how they can charge these extra fees and hope that gets them to cancel the PCN?

I told you the exact words to include in any defence.  You writing to Excel will get you nowhere.  They are not known for listening to consumers.

KeithP

bergkamp10 said:

KeithP said:

bergkamp10 said:

KeithP said:

It's a debt collectors letter. The fourth post of the NEWBIES thread tells you exactly how to deal with those.

Hey mate, thanks for the link. Basically being told to ignore the debt collection letters as I assume it's too late to appeal now. Won't doing so just lead to the Court Claim stage eventually if there is no response?

Possibly.

Do you think any response you may make, other than paying them, will change that?

I dunno, that's why I'm asking for advice. Don't want to be sent a County Court Claim. Is there nothing that can be done at this stage to get it cancelled?

OK, let me re-phrase that...

Other than paying them the money they are currently asking for, there is no reply that will stop them doing whatever they want to do. In fact, a reply, any reply, may help them decide that with a little more pressure you may buckle.

After failing to extract any money from you, DRP will give up and refer the case back to Excel.
Excel may or may not decide to start a County Court Claim. They have six years from the date of the parking event to make that decision.

nosferatu1001

OP - if you do not complain to Iceland, it is a certainty that they will not cancel
If you complain, that chance goes up
Your choice, but if you convince yourself not to do it, despited being told to do it, theres nothing more we can do.

bergkamp10

Fruitcake said:

bergkamp10 said:

KeithP said:

bergkamp10 said:

KeithP said:

It's a debt collectors letter. The fourth post of the NEWBIES thread tells you exactly how to deal with those.

Hey mate, thanks for the link. Basically being told to ignore the debt collection letters as I assume it's too late to appeal now. Won't doing so just lead to the Court Claim stage eventually if there is no response?

Possibly.

Do you think any response you may make, other than paying them, will change that?

I dunno, that's why I'm asking for advice. Don't want to be sent a County Court Claim. Is there nothing that can be done at this stage to get it cancelled?

Coupon-mad said:

but I was informed on here that the case is under appeal.

No you weren't.  That case was not appealed, but the rationale used by that Judge has been appealed in another case (different Judge but same legal reasoning), according to JB of Excel/VCS, so you should put Excel to strict proof of the current position with that appeal (that JB said was to be heard this month).

I didn't fully understand. So I should contact Excel with an unofficial appeal asking them to justify how they can charge these extra fees and hope that gets them to cancel the PCN?

Yes, as already advised. Complain to the store manager and CEO of Iceland. You know the date of the alleged event. You know the VRM. You know the PCN number.
On the balance of probabilities, an occupant of the car was a customer of the store. 
You could check bank/card statements to see if a purchase was made on the day. You can do the same to demonstrate that an occupant of the car has been a customer of the store on other occasions before or after the alleged event.

It is of course possible that an occupant paid by cash, so there will be no record of a transaction. It matters not. You complain to the store manager and CEO that a genuine customer has been issued with a parking charge from an unregulated parking company, and you want it cancelled. Remind them that other stores are available for you and your family to use. 

A landowner cancellation is the only thing that will stop a court claim, so get on with it.

Ok thanks. I'll draft a letter. Can probably get the email of the CEO online but how would I do so for the manager of that store?

nosferatu1001 said:

OP - if you do not complain to Iceland, it is a certainty that they will not cancel
If you complain, that chance goes up
Your choice, but if you convince yourself not to do it, despited being told to do it, theres nothing more we can do.

Ok will write up a letter to complain to them. Just checked my bank statements and couldn't find anything for that date. Also asked the others who could have potentially driven on that day so it's possible there was a cash payment but I honestly couldn't say whether that was the case or not.

KeithP said:

bergkamp10 said:

KeithP said:

bergkamp10 said:

KeithP said:

It's a debt collectors letter. The fourth post of the NEWBIES thread tells you exactly how to deal with those.

Hey mate, thanks for the link. Basically being told to ignore the debt collection letters as I assume it's too late to appeal now. Won't doing so just lead to the Court Claim stage eventually if there is no response?

Possibly.

Do you think any response you may make, other than paying them, will change that?

I dunno, that's why I'm asking for advice. Don't want to be sent a County Court Claim. Is there nothing that can be done at this stage to get it cancelled?

OK, let me re-phrase that...

Other than paying them the money they are currently asking for, there is no reply that will stop them doing whatever they want to do. In fact, a reply, any reply, may help them decide that with a little more pressure you may buckle.

After failing to extract any money from you, DRP will give up and refer the case back to Excel.
Excel may or may not decide to start a County Court Claim. They have six years from the date of the parking event to make that decision.

Ok I understand. I will ignore them for now in that case.

Coupon-mad said:

 So I should contact Excel with an unofficial appeal asking them to justify how they can charge these extra fees and hope that gets them to cancel the PCN?

I told you the exact words to include in any defence.  You writing to Excel will get you nowhere.  They are not known for listening to consumers.

Ok I understand. The wording you gave me should only be used in case of a County Court Claim right? Not before.

Redx

Bear in mind that you will reply to Excel or their lawyers at the formal LBC stage , to confirm your address plus asking for a 30 day hold due to seeking debt management advice , plus a SAR to their DPO if not done previously

Meaning there are times to respond , in certain ways , to certain events , but debt collector stage is not one of them

Checking the Iceland website for emails and contact details is as good start , as is c e o email dot com for details too , Google search may also assist you , so do some detective work , because nothing beats plan A !!

bergkamp10

Hey there. So I began by contacting Iceland twitter regarding the issue and writing them a pretty strong "letter". They passed on my complaint/request to the property team to look into. The eventually contacted me back a few weeks later saying that the property team see that the VRM has multiple outstanding PCNs and as such they'd be unable to cancel it. I explained that the vehicle is a hire vehicle and any PCN other than the one I shared with Iceland relating to the VRM was in relation to other hirers. They said they couldn't do anything further at that point.

I then tried to email the CEO Malcolm Walker, but his email (taken from one of those CEO databases) keeps bouncing back. Eventually got the email of the other CEO Tarsem Dhaliwal, however the email to him remains unanswered.

I guess we just wait and see? Or should I resend the email?

Umkomaas

The eventually contacted me back a few weeks later saying that the property team see that the VRM has multiple outstanding PCNs 

How would they know that?

beamerguy

Umkomaas said:

The eventually contacted me back a few weeks later saying that the property team see that the VRM has multiple outstanding PCNs 

How would they know that?

Good point ... are EXCEL passing data to a third party which they are not entitled to do ??

Fruitcake

beamerguy said:

Umkomaas said:

The eventually contacted me back a few weeks later saying that the property team see that the VRM has multiple outstanding PCNs 

How would they know that?

Good point ... are EXCEL passing data to a third party which they are not entitled to do ??

Possibly, but as this is a hire/lease vehicle, the VRM is not the OP's so it is not their personal data that has been abused.

bergkamp10

Hey everyone. Wasn't sure at first if Excel were passing on data but it turns out it was theother way around. Just received a letter from Excel today saying something along the lines of we have received correspondence in respect of the Charge Notice XX/April 2021 and having considered the points raised and reviewed our records  we are unable to accept the appeal.

They go on to talk about signs being proper and T&C's being correct. They also mention that they have been informed that I was the driver, although at no point did I mention who was the driver anywhere. In fact durung my discussions with Iceland I specifically told their agents on Twitter that I would not be divulging this information. So it appears Iceland have indicated to Excel that I was the driver when in fact I did not say who was the driver.

They end by saying as a gesture of goodwill they will reduce the CN to £20 if paid before April 30th after which point it will revert to £100.

It seems that Iceland, instead of dealing with the matter internally and reviewing my letter themselves, have ended up just passing the information I provided them with to Excel and making things worse by coming to their own conclusions that I was the driver and indicating that. They mentioned they would pass the information to their property team but did not mention a 3rd party. 

I have taken images of the letter if need be, just let me know.