Help! Advice wanted please!

lnessie

I received a PCN from Parking Control Management on 5 July of this year. After a bit of research on MSE and elsewhere I concluded that I was in the right and that the charge was not legally defensible, and appealed it following the instructions given on the PCN, and on Parking Control Management's website.

I did not receive any response from this appeal, and on 14 July I used the contact form on Parking Control Management's website to chase them up and ask for their response. I still did not receive anything, so tried to call twice. Both times I called, within office hours, I received a recorded message telling me that lines were closed.

I have now received a letter from a company called Debt Recovery Plus Ltd, requesting a payment of £160 to avoid court action - the original PCN levied was £100 (reduced to £60 for early payment). Although the letter is dated 10 September, I only received it today, 23 September, which suggests to me that it was quite some time between printing the letter and getting around to mailing it.

Parking Control Management's business practices are appalling and outrageous. They never responded to my original appeal (meaning I could not lodge an further appeal with IAS) and are now threatening court action. I have tried to contact the company by both telephone and email to no avail, and am now at risk of being taken to court (or at least they are threatening it, which might not be the same thing!).

What do I do now? Do I just ignore the debt collection letter and hope for the best? If I do that, is there any risk to my credit score with credit reference agencies? Can I go direct to IAS?

Please help! Many thanks.

Coupon-mad

Do I just ignore the debt collection letter ?

Yes of course, see this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQHnn7URlBc&list=UUQc2BoJFVkyV-gMuf7g85aA

Further/similar info about debt collector stage is in the Newbies thread post #4. Nothing has changed - it's merely junk mail. They cannot litigate.

If I do that, is there any risk to my credit score with credit reference agencies?

No! not without you being taken to court and losing and then not paying! See this link (an old thread but still a good summary, still true):
http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=24362

Can I go direct to IAS?

Nope. But you can complain to the IPC that you never got a reply to your appeal (trouble is PCM will show a ghost letter that they reckon they sent in reply...). But try anyway. Complaint email addies are in the Newbies thread post #6. If you do get allowed access to the IAS then get the appeal right by checking other recent IAS wins on here. The deadlines are tight and it's not as easy as POPLA but can be done.