18 parking fines, what to do ?

Redx

EddieJ79 said:

This was a no barrier carpark and when I say honest mistake seeing the size of the carpark (850 spaces) I didn’t think it was very strict on time if I was a couple of minutes over the 3 hour limit. Coming from Ireland and not having this situation left me thinking it was similar here.

The laws in Ireland are much different than in Scotland , or especially compared to England and Wales as in your case , do not assume that we have the same laws and procedures as Eire or Ulster !!  We don't

JJC1956

EddieJ79 said:

Hi my name is Eddie Joyce. Any help with this would be appreciated.

I first received a letter from CST LAW instructing me to pay a fine of £510 after calling them up they instructed me to call Debt recovery plus who told me this sum showing total amount was only to do with 3 fines and that total amount due is £3060 over 18 fines all in the peel centre in Bracknell. This was first time I knew of any fines as I first lived in Tilehurst in Reading after moving over from Ireland, I then moved to Bracknell and left after just over a year to Chelmsford not realising that I was supposed to change my log book every time I moved and this is why I never received any of the fines as they all went to the 1st address, I explained that If I received the first fine I would of realised I would have to be careful to leave at the correct time in future and not made this mistake numerous times and also said that this could amount to 18 mins in total over the 3 hour limit or 1 hour in total, I am currently receiving universal credit and have been for a while because of COVID and am currently training to give myself a better chance of work and could do without this threat of going to court as this was an honest mistake as I wasn’t long living in Bracknell  but was living inside the lexicon where the was no private carpark space for me so was getting used to the area and where it was safe to do so, I was a frequent customer to the shops in the Peel centre so I just wanted a little  understanding to the situation because like I said, if I received the first fine I would of made sure that was the last. I recently received all the info they have on me after checking your pages and reading about SAR’s. Even being in the wrong for 18 parking fines these would have been £60 each if I had the opportunity to pay early, amounting  to £1080. This is a extremely stressful situation as I have never been in a situation like this before. 

Judging by all of the advice you are receiving on here, you are in trouble, maybe you should go to court, tell the court you are unemployed, receiving benefits (Universal Credit) and offer to pay back £10 per month out of your benefits. They cant take blood from a stone.
Good Luck

Coupon-mad

Ask to see evidence of each and every alleged overstay and each and every postal PCN, then you will be able to see how long each overstay is.  

Get that from ECP not DRP, by emailing a SAR as the NEWBIES thread tells you to.  And tell them to ‘erase’ your old address and note the correct one for service of letters.

Then you can review all the evidence of all 18 PCNs (hopefully they will drop a few due to lack of evidence).

You might think about making an offer, if you think some of them are fair.  Try and keep it in the hundreds and pay a quid a week or something!  The reason I am saying this is that you are on benefits and if you lose in court you’d have to pay the lot in one go to avoid a CCJ ruining your credit for 6 years.  I don’t think that’s a risk you should take unless you don’t mind a CCJ and won’t need credit or a new phone or any such agreement for years.

I’m sorry to say it but this was very naive parking conduct in an ANPR car park that films you on arrival and leaving. They don’t have wardens you know, not on private land car parks usually.  All these firms get DVLA data.

Not updating your V5C is obviously a problem. You might have missed congestion charges and speeding fines too.  I think with the amount of PCNs you are likely to see a claim but get the SAR first.

fisherjim

Oh dear you have really made this difficult, unfortunately you are dealing with greedy scammers who will be chasing you relentlessly for their bunce.

You have brought all this upon yourself it is your responsibility to notify the DVLA of every move, the fact you no longer have the car is immaterial, the size of the car park is immaterial parking charges is a multimillion pound business, so is the scamming debt collection business.

You do not as already stated have any fines, they are invoices because the PPC claim you entered into a contract with them based on the signage in the car park which you are deemed to have read.

They won't let this go and you will have to get clued up from the info on here to defend their claim, however the added debt collection fees are a scam.

It's all in the newbies thread.

EddieJ79

Really appreciate all yer advice, thx for taking the time to explain as totally new situation. Might say I’m heading back to Ireland address Joyce country (Galway) house on wheels 🙂.

Coupon-mad

Ah now wait a minute.  

If you can genuinely say that your address for service is in Galway (I.e. your usual place of residence) you won’t have to pay anything.  Can you truthfully do that?  I would.

EddieJ79

When I mentioned I sold the car, ment it that it was then mentioned to me I should have changed after I moved the first time, nothing to do with avoiding the fines.

Coupon-mad

These are not fines, as already advised.

Redx

EddieJ79 said:

When I mentioned I sold the car, ment it that it was then mentioned to me I should have changed after I moved the first time, nothing to do with avoiding the fines.

They may be fines in Eire , definitely not fines in England and Wales , over here they are a written invoice !!

Coupon-mad

Do what I said then, give your Galway address and ask for a SAR and for the old address to be erased.