Hello all.
TLDR;
Parked my car in hotel car park. Receptionist didn't key in my number plate. Received final demand of £340 from debt collection agency as I hadn't updated my V5C as hotel car park company sent to old address...
Location - England.
Longer story;
I stayed at a hotel for a wedding back in August, parking my car in their car park.
On arrival, their tablet was not working to key in my number plate for the included parking which the receptionist took note of, wrote it down and mentioned she would process it later that day.
One week ago I received a letter from a debt collection agency with lots of buzz phrases, such as "high court summons", "last warning", "featured on can't pay take it away" etc. etc.
They were demanding £340 payment for two days of parking without a permit (£70 each day then with their added fee).
I called them up and the person I spoke to said they sent a letter out to my old address (I hadn't updated my log book, woops - though, my driving license was up to date, my address details were with the hotel, and I had received letters from DVLA previously).
This meant I missed the "appeal period", therefore it was my fault and there's nothing I can do except take independent legal advice, though - this will leave a "negative mark" on my credit score for 6 years.
To note - the car park is owned / managed by a third party, and not the hotel directly. Not sure if this means anything. Though, the car park is on the hotels land and directly connected to the hotel.
Does anyone have any advice on how I should approach this? Do I need to pay it?
Thanks
Have you spoken to the hotel at all? It seems that their omission has sparked the issuing of the charge in the first place, so they ought to be your first port of call.
Don't suppose you have (or can acquire) photos of the signage?