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Parking Mate UK

How To Avoid Private Parking Debt Recovery Fees

Did you know that you don’t have to pay debt recovery fees? Don’t worry, we provide advice on how to respond to threatening debt recovery letters from debt recovery companies for an unpaid parking charge notice. 

Please read our guide to know exactly what to do and when to ignore them.

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Debt Recovery Guide

The Debt Recovery Process

This guide will help you understand what to do if you receive a letter from debt recovery companies such as:

  • BW Legal
  • CST Law
  • DCB Legal
  • Debt Recovery Plus
  • Gladstones Solicitors

You do not have to engage a debt recovery company so don’t worry if you receive a letter from a debt recovery company. The goal for the debt recovery company at this stage is to make you pay the parking charge to the parking company and for them to claim a Commission of up to £70.

Most letters demand increased payments of up to £170 for the parking charge notice and threaten to take legal action. However, our advice is that you should wait for the legal action to start, because that’s the only time you will have a fair chance to defend yourself.

However, we will show you how to complain If you never received a parking charge notice , but if you prefer, you can simply wait for the case to go to court where you have an opportunity to defend yourself.

Important things to know

  • You do not have to pay a debt recovery company they are just here to collect a commission
  • You will not receive a CCJ without having an opportunity to defend the court case.
  • Parking companies must send you a parking charge before starting any collection activities.
  • Parking companies have to respond to your appeals before they can send the case to debt recovery.
  • The amount should not increase while you complain or appeal
  • You should complain via your MP or ATA if you believe you have not been treated fairly

Option 1 – Complain to the BPA & IPC

If you have not been treated fairly, the first step is to complain to the BPA or IPC.The BPA and IPC set the rules on how private parking companies should operate.

If you have evidence that you have not been treated fairly, you should open a case to log your complaint. The instructions on how to log a complaint are provided below.

British Parking Association

The British Parking Association manage and set the rules for their members. If a BPA member has not treated you fairly, you can submit a complaint to the BPA.

  • Click here to Log a BPA Complaint
  • Complete the form with details of your complaint
  • Attach any supporting evidence you have about your case
  • Submit your complaint and you will receive updates by email
Send BPA Complaint

International Parking Community (IPC)

The IPC manage private parking operators and set the rules for them. If an IPC member has not treated you fairly, here is how you can submit a complint to the IPC.

  • Click here to Log an IPC Complaint
  • Register for an account using your email
  • Attach any supporting evidence you have about your case
  • Submit your complaint and you will receive updates by email
Send IPC Complaint

Option 2 – Complain to the store/landowner

Depending on where the parking ticket was issued, you may be able to complain to the landowner and get your parking ticket cancelled. 

Remember that landowners have the power to cancel any parking ticket issued to their employees or customers. This is the easiest way to get a parking ticket cancelled.

If you were a customer at your favourite restaurant, hotel, or supermarket, you should contact them and ask if they will cancel the parking ticket. As the landowner, they have the power to cancel any parking ticket.

You can contact the landowner via Twitter, Facebook, their website or leave a review on Trustpilot. 

Make sure you provide them with all the proof and evidence that you were a customer and a copy of the parking ticket.

Please note that some retailers will refuse to cancel parking tickets even if you were a customer. In this case, we strongly recommend that you file a complaint with the relevant association in option 1 or ignore and wait for a court claim.

Option 3 – Ignore and wait for a court claim

You can wait for the case to go to court, where you will have a fair chance to defend yourself and get the case dismissed.

Debt recovery companies will not engage in any appeal processes, so you would not have a fair opportunity to present your case, therefore we highly recommend waiting for the case to go to court instead of engaging with a debt recovery company.

If you need support with defending a court claim, simply contact us when you receive a court claim, you can submit your request via our website and we will defend your case for you.

Because we only charge £100 to defend court cases, it is cheaper to wait for the court claim to be issued, than to pay the debt recovery charge.

  • Keep the parking company updated when you move address.
  • Check your credit report often to make sure there are no sudden CCJ’s.
  • Be prepared to file a defence, witness statement and to attend court.

For now, just keep track of all the documents that you receive, and do not engage the debt recovery company as they would only obtain information from you to build their case against you.