Excel Parking finally take someone to court over an unpaid 'parking ticket'..and LOSE

avstar

Graham White have been discussed before on this thread and also here
http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=52457&hl=

Have a read and then relaaaax

Tangible

It is irregular locksmith01 , if not improper, for a solicitor to contact you by phone in this way and make verbal threats. If they should do so again you need to ask them to write to you putting their intentions in writing.

In operating this way it tends to suggest that they are using bluster in place of justification and intent.

I'm no legal expert, but not entirely ignorant, and such an approach would both irk me and reassure me that they were 'flying a kite'.

I suspect that so many people are ignoring them that they're trying to cut costs. Contacting you by phone is a sign of weakness. Anyone could be calling you and they cannot be certain who they're speaking too, which is unprofessional and it achieves nothing. If they have to phone you to make a threat, it's unlikely they'll carry it out, otherwise they'd put it in writing.

fluffnutter

locksmith01 wrote: »

I have just had a phone call from Graham white solicitors infoming me that they are taking me to court over unpaid Excel parking ticket. on the ticket it has no time of issue and on the letters sent to me they have the time of issue as two different times the are now threaterning to take me to court and gain a warrant for the removal of my car which they will then sell at acution to recober the cost Car worth £8000 ticket cost £143 can they do this

They are taking you to court or they are threatening to take you to court. This is nothing short of intimidation. Any 'solicitor' who behaves like this deserves to have his or her licence revoked.

Ignore these criminals and their threats. If they continue report them for harassment.

Tangible

This part is hilarious

....and gain a warrant for the removal of my car

I didn't know 12 year old's could practice law. Courts don't specify an object to sell to obtain payment of any amount due.

How pathetic and ridiculous. I'd like to see that in writing.

fb1969

"Graham White" solicitors are well known on the parking subforum http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=163

Graham White is the name that a solicitor called Michael Sobell uses and the chances are that the call was actually from Roxburghe Debt Collectors, based in Chertsey, pretending to be solicitors. There is a genuine company called Graham White Solicitors in Hertfordshire who have to state on their website that they are not connected with the other one so don't confuse them.

Visit the parking subforum and you'll find plenty of posts about their activities, 99.99999999999999999999999% of it is hollow threats.

fluffnutter

Tangible wrote: »

This part is hilarious



I didn't know 12 year old's could practice law. Courts don't specify an object to sell to obtain payment of any amount due.

How pathetic and ridiculous. I'd like to see that in writing.

This is very true isn't it, and worth pointing out. I think the 'solicitor' thinks you'll be fooled by the connection between a parking fine and your car hence you'll believe that a court could indeed force you to sell your car. But your car's nothing to do with this spurious invoice. The court might as well 'force' you to sell your telly or your dog. Neither has any bearing on the 'crime' and no doubt you'd see them for the ridiculous and empty threats that they are. Treat this with the same disdain.

Tangible

I concur with fluffnutter.

Ignore it. Whoever called you wasn't a solicitor. No solicitor would make such a call (or make a first contact by phone) and all that they said was drivel, so you'd be foolish to respond to it in any way.

The people contacting you aren't worthy of me assigning them an IQ score.

Making threatening calls in an assumed identity is far more serious than a parking fine. Anyone receiving such a call should use userID to discover who is behind it.

Driver8

PRIVATE PARKING TICKETS - DON'T PAY!
IT IS NOT A FINE! YOU HAVE DONE NOTHING ILLEGAL!

This is an information page for the thousands of people who receive "tickets" from private companies in the UK ever day at supermarkets, retail parks, and in any other privately-owned carpark.

We are NOT encouraging anybody to openly flout parking restrictions on private land, or to refuse to pay reasonable charges for parking. Landowners have a right to make reasonable charges for the use of their land.

For advice specific to your case, you should visit the forums at http://forums.pepipoo.com or http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/parking-traffic-offences.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=163

1. What you should know about these companies

It is important to remember that private parking companies (or PPCs as they are often called) have NO OFFICIAL POWERS - that's right, none at all! They give out their "tickets" on the basis that you have seen the signs in their car park and that you have therefore agreed to a contract obliging you to pay a certain sum of money.


2. What happens to people who don't pay?

In 99.9% of cases, absolutely NOTHING! The company pays the DVLA £2.50 to get your address, and then sends lots of threatening letters. In the main, these letters can be safely IGNORED. The only way the company can actually force you to pay is by taking you to the small claims court, which costs them even more money. And they are by no means guaranteed to win! And they practically never do.

The two main reasons for this (among others) are the following:

- Only the person DRIVING the car could ever have agreed to any such parking contract. The company can only get the Registered Keeper's address from the DVLA: you don't have to tell them who was driving.

-Many of these charges are so extortionately high that they constitute a penalty, which is unenforceable in a consumer contract.


3. Can they affect my credit rating?

NO! The only way your credit rating could be affected by ignoring private parking companies is if you were taken to court, lost, and then still refused to pay. But they will not take you to court.


IN SHORT

The vast majority of the time, you can safely IGNORE tickets from private parking companies, they are not official fines.

The vast majority of the time, you can safely IGNORE the threatening letters, including those from debt collection agencies.

You DO NOT have to pay a penny of your hard-earned money to these companies. Remember that the chances of being taken to court are very slim indeed.

DO NOT IGNORE COURT PAPERS!
If you receive real court papers from a private parking company (very rare) then you should go to http://forums.pepipoo.com or http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/parking-traffic-offences for help defending the claim. Do not be afraid to sign up and ask questions regarding any paperwork you are not sure about.



Don’t believe the above? Watch a solicitor on Watchdog advising you what to do with the scam invoices.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAIcdi9niHA

THEY ARE NOT FINES

Only the Police, Courts or Council’s can fine you. NOT a private company, please remember that.

vax2002

If they could take you to court and sell your car, why would they mess about calling you and tipping you off.
They would just get on with it ? And have done with all the time wasting, huff and puff we will blow your house down routine.
Simple, they are full of $hite
Next time they call threatening court action, tell them to get on with it, sooner the better and put the phone down.

Azari

I was under the impression that it was a criminal offence to impersonate a solicitor.