Plan A is to always try and get whoever contracted ECP to manage the car park to get it cancelled. If it is a large retail park, then the landowner will use a managing agent to contract ECP. The best way to find the managing agent is to check the big advertising plinth near the entrance to the retail park. Usually, new the bottom of that plinth are the details of the managing agent.
A polite complaint to them that you have been unfairly issued a Parking Charge Notice (PCN) for being a patron can often do the trick. It is always useful if you can evidence expenditure but not essential.
If that doesn't get you anywhere, this is what will happen... whether you appeal to ECP or not and if if you do, and it is rejected (it will be) and then try POPLA (which will also be rejected), this will end up as a county court claim. That is a good thing. Why? Because, as long as a claim is defended, they will eventually discontinue and that will be the end of the matter.
IN over 99% of these claims, they discontinue before they have to pay the trial fee or the claim is struck out or, in the extremely rare case where it actually goes to a hearing, it is won. This is the known modus operandi, certainly for any private parking operator that uses DCB Legal as their solicitor, and ECP is no exception.
The only thing you need to be aware of is that you need to ignore all the debt collector letters that come your way in the meantime. You can safely ignore all debt collectors as they are powerless to do anything. Use their letters as kindling or to line the bottom of a litter tray. We do not need to know about them and you must ignore them.
When a Letter of claim (LoC) is issued or the actual claim arrives, we will advise on how to respond and provide the defence to the claim.
