Hey guys,
I just received a “past due notice” from Indigo for some parking tickets, and I’m trying to figure out how serious this actually is.
The letter was sent directly to my home, under my name, which is what’s making me take this a bit more seriously.
I have 2 vehicles and each one has 3 tickets, so about $345 per letter. What really annoys me is that the original tickets were around $20–$25, and now they’re charging $115 per ticket… feels like a complete cash grab.
To give some context, I’ve been working on a project downtown for the past 3 years, 5 days a week. Each ticket costs $24, which adds up to around 700+ parking sessions. Out of all that, I only missed 3 tickets in total.
And those 3 times, I had literally just parked and was on my way to the machine when I already got ticketed.
My main concern is not even the amount, it’s whether this can actually go to collections and affect my credit score. I have a mortgage renewal coming up next year, so I really don’t want anything showing up there.
I’ve dealt with collections before (phone bill, parking stuff) and I know they sometimes end up offering big discounts later… but I don’t want to mess up my credit in the meantime.
Has anyone in Calgary/Alberta actually had Indigo send these to collections?
Did it affect your credit, or was it mostly scare tactics?
Would you ignore it, try to negotiate, or just pay and move on?
Appreciate any real experiences 🙏