Letter: Stand firm over parking charges
Tuesday 13th July 2010, 6:59AM BST.
Letter: I have some sympathy with Diane Parks of Horsehay, and her dealings with Elite Management Ltd regarding a parking ticket.
On December 19, 2006, I received a letter from Euro Car Parks, stating that I had not paid a fine incurred three months earlier for parking in a disabled bay on Forge Retail Park in Telford.
This letter was the first I knew of any such violation, and I immediately became suspicious. On principle, I will not park in a disabled bay; never have, never will.
When I refuted the allegation and asked for evidence of a parking violation, I received a letter from a debt collecting agency, and their fee was added to the fine – total £95.
To cut a long story short, in a letter I told them: “No amount of threats, pressure or intimidation from you or Euro Car Parks will make me pay one penny. If I receive any more of these letters, I will seek legal advice to stop this harassment.”
I have heard nothing from them since.
CG Ayling
Woodside
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Right this is one of my pet hate issues so I’ve carried out a lot of research in my time so please believe the following:
Private parking companies (PPC’s), such as elite CANNOT issue FINES. Only a local authority or the police can do that. PPC’s call it a penalty CHARGE. These charges are purely invented and are not legally enforceable. These guys use a loophole in the law to purchase your details from the DVLA to obtain your details. They will send numerous pieces of official looking paperwork to scare people into paying, threatening legal action and affecting credit rating etc. This is all nonsense. Firstly A PPC HAS NEVER WON A COURT CASE mainly because they know that the charges are not enforceable. Please bear in mind that they have only tried court action ONCE! They will perhaps send you a photo of your car supposedly offending – this is worthless as they canonly charge the DRIVER of the car not the REGISTERED KEEPER – you have no obligation to tell them who was driving.
The generally accepted advice is to ignore any correspondance from these people. This might be easier said because they will undoubtedly send you numerous letters claiming all sort of implications IT’S ALL SCARE TACTICS TO GET YOU TO PAY. You will not get debt collectors round, you will not get a cc and you will certainly not go to court. Tempting as it is to respond to a letter, even with an angry reply, don’t. As soon as you have made contact they will harass you even more. Another tactic they use is to wait a few months after you have not paid the initial ticket, then send you a load more threats. This is just to try and catch you whilst your guard is down as you thought it had gone away.
If you don’t believe me believe the BBC Watchdog program – just type . “BBC”, “watchdog”, “parking charges” into YouTube and you’ll find an interview with a solicitor who’ll tell you the same.
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