- Julie Sansom, 52, went to Bestwood Country Park in Nottingham in January 2021
- The formerly free car park was now taking payments of £1 for parking
What started out as a trip to the local park to walk her dog left motorist Julie Sansom £733 out of pocket and with her credit rating trashed.
Now the 52-year-old is speaking out against the profiteering enforcement company that have left her astonished at the problems she’s since faced.
Back in January 2021, she went to Bestwood Country Park in Nottingham only to discover that the formerly free car park was now taking payments of £1 for parking.
It did not take cash or card so she tried to download the app required for payment, only to be told that she already had it.
Unable to remember her log in details, she rang the number provided to make payment but after four failed attempts to receive a reply, she gave up and drove to a different car park.
‘A few days later I was sent a parking fine which I challenged and sent them screenshots of all the calls I had made to their number to make payment.
‘They rejected my appeal saying I had not paid to park my car. I wrote back and went through it again. They again replied saying my appeal was rejected but they clearly hadn’t read it.
‘I told them I was not going to pay and if they pursued it, I would take it up with my MP.’
In emails seen by MailOnline, Julie, a care worker and dog walker, states: ‘I am not paying anything until I have had an acknowledgment of my appeal and its contents and an explanation of what I should have done in the circumstances…..to prevent me receiving a fine.’
She thought no more of it, until, 16 months later, in November 2022, a letter arrived from Civil Enforcement, the parking company, saying they had successful obtained a County Court Judgement (CCJ) against her in the County Court Business Centre.
‘I had no idea this had happened,’ she said. ‘I was not told there would be a hearing, and was just sent a letter saying I now owed £299 but they’d accept £224.33.’
After being sent a letter from bailiffs, Julie was forced to pay up but worse was to follow.
‘I had split up from my partner and wanted to remortgage the property we jointly owned to buy him out and then add my grown up daughter to the mortgage but all of this was impossible because of the CCJ,’ she said.
‘This one trip to the park has put my whole life on hold and cost me a fortune.
‘The five year fixed term deal came to an end in January and the payments went up by £300-a-month and with the CCJ judgement, there was nothing I could do to mitigate it.’
Desperate to restore her credit rating and remove the CCJ from her record, she contacted CCJ Removal Services.
‘When I told them I had not even been informed of a CCJ hearing against me they didn’t sound in the least bit surprised.
‘They made it all sound like standard practice but it would cost me £399 plus £108 in court fees.
‘They told me it would take 10 to 12 weeks but now I have been waiting for over seven months.
‘I was told that all my paperwork had been lost and needed to be resubmitted.
‘It is completely unfair. The parking company are just trying it on with motorists and the courts are backing them up.
‘How can it possibly be right to hold such serious and impactful hearings without letting the person affected know it’s happening?
‘The comments I’ve seen about Civil Enforcement are appalling. People are given parking tickets while they look for somewhere to park. It’s an utter scam.’
Julie is not the only one to face similar problems in that car park.
In a review of the Bestwood Lodge Hotel car park, from October 2019, user Delboy4455 wrote: ‘I went for a walk at Bestwood Park with my friend who was driving…Car parking signage stated it was £1 to park & only way to pay was via the phone.
‘My friend went through the instructions carefully & as far as we were concerned the payment had been paid.
‘Two weeks later my friend got a letter stating she had not paid & must pay £100. We appealed. For some reason Bestwood Lodge have hired a company from Liverpool.
‘Appeal failed & letter with menaces stated £100 within 28 days’
Trust Pilot has many reviews criticising Civil Enforcement Ltd.
One from last week said: ‘Legalised rip off. £60 fine for parking in a KFC car park while eating inside. We had no awareness that the car park was monitored or timed. This is a legalised scam.’
Another from March said: ‘I didn’t even park in car park they said. There (sic) photos show I’m in a different place.’
The ‘Parking Cowboys’ website describes Civil Enforcement as, ‘a very litigious company, issuing hundreds if not thousands of claims per year. They are known to issue claims for historical parking tickets (up to six years in the past) when many people were generally ignoring them.
‘CEL have found this to be an extremely profitable operation since many people pay up when faced with stamped court papers.’
Civil Enforcement is a private company, set up in 2005, to provide ‘support services’ to other businesses.
Accounts show the Liverpool-based business turned over £25.98 million in 2022-23.
They have been contacted for comment.
James Parker is a UK-based entertainment aficionado who delves into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. From Hollywood to the West End, he offers readers an insider’s perspective on the world of movies, music, and pop culture.
