Nothing is guaranteed. However, there is a whole process to go through. If you feel particularly aggrieved about the whole situation, then you have to make the decision whether to take it all the way. There is always a good possibility that you can win.
It is likely that if the initial appeal is rejected, they will give you a further 14 days to pay the bribe discounted amount. If you still feel that that amount is unfair and you are up for a fight, then you have to weigh the odds and the amount you may end top having to pay if you lose.
The only way you will have a truly independent arbiter is if it goes to County Court and a judge would decide whether you owe the PPC a debt. IF it ever gets that far, the PPC will have, by then claimed the £100 charge plus the fake £70 damages and then the fixed claim fee of £35 and fixed legal costs of £50. They'll also add on a few £ in interest. Total would be around £255.
However, even if it went agains you in court, you would likely pay less as the £70 damages/contractual costs is usually not allowed and the interest is discretionary and often reduced from 8% to maybe 2% or 0%. So the risk is c£185 -£200. Should it ever get that far and you lost in court, you would pay that within 30 days of judgment and that would be the end of it. No risk of a CCJ being on your credit file. Zilch risk of that as long as it is paid.
Letting it go to court does give you some other advantages as you can defend a claim from these scammers and introduce arguments that their claim is without merit and even an abuse of process. Often these claims, when robustly defended are thrown out before they ever get to a hearing. It is also possible that they are discontinued once the Claimant realises that they have little chance against a robust defence.
It is highly possible that the PPC will go as far as issuing a claim in the hope that you are low-hanging fruit on the gullible tree that is likely to capitulate and pay into their scam once you see the pressure being built up with the DRA letters and an eventual court claim. It is all designed to get the majority who have no idea about the process, scared into paying up.
Some things we do know is that if they were to issue a claim, there would be problems with the Particulars of Claim (PoC) because they all use the Money Claims On Line (MCOL) ti file them. This restricts what they can put in the PoC and they are always deficient leading to an immediate option to add preliminary matters to the defence requesting a dismissal of the claim before it even gets to a hearing. Also, there's the matter of the claim always being in breach of PoFA 4(5) which limits the claim to no more than the original £100 as stated on the NtK/PCN. Claiming more than that, such as the added £70 fake fees/damages/costs is an abuse of process. The list goes on but we are a long way, if ever, from that.
You have to decide whether it is worth fighting it or capitulating. If you do decide to fight it, you also gain a valuable life experience of how to deal with the civil justice system. Thy choice is yours.
