balliff charges re unpaid parking fine

[niall2007]

Hi, hope you can help. First time poster with a bit of a worry.

Just been told by a friend that a letter has just arrived at my old property (which i left a year and a half ago) demanding £570 for an unpaid parking fine (of which I have no knowledge, nor of the letters they've supposedly been sending to that address up to now).

My questions are these: what charges can the balliff possibly be putting on top of the original fine (can only be £150 max)?; do i need to pay them, given they've been using an out-of-date address?; and if i pay the full amount today can i still challenge the charges at a later date?

I'm really sorry if these questions are answered elsewhere; never had to deal with the balliffs before, and quite frankly I'm a bit worried by this.

(One other thing - i'm a journalist; would mentioning this improve my chances of reducing the amount to pay??)

[Recycler]

for collecting unpaid rd traffic debts (parking tickets)
Bailiffs charges are regulated by Statutory Instrument 2003 No. 1857 (L.31) The Enforcement of Road Traffic Debts (Certificated Bailiffs) (Amendment) 2003 (it may help to see the original which sets out things more clearly The Enforcement of Road Traffic Debts (Certificated Bailiffs) 1993

before you pay anything you should satisfy yourself you are the debtor and who to etc

£570 seems frankly rather over the top - there are some bailiff companies who show the sums & how much you should expect to pay depending on number of visits etc ( see Road Traffic Act Fees and Charges )

1 letter fee allowed £13.16
3 visit levies allowed @£50 +vat each


did you notify dvla of change of address>? your V5 should tell you the date

what bailiff company is it

what council issued the pcn

I would keep quiet about your occupation for the time being & see how everyone else is treated (you may get favorable treatment if they suspect potentially adverse press)

Can you put on site the wording of the letter (without naming the individual bailiff)