APCOA Parking Charge Notice- 28 days elapsed

Needsomeadvise2004

Hi,
The driver forgot to pay the railway station car parking amount of £2, on 2/12/24. The driver then travelled overseas the next day due to parental bereavement and returned on 17/1/25. In the meantime APCOA sent a parking charge notice dated 19/12/24. The 28 days had passed by the time the driver returned to the UK, and could not use the APCOA portal to appeal/pay/talk to station authorities.

On 3/2/2024 a letter arrives from ZZPS (a debt collector) demanding £155. The letter says 'A Supreme Court ruling, ParkingEye v Bevis, has confirmed that a parking Charge issues on private land is enforceable'.

Any advise as to what the driver should do is greatly appreciated.  

ChirpyChicken

wait for it to time out (6 months from the date of the parking event)
ignore any debt recovery letters
its very simple

Coupon-mad

Needsomeadvise2004 said:

Hi,
The driver forgot to pay the railway station car parking amount of £2, on 2/12/24. The driver then travelled overseas the next day due to parental bereavement and returned on 17/1/25. In the meantime APCOA sent a parking charge notice dated 19/12/24. The 28 days had passed by the time the driver returned to the UK, and could not use the APCOA portal to appeal/pay/talk to station authorities.

On 3/2/2024 a letter arrives from ZZPS (a debt collector) demanding £155. The letter says 'A Supreme Court ruling, ParkingEye v Bevis, has confirmed that a parking Charge issues on private land is enforceable'.

Any advise as to what the driver should do is greatly appreciated.  

As above. Ignore ZZPS entirely.  Did you miss the £170 letters in the 4th post of NEWBIES PLEASE READ THESE FAQS FIRST?

Needsomeadvise2004

@Coupon-mad @ChirpyChicken  Thanks- just worried as the driver did commit the offence of not paying the £2. The reduced fine of £50 or even the fine of £85 would have been paid if the driver had received the letter on time.  But the driver was overseas and had no idea and £155 seems hefty.  If the driver is called to courts, appeal can only be based on the point that they were overseas due to parental bereavement and that the system does not allow reasonable late payment.

What the maximum court would order the driver to pay?  Could it escalate to thousands?

ChirpyChicken

Oh my you are really overthinking this!!! it seems a common trait on here at the moment
Ive already advised it will time out after 6 months
they wont be "called to court"
Follow the previous advise given it has not and will not change.

LDast

Needsomeadvise2004, no one who is here receiving advice, and following it, pays a penny to APCOA.

Coupon-mad

What 'offence'?

What 'fine'?

What court?

The reduced fine of £50 or even the fine of £85 would have been paid if the driver had received the letter on time.

No it wouldn't because they aren't that easily scammed surely?!  Nobody pays these.

Of course it won't go to court. Of course there is no risk. I don't know why you are calling it a fine, telling us that the driver "would have paid" and thinking that a civil court moneyclaim case 'escalates to thousands' despite the NEWBIES thread already telling you it can't.

Is the original APCOA notice a PENALTY notice or a PARKING CHARGE notice?  Please don't go by what ZZPS call it. 

fisherjim

APCOA don't take people to court and debt collectors bend the truth to look scary, but they can't do anything as you don't have a debt.

You obviously haven't read the newbies thread yet where all is explained.

If You have a Parking Charge Notice, it is a speculative invoice begging for money under contract law.

APCOA who are too busy with making quick money don't waste their time with courts but in any case they can't hold the keeper liable only the driver. 

The Notice to keeper was issued too late to hold the keeper liable so they can only chase the driver, if they don't know who the driver is they are stuffed anyway.

Ignore them and their scummy useless debt collectors and all their empty threats, they will give up in the end.

Needsomeadvise2004

As expected, I'm now getting letters from "GCTT certified enforcement agents" who are sending a notice to transfer to solicitors.  The breach detail is "use of private car park without making a valid payment.  If these threats can be ignored, why does anyone bother paying APCOA for parking in the first place?

Coupon-mad

Because most good people are prepared to pay a fair price to park, which often goes to the landowner (and why not?).

'Bilking' or selfish parking isn't something we condone here.

Yes you ignore APCOA and GCTT. But you didn't answer my question:

Is the original APCOA notice a PENALTY notice or a PARKING CHARGE notice?  Please don't go by what ZZPS or GCTT call it. 

LDast

Needsomeadvise2004 said:

 If these threats can be ignored, why does anyone bother paying APCOA for parking in the first place?

The only people who pay APCOA are the low-hanging fruit on the gullible tree, because they are ignorant of their rights, the law and are fearful of the system that they have no understanding of.