CST Law & DRP, 5th month of their nonsense, just looking for reassurance/advice

wolfycat786

Hi all MSE-ers.

This is in England.
First things first, apologies for yet another thread about the infamous Debt Recovery Plus and now CST Law.
Disclaimer: I have read the newbie thread many times, many other threads and have educated myself about PPC's and collections. I'm aware most cases are very similar and a lot of advice already given can just be used but I'm also aware every case has its nuances and just wanted to share.

Back in September 2019, the driver overstayed at a 'free car park' for a shopping complex by a measly 15 minutes. The driver had used the stores but has no receipts they can really use to prove it.

15 minutes was 15 too many and the keeper received a £50 charge from CP Plus. They ignored it at first as they've known for a while that was not the best option. The keeper should have responded before it got sent to collections and feels frustrated they missed that window. The charge rose with each subsequent letter, maybe 7 in total, all have been saved.

A month or two after the last CP Plus letter, the keeper began receiving letters from Debt Recovery Plus demanding they pay CST's client. All letters were ignored. After a few months it seemed to quiet down. That brings us to today, 6th March 2020.

The keeper received an "unpaid debt - reminder notice" from CST Law, the first letter from them insisting they contact Debt Recovery Plus to make an outstanding payment of £149.99 (daylight robbery). Research has shown that CST Law and DRP are part of the DRP Group so no-doubt big conflict of interest there.

The only threat is "If the keeper does not pay by 13th March 2020, please keep DRP Ltd updated as to the current address to ensure any court documents are correctly directed to keeper".

The keeper is aware these are still toilet paper level of documentation at this point. They plan on responding immediately should they receive any LBA or LBC notice.

Just writing for advice/reassurance to check if they're doing the right thing by continuing to ignore, if there are any other steps, proactive moves that should be made or any suggestions to stop these letters from coming and for them to leave the keeper alone. They've considered writing a letter based off of this thread  but want to make sure that's wise.

Also, in the event they keeper does receive an LBA/LBC letter, are there any links/threads they can use that would be useful for where to go next? Thanks.

I'm responsive and will absolutely keep you guys in the loop and follow any advice from here on out to the T.
Appreciate everything you guys do as you've clearly been a valuable resource to many who come here and are about fighting the good fight against these vultures.

Cheers.

Redx

you never said which country this was (yes it is important)

I would be emailing a SAR to C P PLUS to get all the data they have on the keeper

I would be editing my posts to say THE DRIVER overstayed etc

never use the words "MY , ME , MYSELF & I! on a public forum , the words DRIVER and KEEPER will suffice

that NEWBIES thread has the details in post #2 for any further steps, nothing to add at all, its all in there

but the most important step is the first one that everyone should be doing

getting the landowner or retailer or managing agent to cancel the pcn , nothing is more important than this first step

so retailer or landowner cancellation, plus SAR to the DPO at CP PLUS , after editing your post above in order to "plead the fifth"

ps , as for CST LAW, in Sheffield , read what browntrout said about them here

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6058691/cst-law-heads-up

beamerguy

They are just playing the kids game of "pass the parcel"
Nothing is important until you receive a letter before claim giving you 30 days to respond.
They have added a fake amount and that is easily dealt with, called abuse of process

ABUSE OF PROCESS
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6014081/abuse-of-process-district-judge-tells-bwlegal/p1

wolfycat786

Hi Beamerguy,

Thanks for your response. Have made the adjustments suggested. I have also advised the keeper to submit an SAR and should have it done within the next hour or so. Appreciate your advice.

is it still considered an abuse of process if the amount escalated before being handed to collections for late payment?

Redx

its abuse of process if it ever goes higher than the amount on the pcn and on the sign, usually £100 or less , so anything over is AOP , the BEAVIS case also referred to this, although his pcn and sign was £85

wolfycat786

Hi Redx,

Understood. It definitely seems like AOP. The keeper will take a look at the sign tomorrow to see what the amount on the sign is for his reference.

Where can one find the contact for the land owner/managing agent for the car park? Simple Google?

Redx

try google , the council to see who pays the NDR , lastly , the Land Registry

although you have amended post #1 to say UK, it still doesnt answer the question regarding country, but the replies are assuming its England & Wales

wolfycat786

Understood, will do and will update here should anything change. Many thanks. 

beamerguy

As Redx says, he knows what he is talking about, trust him

wolfycat786

Just updating this post.

Today the keeper received another letter, this time for DCBL and they're wanting £170. Hadn't heard anything about this since before the COVID lockdown and thought that was the end of it.

From what I've read this is still a debt collectors, masquerading as something more. The bottom of the letter talks about "recommending to our client to take legal action against you" and the reverse says "this case is not subject to high court of legal action".

Safe to say ignore? Should keeper submit a SAR to DCBL too? Thank you all for what you do. 

Umkomaas

Safe to ignore, but I suspect you're not far away from a formal claim fronted by DCB Legal (as opposed to 'Limited', who are currently writing to you). 

But as you're getting a lot closer to the business end of all this, please don't go as far away from the forum as you seem to have done since March. The landscape has and is changing. Read these two salutary tales - the later posts from the past couple of days in each:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5954286/please-help-county-court-notice-from-vehicle-control-services/p5

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5848936/liverpool-business-park-pcn#latest