Free Traffic Legal Advice

Today I received two letters from a debt collection group claiming that four years ago my car was issued two separate parking charges, one day apart. The letters I received today erroneously claim that I have ignored previous attempts to contact me, and now they, the debt collection agency, are giving me 14 days from the date printed on the letter to pay their fine of £160 per letter (which are dated 12 days ago).

This is the first contact I have received about this. I did not receive a parking charge notice four years ago, let alone two. I have received no contact from the parking company at any point.

I moved house 6 months prior to the alleged parking notices, but still had Royal Mail post redirection in place at the time of the alleged parking offences.

The debt collection group refused to talk to me, and directed me back to the parking company. The parking company have an automatic message on their phone line saying that all appeals and queries need to be logged on their online form. However, the online form requires reference number and number plate to be entered. When I do so, it simply states "sorry your details haven't been recognised" advising to email an email address. When I sent an email to the given email address, I received an automatic reply that the inbox isn't regularly monitored and appeals shouldn't be submitted to that email address. The parking company website is currently being updated and states that it hopes to be up and running in "Spring 2025".

I can't seem to find a way to contact the parking company, and the debt collection company refuse to talk to me. How do I appeal?

Many thanks in advance.


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Stop trying to communicate with a useless debt recovery agent. Powerless debt collectors rely on the low-hanging fruit on the gullible tree to pay up out of ignorance and fear.

Never ever communicate with a debt collector. Ignore them.

My advice is not to send a SAR. However, because you never updated your V5C when you moved, the unregulated private parking company, was given your old address by the DVLA. Updating your drivers licence does not update your V5C address. Do that now, online.

However, as this company cannot go back to the DVLA for another Keepers data request, they now hold an incorrect address for you. You must send the DPO of the parking company (not the useless debt recovery firm) a Data Rectification Notice (DRN) and instruct them to update their records with your current address for service and erase your old address. The highlighted words are there for a reason, so use them.

Also, stop giving these ex-clamper scummy firms a status they do not and could never have, of some kind of authority by calling these charges “fines”. By doing so, you are informing them that you have no clue about this and are “ripe for the picking”. A private company cannot issue a “fine”, only a speculative invoice for an alleged breach of contract by the driver.

Ignore any debt recovery letters, send the DRN and come back if/when you receive a Letter of Claim (LoC).