Another APCOA civil parking notifice

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Tue 7 Aug 2012 21:17
Another APCOA civil parking notifice - Emmasonone

Yes, I'm yet another victim of the dreaded APCOA parking bandits, who put a dampener on our Olympic day trip by slapping my car with £80.00 parking fine (reduced to a mere £50 if paid within 14 days)!

The story is...my partner paid for parking using details saved in his phone but he accidentally gave the number plate of his car and not mine! Could I ask whether we should pay the fine and suck it up, or contact APCOA and contest the ticket?

Any advice would be much appreciated!

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Wed 8 Aug 2012 00:42
Another APCOA civil parking notifice - Avant

First step is to be polite and ring or write to them admitting an honest mistake: they may well waive the penalty. They should be able to trace the phone call.

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Wed 8 Aug 2012 09:13
Another APCOA civil parking notifice - Armitage Shanks {p}

It is NOT a fine - it is an unenforceable invoice for a sum of they say you owe. I suggest that you enter into no correspondence of any sort and ignore anything you receive from them in connection withthis alleged breach of contract. This is suggested method of dealing with this sort of problem SFAIK

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Wed 8 Aug 2012 16:09
Another APCOA civil parking notifice - Dwight Van Driver

Poster does not make clear whether the ticket is a

PENALTY CHARGE NOTICE - in which case it has statutory authority and cannot be ignored as firm may be acting on behalf of LA who instigated a Traffic Order.

PARKING CHARGE NOTICE - civi matter of contract between firm and driver of vehicle..

If this is the case then as AS states a possible course of action.

dvd

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Thu 9 Aug 2012 10:26
Another APCOA civil parking notifice - Emmasonone

Thank you everyone for taking time to reply to my post.

The ticket says "Civil Parking Notice", due to "no valid payment". There is no mention of a parking or penalty charge notice. The blurb on the back say "As a result of the stated contravention a civil parking notice has been issued. If payment is made within 14 days a discounted charge will be accepted in settlement of the notice. If payment is not received within 30 days APCOA may commence legal proceedings for the recovery of the charge together with all associated costs. APCOA reserve the right to add additional fees to cover the cost of collection activity"

I did draft a letter to APCOA but am holding back from sending it until I hear further.

With thanks again

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Thu 9 Aug 2012 16:10
Another APCOA civil parking notifice - Dwight Van Driver

This is a civil matter of contract between APCOA (acting no doubt on behalf of theowners of the land providing the area ) and THE DRIVER who parked. To take civil action they have to PROVE who the driver was and the Reg Owner (unlike statutory authority) is under NO obligation to provide those details. If they do not have the drivers details then they cannot proceed can they.

Read htttp://www.tinyurl.com/2hr37d.

If you decide to bin the demand as many on here would advise, then DO NOT enter into any correspondence with the firm whatsover despite various further threats you may get from them. The only letter that should be dealt with is one with a County Court summons which is most UNLIKLEY as they do not have the drivers details do they,

Be aware new legislation is in the wings for later this year which will hold Reg Keeper responsible for such penalties where drivers details are not known like statutory controls on parking.

dvd

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Thu 9 Aug 2012 19:27
Another APCOA civil parking notifice - ifithelps

I agree with DVD, trying to reason by correspondence is a waste of time.

So you either ignore it or pay it.

I have successfully ignored three private tickets, so that's what I would do.

Just be aware you might get up to six or eight threatening letters over a period of a year or more.

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Sun 12 Aug 2012 10:10
Another APCOA civil parking notifice - Emmasonone

Thanks for the advice everyone. Think I'll try and dodge this one and I'll let everyone know how I get on.

Fingers crossed!

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Mon 1 Oct 2012 10:15
Continuation of "another APCOA civil parking notice" - Emmasonone

Could I ask for further advice in light of today's announcement of the "Protection of Freedoms Act 2012"?

I am concerned about the section below:

Recovery of unpaid parking charges

"Schedule 4 (which makes provision for the recovery of unpaid parking charges from the keeper or hirer of a vehicle in certain circumstances) has effect."

Since my earlier posts, I have been contacted by Roxburghe Debt Collectors who phoned me "in connection with an outstanding personal matter" and asked me to confirm my details (which I did not). I am receiving repeat phone calls and messages on my home number (none of which have I responded to). I now have a letter saying I owe £128.00 for not paying the "Civil Parking Notice".

Have Roxburghe got me by the short and curlies?? Should I contest this and explain parking was paid for at the time of use, but my partner (who regularly parks his vehicle in this car park) paid by text and didn't change the car reg to that of my car.

Thanks in advance of your advice

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Mon 1 Oct 2012 11:05
Continuation of "another APCOA civil parking notice" - daveyjp
Just tell Roxburgh three things.

You are recording the conversation
You deny the claim and they should refer the matter to their client
Any further contact and you will report them for Harrassment.
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Mon 1 Oct 2012 13:49
Continuation of "another APCOA civil parking notice" - Bromptonaut

Schedule wotsit of the PFA 2012 only applies in relation to infringements occuring after 00:01 today!!

Still a lot of non-compliant signage around. Was in Wickes yesterday for decorating stuff and noted that their signage still referred to fines.

Edited by Bromptonaut on 01/10/2012 at 13:52

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Sat 6 Oct 2012 12:07
Continuation of "another APCOA civil parking notice" - S@123

Hi we received a CPN note on 3rd October for parking over a bay line (due to the person next with a big SUV having done the same already) and despite having paid for parking they want a further £80. I am inclined to ignore these highway robbers but want to check what the position is with the change in the law.

Thanks

S

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Sat 6 Oct 2012 13:28
Continuation of "another APCOA civil parking notice" - daveyjp
The law change changes nothing apart from the PPC can hassle the registered keeper, who is free to ignore.
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Sat 6 Oct 2012 15:48
Continuation of "another APCOA civil parking notice" - Bromptonaut
The law change changes nothing apart from the PPC can hassle the registered keeper, who is free to ignore.

I'm not so sure about that, they could always hassle the keeper but their only cause of action was against the driver. If they couldn't prove who was at wheel then they were stuffed.

Under the new legislation the keeper is liable. The act also means the PPC is on firmer ground as to the amount they sue for - a sum stated on signage by the land aand which is foundation for a contract. The amount has to be reasonable under consumer law and no doubt there will be scope for argument over whether signage was compliant. No doubt loopholes will also be explored - for example the ribustness of the PPC's contract with the landowner.

By all means ignore at first but if a default summons arrives you'll need to enter a defence and be ready to meet the PPC in court. Ignoring a summons is likeley to result in judgement by default and a visit from the bailiff.

Edited by Bromptonaut on 06/10/2012 at 15:50

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Sun 7 Oct 2012 09:46
Continuation of "another APCOA civil parking notice" - S@123

Thanks very much for the info. Now I am inclined to think that a fine of £50 or £80 + would not be regarded as reasonable when the daily parking charge is £2.50 - i.e. the maximum revenue they would have lost if no other vehicle could have parked in the adjacent bay. I think on that basis the fine is not valid at this level but grateful for your views.

Cheers

S

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Wed 16 Jan 2013 16:08
Another APCOA civil parking notifice - Mangavideo

All,

I’ve been reading the information in this forum and I’m in the same predicament to some of you.

A couple of days ago I got a Civil Parking Notice while parked at Hayes and Harlington station car park. This car park is managed by Apcoa.

The parking contravention was 05 – Parked over two bays. All the cars next to mine were parked over two bays as with the morning snow no one really saw the bay lines. Only my car had the penalty, none of the others did... totally unfair... I did take pictures of the other cars in the evening.

Have these guys a way to single out cars so they can penalty first offenders to see if they can get cash out of them?

As all these issues happened a while ago, wanted to check if the advice is still the same, IGNORE... and what about the law change at the end of 2012? I couldn’t find anything about it...

Someone mention that if you are a regular user (which I am), to teach you a lesson for not paying they could clamp the car... Is that legal? Would then become a harassment case?

Please help!!

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Wed 16 Jan 2013 20:46
Another APCOA civil parking notifice - Avant

Rather as I suggested in reply to the first post on this thread, you've nothing to lose by writting a polite letter or E-mail to APCOA explaining that you couldn't see the bay lines because of snow which had melted by the time Jobsworth (though you won't call him that!) came along; alsop that you parked a normal distance from the other cars in the row.

Not sure about your last sentence - hopefully someone with more knowledge of that branch of the law will be along soon.

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