Anyone fancy a peaceful protest outside PPMs offices?

DownwithPPCs

Sick to death of these vile parking scum. Something needs to be done. Their offices are in Bracknell, Berks. How many people would be willing to attend a peaceful protest?

named and shamed these leeches in the Guardian newspaper, but more awareness needs to be raised especially with the recent withdrawal of the code of practice.

Ben.

Coupon-mad

It's only temporarily withdrawn.  We'll be back...!

Registered offices are shells, usually, not likely to be the real offices of parking firms.

DownwithPPCs

@Coupon-mad there must be something more we can do?! These people cant keep getting away with this. Just reading through all these threads, people suffering with mental health etc as a result of these people, making me mad!!!!

Coupon-mad

DownwithPPCs said:

@Coupon-mad there must be something more we can do?! These people cant keep getting away with this. Just reading through all these threads, people suffering with mental health etc as a result of these people, making me mad!!!!

I agree. Totally get it and we share your wrath.

We don't stand still here. You know what I do and what bargepole does?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/78966835/#Comment_78966835

and

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6318816/parking-the-big-con-on-channel-5-tonight-7pm/p1

It's not just posting on a forum. We do loads more.

We (you, everyone affected) all need to respond to the final Public Consultation once the Government gets new DLUHC Ministers in place.  My guess is the Consultation about the parking charge levels and the banning of the false debt recovery extortion (that funds the race to court and aggression) might hopefully be open in October.

DownwithPPCs

@Coupon-mad

Thanks for sharing. No, I was not aware of that. I thought the CoP was Sir Greg Knight's doing. Didn't know you guys were involved. Amazing work, congrats. Fingers crossed it gets over the line.

Let me know how I can help. I have support from my MP and have established a link with the Guardian newspaper. I would love to help bring a change in any way I can.

Please let me know about the final publication consultation and what I need to do.

Ben.

Coupon-mad

 I thought the CoP was Sir Greg Knight's doing. 

He brought forward the Private Members' Bill, and there were others who supported it.  I wasn't involved that early on but bargepole was (along with the Parking Prankster, who is no longer involved in parking stuff).  We are just ordinary people who have been fighting unfair parking tickets (and previously, clampers) for about 15 years or more.

As you can imagine, we are not flavour of the month with the private parking industry.

The Code of Practice itself (as it now stands, currently stalled due to the PPCs throwing their toys out the pram) evolved after countless meetings from 2020 onwards, and that's been my involvement, to represent consumers. I put myself forward at the opportune time and believe i was appointed due to what I do on MSE because this forum reaches such a wide audience.

I was/am the only individual member of the Government's Private Parking Code Steering Group.

The Public Consultation is how to make a difference this year.  A big difference.  If you are not necessarily going to be here on the forum then we are suggesting new posters bookmark the top thread by @MSE_JC because we will post there to alert MSE Towers and new posters, when the Public Consultation opens.

This is the 3rd public consultation - the regulars here have robustly contributed to one per year since 2020 - but this will be the most important one as we are fighting moneymen who are brandishing the threat and weapon of a Judicial Review (two, in fact).

And we know that the DLUHC so very nearly got the fake added £70 decision hopelessly wrong, nearly allowed it. That would have nailed on the roboclaim 'race to court' aggression and CCJ culture forever more.  In fact it would have made things far worse, because the Government actually stated in 2021's Consultation, that making the fake £70 'part of the contract' would somehow 'protect' consumers.

You could not make it up... They actually thought it would be a good idea to put the fake extortion 'gaslighting' layer of money on the car park signs, so that parking charges could jump twice and would be as high as £200 in London!  Absolutely wayward thinking.  It would have doomed defendants and swamped the courts even more than now, with cases where Judges would not have been able to even look at whether the 'extortion layer' of £70 was properly incurred. No Defendant could have objected to the fake add-on.

ParkingEye - who auto-issue about a quarter of all private PCNs with very little evidence of human checks - would have been handed £70 million extra per annum for no more 'work'.  And the roboclaim lot would have been laughing all the way to the bank.  CCJs would have gone through the roof.

There is a danger of a new Minister not getting that like Neil O'Brien MP did. A huge danger of the plausible Trade Body suits persuading someone credulous, right at the wrong moment.

I'm really hoping that MSE's Forum/Journalistic Team puts the Consultation in their weekly newsletter, to reach more motorists. Can't be sure they will, though, as MSE didn't last time.

Hence why we have to drum up interest!  Stick around.  Your Guardian contact could be useful and I like your fightback style.

Snakes_Belly

DownwithPPCs said:

@Coupon-mad there must be something more we can do?! These people cant keep getting away with this. Just reading through all these threads, people suffering with mental health etc as a result of these people, making me mad!!!!

It makes me mad too especially when people who are vulnerable get ticketed and chased by debt collection agents for a claim that they should not have received in the first place.

Some people have targeted hot spots. Not exactly civil disobedience or a protest but giving out flyers to warn people about the car park. Some people have made their own signs and put them up to warn people. I am sure that the employees of the PPC's will take the signs down but if it stops a few getting PCN's it's worth it.

One of todays biggest problems is outsourcing of services. At one time the NHS produced their own meals on site, did their own laundry on site and managed their own car park. Now it is all outsourced and it is costly, a cop out when things go wrong and not good value for money. 

Change is not always easy to effect. It sometimes requires chipping away. I think that MP's are on side however there had been a lot to distract them in the last two years.

patient_dream

Right now, government is in a hell of a mess and there is just 2 years before they go to country.   Will they want their legacy to be that they supported the biggest public scam ever seen ??

We are not talking about a few people, this mega parking scam has the potential to damage millions of people 
We only see a very small percentage on here

As said, Neil O'Brien MP understands the scam but will his new boss who is Greg Clark MP understand

Neil O'Brien MP has many contact points including email address, twitter and facebook
https://members.parliament.uk/member/4679/contact

We all know the power of social media so whilst we wait for the consultation there is no harm in making your thoughts known now.
We have a wealth of media in the UK, let's use them

The one thing I would do is dump the so called ATA's who have failed and just run a bunch of scammers. A point I will make in the consultation

1505grandad

Not forgetting that it all starts off via that wonderful entity who boast "..............we have tough safeguards in place to protect the privacy of information held on our records."  -  i.e. the DVLA.

Apparently according to them it is set in stone that our data is supplied to all and sundry "to those who can demonstrate a reasonable cause for requiring it." 

This scam industry has been known about for years but no action has been taken by the DVLA to make sure that "....tough safeguards ARE in place to protect the privacy of information held on our records." to make sure our data is only released in the correct circumstances.

Castle

patient_dream said:

The one thing I would do is dump the so called ATA's who have failed and just run a bunch of scammers. A point I will make in the consultation

I made such a point in the first consultation in October 2020 in response to question 4:-

"The Code should be monitored and enforced by the creation of a statutory regulator based on the principles of the utilities industry regulators, which include Ofgem, Offwat and Ofcom".

patient_dream

Castle said:

patient_dream said:

The one thing I would do is dump the so called ATA's who have failed and just run a bunch of scammers. A point I will make in the consultation

I made such a point in the first consultation in October 2020 in response to question 4:-

"The Code should be monitored and enforced by the creation of a statutory regulator based on the principles of the utilities industry regulators, which include Ofgem, Offwat and Ofcom".

Now we must shout louder, a lot louder