Ignored CP Plus Invoice for Penalty Charge Notice

[Guest]

Hi,

On the 12.07.15 I used a Motorway Service car park upon returning from London late at night and felt too tired to drive and therefore needed to pull over to sleep.

Unfortunately my alarm wasn’t set properly and therefore I overslept and stayed past the 2 hour mark for free parking.

Upon receiving the Penalty Charge Notice charging £70, increasing to £100 if i didn't pay within 28 days, I was misinformed by a friend informing me that only Penalty Charge Notices are official and therefore I didn’t have to pay a Parking Charge Notice and simply ignored it.

Since then they have moved my debt too a debt collection agency who are claiming i owe £184 for the £100 plus there administration fee.

Please advise whether i have grounds to dispute any of these charges? Furthermore, If i simply refused to pay the invoice, whats the likely hood of them taking me to court or the debt collection agency adding further amounts to give it more pertinence in court and make it worthwhile there efforts?

Thanks in advance. The debt collection agency has informed me they have frozen the request until the 3rd January 2020 to allow for my appeal.

[luxardo]

They can't just move your debt to a collection agency, they have to send you a notice to keeper within 56 days asking who the driver was or stating they will pursue the keeper (you) if you don't tell them..
Did you receive this ?
They must have contacted the DVLA because they have your address.
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[Amethyst]

Likely not - sadly many more of the parking companies do take cases to court and the old advice to ignore is obsolete. You may be able to negotiate with the debt company for a reduced figure if you can pay it all in one but it's not going to be much different - if they do go to court it is likely to add about £75 to the bill straight away ( court fee and legal fee ) and if it was a legitimate ticket ( which it sounds like ) then you're going to stick trying to negotiate down from the higher figure. What appeal are you thinking of making ? You received the initial charge within 14 days ? Did you keep a copy of the letter ?

[ostell]

Or you can, in parallel, write to the site operators demanding that they cancel the charge as you were doing what the service areas were designed for and resting as you were too tired and it would have been dangerous, and against advice given, to continue to drive.

[luxardo]

Or you can, in parallel, write to the site operators demanding that they cancel the charge as you were doing what the service areas were designed for and resting as you were too tired and it would have been dangerous, and against advice given, to continue to drive.

That's a good idea, do you think I could claim for a free coffee next time I get tired on a motorway, they*advise that too lol :-)
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