PARKING FINE HELP!!

dogcatchicken

Hi! I received a letter from Trace Debt Recovery on 23/4/25 regarding an apparent parking fine that was issued on 17/5/2021!! 4 years after the fine was issued? The client is Alliance Parking and the fine was issues from parking at Parc Tawe retail park in Swansea. Since then i have received 2 more letters from Trace all which i have ignored. None of them include any evidence of the alleged offence? No photos, anpr or cctv proof and the time of the offence is not stated. The vehicle reg thats on the letter is a car i no longer own, i sold this in September 2021. I have since lived at two address, moving in 2023 and 2024 and received no correspondence or communication whilst living there. I dont know where they have received my new address from either. Today i recieved a ‘Letter before Claim’ through the post from Moorside Legal. It states the cost is now £170 and they are threatening legal action through a CCJ. I am looking for some help or advice as i have no idea what is the best course of action to take now! I have never had a parking ticket in my life 🥲 Thanks in advance for any help! 

Ralph-y

have you had a read of the newbies thread ?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4816822/newbies-private-parking-ticket-old-or-new-read-these-faqs-first-thankyou#latest

dogcatchicken

Hiya, yes I have but I cant figure out the best way to go now. Alot of the thread discusses evidence and registered keeper. I am not the registered keeper anymore, havent been for 4 years and also i have been provided with no evidence. Im not sure who i email the appeal too? Is it the legal company or the original parking firm? Im finding it overwhelming and a bit stressful 🥲

Coupon-mad

Did you miss this thread today?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6622310/moorside-letter-before-claim#latest

You can't appeal. Have you got the LBC with no deadline in it, as seen here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81578596/#Comment_81578596

and here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6622152/moorside-legal-lbc#latest

Relax.

dogcatchicken

Hi, yes my letter is the same as those! I hadn't seen that other thread today, this is my first time using the forum but i’ve spent all day trying to figure out what to do next. 

Do I ignore this letter now then and wait for the next one or should I send the email template that is in the newbies thread? 

If so, where exactly do I send it to? 😭🥲

Le_Kirk

If you were the RK at the time of the event (NOT offence) then that is all that matters, the fact that you sold the vehicle does not matter, as the event was in May and you sold the car in September.  What is important is to inform the DPO of the PPC of your correct address for service and require them to ERASE any old data.  If you don't do this they will send a N1SDT claim to your old address and, when they receive no reply or defence, will ask for a default CCJ.

Coupon-mad

You email it to the sender. It doesn't stop them but that doesn't matter.

They AREN'T looking to go as far as hearings; they are copying DCB Legal's intimidation model with scattergun claims. It works for them. Makes them lots of money when people pay out of fear.

Defended cases are likely to be discontinued.

We ask that you stick around while your cases are quiet, to respond to the Public Consultation which is now open for August.

What parking operators do is is a national disgrace and a drain on Society, in terms of money and anxiety. If you want to be part of the push to change things in future, it's very important that people like you tell the Government that:

a) you have no faith in POPLA or the IAS and that there must be a SINGLE APPEALS SERVICE that people trust. The sector is crying out for an independent and impartial appeals service - not two involved in a race to the bottom - that will give a real option to resolve disputed cases out of court. 

b).  THE ENRICHMENT OF 'DEBT RECOVERY FEES' MUST BE COMPLETELY BANNED. CASES ARE NOT SOLVED BY DEMANDING MORE MONEY AND OFFERING A 'PAYMENT PLAN' THAT ONLY THE VULNERABLE PAY. DRAS LIKE DCB LEGAL MAKE NO MONEY IF THEY HANDLE DISPUTES IN THE SPIRIT OF THE APPEALS CHARTER, WHICH IS WHY THEY ALWAYS PLOUGH ON TO COURT CLAIMS AND CCJs, RATHER THAN OFFERING REAL RESOLUTION AT PRE-ACTION STAGE. THEY OFFER NOTHING, NO LEGITIMATE OPTION TO KEEP CASES OUT OF COURT.

c). Tell them about your experience and the complete and utter waste of court resources caused on a grand scale by DCB Legal. If there had been an ADR you'd have used it, etc.

Responses are invited to the Consultation now:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6617396/parking-code-of-practice-consultation-8-weeks-from-11th-july-2025/p1

Do it this month pleeease!

We will discuss it further next week on that thread if you want ideas.

dogcatchicken

Hi! So i sent the template to the legal company and they have replied with this. 

We write in relation to the above matter. 

Our answers to your questions are as follows:

 

• The additional charge which has been levied on your Parking Charge of £70  is the amount set out in both the British Parking Association and International Parking Community Codes of Practice as the amount which may be added to a Parking Charge when a Parking Charge remains unpaid and when further recovery is required. Our Client is a member of the International Parking Community Codes which is a government approved Accredited Trade Association (ATA) for Private Parking. Our Client adheres to the ATA’s Code of Practice. The £70 does not represent the cost of recovery but is a reasonable amount in relation to the Parking Charge amount, in order to encourage early payment of the Parking Charge without the need for debt recovery. It is a fair amount set by our Client’s government-approved Accredited Trade Association Code of Practice. There are however also costs incurred by our client in relation to debt recovery services.

 

• By entering and parking the vehicle on our client's private land, you agreed to enter into a contract with our client and to be bound by the terms and conditions of that contract. The terms and conditions were clearly displayed at the entrance and in prominent places within the car park. Due to your failure to comply with the terms and conditions, our client has issued the PCN therefore if we are instructed to issue a claim the reason would be for Unpaid parking charges/ breach of contract.

 

We have noted on your account you are seeking debt advice and have placed the matter on hold for 30-days. If you fail to make payment after the 30-day period has lapsed, we may be instructed to issue a County Court Claim against you. 

 

You may wish to seek independent legal advice.

 

What do I do now? What im most annoyed about is no where on any letter had any mention of what time i supposedly exceeded no photos of my vehicle in the car park or entering or leaving? There is no actual information or evidence that this even happened! I dont recall it happening either. 

I informed them of my correct address but my concern is surely its a data breach matter when they have a new address for me. Bare in mind my vehicle and license was still registered to my parents address when the first letter arrived as i had only just moved into the new address, where do they get that information from if the DVLA didn't give it to them?! 

Gr1pr

The DVLA database can only be accessed once per incident,  so they use a cheap tracing service to track people down, nothing difficult for them,  it's easy to trace people and their current addresses,  probably for around 30p

File the response and wait for the inevitable N1SDT court claim pack from the CNBC in Northampton using MCOL to arrive in the post in the next couple of months 

dogcatchicken

Thank you for your comment. When you say file the response, do i send another template or do i just ignore the response to the template now and await the claim pack? Once the claim pack arrives I'm assuming i fill it out and return it? 

Le_Kirk

dogcatchicken said:

Thank you for your comment. When you say file the response, do i send another template or do i just ignore the response to the template now and await the claim pack? Once the claim pack arrives I'm assuming i fill it out and return it? 

No you don't "fill it out and return" anything; it is all done on-line using MCOL, read the NEWBIE sticky and check out the Dropbox link for how to complete and submit the AoS