Overstay, no chance of appeal

[Isabella1]

Hi, myself and a friend parked in a hotel car park back in October. My friend paid for 3 hours parking and we went off to have a meal in the restaurant a couple of doors down. I remember getting back to the car just in time before the ticket ran out. I was unfamiliar with ANPR and as I had no yellow ticket on the windscreen I made a phone call from the car before I left. This may have resulted in an overstay of a few minutes. At the time, I was in the process of moving house and my V5c as you can imagine was one of the last things I sent to change my address. I'm guessing it was in this period (v5c can take around 6 weeks to be processed I'm aware?) that the parking company applied to the DVLA for my details. Therefore the original notice and the notice to keeper both went to my old address. The first I knew of the ticket was a letter I received on Friday from a debt collection company demanding £170. I have been informed that the time for appeal has now passed. I have emailed the parking company and asked them to send evidence of the original notice, mainly the entry and exit times of my car, as £170 for a few minutes overstay is absolutely absurd. They emailed back and informed me that as the debt has been passed on, I need to deal with the collection company instead. When I called them last Friday, their attitude was disgusting and I actually made a complaint about how I was dealt with. I was told basically either pay or go to court. Surely this can't be right? I'm not paying out £170 for something I have no evidence of. Please help!

[Amethyst]

How many minutes after the ticket ran out until the ANPR snapped you leaving?*

[Isabella1]

I have no idea. They won't give me any information. I asked this and was just told to refer any communication to the debt collection company.

[ostell]

So a SAR request to the parking company to get all the have concerning you

[Isabella1]

I have sent an SAR request, informing them that I shall have no further dealings with either company until I receive that information.

[Isabella1]

I still haven't heard anything in regards to my SAR but I have received final demand letters from both Debt Recovery Plus and Zennith Collsctions. Why am I receiving these from 2 companies? I notice that the return to sender address is the same on both envelopes

[ostell]

Zenith are the next desk in the DRP office

[Isabella1]

Surely sending 2 different letters from 2 'different' companies on the same day could be construed as harassment? It says in one letter that their client must demonstrate that they've done everything they can to keep it out of court. Surely they're not doing this by denying my right to POPLA and letting me put my case across? I should have mentioned before, but I was actually taken ill at a restaurant whilst I was parked at the time in question, and so when I returned to the car I took a few minutes to gather myself before driving. I almost fainted and can provide testament to this from 5 people. If I could appeal to POPLA, surely this should be sufficient to get the ticket dismissed.

[Isabella1]

I know I shouldn't be letting this bother me, but I have serious mental health issues, so not letting this eat away at me isn't an option unfortunately. The stress is really affecting me. I've just reread the latest letter from DRP, it states that they wrote to me again because I didn't pay or contact them to deny the debt. This is bull as I phoned them when I got the letter and said that I wouldn't pay as I denied I should have had a ticket. Also, when I requested an SAR from Smart I told them I would have no further communication with either until this was received. They obviously didn't relay this to DRP as I still received letters. Should I email DRP regarding any of this? It's driving me insane. Also, is it worth me contacting Smart regarding the illness and see where that leaves me standing? I remember reading somewhere that this is seen as extenuating circumstances, it was this that reminded me that this was the night in question. Sorry for going on.

[ostell]

Do not phone at any time, you* could let slip info that doesn't help your case.* Wait for the SAR information and see what is in the NTK.
Ignore the debt collectors, they can do nothing and only purpose in life is to upset you.
*

[Isabella1]

Smart have no replied to my SAR. They have sent photos of my car entering at 18.57 and leaving at 10.10. According to the machine printout a ticket was purchasing at 19.00.00 which I find very hard to believe! Plus I remember it was a tight space so the passenger had to get out, and we also had to find the machine and sort change out between us. I feel like this took a lot more than 2 minutes. So with 10 minutes grace period, I actually overstayed by 3 minutes, is this correct? They have sent me no NTK.

[Isabella1]

Can any of you guys give me any pointers as to what I should do next, if anything?

[Isabella1]

I've received a notice before court action from Zenith now. It worries me how on the ball with the letters they are. I've emailed the hotel whose car park I used and complained, I don't know how much bearing they have on the situation. There has been heat in the local press about this car park and the one next door, so hopefully they'll help me to save more bad publicity.

[ostell]

No they are not on the ball.* Zenith do not own the debt and cannot start a court action.* Same as DRP.* They are just trying to scare you.


So you get back to them pronto and tell them that you expect all correspondence to be supplied and it has not been.* Of significance is there has not been and copy of any Notice to Keeper.* You can also complain to the ICO.* They do have 30 days to comply though.
*

[Isabella1]

I've emailed their data protection officer back and asked yet again for the NTK. I also found this on the CAB website which I found interesting.