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B&Q parking ticket - advice required


GEW35

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A work colleague over stayed in the car park at B & Q just before Xmas last year.  He has taken advice from friends who told him to ignore all communication regarding a fine however, he has now had a letter from a debt collection agency threatening to take him to court and quoting the recent case of the man who had to pay £3000 after ignoring various letters.  Understandably, he's getting a bit concerned now - has anyone on here any advice for me to give him please? I'm sure I read on here (or the "other" forum) to hold firm and not answer any letter.  Is that still good advice?  

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The 'debt collection agency' are the same company. They send the letter with black and yellow warning labels on it to appear official and scary. It's utter bollox.

its imperative he doesn't engage them in any way. They will try and phone him, but he should ignore that too. I answered the phone to them and the guy on the other end was a complete idiot, so I hung up.

They sent me 4 letters and I never heard anything else. 

The other case is entirely different. The guy had parked there over 30 times and spoke to them admitting it was him which was his big mistake.

They can quote that case and it's big settlement, because that's what it was, it wasn't a fine, it was a settlement on an outstanding bill, but it has no bearing on any other case, it's just another scare tactic.

The reason you should ignore them is not that they are unenforceable per se, (and that's where the other guy went wrong) it's that in Scotland, they have to prove you were driving the car at the time (which they can't) but you are under no obligation to confirm to them if you were driving or not. That's why you don't engage with them under any circumstances.

If he's not spoken to them yet, or communicated in any way, tell him to hold his nerve. The other case is NOT a precedent in that scenario.

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Thanks folks, and in particular Digs - I'll be directing my friend to this site tomorrow! I told him that I thought the so called debt collection agency was just the same folk as the car park guys and I'm glad that was the right thing to say! It's just a matter of holding his nerve now really.  Some worry it's given him though.

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