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Sudden QDR solicitor bill of £4500
Gary_
Posts: 26 Forumite
I am really hoping someone can help. I have read all the threads and have sought advice all over the place but doors are closing in my face...
I recently found out that it is not enough to change your address on your licence with the DVLA and it is also necessary to change it on your V5 log book. My terrible mistake.....as unfortunately last week I received a letter firstly from zzps saying that I owe £90 for a PCN from Indigo parking (at a hospital where I work) that had now incurred fees on top of the original £20. I phoned to query it and was then told that, actually, there are 33 outstanding PCN's all spanning over a period of 3 years. Most are with QDR solicitors. They add up to £4500 in total. They confirmed that the previous letters had all gone to an address I lived at 5 years ago. They only found me now because I recently changed my address on my V5 log book. I'm aware that I could be charged £1000 for this so to be honest, am concerned about making too many waves. However at the same time, I don't want to pay all the fees and can't afford £4500!
Citizens Advice Bureau advised me to appeal to Indigo and then to POPLAR. I tried to appeal this with Indigo (via letter because it was too late to appeal online). I received a swift response within a week, saying basically there was nothing they could do because the cases had now been passed over to debt collectors. I phoned POPLAR to ask for advice and they too told me that because the time had passed it was also too late for them to do anything about it. They suggested a solicitor. I did contact one, but was told the fees for this start at £1500 which is too much for me.
If I take some of the advice on the forum and ignore the QDR and zzps letters, then I may be taken to court (that amount of money might be worth their while chasing in court) and there it will be revealed that in fact it is my own fault because I didn't change my address on V5 logbook early enough.
With regards to the fines themselves, I have no evidence via photo or anything that I parked in the car park without a permit 33 times! I can recall a few occasions but certainly not 33. Also, some of these PCN's they listed (they sent me an emailed list) have not got times on them, just dates.
Is there anything I can realistically do to avoid paying this or get them to reduce the amount? Or will I just have to accept it an cough up (with a payment plan obviously). If I go to court with this I am worried that the judge will tell me it's my fault and fine me £1000 for not changing my address.
Any help would be most gratefully received.
Thank you
I recently found out that it is not enough to change your address on your licence with the DVLA and it is also necessary to change it on your V5 log book. My terrible mistake.....as unfortunately last week I received a letter firstly from zzps saying that I owe £90 for a PCN from Indigo parking (at a hospital where I work) that had now incurred fees on top of the original £20. I phoned to query it and was then told that, actually, there are 33 outstanding PCN's all spanning over a period of 3 years. Most are with QDR solicitors. They add up to £4500 in total. They confirmed that the previous letters had all gone to an address I lived at 5 years ago. They only found me now because I recently changed my address on my V5 log book. I'm aware that I could be charged £1000 for this so to be honest, am concerned about making too many waves. However at the same time, I don't want to pay all the fees and can't afford £4500!
Citizens Advice Bureau advised me to appeal to Indigo and then to POPLAR. I tried to appeal this with Indigo (via letter because it was too late to appeal online). I received a swift response within a week, saying basically there was nothing they could do because the cases had now been passed over to debt collectors. I phoned POPLAR to ask for advice and they too told me that because the time had passed it was also too late for them to do anything about it. They suggested a solicitor. I did contact one, but was told the fees for this start at £1500 which is too much for me.
If I take some of the advice on the forum and ignore the QDR and zzps letters, then I may be taken to court (that amount of money might be worth their while chasing in court) and there it will be revealed that in fact it is my own fault because I didn't change my address on V5 logbook early enough.
With regards to the fines themselves, I have no evidence via photo or anything that I parked in the car park without a permit 33 times! I can recall a few occasions but certainly not 33. Also, some of these PCN's they listed (they sent me an emailed list) have not got times on them, just dates.
Is there anything I can realistically do to avoid paying this or get them to reduce the amount? Or will I just have to accept it an cough up (with a payment plan obviously). If I go to court with this I am worried that the judge will tell me it's my fault and fine me £1000 for not changing my address.
Any help would be most gratefully received.
Thank you
0
Comments
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It won't be a judge in the county court fining you for not notifying DVLA!
You need to read up on this in the newbies faq thread near the top of the forum
There's little you can do except wait and see if they do take court action, all covered in #2 of the FAQ
Maybe your employer would step in and get these cancelled??0 -
Let me guess Cardiff?0
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Message has been removed0
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Thanks so much for your quick response. I guess I'm just scared that the money will mount up even more than it has and if I lose in court I will have to pay more, plus court fees.
My employer (chief executive of hospital) has unfortunately issued a statement saying that he will not intervene at all in any parking disputes. Recently there was a big court battle and several doctors and nurses went to court to fight Indigo and unfortunately lost the case. They had to pay thousands between them. It has put me off wanting to fight.
Yes, we know all about that dreadful case and you know
what, your CEO is a disgrace if he allows his staff to be
threatened by scammers, makes me think he has a share
of the action ???
The DVLA are a c*ck eyed outfit with computer systems
that don't talk to each other. But as you have changed
your address, nothing more will come of it.
This will have nothing to do with a judge in a parking case
so forget that.
It sounds like the £4.500 is made up of different elements
They claim 33 charges x £100, that's £3.300 so the rest
will be made up with fake charges
You now need a full breakdown which they must give you
and then come back here with that information0 -
I hope that they've got 33 itemised photos, 33 copies of the context and 33 statements from the relevant parking operative ready to provide to you if you put them to proof....0
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...and 33 instances of asking for keeper details from the DVLA.
Easy to check that one. See here:
0 -
...and 33 instances of asking for keeper details from the DVLA.
Easy to check that one. See here:
Perfect, I doubt the OP will understand the importance
of this, could you explain to him, you will do it better, or someone0 -
Yes, we know all about that dreadful case and you know
what, your CEO is a disgrace if he allows his staff to be
threatened by scammers, makes me think he has a share
of the action ???
The DVLA are a c*ck eyed outfit with computer systems
that don't talk to each other. But as you have changed
your address, nothing more will come of it.
This will have nothing to do with a judge in a parking case
so forget that.
It sounds like the £4.500 is made up of different elements
They claim 33 charges x £100, that's £3.300 so the rest
will be made up with fake charges
You now need a full breakdown which they must give you
and then come back here with that information
Thanks, I feel a bit more confident now. I have asked them for a breakdown of all the fees but they have yet to respond. I'll sent them another email now....I will let you know what they come back with.0 -
Thanks, I feel a bit more confident now. I have asked them for a breakdown of all the fees but they have yet to respond. I'll sent them another email now....I will let you know what they come back with.
OK, KeithP above has raised a very important point and that is how
many times (33) Indigo applied for your data ...... if they did
33 times?
Please wait for this answer0 -
Perfect, I doubt the OP will understand the importance
of this, could you explain to him, you will do it better, or someone...and 33 instances of asking for keeper details from the DVLA.
Easy to check that one. See here:
Brilliant! I didn't realise we could check this ourselves! They did say over the phone that £30 of each was to check the DVLA records for my address. My question was, if there were so many of them (some one day after another) then why did they need to check this again for each day? I will definitely put this all in writing to them. Thank you for your help!0
This discussion has been closed.
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