APCOA PCN hospital where i work - Paid DR+ late - will they fine me further?

[laterecovery1]

A really quick one.

Had a parking fine from May which I thought I'd paid, since I had a few others at the time.

Missed one out, apparently.

Didn't realise this and it went to a debt recovery agency.

The deadline for payment was Monday, but I only received the letter today since my mail goes to my family home instead of my current, temporary, residence.

I've immediately paid the fine of £130, but am just wanting to check if anyone knew if there was any remit for them charging me more, or trying to take it further now that I've paid the demand, albeit late.

but I just did some reading around the forums and it seems like I did the 'wrong' thing by paying since they don't have any powers?

I'm not necessarily intimidated by these companies, but I can never be bothered to have 'debt' hanging over me and instinctively pay these fines immediately when I get them.

The original fine was issued by APCOA, and the debt collection agency is Debt Recovery Plus. This was hospital parking, where I work.

[dx100uk]

who told you they were FINES???

they are NOT and are speculative invoices.... you work there and have to pay to park......your NHS trust is a joke!!.

pers id go do a chargeback to your bank.

a DCA is NOT A BAILIFF

and have ZERO legal powers on ANY debt no matter what it's 'type'

moved to the private parking forums.

 

dx

[Bazooka Boo]

Have you done a visa debit chargeback with your bank?

As DX says, this isn't a fine, it's simply an invoice that you mustn't pay.

Go and get your money back from the bank!

[FTMDave]

Before answering your question, advice on CAG is given totally free, with the exception of users who post threads at 21:16 on 22 July each year, who have to pay £130 to everyone who answers, so you owe dx, Bazooka and me £130.

Next, the deadline you "missed" was completely made up, indeed made up by a company that doesn't even own the debt, so if you're happy to pay the £130 the matter ends there.  They won't hassle you any more.

I'm guessing that the original invoice was for £70 and then the fleecers just decided that it became £130.  Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act is quite clear that the original invoice can't be increased.  Even were you bang to rights, you would only owe £70.  We call the extra made-up rubbish the Unicorn Food Tax.  Even when motorists have lost in court, the judge has refused the PPC's demand for the Unicorn Food Tax.  Even worse, it wasn't the company you really had the debt with - APCOA - inventing this increase, it was a completely uninterested third party with no powers to do anything.  You've been had.

Returning to the £130 you owe dx, Bazooka and me, are you (a) going to pay, or (b) consider that a total idiot is just trying it on.  I hope the latter.  And that's how you should treat a DCA.

As others have said - go get your money back with chargeback!

[lookinforinfo]

It is very commendable that you pay off your debts quickly. However when PCNs are issued they are classed as speculative invoices and are not recognised as debts until a Judge has so decreed.

Apcoa tend not to take motorists who have had one of their PCNs so they back it up by using unregulated debt collectors to frighten people into paying .There is no need to  feel guilty at avoiding paying since many times the parking companies themselves fail to observe the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 which regulates the private car parking industry. If they can't observe the regulations why should motorists pay their PCNs.

We would have recommended that you appeal initially to Pals to see if they could cancel your PCN as you are staff.. Often the reason that the debt collectors operate on a No Win No Fee but they charge £60 or £70 if they win. [Hence why you paid that extra amount.]. However if you hadn't paid them and later you ended up in Court, the parking companies still try and charge that extra £60 even though the debt collector was unsuccessful. That is the kind of companies motorists have to deal with. 

It is obviously your right to pay it . We feel that the parking companies are parasites who over charge motorists and often rip them off so we do everything we can to avoid paying them. 

There are many ways in which these companies are not abiding by the Law -one of which is the the way their PCNs are issued. If they do not comply with the Act then the keeper cannot be held responsible for the charge-only the driver is liable. Still these companies pursue the keeper [without telling the keeper that they are not liable for the charge. They are operating on  the premise that the driver and the keeper are the same person-something that the Courts do not accept. 

Of course getting the PCN wrong is only reason why the keeper may not be liable. Sometimes it is the signage that is non compliant with the Act or perhaps the motorist may have stayed a bit longer than the stipulated time but they are still within the secret extra time allowed when the motorist wasn't liable. Also there are times when the contract between the land owner and the parking company requires even longer time to commence pursuit and other times the contract does not allow them to take motorists to Court. But still these companies threaten taking people to Court hoping they will pay up even though they cannot be taken to Court.

There are other reasons too why your PCN may mean that you do not have to pay it. But to pay it without knowing if you were liable to pay it does not appear the wisest course. At least try and check as far as you can before parting with your hard earned cash. It seems that you have paid quite a few times in the past, possibly because they car park is full and you had to park somewhere other than a recognised parking spot. Or you had to work over time and ran over the stated parking time.

Can I suggest that we have a look at the original  PCN that you received -often called  a Notice to Keeper [a reminder is no use for that only the original has the necessary wording that complies with the Act. If your was a windscreen ticket could you please post that up as well. 

Incidentally even if you were the driver, as long as you do not let them know that they cannot assume you were the driver since anyone with a valid motor insurance policy is able to drive your car.

To give you an idea, one of our site team went through a host of members who had asked us to help defend them and found that over 85% of them had their PCNs cancelled so they all walked away without paying a penny.

It is up to you of course but if you feel that would like to find out a bit more please complete the questions below-

 

[Nicky Boy]

Crikey!

Your bill's increasing... You now owe lookinforinfo (and me) £130 each as well...

You've now had a little look around the forum, so should have an inkling about how this "industry" actually works. The PPC's tend to be ex vehicle clampers... You may remember that clamping was outlawed because of the extreme, intimidating tactics used to extort money from their victims.

Seriously, you should consider a chargeback as DX suggested and start treating these vermin the way they should be treated...

 

[FTMDave]

I've had a search on the site and we have 67 Caggers who have refused to pay APCOA.

In every single case APCOA haven't had the gonads to do court.

That is another reason to do chargeback and if they ever threaten you again, to refuse to pay.  Only a judge can order you to  pay after a successful court case, and it seems APCOA, for all their bluster, don't go there.

(Actually it might be only 66 cases of APCOA bottling court, there was one case where someone got something looking like court papers but they thought the papers might be fake, and then they stopped updating the thread).

[FTMDave]

If it helps there is a new Cagger going through the chargeback process now

https://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/topic/460254-asda-2-man-tent-in-4-man-tent-packaging/