Free Traffic Legal Advice

OP, you can either follow the advice and you don't pay a penny or ignore it and pay into a scam and then you become part of the problem. Which is it to be?

NPC have no idea who the driver is. There is no legal obligation on the Keeper/Hirer to identify the driver. NPC are not some kind of authority that can issue penalty noticed and require the Keeper to identify the driver! They are an unregulated firm of ex-clamper scammers with zero authority to require anything.

The Parking Charge Notice (PCN) is nothing more than a speculative invoice for an alleged breach of contract by the driver. The only entity that can be liable for any charge is the driver, who should remain unknown They care not allowed to infer or assume that the Keeper/Hirer is the driver. That is well established in case law.

The only way they can transfer the liability for the charge from the unknown driver to the known Keeper/Hirer is if the PCN is fully compliant with PoFA 2012. It isn't.

So, you appeal with the following, which they will reject anyway, because you are dealing with scammers whose only aim is to get money out of you. You can then make a secondary appeal to the IAS but they are part of the scam too, so very unlikely that would succeed either.

The way this goes is that if they can't scare you into paying after sending a load of useless debt recovery letters which you can safely ignore as they are powerless except to try and scare the low-hanging fruit on the gullible tree into paying out of ignorance and fear, they will then issue a court claim in the hope that that will make you poop your pants, again, out of ignorance and fear.

A claim is ideal because it is the only truly independent dispute resolution service. However, with our advice and assistance, it is very easy defended and I would place a bet for £100 that it would never reach a hearing. It would be either struck out of discontinued.

There is zero risk of a CCJ or anything else if you follow the advice. You have a "golden ticket" and you can rest assured that it won't cost you a penny.

For now, I suggest you appeal, only as the Hirer, with the following:

I am the Hirer of the vehicle and I dispute your 'parking charge'. I deny any liability or contractual agreement and I will be making a complaint about your predatory conduct to your client landowner.

As your Notice to Hirer (NtH) does not fully comply with ALL the requirements of PoFA 2012, you are unable to hold the Hirer of the vehicle liable for the charge. Partial or even substantial compliance is not sufficient. There will be no admission as to who was driving and no inference or assumptions can be drawn. NPC has relied on contract law allegations of breach against the driver only.

The Hirer cannot be presumed or inferred to have been the driver, nor pursued under some twisted interpretation of the law of agency. Your NtH can only hold the driver liable. NPC have no hope should you be stupid enough to try and litigate this, so you are urged to save us both a complete waste of time and cancel the PCN.

Thanks, I appreciate everything your saying...

b789 - what would you say to people who just would rather not having the stress of having the debt passed onto debt collectors, ramping up and then having to deal with a whole new group of charlatans trying to extract more money out of you?

I do agree with you in principle but just sometimes I find it better for my own life and stress levels to wipe the slate clean, even if I'm aware I'm being bent over the barrel so to speak.

The advice sections of the forum exist to advise people on fighting their cases - we're not here to pass moral judgement on people who come here, and posts that do are liable to be moderated. Ultimately, it's not our money, so if somebody decides to pay up, that's their choice. Although if we were in favour of people paying up, we wouldn't be on this forum helping people to fight

I don't understand why, after having explained that a debt collector has absolutely zero power to actually do a single thing apart from use scary language that they cannot follow up on, they should be "feared". They are utterly powerless.

They can only try and make the low-hanging fruit on the gullible tree pay up out of ignorance and fear. Unless someone, after receiving that advice from someone who is very knowledgeable about this, continues to fear those letters, then the question of ignorance must come into play.

A fear that your credit history can somehow be affected because a powerless, bottom-dwelling debt collector has sent you a letter, then that is an irrational "fear" based on ignorance. THE ONLY way you could have a problem with your credit record is if you go to court, are unsuccessful and then don't pay the CCJ in full within 30 days of the judgment, then you would have a CCJ on your credit record. If you do pay the CCJ within 30 days, then there is no record of it, ever, on your credit record. It is completely expunged.

Debt recovery letters are free source of hamster bedding if you shred them. There is nothing to "fear" about them. If the "fear" is based on an irrational misconception that maybe someone can come knocking on your door, then that is a fear also based on ignorance.

So, getting the occasional letter through the post from a debt recovery agent should not be feared. Simply bin it. Nothing is going to happen.

Why no bailiff can knock on your door

1. County Court Judgment (CCJ):

• A bailiff (enforcement agent) can only get involved after a creditor has obtained a CCJ against you in a county court.
• If the CCJ is under £600, the creditor cannot transfer it to the High Court for enforcement by a High Court Enforcement Officer (HCEO). Instead, enforcement would remain under the county court's jurisdiction.

2. Threshold for High Court Enforcement:

• If a CCJ is over £600 (including fees and interest), the creditor can transfer it to the High Court for enforcement by an HCEO. This is a common method because HCEOs tend to be more effective at recovering money.

3. Cost-Benefit Analysis for Creditors:

• For CCJs under £600, creditors may find it uneconomical to pursue enforcement through county court bailiffs, as they are generally slower and less effective than HCEOs.
• As a result, creditors may opt not to escalate enforcement for small amounts.

4. Private Parking Charges and Bailiffs:

• In the context of private parking charges, no bailiff action can occur unless the parking operator has gone to court, won a case, obtained a CCJ, and you fail to pay the judgment within the stipulated time (usually 30 days).

So, no bailiff will come to your door for a debt under £600 unless the creditor deems it worth pursuing through county court enforcement. However, even if the debt is over £600, bailiff involvement only happens after a CCJ is issued, and enforcement is transferred to the High Court.

Nothing we advise on here will make anyone get a CCJ.

A County Court Judgment (CCJ) does not just happen—it follows a clear legal process. If someone gets a Parking Charge Notice (PCN) from a private parking company, here's what happens step by step:

1. Parking Charge Notice (PCN) Issued

• The parking company sends a letter (Notice to Keeper) demanding money.

• This is not a fine—it’s an invoice for an alleged breach of contract.

2. Opportunity to Appeal

• The recipient can appeal to the parking company.

•If rejected, they may be able to appeal to POPLA (if BPA member) or IAS (if IPC member).

• If an appeal is lost or ignored, the parking company demands payment.

3. Debt Collection Letters

• The parking company might send scary letters or pass the case to a debt collector.

• Debt collectors have no power—they just send letters and can be ignored.

• No CCJ happens at this stage.

4. Letter Before Claim (LBC)

• If ignored for long enough, the parking company (or their solicitor) sends a Letter Before Claim (LBC).

• This is a warning that they may start a court case.

• The recipient has 30 days to reply before a claim is filed.

• No CCJ happens at this stage.

5. County Court Claim Issued

• If ignored or unpaid, the parking company may file a claim with the County Court.

• The court sends a Claim Form with details of the claim and how to respond.

• The recipient has 14 days to respond (or 28 days if they acknowledge it).

• No CCJ happens at this stage.

6. Court Process

• If the recipient defends the claim, a judge decides if they owe money.

• If the recipient ignores the claim, the parking company wins by default.

• No CCJ happens yet unless the recipient loses and ignores the court.

7. Judgment & Payment

• If the court rules that money is owed, the recipient has 30 days to pay in full.

• If they pay within 30 days, no CCJ goes on their credit file.

• If they don’t pay within 30 days, the CCJ stays on their credit file for 6 years.

Conclusion

CCJs do not appear out of thin air. They only happen if:

• A parking company takes the case to court.

• The person loses or ignores the case.

• The person fails to pay within 30 days.

If you engage with the process (appeal, defend, or pay on time), no CCJ happens.