Premier Park PCN - I ignored them up to now, but I'm getting cold feet

illingd · 21 October 2018 at 2:25PM

Back in June I parked at a car park where the pay machine was not working. I parked anyway for about half an hour.

Subsequently received a PCN from Premier Park.

I responded on their website saying I was perfectly willing to pay but couldn't because machine on the blink.

Their response was something along the lines of, "you could have paid by other means - e.g. phone or text". (Unfortunately I can't find a copy of this response.)

Browsing around MSE forums, a lot of people's advice seemed to be, "just ignore them and they'll eventually give up: they never go to court." So I've ignored all subsequent demands.

I recently received a letter from ZZPS Limited, who I guess are a debt collector that PP has passed my PCN on to.

I ignored the first of their letters and now I have another, threatening to put things into the hands of a solicitor (See extract from the letter below)

Any suggestions what I should do? is it time to give up and pay, or can I ignore again and hope it doesn't go to court?

We wrote to you previously about this PCN, and according to us, this debt remains unpaid.

Our next course of action is to pass this account to QDR Solicitors Limited. We would prefer to get to the bottom of this with you, without the need to use lawyers. However, we are duty bound to advise that if this does get passed to QDR Solicitors Limited, the balance owing will increase by £30 plus VAT.

A recent Supreme Court ruling (ParkingEye -v- Beavis) has confirmed that a Parking Charge issued on private land:
* is enforceable; and
* the Parking Charge does not breach the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999.

If this remains unpaid, in the event of legal action taking place, court fees and solicitors costs, along with statutory interest, could be added to the amount owed. The legal process is not simple and if you need advice, places where this can be sought are on the reverse of this letter.

It is in your interests to either get in touch or pay this account and we again invite you to do so within seven days of you receiving this letter; if the account progresses to our solicitors, we will not be able to help you.

Umkomaas · 21 October 2018 at 2:41PM

Nothing you can do but see what they do from here on. This could have so easily been cancelled via POPLA had you come here at the time of the ticket issue. But that ship has now long sailed.

Last year Premier got a little court-frisky, but this year they seem to have cooled their ardour some. Maybe they got a few too many bloody noses in 2017?

http://www.parkingappeals.info/companydata/Premier_Park.html

Have you complained to the landowner and ask if they'll get this cancelled, given the fault with the machine - sometimes works.

waamo · 21 October 2018 at 3:40PM

illingd wrote: »

Back in June I parked at a car park where the pay machine was not working. I parked anyway for about half an hour.

Subsequently received a PCN from Premier Park.

I responded on their website saying I was perfectly willing to pay but couldn't because machine on the blink.

Their response was something along the lines of, "you could have paid by other means - e.g. phone or text". (Unfortunately I can't find a copy of this response.)

Browsing around MSE forums, a lot of people's advice seemed to be, "just ignore them and they'll eventually give up: they never go to court." So I've ignored all subsequent demands.

I recently received a letter from ZZPS Limited, who I guess are a debt collector that PP has passed my PCN on to.

I ignored the first of their letters and now I have another, threatening to put things into the hands of a solicitor (See extract from the letter below)

Any suggestions what I should do? is it time to give up and pay, or can I ignore again and hope it doesn't go to court?

I'm a bit concerned that you have seen advice on here to ignore tickets as the faq explicitly says not to.

Can you show us this advice you read please so it can be corrected?

illingd · 21 October 2018 at 10:34PM

waamo wrote: »

I'm a bit concerned that you have seen advice on here to ignore tickets as the faq explicitly says not to.

Can you show us this advice you read please so it can be corrected?

I had trouble finding the advice about ignoring Premier’s messages, which is why I posted a new thread. Maybe it was in some other forum.

illingd · 21 October 2018 at 10:50PM

Umkomaas wrote: »

Nothing you can do but see what they do from here on. This could have so easily been cancelled via POPLA had you come here at the time of the ticket issue. But that ship has now long sailed.
......
Have you complained to the landowner and ask if they'll get this cancelled, given the fault with the machine - sometimes works.

Since my original post, I’ve managed to find the emails I got when I responded online to the original PCN, and sure enough they contain the magic word POPLA. Pity I didn’t understand enough at the time and chose to start ignoring the issue.

I’m not sure who the landowner is - it wasn’t a supermarket or shopping centre or anything, just a general carpark

Redx · 22 October 2018 at 12:04AM

illingd wrote: »

I’m not sure who the landowner is - it wasn’t a supermarket or shopping centre or anything, just a general carpark

and that is why we have a Land Registry, where for a small fee you can find these things out

the IGNORE advice on here was changed to APPEAL back in March 2013 , a few months after POFA2012 came into force. it also changed to appeal to popla for BPA members as well, none of this advice has changed since

waamo · 22 October 2018 at 9:37AM

You have started down a path you now need to continue on. Try for a landowner cancellation as that would kill the ticket.

The all important odds of court
http://www.parkingappeals.info/companydata/Premier_Park.html

The_Deep · 22 October 2018 at 9:55AM

Buy some warm slippers. If what you say I true, if they took this to court they would crash and burn. Failure to maintain ticket machines means that there can be no contract, therefore they cannot claim you breached that contract.

This is an entirely unregulated industry which is scamming the public with inflated claims for minor breaches of contracts for alleged parking offences, aided and abetted by a handful of low-rent solicitors.

Parking Eye, CPM, Smart, and another company have already been named and shamed, as has Gladstones Solicitors, and BW Legal, (these two law firms take hundreds of these cases to court Hospital car parks and residential complex tickets have been especially mentioned.

The problem has become so rampant that MPs have agreed to enact a Bill to regulate these scammers. Watch the video of the Second Reading in the House of Commons recently

http://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/2f0384f2-eba5-4fff-ab07-cf24b6a22918?in=12:49:41 recently.

and complain in the most robust terms to your MP. With a fair wind they will be out of business by Christmas.
each year). They lose most of them, and have been reported to the regulatory authority by an M.P. for unprofessional conduct

illingd · 22 October 2018 at 12:04PM

Thanks to all who responded. I now have a better idea of where I stand.

I'll have a look at trying the landowner approach.

Otherwise, if it comes to a solicitor's letter, court etc, there looks to be plenty of good stuff here to assist me further once I get to grips with it. If nothing else, I'll have learned some new acronyms!

illingd · 8 November 2018 at 4:13PM

Quick question:
Does a the letter that precedes actual court proceedings have to actually contain the words "Letter Before County Court Claim"?
If not, how do I recognize a letter that I must respond to, as opposed to a debt-collector scam?
(Just got a letter from "QDR Solicitors" and I don't think this is a LBCCC?)

waamo · 8 November 2018 at 4:15PM

It will contain a form that you are asked to fill out detailing your current financial situation.

Premier Park PCN - I ignored them up to now, but I'm getting cold feet

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