Change of address - have I done enough?

dan0116

Hi all,
For years I have been receiving correspondence in relation to own space PCNs. They go back as far as 2018 and relate to a vehicle I owned until 2020. I moved address in early 2023, immediately changed the address on my driving licence, and also did a mail redirect for 3 months with Royal Mail. The logbook address isn’t relevant as it’s an old vehicle I sold in 2020 as I say.

It occurred to me that I’ve not received any letters recently and I wondered whether they may be going to my old address despite my efforts to ensure that don’t happen. I have contacted the estate agent to ask if the new owners have received any mail for me.

I’m worried as I have already been to court once about a CCJ for a similar situation. I had that one set aside and eventually won the case with the help of those on this forum but I would like to avoid doing the set aside part again if possible.

I probably could/should have emailed the parking company for good measure to tell them my new address, but did I have any obligation to do this a year ago or in the eyes of the court would I have done enough.

And on a related note how would the parking company find me now if they wanted to? If they looked up the vehicle registration it would show a new keeper but they would find my correct address if they searched for my licence (if they can do that). 

KeithP

To answer the question in your thread title... no, you have not done enough.

When you changed address, you need to tell the parking company and their solicitors your new address and remove your old address from their records.

Having been through this before, surely you can see that these devious people will seize every opportunity to get their money.

Having written to your old address and received no reply, guess which one of these routes they will follow...

1. they will search diligently for your new address,
2. they will give up the chase,
3. they will rub their hands with glee and happily raise a Claim against you at an address where they know you will not respond.

Of course, having chosen 3, they will get a Default Judgment against you and you will then again have the hassle of getting that Judgment set aside.

dan0116

Thanks Keith, I had feared this was probably the case. I had intended to email them informing me them of my change of address at the time but stupidly I don’t think I did it. I’ll have to search through my emails.

As an aside I have another question I’d hoped someone might be able to answer. 

Is there a time limit for the parking firm to actually bring court action in relation to alleged debts? I thought debts were usually time barred after 6 years but didn’t know if that applied here.

troublemaker22

It's 6 years.  You should do a credit check against yourself to see if you already have any CCJs and other orders outstanding against you.  An easy way to do this for free is to set up a one month trial account at https://www.checkmyfile.com/ (don't forget to cancel before the month is over).

It's good that you updated the address on your driving licence.  If you keep a motor vehicle you should also update your vehicle registration.  It's a criminal offence not to, and if you don't do it you have no idea how many other people with real powers (not just toothless private parking companies) might be issuing nasties against you.

Fruitcake

You should sent a rectification notice to the DPO of the PPC instructing them to erase your old data and replace it with your current address for service. Make sure you use the word I have highlighted. You will need to include non-photo proof of ID with your rectification notice.

As for your other question, (alleged) debts cease to exist in Scotland after five years.

In England and Wales, (alleged) debts become statute barred by the Limitations Act after six years, meaning the debt still (allegedly) exists, but the creditor cannot (should not) initiate a court claim after that date.