Hi I'm looking for some advice on a parking ticket situation that's now escalated to debt collection.
This all started in January in South England when I received 5 Parking Charge Notices from Britannia Parking in for alleged overstays in a car park (night tariff after 8pm wasn't paid) machine didn't allow you to go above 8pm and I assumed its free after 8pm each time.
At the time I was only a named driver, not the registered keeper, so all the PCNs were sent to my ex partner's old address and we had no knowledge of them.
I only became aware of the issue later when a friend received a PCN from the same car park and mentioned it to me as we both parked there on one of the occasions.
On 5th of February I emailed Britannia asking if there were any outstanding PCNs linked to the vehicle, but they couldn't confirm anything at that stage because I wasn't the registered keeper at the time.
By the time the PCNs were transferred into my name and receiving copy of all tickets with my name on it, the matter had already escalated.
Current situation:
3 PCNs are now with BW Legal (£170 each)
2 are still with Britannia Parking (£100 each)
I've contacted BW Legal asking for a lower payment plan due to financial hardship, but this was refused. I also sent a hardship email explaining my situation and the delay in me becoming aware of the PCNs to Brittania and it was not taken into consideration or wanting to negotiate.
I'm worried about if I have any realistic grounds to challenge this due to the delay/address issue
Whether I'm now just exposed to court action / CCJ risk if I don't pay and whether there's anything I can still do at this stage other than negotiate payment.
Just trying to understand what my options are before this escalates further.
Any advice appreciated.
