Airport fine for stopping but living abroad

spätzlequeen

Hello, I was hoping someone could give me some advice. I live in Germany and was travelling through a UK airport a few months ago. I briefly stopped somewhere (not parking), unaware that this was not allowed. This week I received Charge Notice/Hirer notification. It is dated early July but only arrived yesterday so the time to file an appeal has passed and the fine discount has also expired. And now they want £170 instead of the £60 discounted fine. What should I do? Can they prosecute me if I don’t pay/ appeal? I also read about a 10mins grace period, does this apply only to parking or also to stopping somewhere where this is not allowed? 

Thank you very much in advance!

Coupon-mad

Did the letter arrive to Germany? 

Completely IGNORE it.

Can they prosecute me if I don’t pay/ appeal?

No.

NOTHING CAN HAPPEN AT ALL.

DO NOT CONTACT THEM OR ANY THIRD PARTY FIRM THAT SENDS YOU A £170 DEMAND.

We promise you are SAFE TO IGNORE IT.

B789

It is not a "fine". It is a speculative invoice for an alleged breach of contract from an unregulated private parking company. Forget about paying.

Has this been forwarded to you as a Notice to Hirer from the PPC? What has your hire company said? Have they transferred liability to you as the hirer? Have they charged you an admin fee? If so, what does your hire agreement say about private invoices from private companies? Probably nothing. They probably only refer to "fines" and "penalties" from police or "authorities". The PPC and the PCN are none of those.

You are probably within your rights to tell your credit card company to put a hold on any payment for the admin fee as you will not have breached any of those terms.

Once liability for the PCN has been transferred to you as the "hirer" and you have received a new PCN addressed to you as the "hirer" (NtH), you can just ignore it. The PPC has no jurisdiction in your country and cannot do anything about it. However, you do realise that you are dealing with intellectually malnourished companies who will probably continue to send you debt collection letters.

spätzlequeen

Thank you so much for the quick responses!!
yes the letter came to Germany.
i had a charge from the hire company early July which I didn’t expect so I asked the credit card to refund it which they have done.
i have received a „charge notice hirer notification“ from what looks like a private limited company. 

Does that change anything? Sounds like I can safely ignore it?

Umkomaas

from what looks like a private limited company

Which one? VCS?

Coupon-mad

spätzlequeen said:

Thank you so much for the quick responses!!
yes the letter came to Germany.
i had a charge from the hire company early July which I didn’t expect so I asked the credit card to refund it which they have done.
i have received a „charge notice hirer notification“ from what looks like a private limited company. 

Does that change anything? Sounds like I can safely ignore it?

Go online to appeal and say:

I've got your Notice to Hirer letter and am aware that the UK Government is addressing 'market failure' of rogue parking firms, so I won't be paying you a penny.

However I am the hirer (ref: Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 Schedule 4) and I see that the hire firm has properly transferred liability to me.  I was also the driver so you cannot revert to the Hire firm now.

You are welcome to send your daft £170 threatograms here to Germany.  They'll be ignored of course.

spätzlequeen

Umkomaas said:

from what looks like a private limited company

Which one? VCS?

Yes, vehicle control services limited 

Coupon-mad

Do exactly what I advised and admit to driving, which stops VCS being able to bill the hire firm.

B789

This is just an attempt by an ex-clamper thug who started a private parking company after clamping became illegal. They are not an "authority" and have no powers to do anything to you. They rely on the gullibility of their victims to believe otherwise and intimidate them into paying into their scam.

You can safely ignore it or have some fun messing with them by writing to them and saying:

As the Hirer of the vehicle, I am not liable for any alleged breach of contract. I suggest you take this up with the driver. Viel Glück.

spätzlequeen

Thank you very much everyone, that’s super helpful!