What to do when you get a Debt Recovery Plus letter without original pcn arriving.

hugogalvis19

Hi I’ve come here because i don’t know what to do. I received a letter from debt recovery plus on behalf of smart parking ltd to pay a fine of £170 for a charge that supposedly happened almost 2 months and a bit ago. I’m obviously not gonna pay 170 to something that I didn’t realise I committed until 2 days ago with no PCN arriving to my house either. I’m not the registered keeper of the car and I borrowed it from my dad to go to out for the day and imagine our suprise when this comes through the post. So far the advice that I’ve seen online is to ignore it however it says on the letter I have to pay by the 6th or to send emails to complain but more personalised advice to my situation would be greatly appreciated. Id preferably not wanna pay anything so any advice would help me a lot. 

thanks.

Gr1pr

Ignore the powerless debt collectors letters,  nothing to worry about,  read the newbies sticky thread in announcements near the top of the forum as explained in this similar thread below 

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6591813/debt-recovery-plus-what-should-i-do#latest

Plus

Ensure that your dads V5c and driving licence are checked that they are both up to date , same with your driving licence too

Study post 4 in the newbies sticky thread 

Ps, seems to me that dad named you as the driver 

patient_dream

DRP are simply money scammers, the extra £70 is A FAKE, stupod letters from the local play school

IGNORE THE FOOLS ..... NOTHING THEY CAN DO

Coupon-mad

hugogalvis19 said:

Hi I’ve come here because i don’t know what to do.

I received a letter from debt recovery plus on behalf of smart parking ltd to pay a fine of £170 for a charge that supposedly happened almost 2 months and a bit ago. I’m obviously not gonna pay 170 to something that I didn’t realise I committed until 2 days ago with no PCN arriving to my house either.

I’m not the registered keeper of the car and I borrowed it from my dad to go to out for the day and imagine our suprise when this comes through the post. So far the advice that I’ve seen online is to ignore it however it says on the letter I have to pay by the 6th or to send emails to complain but more personalised advice to my situation would be greatly appreciated.

Id preferably not wanna pay anything so any advice would help me a lot. 

thanks.

Two questions:

1. Is this/are you in England/Wales?

2. Is the address up to date in your Dad's logbook?

Don't assume. Check it.  If it IS up to date just search the forum for:

Smart Parking complain debt recovery

YOU haven't received any letter. Dad has. For goodness sake don't start replying in your name!

DAD complains if his V5C address is correct.

Neither of you pay.

hugogalvis19

Hi yes.
thanks for the advice. We are based in south London and on the letter it doesn’t say I was the driver it says my dad was but I know that I was driving on the day this happened. Nothing arrived through the post whatsoever before this letter which is why it’s so strange. What happens when I just leave it and don’t respond do they take me to court for something as stupid as this?

fisherjim

hugogalvis19 said:

Hi I’ve come here because i don’t know what to do. I received a letter from debt recovery plus on behalf of smart parking ltd to pay a fine of £170 for a charge that supposedly happened almost 2 months and a bit ago. I’m obviously not gonna pay 170 to something that I didn’t realise I committed until 2 days ago with no PCN arriving to my house either. I’m not the registered keeper of the car and I borrowed it from my dad to go to out for the day and imagine our suprise when this comes through the post. So far the advice that I’ve seen online is to ignore it however it says on the letter I have to pay by the 6th or to send emails to complain but more personalised advice to my situation would be greatly appreciated. Id preferably not wanna pay anything so any advice would help me a lot. 

thanks.

You never received a letter from Debt Recovery Plus, your dad apparently did.

They cannot assume your dad was the the driver, they have no idea.

You don't "have to pay by the 6th" that's just DRP making up scary demands they can't back up, yes you can ignore them.

Please stop calling this a charge a "fine" it isn't it's a parking charge or invoice.

We don't actually know how "stupid" this is as you haven't said what they are accusing the driver of.

hugogalvis19

Hi yes,
to answer your question the original PCN hasn’t arrived to my house at ALL because I live with my parents whilst working for now. That’s how I know we haven’t got any fines because usually my parents would bring it up to each other or talk to me about it as I drive my parents practically everywhere. Seeing as this is an invoice or a parking charge, surely this means I pay it no?. I have no problem ignoring it, I just don’t want it to keep increasing to the point where something more serious could happen. It says on the letter the same as it says for every other letter that I’ve seen online which is overstayed issue and the company charging me this is called Smart Parking Ltd.
more advice would be hugely appreciated as Idk what to do.
thanks

Nellymoser

Do read the NEWBIES FAQ Announcement thread top of page 1 as others advised. Post 4 has advice on Debt Recovery stage.

Coupon-mad

hugogalvis19 said:

Hi yes,
to answer your question the original PCN hasn’t arrived to my house at ALL because I live with my parents whilst working for now. That’s how I know we haven’t got any fines because usually my parents would bring it up to each other or talk to me about it as I drive my parents practically everywhere. Seeing as this is an invoice or a parking charge, surely this means I pay it no?

No!

Come on... for starters, it's only Smart Parking and DR Plus!  Surely you've searched the forum before posting? Hundreds of threads...

Also, it looks like you didn't read my advice fully (because I already told you what Dad does next) nor did you answer this question:

Is the address up to date in your Dad's logbook?

Don't assume. Check it.

If it IS up to date just search the forum for:
Smart Parking complain debt recovery

YOU haven't received any letter. Dad has. For goodness sake don't start replying in your name!

DAD complains if his V5C address is correct.

Neither of you pay.

hugogalvis19

Hello Coupon- Mad

i recently got a letter to my parents house (I'm 19 taking a gap year and working living with my parents) about a "fine" (realistically an invoice) of a vehicle that I was driving on the day the fine has been issued. The vehicle is not under my name (dad owns the vehicle) and so far we have said nothing to DPR who are acting on behalf of smart parking LTD. I have no interest in paying the 170 "fine" that they are trying to get out of me and I have seen threads on people ignoring them however my parents aren't convinced and seeing as the vehicle is under their name they have a right to worry. More details is that supposedly I overstayed my parking in a McDonald's car park even though I was inside the car and was with somebody so at least I have a witness. The car was recently purchased in November and the day of the charge is issued to me in December. The original PCN fine did NOT ARRIVE to my house therefore I had no idea of this existing until two days ago and they want me to pay the charge of 170 TODAY. The v5c registration is in the correct name of my dads. Knowing these details what do you think is the best approach. I have the stress of my parents to pay and call them and yet online is telling me something else. I see that your really experienced and I'm sorry to bother you advice but would really help me.

+

thank you

Umkomaas

You and your parents should ignore DRP and Smart Parking. Nothing will come of it bar silly letters. If they aren't writing to you (but to your Dad), then this is nothing to do with you.  Like it or not it's your Dad's case, not yours.

But tell him from us, he should ignore the letters, unless he gets - in the most vanishingly unlikely event - a LBC or small claim court claim from the Northampton CNBC.  Come back here if he does, but we don't expect to hear anything from him (or you).