help with 'speculative invoice'' paid by Disabled Driver

[welshcake]

My uncle contacted me today regarding a parking fine he has had. He is a blue badge holder and has a motability car. He was visiting his daughter and parked in a disabled bay, He forgot to put his blue badge in the window and received a fine from New Generation Parking. The fine stated if he acknowledge the fine within 7 days the fine would be £50 not the normal £75. He contacted them via e-mail to dispute the fine but they sent a letter saying they had looked at the evidence and as he had not displayed his badge the fine stood but they wanted £75 as it had passed the 7 day mark, He sent a chq in the post to them for the £75.00 with a letter stating he thought he should only have to pay the £50 as he acknowledged the fine within 7 days but was awaiting a decision of his appeal.

 

He then thought that was the end of it however he has not received a letter demanding £150, He checked with the bank and the chq has not been cashed but does not want to pay that much for the fine as it's not his fault he sent a chq and really should only be liable for the £50.00, He is a pensioner and cannot afford these amounts

 

Where does he stand?

[dx100uk]

its NOT A FINE

 

its a 'speculative invoice'

 

IGNORE

 

do some reading in this forum

 

dx

[dx100uk]

cancel the cheque NOW

 

dx

[crem]

He should hope they never cash the £75 cheque and most certainly shouldn't send them any more money!

 

Ignore every scrap of junk mail they send and do not communicate with them in any fashion at all from now on.

[crem]

cancel the cheque NOW

 

dx

 

That may not be wise dx. YOu are probably aware there is an on-going thread on CAG at the moment whereby a CAGger is being taken to court, not for the parking invoice, but for the dishonoured cheque specifically.

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?296990-Excel-Parking-County-Court-Summons-for-cheque-laterly-cancelled-not-a-parking-charge&highlight=cancelled+cheque

[Dragons Dennis]

Cancel the cheque anyway. Send a letter saying cheque issued in error. Let them take him to court. They wiull get sweet fanny adams.

[welshcake]

This is not the responce I thought I would get. What his credit record if he decides not to pay them. What is the likelyhood of him being taken to court or will they just try and see how far they get.

[crem]

This is not the responce I thought I would get. What his credit record if he decides not to pay them.

Same as it is now... they can't touch it

 

What is the likelyhood of him being taken to court

0.000001% (approx )

 

or will they just try and see how far they get.

Spot on

 

..

[dx100uk]

thats why we call them 'speculative invoices'

 

they speculate on how much they can fleece from the mug before they go 'hang-on' i paid to park - this is just taking the wee wee.

 

have a read in this forum

 

you'll soon get the drift.

 

dx

[asmodeus]

This is not the responce I thought I would get. What his credit record if he

decides not to pay them. What is the likelyhood of him being taken to court or

will they just try and see how far they get

 

They cannot touch his credit record and it is NOT a fine and it is NOT a penalty - all he has is a valueless piece of paper demanding a sum of money. It is nothing more than an invoice and can be safely ignored.

 

The system works on scaring their victim with intimidating correspondance and as he sent them one cheque they have assumed he can be conned out of even more.

 

As regards the potential court case I would take a chance and cancel the cheque. PPC's in general do not like court as they are operating on the fringe of legality and when they do they usually come away poorer and with their tails between their legs. Picking on a vulnerable disabled person (their ideal mark) would not go in the favour

 

It could be said that your father cancelled the cheque because he thought it had gone missing i.e. as it had not been cashed and that they sent another INVOICE for a higher amount this made him think that it had got lost in the post

 

LIke many on this forum I have an assortment of PPC invoices and associated correspondence and on the few occasions they have phoned pretending to be a solicitor they have been invited to take me to court and as expected they have failed to do this

Edited May 19, 2011 by asmodeus
typo's as usual

[Jamberson]

He really should stop the cheque if it has not been banked. And he really should ignore every piece of threatening mail they send. You probably weren't expecting this - but it is sound advice. Really, these people have no right to demand monies and he has every right to stick two metaphorical fingers up at them.

[Al27]

This particular company have never ever taken anyone to court.

 

This thread shows that within some PPC's, those who pay get separated into a new pile and are pursued further in the hope they'll be gullible enough to pay over and over.

 

I think I am right to use the word s-c-a-m with regards to this system operating within certain companies.

[patdavies]

That may not be wise dx. YOu are probably aware there is an on-going thread on CAG at the moment whereby a CAGger is being taken to court, not for the parking invoice, but for the dishonoured cheque specifically

 

Since the cheque has not been presented and he has received another letter that fails to acknowledge his initial cheque (regardless of ignoring it or not), then cancelling the (obviously) non-delivered cheque for "security reasons" would satisfy any attempt to sue for dishonouring the cheque.

 

He should, of course, write a short note or email informing them once he has cancelled it and then ignore any further correspondence from them.

[sean the sheep]

Welshcake

 

Looking at your username I assume you're in Wales as am I - Was this ticket issued in Cardiff or South Wales somewhere ?

New Generation Parking are indeed part of Ranger Cameras but they are also based in offices in Cardiff.

I had an 'invoice' from them over 3 years ago in Talbot Green, South Wales. Told them to get lost, then ignored as per advice and im still twiddling my thumbs waiting for them to take any further action as they threatened !

Tell your uncle to do nothing and don't worry at all. The silly threat letters wil fizzle out and they will quickly give up.

 

Regards