Euro Car Parks fine for incorrect VRM

Skydog1

Hi, long story short...in 2022 I purchased a parking ticket after about 10 minutes of struggling to pay with my bank card. Got the ticket but didn't realised the vrm had only printed 1 letter. I got a fine from EuroCar Parks saying I could pay £20 or appeal. I appealed to POPLA. I never received anything further ,so naively assumed it had been dealt with. I have now received a court summons from Euro Car Parks via DCB Legal. I have informed the court of the issues. I have spoken to DCB who say they will settle out of court for £230!!... I know I have been naive/stupid thinking it had been dealt with because I heard nothing from POPLA or Euro Car Parks until now but surely this is pure greed? I paid for my original ticket & it was an admin error on my part. Do I have any come back? What is likely to happen at court if I don't pay the fine of £230? They say I can pay over 4 months, but I still can't afford that!.. thank you 😊 

Le_Kirk

I doubt you have received a summons, maybe a date for a hearing?  Why do you believe it was an error on your part?  The system/PDT could have been faulty; it wouldn't have been the first (or last) time!  When you say you have informed the court of the issue, what do you mean?  Did you complete the AoS for the N1 claim form and have you submitted a defence?

Gr1pr

Its not a summons, it's a Claim form from the CNBC in Northampton using MCOL 

What is the issue date on the top right. ?

Post a redacted picture of the POC on the bottom left, hiding the VRM details 

If you placed a Popla appeal to Popla, email them for a copy of their appeal decision, using a SAR request if necessary ( they probably e-mailed the decision and it probably ended up in your spam folder. )

Skydog1

I checked on the POPLA site on receiving the court date. They denied the appeal on the grounds that even though I had paid for a ticket that wasn't the issue with Euro Car Parks. The small print on the car park sign says the ticket must show the correct VRM. As I said, I didn't check it, I just assumed it was right. So I know they have me over a barrel but it just seems they are being greedy! I didn't receive anything further for 2 years so I had forgotten about it & thought it was settled. I will pay the fine for my 'mistake' but a 100% mark up seems extortionate. They say the £20 fine was a once only offer, so by appealing it will now cost me £230.
POPLA say that the Euro Parks machine worked before & after my attempts ,so it was my error not the machine.
The court papers were to arrange a court date if I didn't accept the fine. Is this likely to cost me even more if I try to explain my side?

Gr1pr

Too late to appeal anything 

With a court claim, you should be filing the AOS, followed later on by a defence 

Your explanation won't be required for several months, in your witness statement to your local court 

You still have not told us the issue date from the claim form or shown us the redacted POC details from the lower left 

It wasn't a fine, it was an invoice for the alleged breach of the parking contract on that private property, breach of the signage by the driver 

KeithP

Skydog1 said:

I have informed the court of the issues. 

What on earth does that mean?

Coupon-mad

 Nobody has you over a barrel.  You don't have a summons. Stop talking to DCB Legal. You won't be paying.

Show us the POC please.

Have you already bunged in a defence?

Skydog1

OK guys, sorry if I'm not using the correct terminology!!
This is what I received & I returned it with my details and the facts. I filled in the N9B dispute the claim form. I have heard nothing back from the Civil National Business Centre.
I then received a form from DCB . I rang and they offered me 7 days to decide if I wanted to pay £230 to settle it now. Or to pay over 4 months. 
My question is what could happen if this goes to court? Am I likely to have to pay a great deal more?

Grizebeck

what defence did you log

Skydog1

The date of the ticket purchase was 2/5/22. I then received the 'fine' from Euro Car Parks about 2 months later. I chose to appeal & emailed POPLA. They said my appeal was in a queue awaiting assessment 28/7/22.
I received nothing further from either parties & I assumed it had been dealt with & I forgot about it.
I received  a letter from DCB 26/6/24  'a formal letter of claim'.

Skydog1

My defence was that I had paid for the original ticket. Due to the machine not accepting my bank card for around 5 attempts when it did accept it & issued my parking ticket it did not have the whole of my VRM thereon. I did not check this.
They do not dispute I had paid, the issue was that signage at the car park apparently says that the correct VRM should be on the ticket.
I accepted that was my fault for not checking but they had footage of my car arriving/exiting at the correct times, the car was registered to me & the parking ticket had come from my bank account.
They refused to accept this and still wanted me to pay the fine or to appeal to POPLA. Which I did and I didn't get a reply ( as per the previous threads)
When I received the next fine letter 2 years later I chased up the reply from POPLA. They had agreed I had paid the correct amount for the ticket but as the VRM was wrong and the sign says it should show the correct one they declined my appeal. 
This is when I have approached DCB ( as I cannot contact Euro Car Parks due to no telephone number/email address) and say their client is willing to accept £230 if I pay within 7 days. 
Again, my question is can they legally request a 100% increase from the original fine? & what would happen if I took it further to the court procedure? Thank you.