Parking fine in my allocated place as a tenant

Hulki

Hello,

I need help to understand my rights in a specific situation. I read the sticky and other posts, but I still need help because I am new to this subject and don't understand all the terms. 

I have a rented apartment with parking. Received a debt collector letter for their client (apparently a parking management company, not my apartment management) to pay a huge amount due to two years old PCN with the reason that I had not displayed the parking permit. Never received the keeper's notice, and I don't remember receiving a windshield ticket. I might not have received the keeper's notice as I was in a process of a move and the address was not updated.

I believe that they might have sent the letters to my old address.  But still, the car was parked in my allocated parking and now I am being charged to park in the parking for which I am paying. I assume that they could have easily checked with me when they found a car without a parking permit in my parking bay. This doesn't sound fair.

Do I still have a chance not to pay what the debt collectors are demanding? I am concerned about my credit history, I don't want to ruin that. 

Are there lawyers who can help with this?

Will highly appreciate your help. 

Half_way

Hold your horses, credit record wont be affected just yet, stop worrying, you could be in a very good position to fight back - and possibly get money from them

You need to see this as a process, and in order to get through each stage you need to have everything lined up so to speak.

 your situation is what is known as "own space" and you can get a lot of info with a search for "own space"

First things first you need to establish what, if any pre existing rights do you have/had to that space - forget what any signs may or may not say, or what it may or may not say on any permit, what rights exist to use the car park space(s)

 you should have a tenancy agreement, or even better access to the freehold/property information.

 if the parking space is included in the tenancy, or is part of the property then no third party - such as a private parking company can take away your pre existing rights.

If its silent on parking, does it say that you agree to pay an un regulated company £100 a day to use the car park?

Next up, If your worried about permits etc, would you accept a permit to flush the lavatory in the property after 10pm?

Coupon-mad

You do not need a lawyer (solicitor) and we deal with these cases literally every day on here.

Easy enough to defend.

fisherjim

Also it is not a fine!

D_P_Dance

As said, it is not a fine.  Please read the newbiws, read these

http://parking-prankster.blogspot.com/2016/11/residential-parking.html

https://forums.landlordzone.co.uk/forum/residential-letting-questions/1053920-private-parking-companies

and complain too your MP

Hulki

Thanks a lot for the valuable advice.

I checked the contract. The contract doesn't mention explicitly that the apartment was rented out with the parking, it mentions only the apartment number. 

The apartment's property management issued me a parking permit with the parking bay number on that. ( The permit was renewed after the date of the PCN, so I don't have a photo of the old permit)

In the contract, it only mentions that I shouldn't park in any yard, garden or driveway. It is not mentioning anything about the parking company management. Also, it doesn't mention anything about the display of the parking permit. Also, there is no mention of parking charges if the permit is not displayed.

Only some notices are posted in the parking area. 

My contract is between me and the owner of the apartment. So, I don't know if there is any specific agreement between my landlord and the apartment's property management. I  have no contract with the property management or parking management company. 

Hulki

Thanks for the invaluable advise.

So, this is situation:

1. I rented the house with the parking space. My contract is with the landloard via real estate agency. There is no specific mention of the parking. It is more like a standard contract, only says that the car shouldn't be parked in common area

2. The parking is a gated parking, which can be entered only with the key-fob.

3. I don't know exactly who owns the parking and what is the contract chain. At least, I have not signed any document related to parking. Only received the parking permit. I believe that my landlord informed the property management company that they had rented the apartment to me. Based on that they gave me the parking permit.  

3. This parking permit (a bedge) is issued by the parking company. The permit is in name of the property management company (not in my name). The permit has the parking lot number, start date, end date, permit number and their account number. So, this is a contract beteen the parking management company and the property management company. Basically, the property management company has all the permits, and they gave me a permit with the specific bay number written on that.

5. On backside of the bedge, they have mentioned that the car can be parked in the specific numbered parking, and the bedge should be displayed. Also, given a specific instruction on how it should be displayed and failure to do so would result in a PCN, payable to the parking management company. Also, it mentions to read the signs posted in the parking area. 

5. I might have received the PCNs on windscreen for not displaying the permit, but I don't remember. 

6. Never received the NTK, probably because my car registration address was not changed yet.

7. Now, after two years I have received a letter from the debt collecting agency. I also talked to them. So, now they know that I have received the letter. The debt collector refused to do anything. They informed that they would send the information of all the uncollected debt to their client (parking management company) and then they would decide what to do. When they decide to go to the court, they would send the letter. And, that will be my chance to make my argument. 

So, I am not sure what should be my next step, and to whom should I send a letter of objection? 

I believe that I should use specific wordings. So, which template can I use in this specific situation?

Thanks a lot. 
 

Umkomaas

Which parking firm?

How many tickets?

How old are they?

Which debt collector?

Have you read the NEWBIES FAQ Announcement, fourth post?

There are no templates for debt collectors, reading the above should explain why. 

KeithP

Hulki said:

So, I am not sure what should be my next step, and to whom should I send a letter of objection? 

Two things you need to do quite soon...

1) ensure the DVLA know the current address for the vehicle's keeper. This can be changed online. Failure to do this will ensure any real fines, e.g. speeding, bus lane incursion, congestion charge, etc, will all go to the wrong address and you may already have points on your licence, or indeed have been banned from driving, without your knowledge.

2) send a Data Rectification Notice to the parking company's Data Protection Officer instructing him to erase your old address and replace it with your current address. Failure to do that will probably lead to a County Court Claim being filed against you without your knowledge and a Default Judgment against you without you having any opportunity to defend yourself.