Free Traffic Legal Advice

Debt collectors can indeed be ignored, they are powerless, but Gemini may in the future decide to take the matter to court, which would need acting upon. You should keep an eye out for anything marked Letter of Claim or similar. If you go on the Gemini website there may be some information available on there about the parking charge in question.

Quote from: Jay Sparxx on July 16, 2024, 02:26:11 pm

Therefore the fact they mention "You may have not responded to previous letters...." is a total lie and false.

The use of the word 'may' suggests a possible reason for them not receiving a response, it's not necessarily a lie for them to say they have not received a response, although of course it's rather hard to respond to something one hasn't received.

Have you got out the physical V5C to check the address is correct? I don't say this to cast doubt on your version of events, but we've seen countless examples of people on the forum swearing blind that their address is correct, then when they check the document spotting some sort of error that explains the various bits of post going missing.

That's the first time someone's shown a photo of the V5C in a 'hostage proof of life' style photo - I'd have been happy to take your word for it, just wanted to make sure you had actually checked!

Quote from: Jay Sparxx on July 16, 2024, 04:19:39 pm

There isn't much I can do from the Gemini website, as they ask for Reg and PCN number to appeal a PCN, but as I do not have the latter I can't check.

The letter you uploaded from Debt Recovery Plus seemingly lists the PCN number in the top right. It might not bring anything up given that the charge has been passed to debt collectors, but worth a look. You could also submit a Subject Access Request to Gemini to get hold of a copy, but it may be worth waiting to see if they escalate to a claim before doing so.

Don't do a SAR unless and until after a claim has been issued. These days, we rely on the claimant issuing PoC that are so woefully inadequate as to render the claim deficient and that it should be struck out. If/when a claim is issued, you are only responding to the PoC and if you are fully informed before the claim is issued, you run the risk of them claiming that, despite the PoC being deficient, you had received a SAR and were fully aware of what the claim was about.

Anyway, please stop referring to it as a "fine". If you can find that word anywhere on your correspondence, I will pay it for you. What they are referring to is a speculative invoice from an unregulated private parking company for an alleged breach of contract with the driver.

We don’t need to see debt collector letters. As you have been advised, they are powerless to do anything. Ignore and please don’t waste our time by showing them to us.

They have already added the fake £70 fee to the original £100 charge. If this ever went to court, that fake added £70 would not be allowed.

If it ever got to court and a judge decided that you owed a debt to Gemini, it would be in the small claims track of the county court where costs are fixed. Of course, if the judge decided that your defence was valid, you would not owe them a penny and you could also ask for your own costs of up to £95 and any mileage/public transport/parking costs.

The fixed costs are the claimants £35 court fee and fixed legal costs of £50. So, in the worst case scenario, the amount at risk is ~£185 which is less than the claim would be for. Also, as long as it was paid in full within 30 days of judgment, there is no record of this on your credit file. It is completely expunged. The only way someone gets a CCJ on their credit record is if they fail to pay it within 30 days.

So, don’t show us any more debt collector letters. Do come back if you get a Letter of Claim (LoC) which is different from a debt collector letter as it must give you a minimum of 30 days to pay. A debt collector cannot send you an LoC. It must come from the claimant themselves or their appointed solicitor.

Dunno. This is all I can see:



However, if it is from DRP, it will definitely not be an LoC. DRP are just useless and powerless debt collectors. An LoC will give you 30 days to pay, not the usual 14 that all these bottom-dwellers give you.