Unfair PCN?

PRWPhotographer

Hi all,

I received a PCN in the post from Initial Parking (a BPA member) for parking on land at St Michael's Mount, Cornwall on 4th August this year.

I believed I had actually paid for parking and went through their appeals process on that basis, providing evidence of a £4 fee paid by card.

They quickly (within a couple of hours) rejected my appeal stating that I had only paid for 3 hours of parking but stayed for 3 hours 56 minutes. They also stated that I've now reached the end of their internal appeal process, which seems a bit arbitrary.

The car park in question allows you to pay at any time during your stay, (you don't have to display a ticket, it uses NPR technology) so we paid just before leaving (we didn't have time to pay on arrival as we had a boat to catch and didn't know how long we were going to stay anyway). It seems we miscalculated how long we'd stayed for and didn't pay enough to cover our stay. Not very bright perhaps, but an honest mistake. 

Now I'm facing a £100 charge (£60 if I pay in the next 9 days) for what amounts to a pound or two mistake in payment.

This seems unfair to me but I don't want to pursue it further if in reality I don't have a leg to stand on.

Could anyone advise what I should do? Has anybody had a similar situation and come out of it with a positive result?

Many thanks in advance for any help.

Paul

Coupon-mad

Which PPC is it? Some can be ignored.

Grizebeck

Coupon-mad said:

Which PPC is it? Some can be ignored.

Initial, so i would do nothing else

PRWPhotographer

Grizebeck said:

Coupon-mad said:

Which PPC is it? Some can be ignored.

Initial, so i would do nothing else

So just ignore it and nothing will happen? No chance of it ending up in court and affecting my credit rating? Or having to pay it anyway but an increased amount plus costs?

Coupon-mad

Ignore it and pay nothing.  Keep the proof of paying and the proof of appealing, and tell them if you move house, just so you can check you are only getting daft £170 threatograms.

Debt letters do not affect credit rating!

You would defend a court claim if one arrived.  No CCJ.  No huge costs - and we win anyway.

But Initial don't sue anyone!

ABSOLUTELY DO NOT PAY.

B789

PRWPhotographer said:

Grizebeck said:

Coupon-mad said:

Which PPC is it? Some can be ignored.

Initial, so i would do nothing else

So just ignore it and nothing will happen? No chance of it ending up in court and affecting my credit rating? Or having to pay it anyway but an increased amount plus costs?

Initial don't litigate. Just ignore the debt collector letters as they are powerless and are not a party to the contract you allegedly breached with Initial. They operate on a no-win, no-fee basis by trying to scare gullible victims to poop their pants and pay up with words like "CCJ" and "bailiffs".

Eventually, they give up and seek lower-hanging fruit from the gullible tree.

PRWPhotographer

Thanks for the guidance all. Much appreciated.

PRWPhotographer

Just as an aside, how would I find out who the landowner is? I'd quite like to let them know how Initial is behaving. They may already know and might not care, but even so.....

Le_Kirk

I've just posted this on another thread.  A good way to find info is to use the forum search facility, often find the question has been asked before: -

1. Google searches

2. If a retail park, check on any signage which lists the on-site outlets

3. Ask retailers on the site if there is a managing agent

4. Ask retailers on the site to whom do they pay rent

5. Contact the local authority and ask who pays the non-domestic/business rate for the car park (some councils have a spreadsheet on their website)

6. Contact the local Valuation Office and ask if they know. They often have a website which might provide the information 

7. Contact The Land Registry and for around £3 they should be able to provide definitive detail

8. If you haven't already done so, give us the name of the car park/site/location, we may have seen other cases there. 

Posted by @Umkomaas

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/78322090/#Comment_78322090

PRWPhotographer

Hi,

Update: After receiving and ignoring several letters from Debt Recovery Plus I have received the attached letter today from CST Law which seems to take things a bit further. Whilst I was very confident in the advice given up until now to simply ignore the threats, their persistence is making me a little twitchy. 

So, am I safe to ignore this one too? I have to admit, for my own peace of mind I'm tempted to negotiate a payment plan but by the same token, I'd be annoyed with myself for giving in.

Any and all advice still appreciated.

Many thanks

Paul

KeithP

CST are allegedly writing on behalf of 'their client'.

Their client is stated as Debt Recovery Plus Ltd.

That letter says...

They are wrong. DRP has no right to start court proceedings against you and will never do so.

That's about all that can be taken from that letter.

For the avoidance of doubt, the fourth post of the NEWBIES thread explains exactly how to deal with debt collector's letters, but to summarise that post - ignore them.