Shielding Somerset pensioner "afraid to leave the house" over parking debt
Angie and Ray Leach's ÂŁ30 fine has increased to ÂŁ420
A shielding pensioner says she is afraid to leave the house after an unmasked bailiff demanded ÂŁ420 for a parking ticket she got in Weston-super-Mare more than a year ago.
Angie Leach and husband Ray challenged the fine, originally ÂŁ30, last February and claimed they heard nothing until they received a final warning last Wednesday.
Then at 6.30am on Monday an enforcement agent from debt recovery firm CDER Group visited the disabled couple’s home in Burnham-on-Sea.
A notice was put through their door saying after the couple’s “continual and wilful refusal to pay your outstanding debt” the agent intended to take away goods to cover what they owed.
North Somerset Council, which issued the fine, said complaints about CDER Group should be taken up with the firm.
Mrs Leach, who has rheumatoid arthritis and possible long Covid, said: “I went to the window. I could see a face looking up at me.
“He wasn’t wearing a mask. He said he was enforcement and here to take some things.
“I told him to go away and shut the window. I had no idea what he was on about.”
She added: “I’m 74. I’m scared. I’m a bag of nerves. I’m afraid to leave the house. I’m afraid to be in the house on my own.
“Every time the doorbell rings I have a panic attack.
“We don’t go to Weston any more.”
As they often used to, they visited the town last year. They were struggling to find somewhere to park with enough space to get out Mrs Leach’s wheelchair so they could go for a coffee.
Eventually, they chose a spot by the Town Hall in Union Street and put her husband’s blue badge in the window.
They returned to find a fine on the windscreen but challenged it, arguing that the loading bay signs were ambiguous. North Somerset Council rejected their appeal so it was sent for adjudication.
It said Mrs Leach should have been sent multiple letters about her case and how much she owed.
But she said she had heard nothing until last Wednesday (January 20), when a final warning arrived from CDER.
The letter, dated January 8, said they had “ignored the notice of enforcement issued to you and our various attempts to make contact with you” but they could prevent enforcement action against them by paying £188 immediately.
It gave a number to call if anyone in the household was vulnerable or showing symptoms of Covid-19.
Operating across the UK, CDER Group provides enforcement, debt recovery and related services for local and central government and commercial clients.
Its website says it believes everyone has the right to be treated fairly.
A spokesperson for North Somerset Council said: “Mrs Leach is the registered keeper of a vehicle which got a £70 ticket for using a blue badge while parked in a loading bay.
“The ticket was appealed to us and we rejected that appeal.
“Information was given by letter to Mrs Leach about going to the independent adjudicator. We have not been advised by the adjudicator that this happened (which would have placed the case on hold) and so the case then went to court and was allocated to the council’s official enforcement agents.
“This process would have generated a number of letters to Mrs Leach giving her the status of the case and how the money owed was increasing.
“If Mrs Leach has complaints about how the enforcement agents are conducting themselves, these complaints need to be addressed to the company, not the council.
“The process to go through to get the case re-set back to the independent appeal stage has been explained to Mrs Leach.”
CDER Group was approached for comment.