Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hi everyone,

I’m in a bit of a bind and could really use some legal advice on my situation with some parking charge notices (PCNs).

Here’s the situation:

I received a letter on the 11th of July 2024 regarding a PCN from an apartment I moved out of back in April. The notice had already been passed on to debt collectors by the time it got to me. I immediately contacted the property manager, who told me to send him the details and that he would sort it out, as he has done in the past.

For context, I lived in this apartment for about two years. When I moved in, I sent an email with my car’s number plates to the property manager, who updated the details on the building’s parking system. Occasionally, the system would glitch, and residents would get random parking tickets. In those cases, we would send the tickets to the property manager, who would call the parking company to get them canceled.

Fast forward, on the 7th and 9th of August, I received letters saying I had 10 outstanding parking charges that had been sent to debt collection solicitors. I called the property manager again, and he promised to sort it out, but now he’s stopped answering my calls and has ignored all my follow-up emails.

I sent my lease contract to the solicitors to prove that I was a resident at the time of the alleged violations. However, they are arguing that the signage in the parking lot does not specifically state that residents are allowed to park there. Everyone in the building was told to park there, and I know of other residents who have had similar issues with random penalties.

I’ve tried contacting POPLA, but they can’t help in this situation. I’ve tried everything I can think of, and I’ve even told the property manager I would consider legal action if he continues to ignore my communications.

The debt collection solicitors are now giving me until the 11th of this month to pay. I’m completely lost on what to do next, and I’m really anxious about what happens if I don’t pay by then.

Any advice on how to handle this situation would be greatly appreciated. Happy to answer any questions in the comments!

Thanks in advance for your help!

Stop using the phone to try and get this resolved. You will have no evidence of a phone call and it is not worth the paper it isn't written on.

You can safely ignore the debt collectors. They are powerless to do anything and simply employed on a no-win, no-fee basis to try and intimidate low-hanging fruit on the gullible tree into paying up, the by now, inflated fee which includes a fake added £70 per PCN. Do not communicate, at all, with the debt collectors. Ignore them. They are not a party to the contract that the driver allegedly breached. Use their letters as kindling or for lining the bottom of a cat litter tray.

The debt collectors are not real solicitors and you should not be sending anything to them. The most likely firms of bottom-dwelling solicitors you are going to hear from will be either DCB Legal, BW Legal or Gladstones. There are others but most likely it will be one of the ones I just mentioned that would be acting for the PPC.

As requested above by @DWMB2, we need to know what your lease or Tenancy Agreement said about parking. What it doesn't say is equally important.

Until you receive a Letter of Claim (LoC) from a solicitor (or in the unlikely event they try their own litigation) you do not have to respond to anything. Keep on at the management company as they are jointly and severally liable for the actions of their agent, the PPC. It is quite possible that if the lease/TA makes no mention of permits or being liable to a third party for parking, that they have made unlawful changes in breach of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987.

Thank you @b789
I received a letter of claim on August 9th for a ridiculous amount from DCB Legal Solicitors. I called them expalining i was a resident, the lady wasn’t helpful, she kept on insisting i go ahead and pay
In the past the property manager has penalties i received in the approved parking, i have no idea why he hasn’t been able to handle this
I have email evidences i sent to him with the PCN, he never replied to any of the emails but rather ask for a copy of it over a phone call. I knew something was wrong when he never replied, but i didn’t pay attention because he resolved it then

OP, procedure pl.

I received a letter of claim on August 9th for a ridiculous amount from DCB Legal Solicitors. I called them

And did you write?

Post this letter pl and the LoC.

From now on you'll have to post docs, if you don't know how then see READ THIS FIRST at top of the forum title.

As you seem to have several PCNs in play you may need to deal with these individually.