Debt recovery letter as *first received communication* - how to react if at all

topperdoggle

Hi good people,

I have read the informative newbies threads and not found specific answers for this use case, so forgive me if the answer is hidden in there somewhere.

Last week I received a typical letter from Debt Recovery Plus asking for £150 because in May I used the Heathrow drop off zone without paying. However, this is the first communication I've received on the subject from anyone including APCOA.

I looked in my diary and I was there, dropping off my long-distance partner following a bereavement so my head was probably not with it, but of course there was no intention not to pay a fiver to incur another £145 down the line.

I know the usual advice is ignore letters from Debt Recovery Plus and "pals", but in this case where there has been no prior communication from either side nor appeal, is it still the correct strategy and if not, what should I do? I have not contacted Debt Recovery Plus nor anybody else e.g. APCOA, Heathrow.

I fear that if they took me went to court, it wouldn't look good that I had (ostensibly) ignored the previous communications that I hadn't received.

Please let me know if you need more information and I will provide it; thanks in advance.

Umkomaas

Check the address showing on your V5C (logbook), as that's the address used by the DVLA to inform PPCs of the keepers name and address. 

APCOA never issue court proceedings, DRP can't!

topperdoggle

Thank you for the response; the address on the V5C is correct (I assume that's how DRP wrote to me?).

Given your second sentence "APCOA never issue court proceedings, DRP can't!", I shall assume that doing nothing is still the correct course of action.

Umkomaas

topperdoggle said:

1. Thank you for the response; the address on the V5C is correct (I assume that's how DRP wrote to me?).

2. Given your second sentence "APCOA never issue court proceedings, DRP can't!", I will assume that doing nothing is still the correct course of action.

1. No. APCOA would have accessed your DVLA date, then passed it to DRP. If you want to check it out with the DVLA, use the advice which follows below. 

2. Yep.

DVLA SUBJECT ACCESS REQUESTS 

You should email the DVLA and ask which organisations (when and for what reason) accessed the registered keeper's data from them between a range of dates which includes the date(s) of the motoring incident(s). You need to provide the registered keeper's full name and address, the address on the V5C logbook and the Vehicle Registration Mark of the vehicle involved in the parking incident. 

SubjectAccess.Requests@dvla.gov.uk

This service is free of charge. 

Even though you email your request, the DVLA will respond via Royal Mail.

topperdoggle

Thank you so much! In trying times, this place is a great source of advice and comfort!

Coupon-mad

topperdoggle said:

Thank you for the response; the address on the V5C is correct (I assume that's how DRP wrote to me?).

No it's not.

APCOA got DVLA data (the address on your logbook, not on your driving licence).  They sent a PCN there, weeks ago.

DR PLUS did a soft trace to check for new addresses on your credit file.  They are allowed.

Obviously you ignore all £170 demands and we don't need to explain or cover this further because it's in the 4th post of the NEWBIES FAQS thread.

But please tell us you went and double-checked your V5C itself and not just your (irrelevant) driving licence?

topperdoggle

Coupon-mad, thanks for your answer.

The PCN that you say APCOA sent never arrived. I wouldn't have ignored it if it had, that's not me.

Indeed I had read said post in the newbies' thread about ignoring the DRP demand, but I opened this thread because I was unsure as to whether the situation would be different if I had made no prior appeal at a previous stage (because I didn't know the previous stages were occurring!).

I did double-check the V5C and the address is correct. In fact I have to deal with a PPS "PCN" for the same car in completely different circumstances (still going through the details and the FAQs to see if I can deal with it without opening a thread), and if the V5C address was wrong, that wouldn't have reached me either.

Umkomaas

Send APCOA a SAR to access copies of any correspondence they've sent you. 

Coupon-mad

And put a complaint in on their Complaints page (all BPA AOS firms have a complaints policy), saying you didn't get a PCN and want to report them to the BPA for going straight to debt crawler stage.

YankeeBrit

Don't try to overthink this scam from DRP. They are not a party to the contract you allegedly broke with APCOA.

Unfortunately, far too many gullible victims of this scam poop their pants at the sight of a debt collector's letter and end up either paying it or trying to contact them and blabbing about who was driving, all because they see the word "CCJ" or "bailiff" in the correspondence.

As this is APCOA, DRA will eventually give up when you don't respond and they'll realise that they are not dealing with someone gullible and move on to easier prey.

patient_dream

Just to confirm about DRP .... THEY LOVE WASTING THEIR TIME with bog paper letters only fit for cat litter

What DRP fail to tell you is they are powerless, pointless and only money scammers
WHICH YOU IGNORE

Members of the BPA SCAM CLUB