Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hello,
Yesterday I received a letter from Trace Debt Recovery saying I have £170.00 outstanding from an unpaid parking charge.
Date of posting: 07/04/2026
Date of parking charge: 09/06/2025
London Stansted Airport Express Drop Off
Client: APCOA (UK) Limited

The letter says that the client has previously written to me however I have not received anything from them.

I'm pretty sure I remember this day, all barriers were up, I tried to pay online after and it would not allow me to. Then you can only pay for parking up until midnight the next day so I was unable to pay for it. I was waiting for the letter (that I believe you must receive within 14 days?) but nothing ever came.

What are my options here? It's annoying that this is the first contact I have had.

Thank you in advance for any advice.

jfollows thank you for your reply.
Sorry just to make sure I understand, you're saying I could have sent an appeal with that message if I receiver a notice earlier. However now it's gone past that and to Trace I just need to ignore and do nothing, I cannot appeal at this stage?

Okay thank you. After doing more research I think I have nothing to worry about until I receive a Letter Before Claim? That then gives me an opportunity to pay or defend before anything such as credit rating is affected?

On a related note my V5C had the wrong address, just updated that now, but I guess that's why I did not receive the original notice.

Thank you!