I have a parking fine but not my vehicle

OingoBoingo

Hello this morning i received a Claim Form letter from a parking services company ltd which is asking me to pay £650 for a parking charge from 2018. The letter looks official from something called civil national business centre but i thought i would ask here about it first. The thing is, this is the first time i have heard about this and in the letter it says it is for a car i have not owned (i don't drive), it's not mine, and i have no idea who has it. I'm from the north and the fine says it is from the south which makes it more confusing. Is there anything I can do, it says i have 14 days. Thank you for helping

Fruitcake

Who is the parking company? Post the claim form here but redact all personal data including name, address case number, Government Gateway number and password.

Assuming it is a real claim, you need to tell the PPC in writing that you have never been the keeper, nor owner, nor driver of the vehicle in question.

You also need to complain to the landowner and tell them the same thing. Where did the alleged event occur? It may have cropped up here before.

What is the issue date of the claim form please? You need to submit the AoS on day six from that date, or shortly afterwards.

As a matter of urgency you need to contact the DVLA and get written confirmation from them that you have never been the registered keeper of the vehicle in question. Although you can do this by email, the DVLA will respond to you by post.

You then send a follow up notice to the parking company with a copy of this information instructing them to cease and desist, and discontinue the claim immediately.

If you have a live claim, you need to defend it until it can be cancelled. Start by reading the guide to court written by bargepole you will find in the second post of the NEWBIES in conjunction with the template defence sticky Announcement that includes a twelve step guide.

Coupon-mad

OingoBoingo said:

Hello this morning i received a Claim Form letter from a parking services company ltd which is asking me to pay £650 for a parking charge from 2018. The letter looks official from something called civil national business centre but i thought i would ask here about it first. The thing is, this is the first time i have heard about this and in the letter it says it is for a car i have not owned (i don't drive), it's not mine, and i have no idea who has it. I'm from the north and the fine says it is from the south which makes it more confusing. Is there anything I can do, it says i have 14 days. Thank you for helping

Wow!

Sounds like they've traced someone with the same name as you and assumed.  

You've never hired a car for a family member?

You cannot ignore this.  We will help you defend it.  Please show us the Claim form.

Brie

Sounds like it might be a court session being arranged to give you a CCJ?  You want to avoid that.

Check your credit history to see if there's anything odd on there that might point to identity theft or credit card fraud.  

Get DVLA to confirm it's not your car and that you don't have a license (you said you don't drive) as that would be a major bit in your defense.  Obviously some people drive without having a license but what you're trying to prove is an error somewhere in the communications between DVLA and the parking firm. 

The other proof you might want to dig up is where you were on the day the infraction occurred.  If it happened in Bognor and you were at work in Carlisle that would support your defense.  At least I think that would help.

Also consider how common is your name?  Is there many Oingo Boingo's about?  

OingoBoingo

Coupon-mad said:

OingoBoingo said:

Hello this morning i received a Claim Form letter from a parking services company ltd which is asking me to pay £650 for a parking charge from 2018. The letter looks official from something called civil national business centre but i thought i would ask here about it first. The thing is, this is the first time i have heard about this and in the letter it says it is for a car i have not owned (i don't drive), it's not mine, and i have no idea who has it. I'm from the north and the fine says it is from the south which makes it more confusing. Is there anything I can do, it says i have 14 days. Thank you for helping

Wow!

Sounds like they've traced someone with the same name as you and assumed.  

You've never hired a car for a family member?

You cannot ignore this.  We will help you defrnd it.  Please show us the Claim form.

I scanned the document as best i could with my phone, and saved as pdf
link here, please let me know it is accessible thanks for helping

Coupon-mad

Please instead show the image here in a reply, not as a link.

DATA AND CLAIM NUMBER & MCOL PASSWORD REDACTED OF COURSE.

OingoBoingo

Photo scan using my phone, hope it is legible, and i tried to edit out a few personal details.

KeithP

With a Claim Issue Date of 13th December, you have until Tuesday 2nd January to file an Acknowledgment of Service but there is nothing to be gained by delaying it. 

To file an Acknowledgment of Service, follow the guidance in the Dropbox file linked from the second post in the NEWBIES thread.

Having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 15th January 2024 to file your Defence.

That's over four weeks away. Plenty of time to produce a Defence, but please don't leave it to the last minute. 

To create a Defence, and then file a Defence by email, look again at the second post on the NEWBIES thread - immediately following where you found the Acknowledgment of Service guidance.

Don't miss the deadline for filing an Acknowledgment of Service, nor that for filing a Defence.

Do not try and file a Defence via the MoneyClaimOnline website. Once an Acknowledgment of Service has been filed, the MCOL website should be treated as 'read only'.

Coupon-mad

Yep. We don't need to see the response forms of course because you aren't using any forms.

Is this the first letter received at all? Or did you get a LBC and assume it was a scam?

You've never hired a car or signed for a courtesy car for a family member?

Can you drive?

How common would you think your name is?  When you Google it can you find others?

OingoBoingo

Coupon-mad said:

Yep. We don't need to see the response forms of course because you aren't using any forms.

Is this the first letter received at all? Or did you get a LBC and assume it was a scam?

You've never hired a car or signed for a courtesy car for a family member?

Can you drive?

How common would you think your name is?  When you Google it can you find others?

Is this the first letter received at all?

- yes first letter.

You've never hired a car or signed for a courtesy car for a family member?

-Never hired a car for anyone.

Can you drive?

- I can drive, have license, haven't driven since 2016.

How common would you think your name is?

-Fairly common, a few english footballers have my surname.

When you Google it can you find others?

-When I google my name lots of other people with my name comes up.

GrannyKate

Peabody Hill is a development of houses, flats and apartments in West Dulwich by the Peabody Trust- there is free parking but there may be a permit system.  On google in 2022 I can't see any signs anywhere on the whole estate and there seems to be lots of parking available. 

Peabody did use MET parking on some of their sites up to 31 Dec 2020 when they moved to PCM.