Interesting situation

[ceebee]

i'll try and keep this as concise as possible, one of my employees went to meet a client in his apartment and parked in the residents car park in what he thought was the clients parking space. The client is one of a few people who actually live there all year and the rest of the apartments are on short holiday lets. to gain access to the car park you need to take a ticket and then the resident uses a pass card to allow exit. It appears that my employee parked in another person allocated parking space and although the car park was almost empty the other person took a photograph of his number plate and sent it to Vinci Parking who then sent to the car lease company. No PCN was fixed to the car. The lease company did nothing for a month and we then informed Vinci not to contact them again as they were charging £25 admin fee. The company then received a letter and demand from a debt collector which we duly ignored and this week we received a letter from a genuine solicitor notifying us that they intend to start legal action. I would be grateful for any advice on what to do.

[ceebee]

sorry somehow the post was duplicated

Edited July 21, 2015 by ceebee
Posted twice

[unclebulgaria67]

sorry somehow the post was duplicated

 

I think i would write back contesting it, saying that the car was parked while visiting an owner/occupant at x no property and as far as you are concerned parking arrangements were followed. That there is no contract in relation to parking with any company or other tenant at the carpark in question, where parking is shared with many properties.

 

I doubt any court action would follow and wonder what Solicitors would pursue such a small amount.

[armadillo71]

i'll try and keep this as concise as possible, one of my employees went to meet a client in his apartment and parked in the residents car park in what he thought was the clients parking space. The client is one of a few people who actually live there all year and the rest of the apartments are on short holiday lets. to gain access to the car park you need to take a ticket and then the resident uses a pass card to allow exit. It appears that my employee parked in another person allocated parking space and although the car park was almost empty the other person took a photograph of his number plate and sent it to Vinci Parking who then sent to the car lease company. No PCN was fixed to the car. The lease company did nothing for a month and we then informed Vinci not to contact them again as they were charging £25 admin fee. The company then received a letter and demand from a debt collector which we duly ignored and this week we received a letter from a genuine solicitor notifying us that they intend to start legal action. I would be grateful for any advice on what to do.

 

 

Dates? Give us dates of what you have described please...

 

 

Can you tell us the name of the ' genuine solicitor ' please?

 

 

Gladstones....

[ceebee]

Armadillo, dates as below

letter from Vinci parking to lease company 9th March 2015, this quoted a PCN number issued on 31/01/2015 lthough none was left on vehicle

Letter received from lease company17th March 2105

demand from ZZPS debt collectors received 22/04/2015 and ignored

Letter received from Wright Hassall solicitors 16th July 2015 although date on letter states 6th July 2015.

we asked client to speak to apartment management regarding this and they sent an email 21st July attaching a very dark photo of number plate taken by other occupant with statement that car was parked in wrong space.

Thanks for your interest

[unclebulgaria67]

I would write back as suggested, saying that the car was parked during a visit to a owner occupant at the property and they will confirm this. Therefore there is no legal basis for this to be considered further.

 

I bet the person who has the parking space does not have a car, but they get a fee everytime someone pays an invoice to this parking company, after they had reported.

 

I would question the lease arrangements at the flats and whether it allows each parking space to be treated as separate in the way this parking company is dealing with it. I cannot see them succeeding in any defended court action.

[Homer67]

OK, I'll be the one to point it out... Wright Hassall Solicitors? Really?

[ceebee]

Homer do I detect a hint of irony in your reply, I actually googled them to check and they appear kosher, are they just another bunch of cowboys like ZZPS

[unclebulgaria67]

Homer do I detect a hint of irony in your reply, I actually googled them to check and they appear kosher, are they just another bunch of cowboys like ZZPS

 

It is just a trading name. More of a debt chasing admin company.

[ericsbrother]

Wright Hassal are real solicitors but in this case they are working as debt collectors and have no more rights to demand money than your cat does. They are relying on the letterhead to scare you into paying up rather than any instruction or right.

You can respond by saying that there has been no breach of contract and put it to "strict proof" that Vinci have a contract with the individuals who own their spaces rather than the management company for the block who do not have the legal authority to do anything in their own name.

They wont respond with anything sensible but it creates a paper trail and basically demands proof of contract and if that isnt forthcoming they wont be wanting to explain the matter to a judge as they wont have shown a cause of action.

[Homer67]

What I was getting at was the name Wright Hassal sounds like Right Hassle as I'm sure they want you to think they are!

 

Just another powerless DCA who you can safely ignore then.

[ericsbrother]

there used to be another firm of solicitors called Dolittle & Dally.

Wright Hassal have been used to enter the fray at court but I cant think of one they won when defended. They also work for the debt buying companies.