Debt recovery plus letter

[Kamtvn]

Hi,

I've received a worrying letter from debt recovery plus stating that I have not responded to previous letters due to an oversight for a parking charge.

the crazy thing is, I’ve never received the original parking charge notice or ever received a parking charge notice on my car. This debt recovery letter is the first knowledge of this parking charge.

I have the 27th feb to respond.

surely this can’t be the right way of going about this. Shouldn’t I have first received a PCN and offered a 50% discount and the opportunity to appeal before any debt recovery letter is sent?

Thanking you in advance.

Kam

[des8]

Yes, you should have received the documentation to which you refer.
Have you moved house recently and not updated your car registration details with DVLA?

When contacting the debt collectors and parking company do not identify the driver.

Send a Subject Access Request (template in SHORTCUTS panel on right) to the Parking company
Write to DRP, telling them the alleged debt is in dispute and they should cease recovery activity and return the matter to their principals.

Come back here when you have a response

[Kamtvn]

Thanks DES8

My address and details have not changed at all. This letter just came out the blue.

Thank you for your advice which I will action today.

I will update on the reply asap.

regards
Kam

[Kamtvn]

Yes, you should have received the documentation to which you refer.
Have you moved house recently and not updated your car registration details with DVLA?

When contacting the debt collectors and parking company do not identify the driver.

Send a Subject Access Request (template in SHORTCUTS panel on right) to the Parking company
Write to DRP, telling them the alleged debt is in dispute and they should cease recovery activity and return the matter to their principals.

Come back here when you have a response

Hi DES8,

So I requsted SAR and have recieved the following document. Strange, they note that they sent me two letters of warning, none of which I received. Weirdly, I did receive the debt recovery letter!.

Also, Although I am not parked in a bay, (which is what the contravetion relates to) I'm also not on a yellow line, or red line either.

Looking forward to your advice.

Thanking you in advance.
Kam

[des8]

So now you have to reply to them asking for a copy of the PCN (as you requested originally??)

[Kamtvn]

Thanks Des8

ive only requested the SAR as advised by you on the 21st feb. I didn’t ask for a copy of the PCN.

I will do this now.

I have also not identified the driver yet.

[Kamtvn]

So now you have to reply to them asking for a copy of the PCN (as you requested originally??)

So they have come back to me with the copy of the PCN which I have attached.

What is your advice Des8 on the next steps.

Thanking you in advance.

Kam

[des8]

From those photos it looks as if the vehicle was stopped on a public road.
Are the signs lit at night time?
Where is Peachy House Ilford? It doesn't appear on Google Earth (yes I did find it eventually but the address given is lacking some detail e.g. a post code ! and it appears to be a twinkle in a planner's eye!)

So now write to them along the lines of:

Dear Sirs,
I have just received your Notice to Keeper xxxxx for vehicle VRM xxxx

You have failed to comply with the requirements of Schedule 4 of The Protection Of Freedoms Act 2012 namely, but not limited to, failing to specify the period of parking to which this notice applies as prescribed by section 9 (2) (e) of the Act. You cannot, therefore, transfer liability for the alleged charge from the driver at the time to me, the keeper.

There is no legal requirement to name the driver at the time and I will not be doing so.

I do not expect to hear from you again, or your debt collectors, except to confirm that no further action will be taken on this matter and my personal details have been removed from your records.
Yours etc

They won't accept this as an appeal as out of time and probably will not give you the code necessary to appeal to IAS.
Anyway an appeal to IAS is a waste of time as they are far from being independent.

You will just have to stand your ground and put up with the rubbish threats to pay or else.
They might eventually issue a court claim within the next 6 years(so don't throw the paper work away)

Make sure you do not identify the driver.

[Kamtvn]

From those photos it looks as if the vehicle was stopped on a public road.
Are the signs lit at night time?
Where is Peachy House Ilford? It doesn't appear on Google Earth (yes I did find it eventually but the address given is lacking some detail e.g. a post code ! and it appears to be a twinkle in a planner's eye!)

So now write to them along the lines of:

Dear Sirs,
I have just received your Notice to Keeper xxxxx for vehicle VRM xxxx

You have failed to comply with the requirements of Schedule 4 of The Protection Of Freedoms Act 2012 namely, but not limited to, failing to specify the period of parking to which this notice applies as prescribed by section 9 (2) (e) of the Act. You cannot, therefore, transfer liability for the alleged charge from the driver at the time to me, the keeper.

There is no legal requirement to name the driver at the time and I will not be doing so.

I do not expect to hear from you again, or your debt collectors, except to confirm that no further action will be taken on this matter and my personal details have been removed from your records.
Yours etc

They won't accept this as an appeal as out of time and probably will not give you the code necessary to appeal to IAS.
Anyway an appeal to IAS is a waste of time as they are far from being independent.

You will just have to stand your ground and put up with the rubbish threats to pay or else.
They might eventually issue a court claim within the next 6 years(so don't throw the paper work away)

Make sure you do not identify the driver.

Hi Des8


So that I’ve understood this myself, apologies for the ignorance. The reply I’m sending is basically stating that as a keeper I do not have to identify the driver at the time, is this correct? i was under the impression that the keeper has to identify the driver. Also they have failed to specify period of parking, meaning they haven’t provided details of the parking details? Am I correct?

Attached is an image of the sign on the wall that they sent me. There’s no light and it’s not clear either, but it does say you cant park on the pavement.

Finally, although I sent communication to DRP that this is in dispute, they have just sent another letter. Just to be clear, I am sending the script you sent me to the parking company (UK Car Park Managemnt Ltd) and not DRP. correct?

Thank you.

Kam

[des8]

ULA are correct that as the keeper you are under no legal obligation to identify the driver, so do not do so even when posting on here as parking companies are known to scan these sites. If they do not know the identity of the driver they have more hoops to jump through to collect their charges.

One of those hoops is the requirement for the PCN to state the period of parking. The PCN you have received does not state a period of parking.

Send the letter to Parking company and ignore DRP for the moment

EXC or ULA could you please delete first three lines of OP's post 9 where driver is identified

[EXC]

Done.

[Kamtvn]

ULA are correct that as the keeper you are under no legal obligation to identify the driver, so do not do so even when posting on here as parking companies are known to scan these sites. If they do not know the identity of the driver they have more hoops to jump through to collect their charges.

One of those hoops is the requirement for the PCN to state the period of parking. The PCN you have received does not state a period of parking.

Send the letter to Parking company and ignore DRP for the moment

EXC or ULA could you please delete first three lines of OP's post 9 where driver is identified

Thanks des8

Email sent. I shall keep you updated.

[Kamtvn]

des8

I have received the following response from the parking company.

Dear Mr X,

Re: Parking Charge Notice Xxxxxx

This PCN has been issued in full compliance with Schedule 4 of PoFA 2012. It is not reliant on when you receive the notice.

As the PCN remains outstanding, we are unable to remove your details from our records.

Please be advised that we are no longer able to deal with your case at this late stage as it is now being dealt with by our Collection Agency. Their details are as follows;

Debt Recovery Plus Ltd.
P.O. Box 219
Manchester
M34 0DG

Telephone Number: 0208 234 6775

[des8]

What a load of cod's wallop ... of course they can instruct their agents to cease collection activities.

I would write back pointing out they can instruct their agents to stop collection activities.
Tell them that as they have failed to comply with the statute you have no intention of paying their charge.
Also add that if they escalate the matter to court you will, on winning, request your costs because of their unreasonable behaviour in pursuing a claim that has no merit.
Add that you will show this correspondence to the court.

You never know, it might stop the stream of threatening letters.
And from now on keep a written note of how much time you spend on this case, because, if it goes to court and you win, Litigant in Person costs are £19 per hour

[Kamtvn]

The crazy thing is, I mentioned that I’ve never received any of the alleged PCN letters and only received the DRP letters. They’ve totally ignored that.