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PCNs from Haringey Council - Now with Debt Collector, never seen because sent to old address
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mon3ys4ver
Posts: 1 Newbie
Hi guys
Appreciate the help on this one. The details are a bit specific but I'll try and give all relevant info without getting too into the weeds, and I'm sure others have experienced similar and have some useful information to share.
I moved to Haringey a few years ago and had to park in a council car park (unable to get a resident's permit). Unfortunately, just as I was planning to sell my car and was moving again, the catalytic converter was stolen while the car was in the council car park, making the car unfit to drive. Dealing with the car fell to the back of my mind a bit with the move, and when I came back a few weeks later to check on it, it had been towed away by the council from the car park - I'd had a year's parking at the car park but this had expired around the same time.
I was able to find out that the car had been towed on Jan 26th 2024 by calling the pound. I suspected that the car would have some PCNs but Haringey don't give information about PCNs over the phone, and as I had no PCN numbers (I'd not received any letters via post and the physical PCNs would've been towed with the car), nor could I get any information about potential PCNs online via their portal. I was advised by the council that my only option was to write a letter, which I did on 4th Feb 2024 (with photo evidence) - receiving no response from the council.
A year later, in Feb 2025, I got a text from CDER group saying that I had outstanding debts to settle. At first, I thought it was a scam but I contacted the number and found out it was related to Haringey PCNs - this was the first I'd heard about them as my V5C log book was still registered at an old address, so I didn't receive any letters and didn't have the physical PCNs. At this point, I wrote to the council again and this time they did reply, telling me that 7 PCNs were with CDER group and a further 14 were due to be registered as debt at the TEC. They said that my options were limited to either paying the debt to the CDER group or making a witness out of time statement with the TEC. I went ahead and made the witness out of time statements (TE7 and TE9) for the 7 PCNs that were with CDER, but recently got decisions back from the TEC for all of them that my application was refused for the reason, "Upon changing address, the applicant hasn't provided explanation or evidence as to why they failed to notify DVLA of their change of address for amendment of the V5 (log book)". My reasons for filing a witness statement out of time only said that "I had updated my driver’s licence when moving, but I was unaware of the requirement to also update the V5C". I'll attach the full document of reasons for the witness out of time statement here in case useful. For context, the debt costs of each PCN is now £130, but the CDER group are adding on ~£100 in fees for each PCN, meaning the total amount they want to collect for 7 PCNs is £1,663, and for all 21 PCNs will be around £5,000.
I obviously accept that failing to update the V5C and letting the parking pass expire were errors on me, but paying £5,000 for admin errors seems a bit crazy - I was a resident in the council at the time and a year's parking at the car park was £265!! I also contacted the council around the time of the PCNs being issued, when any amounts would've been significantly less, and they never even replied, which has contributed to the increased costs. £5,000 is a lot of money. It feels like local councils see these cases as a way to extract extra funding from motorists, which isn't right, and the weight of it is having a negative effect on me.
What are my options here? Are the council able to take the debt back from CDER group and remove the debt collection fees? Am I able to negotiate with the council or CDER group? I'll still file the witness out of time statements for the other 14 PCNs if I need to slow down the process, but I'm not hopeful of having those accepted either now.
Thanks again for the help!
Link to the full witness out of time statement reasons:
Appreciate the help on this one. The details are a bit specific but I'll try and give all relevant info without getting too into the weeds, and I'm sure others have experienced similar and have some useful information to share.
I moved to Haringey a few years ago and had to park in a council car park (unable to get a resident's permit). Unfortunately, just as I was planning to sell my car and was moving again, the catalytic converter was stolen while the car was in the council car park, making the car unfit to drive. Dealing with the car fell to the back of my mind a bit with the move, and when I came back a few weeks later to check on it, it had been towed away by the council from the car park - I'd had a year's parking at the car park but this had expired around the same time.
I was able to find out that the car had been towed on Jan 26th 2024 by calling the pound. I suspected that the car would have some PCNs but Haringey don't give information about PCNs over the phone, and as I had no PCN numbers (I'd not received any letters via post and the physical PCNs would've been towed with the car), nor could I get any information about potential PCNs online via their portal. I was advised by the council that my only option was to write a letter, which I did on 4th Feb 2024 (with photo evidence) - receiving no response from the council.
A year later, in Feb 2025, I got a text from CDER group saying that I had outstanding debts to settle. At first, I thought it was a scam but I contacted the number and found out it was related to Haringey PCNs - this was the first I'd heard about them as my V5C log book was still registered at an old address, so I didn't receive any letters and didn't have the physical PCNs. At this point, I wrote to the council again and this time they did reply, telling me that 7 PCNs were with CDER group and a further 14 were due to be registered as debt at the TEC. They said that my options were limited to either paying the debt to the CDER group or making a witness out of time statement with the TEC. I went ahead and made the witness out of time statements (TE7 and TE9) for the 7 PCNs that were with CDER, but recently got decisions back from the TEC for all of them that my application was refused for the reason, "Upon changing address, the applicant hasn't provided explanation or evidence as to why they failed to notify DVLA of their change of address for amendment of the V5 (log book)". My reasons for filing a witness statement out of time only said that "I had updated my driver’s licence when moving, but I was unaware of the requirement to also update the V5C". I'll attach the full document of reasons for the witness out of time statement here in case useful. For context, the debt costs of each PCN is now £130, but the CDER group are adding on ~£100 in fees for each PCN, meaning the total amount they want to collect for 7 PCNs is £1,663, and for all 21 PCNs will be around £5,000.
I obviously accept that failing to update the V5C and letting the parking pass expire were errors on me, but paying £5,000 for admin errors seems a bit crazy - I was a resident in the council at the time and a year's parking at the car park was £265!! I also contacted the council around the time of the PCNs being issued, when any amounts would've been significantly less, and they never even replied, which has contributed to the increased costs. £5,000 is a lot of money. It feels like local councils see these cases as a way to extract extra funding from motorists, which isn't right, and the weight of it is having a negative effect on me.
What are my options here? Are the council able to take the debt back from CDER group and remove the debt collection fees? Am I able to negotiate with the council or CDER group? I'll still file the witness out of time statements for the other 14 PCNs if I need to slow down the process, but I'm not hopeful of having those accepted either now.
Thanks again for the help!
Link to the full witness out of time statement reasons:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZxKmzJ3biI6EGjVhTOg_idWH9jdP-ykeOHSyMLQtOVY/edit?usp=sharing 0
Comments
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Have you tried this site: https://www.ftla.uk/
They are better for council PCNs rather than private parking ones here.3
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