I have to put a disclaimer as this is a public forum:
This does not constitute legal advice and is not represented as a substitute for legal advice from an appropriately qualified person or firm
Right, as I was saying...
Firstly the important thing to remember is that Private Parking Companies are not backed by any aspect of criminal law. Tickets from Traffic Wardens working for the police or local authorities or tickets issued by police officers are. There are provisions for them in the Road Traffic Act 1991 and these provisions allow sanctions that the issuing authority can take.
THIS IS NOT THE CASE FOR PRIVATE PARKING COMPANIES.
After sending that letter off, in an ideal world that would be the end of it, however this is extremely unlikely and you will probably recieve a letter sent by 2nd class. (Did the fine you recieve come 2nd class? - this is the scammers trademark usually).
The second lette you recieve will probably be along the lines of:
"Denial of appeal: In view of you correspondance we will allow a period of NOT LONGER than 14 DAYS from the date of this letter to make the lesser payment of £50.00. If payment is not recieved within this time period your case file will be passed to our Debt Recovery Management Unit. The registered keeper of the vehicle will then be liable under law for all monies outstanding + associated recovery costs. The decision of the adjudicator is final. No further correspondance will be entered into in relation to this case."
This is utter bull****. As the registered keeper you are under no obligation to pay. They use this line in order to decieve you, If the ticket was from a Local Council Authority or the Police then the registered keeper is responsible for payment, but this is because LCA and the Police are backed by legislation as laid down in the Road Traffic Act.
Even if they do send bailiffs around, all you need to say is
This supposed debt is currently in dispute, please refer it back to your employer - any further correspondence from you or any other party in relation to this matter will result in a complaint to the authorities under the Protection From Harassment Act 1997
You could write to them along the following lines:
Dear Sirs,
Re: Your letter dated [dd/mmmm/yyyy] Reference[#]
This alleged debt is in dispute. I have written to your principal on a number of occasions and they have failed to substantiate their claim.
In the circumstances please refer this matter back to your client.
Any further correspondence from you in relation to this matter may result in a complaint to the authorities under the Protection From Harassment Act 1997.
Yours faithfully
They cannot lawful demand payment, clamp your vehicle, or remove property without a CCJ - You'd know if they had one against you as you would have been summoned.
If you admit you were the driver, then there has to be more than adequate signage telling you that you arfe entering into a contract (These contracts are often themselves unlawful - I'd need pics to verify this for you). However as you entered and left the carpark in the dark, it is fair to say you would not have seen these contractualt signs unless they were illuminated by their own lamp - like a road sign.
You will find that if they threaten you as the registered keeper like your ticket suggests, they are in direct contravention of s.40 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970
The Administration of Justice Act 1970.
Section 40 of the act provides that a person commits an offence if, with the object of coercing another person to pay money claimed from the other as a debt due under contract, he or she:
(a) harasses the other with demands for payment which by their frequency, or the manner or occasion of their making, or any accompanying threat or publicity are calculated to subject him or his family or household to alarm, distress or humiliation;
(b) falsely represents, in relation to the money claimed, that criminal proceedings lie for failure to pay it;
(c) falsely represent themselves to be authorised in some official capacity to claim or enforce payment;
(d) utters a document falsely represented by him to have some official character or purporting to have some official character which he knows it has not.
Paragraph (a) above does not apply to anything done by a person which is reasonable (and otherwise legal) for the purpose of :
(1) of securing the discharge of an obligation due, or believed by him to be due, to himself or to persons for whom he acts, or protecting himself or them from future loss; or
(2) of the enforcement of any liability by legal process.
It is also provided that a person may be guilty of an offence under paragraph (a) above if he concerts with others in the taking of such action as is described in that paragraph, notwithstanding that his own course of conduct does not by itself amount to harassment.
Thus if you receive one of these invoices and it appears to purport to be a PCN or FPN then I strongly suggest that you report the incident to the police. The police are duty bound to investigate and act.
I did and Chp are now under investigation. They are also being investigated for Fraud. (s2 of the Fraud Act 2006 - Obtaining property by deception)
Please let me know if you recieve any further "threats" from this company, as I said I'm more than willing to help.
There's loads and loads of information I can't remember right now, but this should suffice for the first and partially the second letter.
Tom
uch:bang: and you need your timming belt doing..
