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Need Help. Over £12,500!

Hi guys,

I've just signed up to this website and I have been reading through the numerous sections but I felt the need to create my own thread because I don't know how to proceed with this issue.

Here is my story: my family and I live in a block of flats. The ground floor belongs to a couple of retail shops. They have a small car park in front for the shops and they also have a much larger car park at the back which leads to the back entrance to our block of flats as well as the back entrance to the shops. This piece of land at the back also belongs to the shops. Ultimately though the freeholder of all this land, and the shops and the block of flats is the same entity. The rest of the roads you see in the picture are public roads.



The council have only agreed to supply us with one permit to park on the main road in front so since we started living here several years ago, some of us in the family (without the permit) would park at the back because we would use the back entrance to our house mainly (which leads to a communal courtyard and also our kitchen door). And also we thought that it wouldnt be an issue since there has always been ample space for the employees of the retail shops to park and receive deliveries from their huge vans. So there was never an element of intrusion or disrupting the business.

Yes from day 1 there were the private land parking signs but I ignored them because I thought they were simply frivolous. I would get numerous tickets from a gentleman who would sporadically visit the site. Eventually these tickets turned to letters that I ignored and then there was a period where the gentleman who was giving the tickets out started to use a different type of glue that caused residual damage to our windscreens. It would take about 15 - 30 minutes for me to clean off with all sorts of different tools and chemicals and plenty of elbow grease. This was certainly not your regular glue. I can only assume he was doing this out of spite because we weren't paying the parking fines. There were times where I had to drive with impaired visibility because he would stick the tickets right in front of the driver's view and then I'd have to rush to work quickly without having an opportunity to clean the residue off. This was especially dangerous in the rain and at night. This residue also damaged my windscreen wipers and I had to purchase new ones. Often id receive these tickets in the evening when I was the only car parked there. Bear in mind this area is around 30,000 sq ft. And there are only 10 marked parking bays in this huge area which i have never parked in.

Even employees of the retail shops would often get tickets even though they were told to park there when coming in for work. I assume they've managed to strike these off. My mother asked the freeholder about the land at the back and they told us that it belonged to the shops and it was up to the shops to give us permission to park there. I once caught the owner of one of the shops and asked If she would let me carry on parking there, and she said yes, she didn't mind at all cause there was plenty of space. I tried to get this in writing by sending in a letter to them but i never received a response.

One day as i spotted the gentleman giving me a ticket and then driving off, I quickly decided to follow him in order to have a chat with him and ask him to stop causing criminal damage to our cars. I thought he lived in the vicinity but he actually lived almost an hour away. I got dragged into following him for that long and then he got scared and pulled into a police station and got an officer to chat with me. I explained the situation, that this guy had caused damage to my cars and I was following him in order to speak with him. Nothing ended happening that day of course; the gentleman drove off whilst i was still chatting to the policeman. I subsequently contacted the DVLA to request details of the gentleman because I knew his registration number but they refused to help me even when I told them he caused criminal damage to my car. I think maybe because his actual vehicle was not directly involved in a collision with my vehicle.

Since that day i followed him they almost completely stopped giving us physical parking tickets. That was a couple of years ago and I only receive a couple in that time. Last year however, they installed some ANPR cameras and new signs and now we receive letters/fines automatically. I have hundreds of letters from them that I don't even bother to open anymore. I remember one specific day, between a few of us in the family, I was gobsmacked to have received around 30 letters in that one day! If that's not paper terrorism i dont know what is. I have even received a few letters to my address with the names of people i do not recognise. I'm not sure how that happened but these parking companies are incompetent at best. I'm not sure how these cowboys can get away with charging me when there has been no loss or damages. The threats and harassment are an absolute disgrace!

My mum has recently extended her lease on the flat that we own and I think the freeholder may have verbally mentioned that we also needed to stop parking there (even though they previously said we just needed permission from the shops). I'm not sure why people are like this. We literally live here and don't get in the way of anyone and it's 30,000 sq ft of land. My only other options are to pay £500 a year for some private multi-storey car park or park 15 minute walk away which isn't ideal because I'm often popping out several times a day so it is handy when I'm parked next to my back entrance. I mean, come to think of it, they've probably even issued us tickets in cases where my mum has popped to the back for 5 minutes for me to give her a hand with the shopping.

This is the old parking sign:



And here is the new parking sign:




I'm really sorry that there's so much to read and I would appreciate anyone who spares some time in their day to help us. We are working class people and can't afford to pay this. Even if I was rich, I wouldn't want to pay this out of principle. It's absolutely disgusting that these people get away with this. They are simply bullies!

I probably haven't included everything so let me know and I'll answer any questions.

Anyway today we received 10 county court letters!

5 addressed to me ( we have obviously owned numerous cars over the years):

  • Car 1

Amount claimed: 4271.34

Court Fee 205.00

Legal Representative’s Costs 80.00

Total Amount 4556.34

  • Car 2

Amount Claimed 1129.04

Court Fee 80.00

Legal Representative’s Costs 80.00

Total Amount 1289.04

  • Car 3

Amount Claimed 191.48

Court Fee 35.00

Legal Representative’s Costs 50.00

Total Amount 276.48

  • Car 4

Amount Claimed 563.99

Court Fee 70.00

Legal Representative’s Costs 70.00

Total Amount 703.99

  • Car 5

Amount Claimed 377.80

Court Fee 50.00

Legal Representative’s Costs 50.00

Total Amount 477.80


3 addressed to my mum:

  • Car 1

Amount Claimed 2785.20

Court Fee 115.00

Legal Representative’s Costs 80.00

Total Amount 2980.20


  • Car 2

Amount Claimed 185.33

Court Fee 35.00

Legal Representative’s Costs 50.00

Total Amount 270.33


  • Car 3

Amount Claimed 1492.72

Court Fee 80.00

Legal Representative’s Costs 80.00

Total Amount 1652.72


1 addressed to my stepdad:

Amount Claimed 180.16

Court Fee 35.00

Legal Representative’s Costs 50.00

Total Amount 265.16


and finally 1 addressed to my dad who doesnt even live in the UK. (I purchased a car in England and put the log book in his name and my address and then I exported the car to his country - this was a few years ago):

Amount Claimed 186.76

Court Fee 35.00

Legal Representative’s Costs 50.00

Total Amount 271.76




«134567

Comments

  • Coupon-mad
    Coupon-mad Posts: 155,731 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Firstly, you must stop parking there as you are clearly not authorised to do so.

    It’s Autosec who are no longer in the BPA and the guy who runs it has been discussed on lots of threads.

    your Dads one won’t matter if you ignore it, if he lives abroad and has no intention of living here again so that a CCJ won’t affect him. 

    All the others, read the NEWBIES thread 2nd post about doing the AOS (but not before day five) and tell us the date of issue of the claims and which solicitor?


    PRIVATE 'PCN'? DON'T PAY BUT DON'T IGNORE IT (except N.Ireland).
    CLICK at the top or bottom of any page where it says:
    Home»Motoring»Parking Tickets Fines & Parking - read the NEWBIES THREAD
  • Thanks for the reply Coupon-Mad.

    I would like to sort my Dad's one too just in case he does decide to move back here.

    Me
    Car 1: issued between 06/02/2019 and 11/02/2020
    Car 2: issued 06/11/2018, 21/09/2018, 01/11/2018, 14/11/2018, 16/11/2018, 12/06/2019
    Car 3: issued 12/06/2018
    Car 4: issued 06/12/2018, 08/12/2018, 04/01/2019
    Car 5: issued 06/11/2018, 21/10/2018

    Mum
    Car 1: issued 17/02/2019, 21/02/2019, 03/03/2019, 06/03/2019, 10/03/2019, 12/03/2019, 21/03/2019, 15/03/2019, 17/03/2019, 07/04/2019, 29/03/2019, 28/04/2019, 21/05/2019, 21/07/2019, 11/02/2020
    Car 2: issued 09/05/2019
    Car 3: issued 14/09/2018, 29/01/2019, 24/02/2019, 03/03/2019, 17/03/2019, 25/04/2019, 28/04/2019, 21/05/2019

    Stepdad
    Issued 11/02/2020

    Dad
    Issued 21/02/2019

    Claimant's Legal Representative: 
    Yasmin Mia,
    DCB LEGAL LTD,
    Direct House,
    Greenwood Drive
    Runcorn
    WA7 1UG
  • Also, I'm just thinking in case I'm unable to defend this claim;

    Would I be able to claim responsibility for my mum, dad and stepdad's cars?

    That way, if we can't afford to pay the fines only one of us would have to declare bankruptcy and ruin their credit score.
  • 95Rollers
    95Rollers Posts: 820 Forumite
    Fourth Anniversary 500 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    edited 9 September 2021 at 7:47PM
    That amount is disturbingly and disgustingly unproportianate. You seem like a resilient and proactive person as you have come here to seek  out advise and a strategy to deal with it  .  BUT not everyone is mentally strong enough or clued up to the scam. There is a lot of vulnerable people out there and I shudder to think what sort of effect it could have on someone who is unwell. 
    I would also suggest contacting your local MP. The local politicians are aware of him and a few were trying to get him banned from accessing DVLA vehicle keeper records.
    Also if you are feeling stressed and continually worried about this log it with your doctor on thr affect this has had on your welfare, wellbeing, sleep etc.  This will be useful if you decide to take action against Autosec. 

    You are 100% that the person who runs this company is a gutless bully!  I was raging after reading this!!!  Dirty racist scumbag who racially abused/ threatened/ assaulted a Turkish man and threatened  to rape the guys wife and harm his kids then smash up his car!!!  Luckily the police got there quick!  And thr DVLA just give him people's details despite his clamping license was revoked for good reason!!!

    https://hessleblog.wordpress.com/tag/peter-del-grosso/
  • BrownTrout
    BrownTrout Posts: 2,298 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Third Anniversary Photogenic Name Dropper
    As coupon mad says ignore your dads one, its below the level of any issue with HCEO, so simply ignore it and do nothing with it
    With regards to the others, dont think about losing at the moment BUT if you did and value is a decent amount then depending your assets/income then look at a very simply alternative to bankruptcy which is known as a debt relief order https://www.stepchange.org/how-we-help/debt-relief-order.aspx
    very simple and it only costs about £90, but this is only if you lost etc and there is a long way to go yet, so dont think about paying them a penny.  
  • Redx
    Redx Posts: 38,084 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 9 September 2021 at 8:12PM
    Ps , you can only deal with the ones in your own name , not the others , each defendant must deal with their own case , although you could assist them , but it's their name in the frame , so you cannot just take over , so 

    You deal with yours
    Mum deals with her's
    Stepdad deals with his
    Dad either ignores or deals with his

    Who is the claimant in each case ?? Autosec delgrosso ? Or Bay sentry solutions ?
  • Hi @Redx I was thinking along the grounds of me being the driver of said cars e.g. in the case of my dad's car that I bought to export.

    But would it be too late for this since they have already filed the claim?

    Claimant is:
    AUTO SECURITY LTD T/A AUTOSEC
    42-44 ADELAIDE STREET
    C/O AXIOM ACCOUNTANTS LTD
    BRADFORD
    BD5 0EA

    ------------

    @BrownTrout Thanks for the info about the DRO. I will look into it. Paying them is the last thing I want to do but of course I have to have a contingency plan in place and mitigate our exposure.

    ------------

    @95Rollers Thank you for the advice. I didn't think to contact our MP! That story you shared is apalling! Yes it worries me as well the effect it would have on other people. Although I don't think they'd be racking up 12k in parking fines like me! Still, even 1 fine and a few scaremongering debt collection letters can have a serious effect on people who are living paycheck to paycheck.
  • Redx
    Redx Posts: 38,084 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Yes it's too late because the claims are already filed against each person , so each person must defend their own claim , as I said above

    So they are all from delgrosso the bully

    Read some of the autosec threads on here about problems with contracts and signage etc
  • patient_dream
    patient_dream Posts: 4,027 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Fourth Anniversary Photogenic Name Dropper
    edited 9 September 2021 at 9:56PM
    Are they all from Autosec delgrosso ? 

    Did you know that Yasmin Mia has signed many claims stating that the amount is true ?
    Did you know that signing a statement of truth that is not true is contempt of court and there are penalities which can include prison.

    WHAT IS NOT TRUE ?
    DCBL will have added fake charges which is unlawful, against the Supreme court, and an attempt of double recovery which in turn leads to abuse of process
    DCBL will say that the BPA authorises them to add fake charges according to thei code of practice.  The code of practice is only for parking companies and has nothing to do with 3rd parties like DCBL.  

    So, as said the claims are all individual but the defence for each can be the same

    This is going to be long drawn out problem and you must follow what the regulars say.

    The problem DCBL has is the 
    del grosso problem ... they already know that.

    In the meantime, feast your eyes on this DCBL THREAD

    DCBL letters ... forum group thread
    https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6237177/dcbl-letters-forum-group-thread#latest

    Do you have pictures of the damage to the cars ?

  • Coupon-mad
    Coupon-mad Posts: 155,731 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    tell us the date of issue of the claims and which solicitor?
    As above, can you answer those questions please?  I didn’t ask for the dates of the PCNs.
    PRIVATE 'PCN'? DON'T PAY BUT DON'T IGNORE IT (except N.Ireland).
    CLICK at the top or bottom of any page where it says:
    Home»Motoring»Parking Tickets Fines & Parking - read the NEWBIES THREAD
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