Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hi. About 8 weeks ago I received a letter from QDR solicitors demanding £170 for overstaying in a car park nearly 2 years ago. This was the first I had heard of it. I went on to the Money Saving Expert forum and asked for advice and was told to ignore it.

So a couple of weeks back they issued court proceedings. I followed the templates on MSE and entered a defence. QDR have now sent a reply to that defence and asked for it to be listed in a court over 100 miles from me.

Some facts. I was there at the time of the event, with my family. We paid £1.60 for an hour parking and overstayed by, apparently, 27 minutes. They have written to me as registered keeper. They have now sent photos which show who was driving. Both me and my wife drive the car.

What do I do now? I sent the template defence without really understanding what I was doing tbh, and now there are loads of legal things being thrown at me that I do not understand.

They say that I could have avoided additional costs if I had responded 'at an earlier stage' but there was no earlier stage. They have included a copy of a letter that I was supposedly sent about 10 days after the event but I never saw.

Any advice on what I should do? I have no idea what the signage is like as I am not local and cannot go and look. The Ts and Cs are only displayed in one place according to the aerial view that the solicitors have sent me, and there is no reason why a person would need to view these (they appear to be facing inwards by the exit). However, they have stated that tariff notices are displayed with all RingGo signs. These mention a £100 fine but do not include full Ts and Cs.

Thanks