I think I probably have to pay this, but any advice welcome !
We stopped in a car park in Herring, Denmark. The signs, in Danish of course, I did not understand, but it looked to me as if it allowed 3 hours parking. My mistake.
On my return to the car within 30 minutes, I had received a kr.650 parking ticket (£72). I photographed the parking sign and have now done a Google translate as follows:
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Private Parking Area
Parking only with parking permits located legibly in the foreground or in max 3 hours with the use of P-disc.
Other signs and instructions from P-guards must be followed.
For breach of rules imposing a monitoring charge of kr.650 per day.
1 days P-cards can be purchased from the savings bank.
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So, I can see my mistake. If I had a parking disc showing my arrival time, I would be allowed three hours (I think), but I had neither this nor the 1 day P-card,
The ticket gives me 10 days to pay by bank transfer or it will be transferred for international collection. This part of the ticket is, of course, in English !
It seems there are UK companies engaged in this business and my details will be requested from DVLA. If I try to ignore the fine, I am worried there will be additional collection charges added. I don't want some protracted and risky fight with a nasty UK collections company !
Should I just pay up and remember the lesson for the future ?
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Hello Nigel HD, I sympathise with your plight. Two points spring to mind. Firstly, if they offer an appeals system you may be able to write or e mail your explanation of being a tourist and not understanding Danish. It may work and worth a try, possibly with a photograph of your parking disc to prove you would have complied had you understood the signage. Secondly, Denmark is not in the EU which may mean they cannot avail themselves of European legislation about cross border enforcement. Pepipoo has a good website and may well have something on this topic. Maybe a call to the Danish embassy may help. If they cannot enforce the penalty and you are not returning to Denmark then ignore the whole thing, but legal advice may be needed. A tricky little situation and of course they will hope you are scared enough just to pay up. Your call I'm afraid. Best of luck and keep us informed of the progress or the outcome, whatever it is.
Cheers Concrete
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Hi Concrete
Thanks for your comments. Denmark is, however, in the EU, and I have seen a UK Collections website which actually publishes a long set of PDF 'Powers of Attorney' from the various local authorities, therefore giving the UK collector the (apparent) authority to act on their behalf. www.epcplc.com
I will look to appealing, but as I did not have a time disc showing (not even a UK one, which I keep in the glove box !!) I cannot claim having used this. If I had, I would have taken a photograph to prove it, but they could easily have their own photograph showing an empty windscreen, so I would look stupid to appeal on this point. On the issue of returning to Denmark, we will do so next year, perhaps in a new car, but as I have a personal registration plate, I could be clocked by the authorities if they were really determined. The only appeal I could make is that I thought three hours was free. I might try this.
You live and learn. I'm meticulous about parking law in the UK, so this makes it all the more frustrating !
Regards
Nigel
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Hi Concrete Thanks for your comments. Denmark is, however, in the EU, and I have seen a UK Collections website which actually publishes a long set of PDF 'Powers of Attorney' from the various local authorities, therefore giving the UK collector the (apparent) authority to act on their behalf. www.epcplc.com I will look to appealing, but as I did not have a time disc showing (not even a UK one, which I keep in the glove box !!) I cannot claim having used this. If I had, I would have taken a photograph to prove it, but they could easily have their own photograph showing an empty windscreen, so I would look stupid to appeal on this point. On the issue of returning to Denmark, we will do so next year, perhaps in a new car, but as I have a personal registration plate, I could be clocked by the authorities if they were really determined. The only appeal I could make is that I thought three hours was free. I might try this. You live and learn. I'm meticulous about parking law in the UK, so this makes it all the more frustrating ! Regards Nigel
Hello Nigel, I did rather assumed that Denmark was not in the EU because of the currency quoted in your penalty notice. Assume make an 'ass' out of 'u' and 'me'. Sorry. However I would still check to see if they are part of any conjoined legal process which allows them to impose fines on foreign nationals. As for the appeal, I meant a photograph of the parking time disc to prove you had one with you, therefore, if you were able to understand the signage you could easily have complied with their bye-law. This at least demonstrates that you are a decent citizen and will comply with the law if it is clear you should. As for the debt collectors in the UK, a right bunch a sharks usually. I would ignore them totally, not even acknowledge their presence. They will never take you to a small claims court for this because they would lose on many points and their costs would be high. They rely on intimidation to achieve a result so you have to brass it out. I also doubt if the Danish authorities will have you on there national most wanted list. Just avoid the local authority area where this so called offence took place. Best of luck and let us know of any developments. Cheers Concrete
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Concrete,
I think you will find that Denmark ARE in the EU, but not in the eurozone.
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There is no agreement within the EU for any fines or parking fees to payed when you return to the UK if they do not take the cash at the point of offence then they cannot claim it later.The only exception is if you have a hire car and the company has a CC number then they approach the hire car company and they will more than likely charge it to your CC.
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I suspect the OP's situation is that the Danish authorities have either passed the debt for collection or sold it.
UK outfit will send the usual letters escalating the threat level and charge each time. The only catch to watch for is if they push it to issue of a CC summons. But I doubtthey'd chance the fee or publicity of they were to loose.
Had an odd experience of debt collection techniques today. I'm presently working in a building that's being emptied as lease end is on 30/11. Today I'm on my own in a large room previously used by another office. Phone rang a couple of desks away so I pressed the pick up code and answered.
Atomated voice tells me they're calling about a debt and will be visiting home address shortly. To avoid embarassment I should call a particular number. Potentially quite intimidating if you knew it was for you.
I imagine this is how the parking companies work.
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I'd happily ignore it. If debt collector gets onto you just deny the debt and tell them to refer back to their client.
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Just to update my post from October 2013. I did not pay. I never heard any more from Denmark. I visited Denmark again in September 2014 with the same car and registration. No issues. So, I think the ticket was rather like the UK Civil "Parking Charge Notice" - essentially unenforceable.
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Hello Nigel HD, thanks for the update. A good result for you eventually. I would suspect there were too many grey areas and muddied waters for anyone to proceed against for recovery of 'damages'. Good luck. Concrete
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