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#Post#: 77759--------------------------------------------------
Ignoring a parking charge notice
DIR By: bobb
Date: June 23, 2025, 11:04 am
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Hi all.
My son is the registered keeper of a car that received a parking
charge notice on 31/3/25 by euro car parks for staying 2hrs
24mins when the limit was 2hrs. He never opened the letter,
thinking it was spam. He received a 2nd letter from euro car
parks, again (stupidly) ignored. When a 3rd letter came 2 days
ago he opened it. The 3rd letter was from a debt collecting
agency saying the debt has gone from £100 to £170. The initial
debt was £100 reduced to £60 if paid within 28 days. If I'd
known I'd have paid £60 after the 1st letter.
Is it possible to ignore the letters as they're not registered
post, saying we never received them ?
£170 is a lot of money to pay and the letter says the next stage
is £280 which is scary.
Btw my son is in his first year of teacher training, visiting
schools across the county and it's been work/sleep for him the
past 8 months. He doesn't want a ccj on his record, especially
when he eventually wants a mortgage.
#Post#: 77760--------------------------------------------------
Re: Ignoring a parking charge notice
DIR By: DWMB2
Date: June 23, 2025, 11:11 am
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--- Quote from: bobb link ---
>
> Is it possible to ignore the letters as they're not registered
post, saying we never received them ?
>
--- End Quote ---
No - lying to try and escape liability for an alleged debt is a
bad idea. At best, it won't work. At worst, he would risk
turning what is currently a civil matter into a criminal one.
There is no requirement for them to send letters by registered
post - a letter sent by regular post is presumed delivered 2
working days after sending, for the purposes of relevant
legislation.
The good news with Euro Car Parks is that, although they will
probably eventually take the matter to court, they will likely
use DCB Legal to do so. In our experience, for a single ticket,
where a DCB Legal charge is defended, they pretty much always
discontinue before the matter reaches court. So, if your son
follows our advice, he's a very strong chance of winning. The
important thing however, is that he'll need to open all his post
promptly, or make arrangements for it to be opened for him.
Letters sent by debt collectors can be ignored - if/when he
receives a "Letter of Claim", you should come back here for
advice.
#Post#: 77774--------------------------------------------------
Re: Ignoring a parking charge notice
DIR By: bobb
Date: June 23, 2025, 12:16 pm
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Thanks so much for your quick reply. All future mail will be
opened promptly. The agency is Debt Recovery Plus and they say
we are in the 3rd of 6 stages. the next stage is DRP seeking
Pre-legal resolution followed by Recommend legal action. The
final stage is county court judgement.
If the car was parked over the time limit by 24 minutes I don't
see how it can be justified. I'm also worried the debt will
mount up whilever the letters are being ignored. Thankyou.
#Post#: 77790--------------------------------------------------
Re: Ignoring a parking charge notice
DIR By: ixxy
Date: June 23, 2025, 2:42 pm
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Exceeding the time limit by more than the grace period, usually
10 minutes, will result in a PCN, don't get hung up on whether
you think its justified or not, that argument went out in 2015
thanks to Beavis vs Parking Eye. The 6 stages are something made
up by the debt collectors, the only important next step is a
letter of claim. Also don't worry about a CCJ, you only get one
of those if you lose in court and don't pay what the court
orders, around £250. It's unlikely to get to that point though.
#Post#: 77851--------------------------------------------------
Re: Ignoring a parking charge notice
DIR By: b789
Date: June 24, 2025, 4:19 am
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Just follow the advice you receive here and your son will not be
paying a penny to ECP. I will accept any bets of £100 that this
will never see the inside of a courtroom.
You can safely ignore all debt recovery letters, whether from
DRP or any other bottom-dwelling debt collector. All they can do
is to try and persuade the low-hanging fruit on the gullible
tree to pay up out of ignorance and fear.
Come back when your son receives a Letter of Claim (LoC). It
will cone from DCB Legal (not DCBL). We will provide a suitable
response and also the necessary defence when the actual claim
form arrives.
As I said, I'm confident enough to accept a £100 bet with anyone
who disagrees with my prediction that ay claim will either be
struck out or discontinued before the claimant has to pay the
£27 trail fee.
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