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NCP Parking Charge gone to TRACE - advice please!

First post - looking for some advice in a situation which I may have messed up slightly.



I've recently moved house, and I received a letter from TRACE Recovery stating I was found parked without payment a few months prior and didn't respond to NCP's letters. These would have come to my old address, so this was the first correspondence I received.


What I should have done, is come on here and get advice then - but I didn't.


I called TRACE and stated to them that there is a chance I had parked there around that time but I've not had any previous letters and would like to see those else I won't be paying. I gave the reference number and car reg, etc and the guy gave me an email address to contact, which I am to send a scan of my V5C doc to (to prove when I moved), and they will try to reduce it to the original charge.


Am I in too deep now, and just have to follow through with the email as I've said I would? Or do I still ignore? At any rate, I'm not too comfortable emailing my V5C over. I've received a final demand letter from them too.



Anyone have any thoughts/advice?

Thanks!
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Comments

  • Fruitcake
    Fruitcake Posts: 58,155
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    Have you updated your address with the DVLA fo both your V5 and your driving licence? You can get a real penalty of £1000 for each if you haven't, so that should be your priority.

    Never, ever contact a debt crawler. Post 4 of the NEWBIES tells you why it is safe to ignore them.
    Never, ever 'phone a PPC.

    Send the initial appeal in blue from post 1 of the NEWBIES to the PPC with your new address. Tell them the keeper moved and therefore never received the NTK until now.
    Email the PPC's DPO and tell them to erase your old date and replace it with your new address for service.
    I married my cousin. I had to...
    I don't have a sister. :D
    All my screwdrivers are cordless.
    "You're Safety Is My Primary Concern Dear" - Laks
  • Coupon-mad
    Coupon-mad Posts: 130,632
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    I called TRACE and stated to them that there is a chance I had parked there around that time but I've not had any previous letters and would like to see those else I won't be paying. I gave the reference number and car reg, etc and the guy gave me an email address to contact, which I am to send a scan of my V5C doc to (to prove when I moved),
    Good, that's getting a SAR from NCP then.
    I'm not too comfortable emailing my V5C over.
    That's fine, and needed to get your SAR photos and letters.

    You MUST also add a sentence or two, telling the DPO to 'erase' the old address from TRACE and NCP's databases, and rectify the address for service to {new address}.

    DO NOT assume them having the new address is OK, it is not enough. You need the old one 'erased' for good by NCP and TRACE (both) under your GDPR rights.
    and they will try to reduce it to the original charge.
    Errrrmmm..no! That is NOT what you will be wanting, you won't be paying the scammers a penny so why even think about that.
    PRIVATE 'PCN'? DON'T PAY BUT DON'T IGNORE IT (except N.Ireland).
    CLICK at the top of this/any page where it says:
    Forum Home»Motoring»Parking Tickets Fines & Parking - read the NEWBIES THREAD
  • The_Deep
    The_Deep Posts: 16,830 Forumite
    [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Nine times out of ten of these tickets are scams so consider complaining to your MP, it can cause the scammer extra work.

    Parliament is well aware of the MO of these private parking companies, many of whom are former clampers, and on 15th March 2019 a Bill was enacted to curb the excesses of these shysters. Codes of Practice are being drawn up, an independent appeals service will be set up, and access to the DVLA's date base more rigorously policed, persistent offenders denied access to the DVLA database and unable to operate.

    Hopefully life will become impossible for the worst of these scammers, but until this is done you should still complain to your MP, citing the new legislation.

    [/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2019/8/contents/enacted[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]

    Just as the clampers were finally closed down, so hopefully will many of these Private Parking Companies.
    [/FONT]
    You never know how far you can go until you go too far.
  • Parkwang
    Parkwang Posts: 12
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    Hi all,


    Will need to reply quick as I'm heading to work now! Thanks everyone for your help and I'll get an SAR drafted up and sent to the PPC rather than working with TRACE themselves.


    Hopefully I'll get photos and a copy of letters sent and go from there. I have a sneaking suspicion that the letters were actually sent out about a month after the incident - am I right in saying there's a period of about 28 days within which the PPC has to make a claim, else it's invalid? So if that's the case I'll appeal on those grounds.



    @Fruitcake - Thanks for your concern but my address is current with the DVLA for both the above. I believe that's how TRACE got my current address, while NCP used the old address before I'd moved (which was probably current at the time of the first notice?)


    @Coupon-mad - Thanks a lot, super helpful advice and I'll be sending that SAR later today :)


    @The Deep - Thanks, once I've handled the SAR and getting in touch with the PPC I'll get onto my MP (whether or not that'll help at all, who knows!)


    Cheers all!
  • KeithP
    KeithP Posts: 37,430
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    Parkwang wrote: »
    - am I right in saying there's a period of about 28 days within which the PPC has to make a claim, else it's invalid?
    No, their trade association allows them seven months to send out a Notice to Keeper.

    Only if they want to transfer the driver's liability to the keeper are tighter timescales involved.

    Please read post #1 of the NEWBIES thread for details of those.
  • Parkwang
    Parkwang Posts: 12
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    Makes sense. Does anyone know the email address for NCP? Their site only has a phone number and online help, and the online chat seems unable to direct me to the correct person...
  • Coupon-mad
    Coupon-mad Posts: 130,632
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    Their site only has a phone number and online help,
    Astonished again, re how many posters say this, and yet when I Googled the name or acronym of the parking firm and the word privacy (as the NEWBIES thread tells people to do, not trawl their website) I found the DPO email for NCP in 2 seconds.
    PRIVATE 'PCN'? DON'T PAY BUT DON'T IGNORE IT (except N.Ireland).
    CLICK at the top of this/any page where it says:
    Forum Home»Motoring»Parking Tickets Fines & Parking - read the NEWBIES THREAD
  • Parkwang
    Parkwang Posts: 12
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    I mean yeah, I'd done that too and got the DPO email no problem - but that's for the GDPR/Data Protection side of things right? Don't I need a different address for the appeal itself?
  • Umkomaas
    Umkomaas Posts: 41,256
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    Parkwang wrote: »
    I mean yeah, I'd done that too and got the DPO email no problem - but that's for the GDPR/Data Protection side of things right? Don't I need a different address for the appeal itself?

    If this parking incident is from a few months ago and debt collectors are now involved, you’re way beyond any appeal stage.
    Please note, we are not a legal advice forum. I personally don't get involved in critiquing court case Defences/Witness Statements, so unable to help on that front. Please don't ask. .

    I provide only my personal opinion, it is not a legal opinion, it is simply a personal one. I am not a lawyer.

    Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; show him how to catch fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.

    Private Parking Firms - Killing the High Street
  • Coupon-mad
    Coupon-mad Posts: 130,632
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    No-one here said you can appeal and we told you NOT to beg for a reduced charge.

    This is not a possible appeal stage and you will not be paying, so a SAR and correct address data rectification is your priority.
    PRIVATE 'PCN'? DON'T PAY BUT DON'T IGNORE IT (except N.Ireland).
    CLICK at the top of this/any page where it says:
    Forum Home»Motoring»Parking Tickets Fines & Parking - read the NEWBIES THREAD
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