I'm autistic need help understand what to do next.

[Deleted User]

As the title says, I’m autistic, so a lot of information can be really confusing for me. I need some help figuring out what to do next.

I didn’t get a PCN sticker on my car, but I received a parking charge notice in the mail in August for an offence in July, asking me to pay £60 with the usual "pay now for a discount" offer (the company is part of IPC). I ignored it because I’d always heard you could just ignore private parking tickets. A few weeks later (maybe a month), I got another letter saying the discount was no longer available, and now the charge was £100, but I still ignored it. Now, I’ve received a letter from ZZPS asking for £170, which worried me. I looked it up, found this forum, and read the newbie guide as best as I could. I think I’m supposed to keep ignoring it as it's to late to try to appeal, but I have a few questions.

I don’t think Plan A applies because the car park wasn’t connected to a supermarket or retailer—it was just a private car park at a seaside destination, and I’m not sure how to find the landowner.

My questions are:

Now that a debt collector is involved, how likely is this to go legal?

If it does go to court and I lose, how expensive could this get? I don’t have much of a defense since I didn’t buy a ticket that day. The car park was really busy, and honestly, I didn’t even park in a bay—I just left my car in the middle of the car park not even in a space. Maybe that my defence that I wasn't technically parked and was more abandoned. 

Should I just pay it and take this as a learning experience?

manutd99

Have you received a court claim yet. This will be from Northampton County Court.

This is when you need to file a claim. Lots of help available on this forum to go through step by step. You will need to put the effort in. 

If only debt collector letters then no need to file a defense yet. 

Have 2 options - Option 1 Pay now to avoid a claim. Some will take you to court and some wont. Most on here will say dont pay.

Option 2 is wait for court claim. Once you get this then follow the Newbies thread on a step by step process on what to do when.

Option 2 will mean there will be some effort required with lots of help to help you file your defence. There are template defences as well.

Once you get a claim. These are steps to follow

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5546325/court-claim-procedure-updated-october-2016/p1

Coupon-mad

We've lost all the previous replies by the other thread being deleted.

Paying isn't a valid option to right-thinking people and shouldn't be suggested.