Private PCN from PCM UK and letter from Trace Legal department

Mustafaveeinlondon

Hello ladies and gentlemen!

I got a PCN letter three months ago for parking my motorbike near a bunch of flats in canary wharf area. I have been parking there whenever I visited my friends and never had any issues and I've been doing it for ages.

Then one day I got a penalty ticket from 'Parking Control Management UK Limited'. There was nothing posted on my motorbike itself. I just got a letter through my post. This letter had a picture of my motorbike as well.

I chose to ignore this letter and then got another one with an increase in penalty amount. Ignored that too. I haven't, to date, replied to them or acknowledged any of their letters.

Now I have got a letter from a company called 'Trace legal department' from Northampton. This letter states things like 'previous attempts failed to recover the charge.....client has instructed us to assess and prepare your case to take potential legal action against you in the County Court.......pay full amount within 14 days......' blah blah blah.

This is the first time I've got a parking ticket so I am a total dummy as to how to deal with this situation. Hence I would really appreciate all your kind advice regarding what should I do now?

Thank you very much!

KeithP

Trace are debt collectors.

Post #4 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread offers comprehensive guidance on how to deal with debt collectors letters.

The rest of that thread is worth reading too.
It will give you a better understanding of the game you are now caught up in.

The_Deep

It is not a penalty, nor is it a fine. It is an invoice for the damage they allege your alleged breach of an alleged contract caused their client. No doubt they want their cut for sending you the letter. We call it a scam.

The whole industry is a scam, relying on threats of court, and the public's ignorance of the Law, A bill is currently before parliament which will regulate the scammers, many of whom are ex-clampers.

This is an entirely unregulated industry which is scamming the public with inflated claims for minor breaches of alleged contracts for alleged parking offences, aided and abetted by a handful of low-rent solicitors. Is has been suggested by an MP that some of these companies may have connections to organised crime.

Parking Eye, CPM, Smart, (especially Smart}, and others have already been named and shamed in the House of Commons as have Gladstones Solicitors, and BW Legal, (these two law firms take hundreds of these cases to court each week), hospital car parks and residential complex tickets have been especially mentioned. They lose most of them, and have been reported to the regulatory authority by an M.P. for unprofessional conduct

The problem has become so widespread that MPs have agreed to enact a Bill to regulate these scammers.

Sir Greg Knight's Private Members Bill to curb the excesses, and perhaps close down, some of these companies passed its Second Reading in the Lords this month, and, with a fair wind, will l become Law later this year..

All three readings are available to watch on the internet, (some 6-7 hours), and published in Hansard. MPs have an extremely low opinion of the industry. Many are complaining that they are becoming overwhelmed by complaints from members of the public. Add to their burden, complain in the most robust terms about the scammers.

beamerguy

Now I have got a letter from a company called 'Trace legal department' from Northampton. This letter states things like 'previous attempts failed to recover the charge.....client has instructed us to assess and prepare your case to take potential legal action against you in the County Court.......pay full amount within 14 days......' blah blah blah.

Where does the "Northampton" come from, what address is on the letter

Mustafaveeinlondon

The post code is NN2 6EZ

beamerguy

Mustafaveeinlondon wrote: »

The post code is NN2 6EZ

That's a housing estate. Best let us see this letter

Scan it, upload to a free hosting site and show the link on here

NN1 2LH is the Northampton Court

Remove your personal information.

Link use hxxp:// and we will make it live

fisherjim

Yes it's these muppets:


https://www.tracerecovery.co.uk/contact-us/

Coupon-mad

You need to read all the other PCM threads & get ready for the real stage to address.

TRACE are nothing, but later on, PCM will sue you, using Gladstones. And we've never seen a PCM case lost AFAIK and have a 99% win rate with all defended cases where people have followed our advice to defend.

Read the second post in the NEWBIES thread and read any PCM/Gladstones threads.

KeithP

From their website, Trace Debt Recovery UK Limited's address is:

Barratt House, Suite S2, Kingsthorpe Road, Northampton, NN2 6HT.


However, the Royal Mail's PostCode finder tells us the postcode for Barratt House, Suite S2, Kingsthorpe Road, Northampton is NN2 6EZ.

I know which I would believe.