NHS worker PCN during pandemic 10 July 2021 at 7:41PM in Parking tickets, fines & parking 19 replies 499 views

Teme9

Before I get asked to see newbie sticky, I already have and my question remains unanswered.

I am a frontline NHS worker - Doctor - who has been providing care to patients with COVID-19 throughout both pandemic. Ofcourse this means nothing to the general population.

Anyway, I received 2 PCNs in my hospital accommodation. I pay a monthly £10 for a permit but the housing association - Thames valley housing requested me to provide paperwork - V5C and insurance that I could not as I was shielding from both my parents who were at home. Also refused copies and wanted original paperwork, THEREFORE did not have a visible permit on the car. 

Received 2 tickets, both had gone directly to my home address and of-course as I have a temporary accommodation due to shielding from parents, I only got home to see the paperwork had escalated to debt collectors.

Admittedly I did not display a valid permit. However now being contacted by Debt Collectors - TRACE limited. Parking company was PCM.

Contacted Thames valley housing who have refused to get it cancelled with PCM. Contacted PCM who say it is now with debt collectors - nothing they can do.

My question to you kind people of MSE is:

1) Do I choose to ignore the debt collection letters - now threatening for local county court? I would want to avoid ruining my credit score.

2) Do i have a case given my circumstance or do i just accept the ticket and pay up?

Any further advice would be greatly appreciated.

Please do not respond with passive aggressive responses, would only like helpful comments.

Regards,
Dr A

Redx

1) yes , ignore , ignoring debt collector letters won't ruin your credit score , a CCJ does that , if you fail to pay it in full , promptly , usually with 30 days , or less ( not more , no instalments either ) , if you lose

2) unknown without seeing the signage and landowner authority etc , hence why only a reasonable and fair judge can tell you , in court

3) thank you for your service , whatever the outcome ,  pcm UK may well try a court claim that includes both PCNs

KeithP

Dr A, your first sentence tells us you have already read the NEWBIES sticky.

Now to your two questions...

1) Do I choose to ignore the debt collection letters - now threatening for local county court? I would want to avoid ruining my credit score.
The fourth post of the NEWBIES sticky thread answers the first part of that question.
Nothing will affect your 'credit score' if you continue to follow the guidance in the NEWBIES thread.

2) Do i have a case given my circumstance or do i just accept the ticket and pay up?
You do have a case and the advice here will be to fight your corner, and of course, as with all good advice, it is there to be found in the second post of the NEWBIES thread.

Any further advice would be greatly appreciated.
Suggest you now should be reading the second post of the NEWBIES thread and preparing yourself for a Letter of Claim and possible court action.

Coupon-mad

Yes you have a case but be aware the court claim will go to whatever address they have, so warn your parents this is nothing to panic about. 

Court stage is where people win and beat these scam PCNs.

Residential car parks are the most abused by parking firms and its high time the Government realised that it’s not trespassers that this horrific industry target.  

We must all respond to the upcoming Government Consultation to show them evidence and case studies of what actually happens to permitted residents who should simply be on a white list (electronic exempt list) while they await a permit. 

If you get time please pop back here at the end of the month, then in August, to make sure you tell the MHCLG your experience if this rogue trader parking firm. We will be talking about the consultation when it opens ‘this Summer’ and we need the Government to hear you. 

By previous desperate consumer reports from residential car parks ruined by their presence, and in my opinion, there is evidence to support a view that PCM are ex clamper thugs who shouldn't be anywhere near residents or their cars.  PCM were outed on Watchdog a few years back, for ‘making it up most of the time’ when replying to appeals.  What should happen is white lists for residents and full cancellation if a PCN gets given to a resident. It’s the opposite of what PCM want and the very last thing on these firms’ minds is deterring trespassers.

D_P_Dance

... Of course this means nothing to the general population.

What makes you think that?  

Half_way

This falls under the "own space" side of things, plenty of people having issues with these parking scum companies in residential areas.

 To get this sorted you need to dig down to the bottom of it all, Scum tends to float to the top, so for now forget about what any signs may or may not say, or what any permit may or may not say.

 You will need to find out what access the property has to the parking space, if this space is included with the property then a third party can not come along and subsequently impose conditions - i believe this is called derogation of grant.

The housing association, if it is they who imposed the parking company without going through the required checks and balances then they could be in a spot of bother so to speak, odd on they haven't done this ( the deep/dp dance wil be able to go furhter on this )

Also saying its nothing to do with them is an outright lie, as principal they are jointly and severally liable for the actions of their agent, if  the parking company is upto no good, and doesn't have the right to enforce in your space then there could be serious issues for who ever appointed the parking company.

So try and find out what rights you have to the space, forget what any signage may say for now and post back.

 in the meantime i would suggest you read the thread about the IPC/Gladstones etc and use that as ammunition against whoever it is/was that appointed the parking company

Teme9

Sorry just an update to this, have received a letter from Gladstone’s that they’ll proceed to a county court claim if I fail to pay 

Any advice what to do at this stage? Just pay and move on? 

Coupon-mad

Certainly not!  This is where you win and it's a point of principle that has no huge costs risk nor CCJ risk as long as you follow our advice (2nd post of the NEWBIES thread).

If you'd rather not get a claim over Xmas then in your response to Gs, tell them you are a busy Doctor and need time to seek debt advice, as is your right under the pre-action protocol.  Get a 30 day hold to knock the claim into January if that's better for you.

Get a SAR from the PPC if you have not already. It will then be back, by the time you receive the claim.

D_P_Dance

An MP has recently linked some of the companies with organised crime.  Paying them may be funding people smuggler. modern slavery, and the importation of hard drugs.  Let them take you to court and beat them there.

Teme9

Coupon-mad said:

Certainly not!  This is where you win and it's a point of principle that has no huge costs risk nor CCJ risk as long as you follow our advice (2nd post of the NEWBIES thread).

If you'd rather not get a claim over Xmas then in your response to Gs, tell them you are a busy Doctor and need time to seek debt advice, as is your right under the pre-action protocol.  Get a 30 day hold to knock the claim into January if that's better for you.

Get a SAR from the PPC if you have not already. It will then be back when you het the claim.

My concern is that court might find me at fault as according to the display sign, I did not have a valid permit at the time. 

Not sure if I mentioned in the original thread, but I didn’t have a valid permit at the time as my place of residency required me to prove proof of V5C to get a permit which I couldn’t get from my parents as they were shielding. (Yes I could’ve gotten them to post it but who has time when there’s a pandemic?)

it’s 2 tickets for the exact reason and the agency Thames valley refused to request cancellation to PCM. 

It’s annoying cause I was a resident of the place, £10 for parking a month but didn’t get a valid display cause of the most stupid request ever.

KeithP

Teme9 said:

Coupon-mad said:

Certainly not!  This is where you win and it's a point of principle that has no huge costs risk nor CCJ risk as long as you follow our advice (2nd post of the NEWBIES thread).

If you'd rather not get a claim over Xmas then in your response to Gs, tell them you are a busy Doctor and need time to seek debt advice, as is your right under the pre-action protocol.  Get a 30 day hold to knock the claim into January if that's better for you.

Get a SAR from the PPC if you have not already. It will then be back when you het the claim.

Not sure if I mentioned in the original thread, but I didn’t have a valid permit at the time as my place of residency required me to prove proof of V5C to get a permit which I couldn’t get from my parents as they were shielding. 

I imagine that the V5c at your parent's house had the wrong address on it anyway, so would not have been good enough to get a permit. Surely you needed a V5c with your current address on it?

It's very easy to change the address of a Registered Keeper. Can be done online and they send a replacement V5c to the new address.