Euro Parking Collection – Appeal Guide

Euro Parking Collection are not a car parking company.  I have just created this page to let you know who they are in case you hear from them.

Due to increasing international travel by car and the high number of cross border traffic violations committed by foreign registered vehicles , Euro Parking Collection plc (‘EPC’) has been authorised by various organisations throughout Europe to act on their behalf in administering the issuing of penalty notices.  Basically what this means is if you are a UK resident get a parking fine in say Spain, the Spanish authorities hand your details to Euro Parking Collection who then apply to the DVLA in the UK to obtain your name and address.  Euro Parking Collection then write to you demanding payment.

The BBC reported on 6th August 2013 and 18th April 2013 , that:

A private company called Euro Parking Collection has been hired by six councils in Kent to work with Vehicle Licensing Authorities (VLAs) to collect some of the outstanding fines.  Stuart Hendry, the firm’s business and legal manager, said: “To get all countries to agree a framework of data sharing is not going to be easy, but that’s not to say that nothing can be done.  “Each VLA is approachable in each country and most VLAs in Europe are willing to provide the information.  “You just have to be slightly inventive and proactive and practical about how you go about doing that.”  .  He said the authority got the money through a combination of work by Euro Parking Collection, and drivers voluntarily paying the fines.  Euro Parking Collection (EPC) said local authorities had seen an opportunity for extra revenue.  EPC obtains keeper details from the country’s Vehicle Licensing Authority (VLA) and sends letters to owners in their native language asking for the money.  Stuart Hendry, from Euro Parking Collection, said: “Not all VLAs in each country will give out keeper details. France for example don’t, but the majority will.”  The company operates on a “no win, no fee” basis, taking a percentage commission on the amount of fines reclaimed.

And a spokesperson for the DVLA said:

“Regulations allow the DVLA to release vehicle keeper details to the police, to local authorities in connection with the investigation of offences or decriminalised parking contraventions, and to anyone who can show ‘reasonable cause’ for their request. Reasonable cause is not defined in law and each case is considered on its merits. DVLA considers that release should normally be associated with road safety, the direct involvement of a vehicle in road traffic incidents or the enforcement of road traffic legislation and vehicle taxation. Information from the DVLA vehicle register is released to Euro Parking Collection to enable the enforcement of parking restrictions imposed within the European Community.”

The AA was quoted in 2002 as saying that the best action for anyone who receives a demand from Euro Parking Collection is to bin it. But, the AA then said: “European Communit conventions on both the mutual recognition of driver disqualification and mutual recognition of monetary penalties are planned for the future.”  When that time comes it will mean that if a court in Sweden upholds a council’s claim against a British offender, a bailiff in the UK will be able to act on that judgment.  And this means it won’t be long before a host of companies such as Euro Parking Collection spring into action throughout Europe to chase us down, no matter how far away we live.

Every month around 2,500 British motorists are contacted with fines issued by the authorities in European countries.  Many UK drivers targeted are likely to be returning from holiday and unaware they have been accused of parking breaches.  They are tracked down by Euro Parking Collection which is based in Britain and who pays the DVLA for driver information.  Figures from the DVLA obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show it handed out driver information in 83,000 such cases between April 2009 and December 2011 – or more than 2,500 every month.   A company called Euro Parking Collection (EPC) acts for around 150 EU-based authorities, including in Italy, Ireland, Holland, Belgium, Hungary, Norway and Sweden. Under data protection laws, driver information cannot leave the UK, but EPC gets around the rules because it is based in this country.   They can have their car put on a blacklist – meaning it would be impounded if they returned to the country where the ticket was issued.  A DVLA spokesman said: ‘The DVLA does not release driver and keeper information to non-UK authorities to deal with parking enquiries or speeding penalties.  ‘However, a company called Euro Parking Collections, which is based in Great Britain, makes requests of DVLA for the registered keeper details of vehicles to pursue cases of parking contraventions on behalf of public sector authorities in EU member states.’