Free Traffic Legal Advice

My husband received a parking letter from zzps for £170. He called them immediately and said he didn't know what it was for. They said their client had sent it to them as he hadn't paid a fine they issued him via the post. We didn't get one. Apparently the orihional one was given when he pulled up outside the 02 to collect our daughter. He hadn't released he couldn't pull up and had we recieved the £60 original fine we would have paid it knowing his error.  We are arguing we couldn't pay something we didn't know about so why should we now pay £170. They said they couldn't help so we emailed and sent a letter ( signed for) explaining we are happy to pay the origional fine and can someone contact us. We then sent another email with the letter we sent incase it gets lots internally and have had no response..this was the beginning of july. We have now had a letter today saying we have ignored their attempts to contact us so have 7 days to contact them or they will pass it to GCTT debt enforcement agency. I have emailed and what's app them yet again. I am guessing GCTT will give us the same issues and just say they have been given it so we owe them so what do we do? I have evidence of everything so very surprised they are still trying to say we haven't contacted them. It's very stressful . My husband is rubbish at sorting things out too and struggles to fidn the right words to sort it so wants to pay it but I am so angry they are bullying is and trying to scare us with threats when we have contacted them. Please help someone

Thank you. All I have is the first letter they sent us which was 6 weeks after the origional fine was sent ( but not recieved by us) .
We then got a letter today saying we had the amount outstanding and had ignored their attempts to contact us to resolve the issue so if we didn't pay in 7 days they would contact GCTT enforcement agency.
We spoke to the orgional company after recieveing zzps first letter and explained we hadn't recieved their origional fine and they apologised and said there wss nothing they could do now. Zzps are saying its not their issue as they bought the debt from someone else so I guess the enforcement agency will say the same if passed to them.
My husband hadn't realised he had pulled up illlegally and would happily have paid the £60 fine if we had recieved it. Not sure what to do next.  Surely if we don’t reply at all then we can't prove we have tried ?
Why do you say they have no power? I thought after the high court ruling that had now changed? Thanks

Thank you so much. I will attatch the only two letters we have recieved and the reply to my latest email ( before you advised not to contact them. ) I would appreciate if you could let me know what I should do next. Many thanks
Good afternoon,

Reference: 146885280

Thank you for your email.

Our letter was sent to the same address as the original Parking Charge, and if you cannot recall receiving it, or are claiming it was not delivered, then perhaps you can take this up with Royal Mail. Under the Interpretation Act 1978, Section 7, (References to service by post). “Where an Act authorises or requires any document to be served by post (whether the expression “serve” or the expression “give” or “send” or any other expression is used) then, unless the contrary intention appears, the service is deemed to be effected by properly addressing, pre-paying and posting a letter containing the document and, unless the contrary is proved, to have been effected at the time at which the letter would be delivered in the ordinary course of post. In short, the post is deemed served two days after postage unless to the contrary is proved.

Please note, we do not purchase debt here, we work on behalf and instruction of our client.

We have reviewed your dispute and, following the Appeals Charter, can confirm that this has not been provided within a reasonable time limit to corroborate your position, and you have failed to submit an appeal within the 28 days provided by the client.

This matter has been passed to us at this stage on a debt resolution basis, and we cannot help with any dispute.

While we do not dispute you receiving said letter, our client maintains that this Parking Charge has been issued correctly and referred us to pursue payment for the balance of £170.00.

Your correspondence has been noted; however, in the absence of payment or a payment arrangement within 7 days of this email, this matter will continue to progress accordingly.

Kind regards
Avril Gates

Thank you for your quick reply. Yes he is the registered keeper and the address is correct.

The origional fine issuer is Bridge security limited. 

We did speak to them as my husband also waited in the same place two days later and we didn't get a fine for that and they said it was because the parking attendant doesn't work Sundays. 
My husband has no issues paying the fine as he realises now he shouldn't waited there, it is the £170 we don’t want to pay as we didn't know about the fine and the fact they are saying are ignoring their attempts to contact us which we are not.  My husband wants to pay it as he doesn't want anything negative against our name as he is self employed but my argument is that is how these companies get away with it! Thanks

Jeez, what an example of how not to go about dealing with a speculative invoice from an unregulated private parking firm for an alleged breach of contract by the driver. Whilst it is not your fault for not understanding your rights and the whole process, you need to take a step back and understand how you need to deal with this.

First of all, as already explained by others, NOTHING illegal has happened. Your husband broke no laws when he stopped to pick up outside of the O2. All he did was maybe breach a contractual term on the signs that have been erected by a private parking operator.

The first big mistake you have made is referring to the Parking Charge Notice (PCN) which was issued as a postal Notice to Keeper (NtK) was to refer to it as a "fine". I will give you £500 for every occurrence of the word "fine" you can show us in the correspondence. The private parking firm is not an authority of any kind than can issue "fines". Of course they hope you think it is one. The whole process is set up to persuade the low-hanging fruit on the gullible tree to pay up out of ignorance and fear.

As for ZZPS and GCTT, which, by the way are one and the same company are powerless debt collectors. Never, ever, EVER communicate with a useless and powerless debt collector. You've already committed that cardinal sin. Bu now you know and cease any further communication with them. You can safely shred any correspondence from them and use it as hamster bedding for all anyone cares.

In future, should you ever receive another PCN from an unregulated private parking firm, you never, ever, EVER identify the driver. Unless you blab it to them, inadvertently or otherwise, they have no idea who the driver is and in almost all cases, they cannot transfer liability from the unknown driver to the known Keeper unless they have fully complied with ALL the requirements of PoFA 2012. So, you have probably thrown that defence away with all the panicky correspondence you made with the useless debt collectors.

Right now, it is too late to make any appeal. You just need to ignore everything unless it is a Letter of Claim (LoC).

What we need to fist determine is how Bridge Security issued the original PCN. According to the BPA, they do not use ANPR and only issue windscreen Notice to Driver (NtD). If that is the case, was an NtD affixed to the vehicle at the time? If it was or they claim it was, then if it is not responded to within 28 days, they can then make a request to the DVLA for the Keepers details and then they can issue an NtK. This has to be done no earlier than 28 days after the issue of the NtD and no later than 56 days after the alleged contravention if they intend to try and hold the Keeper liable.

THe NtD has to comply with all the requirements of PoFA paragraph 7 and any subsequent NtK has to comply with paragraph 8. Whilst the BPA website says they do not use ANPR, they can still just issue the PCN as a postal NtK but must do so for it to be delivered to the Keeper within 14 days if they intend to rely on Keeper liability under paragraph 9 of PoFA.

You say that your V5C is up to date with your current address. Was it up to date at the time of the alleged contravention? Very often people move home and update their drivers licence with the DVLA but forget that they must also update their V5C separately. So, please double check your V5C and if it was recently updated, was this done before or after the date of the alleged contravention?

For now, I suggest you take a deep breath and do the following... Email Bridge Security at info@bridgepam.com and also CC yourself with the following formal complaint. You can get the PCN number for any references to it in the letters from ZZPS:

Subject: Formal Complaint – Failure to Serve PCN [PCN number]

To: info@bridgepam.com
CC: chris.valentine@bridgepam.com,
[Your Email Address]

Date: [Insert Date]

Dear Bridge Security,

This is a formal complaint regarding your handling of an alleged parking contravention involving vehicle registration [INSERT VRM] outside the O2 Arena on [Date of alleged contravention].

No Notice to Driver (NtD) was affixed to the vehicle, and no Notice to Keeper (NtK) was received at the DVLA-registered address. The first contact was from ZZPS demanding £170, with no prior notice, no opportunity to appeal, and no lawful basis for escalation.

This complaint is submitted under:

• Your published complaints procedure which requires acknowledgment within 14 days and a full response within 28 days.
• Section 11 of the BPA/IPC Private Parking Single Code of Practice (PPSCoP), which mandates a response to formal complaints within 14 calendar days.
• Section 8.1.2(e) Note 2 of the PPSCoP, which places the burden of proof on the operator to demonstrate that the NtK was actually sent.

You are now required to provide the following:

• A copy of the original PCN, including timestamped photographic evidence.
• Confirmation of whether an NtD was issued.
• A copy of the NtK, along with proof that it was sent.
• A copy of the signage in place at the location at the time of the alleged contravention.

Do not refer this matter to any third-party debt recovery agent while this complaint is active. Any such action will be treated as harassment and procedural misconduct.

If this complaint is not acknowledged within 14 days or responded to within 28 days, it will be escalated to the BPA and the DVLA for breach of Code and policy obligations. All correspondence is being retained for regulatory escalation and potential costs recovery.

Yours sincerely,

[Your Full Name]

[Your Address]

The people who advise here, @b789 in particular, tell the truth and have no vested interest in doing otherwise. The parking companies and their debt collector agents will lie to you in order to get your money (such as telling you there is nothing they can do). It’s as simple as that.

You are now in a process in which your concepts of fairness count for nothing I'm afraid. This is about bullying and money. I say bullying because you will feel intimidated by some of the so-called and self-styled debt collectors' letters. We know they're for the recycling bin but you won't.

We never recieved the original letter from bridge security and that is our whole point

Sadly, it's not. It's that this is not a defence - if it was then everyone would simply make this claim. If, on the balance of probabilities, they can prove posting then the law presumes service unless you can prove, not just assert but prove, the contrary.

..the service is deemed to be effected by properly addressing, pre-paying and posting a letter containing the document and, unless the contrary is proved, to have been effected at the time at which the letter would be delivered in the ordinary course of post.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1978/30/section/7

There aren't any quick fixes I'm afraid.

You are now in a process in which your concepts of fairness count for nothing I'm afraid. This is about bullying and money. I say bullying because you will feel intimidated by some of the so-called and self-styled debt collectors' letters. We know they're for the recycling bin but you won't.

We never recieved the original letter from bridge security and that is our whole point

Sadly, it's not. It's that this is not a defence - if it was then everyone would simply make this claim. If, on the balance of probabilities, they can prove posting then the law presumes service unless you can prove, not just assert but prove, the contrary.

..the service is deemed to be effected by properly addressing, pre-paying and posting a letter containing the document and, unless the contrary is proved, to have been effected at the time at which the letter would be delivered in the ordinary course of post.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1978/30/section/7

There aren't any quick fixes I'm afraid.

With due respect, that’s not how it works. The “balance of probabilities” only comes into play after the claimant has discharged their burden to prove the notice was actually posted. Until they do that with hard evidence — not vague statements about “normal practice” — the presumption in s.7 Interpretation Act 1978 never engages. If the defendant says it was never received, the onus is entirely on the claimant to prove posting. No posting = no presumption = no judicial guesswork about “probably sent and probably received.”