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Hello everyone,
This seems like a great site, and I hope you don't mind me asking for a bit of advice in relation to Scottish law
I have been receiving some threatening letters from a debt recovery company in relation to a parking charge notice that was issued against me (the keeper). The car park in question is part of a Scottish hospital, and is free for the first 4 hours. The signage is poor, with nothing clearly visible during the walk from car to exit (although there is a sign at the entrance and there was another on a distant wall that could only be seen by crossing the car park). I haven't been back for photos yet.
The car was parked on three separate occasions for the day (as everyone who works at the hospital does), with no PCNs for the first two occasions. On the 3rd a PCN was issued, asking for £40 or a reduced sum if paid early. After asking other people who also work in the hospital I was advised that it should be ignored, as not enforceable, and a bit of a scam. I just took the bus after that!
I have received two letters asking for money and threatening the possibility of legal action. After looking online to see how people deal with these, I chose to ignore all communication and not contact the company.
I have now received another letter, this time claiming to be a "Notice of intended court action - unpaid parking charge £40". They also state that if I don't pay they "...will pass your file to the creditor's solicitor with a recommendation to commence court action against you."
I can post an anonymised copy if that would help, but it contains errors such as using "1ND" for a specific date, and asking for a payment to be made by a date (1/8/13) that is actually 1 month before the letter was sent (3/9/13).
I see that the current advice (August 2013) is to appeal to the company and then to POPLA, with the likelihood being that things will fall in our favour - either the ruling by POPLA, or the company won't pursue legal action.
However, POPLA does not operate in Scotland or NI, so what would be the current recommendation regarding how to deal with these irritating letters? Continue to ignore and eventually they will stop? Or appeal to the company, but then what after that? IS Scottish law different (trespass laws etc).
Please point me in the direction of any relevant threads if this question has already been answered, but otherwise I would be grateful for any advice you can give.
Many thanks,
dasbus
This seems like a great site, and I hope you don't mind me asking for a bit of advice in relation to Scottish law
I have been receiving some threatening letters from a debt recovery company in relation to a parking charge notice that was issued against me (the keeper). The car park in question is part of a Scottish hospital, and is free for the first 4 hours. The signage is poor, with nothing clearly visible during the walk from car to exit (although there is a sign at the entrance and there was another on a distant wall that could only be seen by crossing the car park). I haven't been back for photos yet.
The car was parked on three separate occasions for the day (as everyone who works at the hospital does), with no PCNs for the first two occasions. On the 3rd a PCN was issued, asking for £40 or a reduced sum if paid early. After asking other people who also work in the hospital I was advised that it should be ignored, as not enforceable, and a bit of a scam. I just took the bus after that!
I have received two letters asking for money and threatening the possibility of legal action. After looking online to see how people deal with these, I chose to ignore all communication and not contact the company.
I have now received another letter, this time claiming to be a "Notice of intended court action - unpaid parking charge £40". They also state that if I don't pay they "...will pass your file to the creditor's solicitor with a recommendation to commence court action against you."
I can post an anonymised copy if that would help, but it contains errors such as using "1ND" for a specific date, and asking for a payment to be made by a date (1/8/13) that is actually 1 month before the letter was sent (3/9/13).
I see that the current advice (August 2013) is to appeal to the company and then to POPLA, with the likelihood being that things will fall in our favour - either the ruling by POPLA, or the company won't pursue legal action.
However, POPLA does not operate in Scotland or NI, so what would be the current recommendation regarding how to deal with these irritating letters? Continue to ignore and eventually they will stop? Or appeal to the company, but then what after that? IS Scottish law different (trespass laws etc).
Please point me in the direction of any relevant threads if this question has already been answered, but otherwise I would be grateful for any advice you can give.
Many thanks,
dasbus
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