ParkingEye LBCCC

Smithers37 · 5 November 2013 at 4:05PM

Hello lovely people.

I'm in a bit of a panic at the moment.

A couple of a months ago someone parked my car at a motorway services. As far as the driver knew it was a free car park, however I (RK) received a PE notice telling me I had to pay £100 for parking 2 hours over the maximum 2 hour limit. Obviously the driver didn't see the signs clearly.

I took advice that I found online to simply ignore the letters, but now I have received the 'letter before county court claim'.

What do you think I should do?

Thank you so much for any help or guidance on this. :beer:

Umkomaas · 5 November 2013 at 4:13PM

Follow these threads to start with.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4754020

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4585747

Smithers37 · 5 November 2013 at 5:24PM

Thanks Umkomaas.

Can anyone tell me would it do my defense any harm if I were to contact the land owner (Welcome Break) directly and ask them for a resolution? For example pay the original ticket that would have been paid at the time.

Many thanks again.

Coupon-mad · 5 November 2013 at 7:38PM

The 'Successful PPC complaints' sticky covers this, as does another thread about Welcome Break yesterday. Easily found by searching the parking forum for 'Break'.

hoohoo · 5 November 2013 at 7:43PM

as you were not the driver write to PE dobbing the driver in.

This will reset the process. The driver can then appeal to PE, get a POPLA code and appeal to POPLA, which is currently a 100% win for motorists against PE

Coupon-mad · 5 November 2013 at 8:19PM

hoohoo wrote: »

as you were not the driver write to PE dobbing the driver in.

This will reset the process. The driver can then appeal to PE, get a POPLA code and appeal to POPLA, which is currently a 100% win for motorists against PE

Good point hoohoo, missed that escape route! :T

Smithers37 · 6 November 2013 at 6:38PM

Hi guys.

I just wanted to update you on this.

I contacted Welcome Break directly on 01908 299700 and asked to speak to someone about parking. I then spoke to a lady who was very helpful. I said I would be happy to be the original parking fee + a nominal fee to reflect admin costs. We agreed on £10 for the admin fee + original parking price. I accepted, and I'm now due to receive an invoice for it.

I'm happy with this. Many thanks to all of you :-)

jeanraffio · 6 November 2013 at 7:04PM

Great, also make sure that you receive the letter from the PPC confirming your ticket is cancelled - don't just rely on the invoice from WB.

Coupon-mad · 7 November 2013 at 1:50AM

jeanraffio wrote: »

Great, also make sure that you receive the letter from the PPC confirming your ticket is cancelled - don't just rely on the invoice from WB.

I agree especially as the OP is at a stage where he/she needs to respond to PE:

now I have received the 'letter before county court claim'.

You still have to respond to PE because they 'could' steam into a small claim soon if you do not. But now it can be to tell them that the principal has cancelled it, having accepted your fair offer which actually related to a genuine estimate of potential 'loss' (unlike the amount PE were trying to claim) so they must cancel this spurious charge.

zzzLazyDaisy · 7 November 2013 at 9:41AM

I agree. You MUST acknowledge the LBCCC because once 14 days has expired you are at serious risk of receiving court papers. You might think it would be easy to get the court action discontinued if the principal has already agreed to cancel the charge, but you would think wrong - PE are known to refuse to withdraw the claim at that stage and it gets very messy and time consuming.

So send something like this

ParkingEye Ltd
Legal Department

Address

Date

Dear Sirs

ParkingEye Ltd v [Name]
Proposed Legal Proceedings

I refer to the Letter Before County Court Claim dated [insert date].

First, on [date] your principal, Welcome Break Limited, agreed to accept the sum of £xx (this being the original parking charge plus £10 admin fee) in full and final settlement of this matter. Your company therefore has no cause of action against me, and must discontinue this pre-action process forthwith.

Second, even if a settlement had not been reached with your principal, the amount you are seeking to claim is scandalous and cannot in any way be described as a 'genuine pre-estimate of loss' (particularly in view of the sum which your principal has accepted to cover its losses!) so I would certainly not be paying the sum demanded in your Letter Before County Court Claim.

Third, your letter fails to comply with the Practice Direction on Pre-action Conduct. Considering the number of court claims your company issues each month, it seems unbelievable that your legal department is not aware of its obligations under the Practice Direction, so I can only presume that your legal department has taken a deliberate decision not to follow court process. Had this claim still been 'live' I would have been reporting this matter to the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

As things stand, however, your principal has shown some common sense and attention to customer service and this matter has been settled.

I therefore await formal confirmation from you that this charge had been cancelled.

Yours faithfully

PRINT NAME

ParkingEye LBCCC

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