Disputing debt collection costs? Free legal advice!

Questioner

I received a claim of €707.90 via a debt collection agency. When I asked, it turned out to be a fine of €197.91 in 2015. I asked for the report and received it properly. Here is indeed the photo of my car. The point is that I was never informed about this fine, so I was not able to pay it. Now I suddenly get an insane amount of collection costs on top of that. They claim that I have been informed because they have a piece of mail with my signature. I have requested this and it appears that there is a signature on it. (This has a date of 16-06-2016). It turns out that it is not my signature. This does not look like my signature at all. So it seems to be forged. Now they say: 'The signed document is a legally valid proof of issue and is therefore more than sufficient to demonstrate that you were fully aware of the fine. Who signed at your home is not relevant to our client.' My wife and children's signatures are also completely different from the ones on that document. And they say they never signed such a document. Moreover, it seems to me that I have to sign because I am the offender? So the question is, is what they say true and is this document legally valid? I told them that I would of course pay the fine, because I committed the violation, but I refuse to pay the collection costs because I was never aware of the fact that I had been flashed until they informed me. I was not stopped.

Lawyer

The signed document is indeed a legally valid document and you will have to prove that the signature placed is not yours or any housemate's. The burden of proof lies with you. If you succeed in this, there is a good chance that you will not have to pay the collection costs. If not, then I fear that you will still have to pay the costs.