Highview Parking - Spurious Notice of Debt Recovery

MuttleyJack

My wife has today received two Notice of Debt Recovery letters off Direct Collection Bailiffs Ltd on behalf of Highview Parking Ltd stating that my wife has two unpaid parking charges in the sum of £140 each. No parking charge notice was placed on my wife's car whilst parked at the particular tesco store and she has never received a parking charge notice off Highview - note that they state that the dates of the alleged "contraventions" were 02/04/2016 and 21/05/2016 - over four years ago! I've looked at some of the template letters but they all appear to suggest that they are for people who have actually received a parking charge notice. My main query is in regard to the validity of the Notice of Debt recovery letters given that they relate to dates so long in the past i.e. do they have a right to pursue these? If not then I'll just phone them to tell them that I have no intention of paying. Otherwise, I'll simply refute the claim and the amounts using the template letters. I'd appreciate any advice. Thanks

KeithP

As the fourth post in the NEWBIES thread advises, you can ignore debt collectors letters.
Certainly do not ring them. They will trick you into saying something you will later regret.

The parking company has up to six years to chase this alleged debt.

Redx

Yes , Highview have 6 years to pursue them and it's been that way in England and Wales since 1973

Tell the recipient to send a SAR to Highview to their DPO attaching 2 recent redacted utility bills as proof of I D under the GDPR

Dcbl are currently acting as debt collectors , not bailiffs (no court orders) , that may change in the future

Ps , there are loads of recent threads about this , read a few and follow the advice

Do NOT phone them , that is foolish and won't help at all, this will not be resolved by phone calls and you are not even the defendant , this has nothing to do with you , although you can assist her

MuttleyJack

KeithP said:

As the fourth post in the NEWBIES thread advises, you can ignore debt collectors letters.
Certainly do not ring them. They will trick you into saying something you will later regret.

The parking company has up to six years to chase this alleged debt.

Thanks but there's been no contact with Highview - the letters off DCBL are the first contact in this regard - there have never been any PCNs off Highview. I won't phone DCBL but do we just ignore this as Highview have never contacted and therefore we do not have contact details for them?

beamerguy

Highview of late have been TRYING to collect old tickets using DCBL. Forget the word bailiff, if you turn over the letter it will say "not subject to bailiff action"

DCBL are simply timewasters  and huff and puff like an old desperate peacock.  they also add fake amounts which are unlawful and that is a big downfall for them ...... fools ? yes .. stupid? yes
IGNORE SUCH UNWORTHY PEOPLE

There was a time that by writing to the CEO of Tesco, it would be cancelled but now, Tesco just refer back to Highview ........ proving that Tesco hate their customers and everyone with any sense should shop elsewhere

So you can either ignore DCBL as they are powerless in their feeble attempt and send a SAR to Highview requesting the info you never received. A SAR means by law they must reply. Provide proof of who you are with a copy of your V5

As DCBL has added fake amounts, this is now subject to ABUSE OF PROCESS and the courts are striking out fake claims

ABUSE OF PROCESS
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6014081/abuse-of-process-district-judge-tells-bwlegal/p1?new=1

If DCBL sends you a LETTER BEFORE CLAIM giving you 30 days to respond and proof of their claim, come back here and we will assist you to zap them.   DCBL = FAKERY

Redx

Check the V5C then , because Highview sent the letters to the registered keeper address held by the DVLA

Hence why you email a SAR to Highview , to their DPO, the email address is on their website, as all companies have a privacy page and a DPO contact since 2018 when the GDPR came in

Umkomaas

HV have handed over their catalogue of old unpaid parking charges to DCBL. You're now on a conveyor belt likely to move towards a court claim. But until you get to a Letter of Claim (you're not there yet from what you tell us) or a court claim via the Northampton CCBC, you should ignore anything else. Come back on this thread if you receive either. 

Do some contingency planning by reading the NEWBIES FAQ sticky, second post, so you know what might come your way in due course and avoid having to post frantically, 'help, help, I've got a LoC'! 

MuttleyJack

Thanks for all the comments, they're much appreciated. My main point though is that my wife never received a PCN off Highview (either in the form of a ticket on her windscreen or a letter) - surely there is a time limit for this. The DCBL letters state that the alleged "contraventions" occurred over four years ago.

Redx

they dont issue windscreen tickets, they are ANPR captures and posted to the RK address listed at the DVLA, that is how it works

no windscreen ticket at all

remote capture by cameras

postal notices to the address listed on the log book at the time of the incident

not receiving letters is usually because the keeper hasnt updated their log book after moving house, up to £1000 fine by the DVLA for not doing so, same again for the driving licence

please check the facts, especially now they have been pointed out, thank you

the time limit for court action is 6 years, its only been 4 years

there is no time limit to chase an alleged debt, none at all

KeithP

As I said earlier:

The parking company has up to six years to chase this alleged debt.

Perhaps I should qualify that.

A parking company can allege that you (or your wife) have a debt and and that you owe them money for ever more.

However, they can only chase that debt through the courts for up to six years.

Look at it this way... if I owed you money would you give up chasing me?

This is an entirely unregulated industry.

As Redx says, check that the address of the Registered Keeper on the vehicle's Registration Document (V5c) is correct. Please check, don't guess.

MuttleyJack

KeithP said:

As I said earlier:

The parking company has up to six years to chase this alleged debt.

Perhaps I should qualify that.

A parking company can allege that you (or your wife) have a debt and and that you owe them money for ever more.

However, they can only chase that debt through the courts for up to six years.

Look at it this way... if I owed you money would you give up chasing me?

This is an entirely unregulated industry.

As Redx says, check that the address of the Registered Keeper on the vehicle's Registration Document (V5c) is correct. Please check, don't guess.

Thanks , she no longer has the car or, hence, the V5C but the address was definitely correct as we are at the same address as when the car was bought. As I said, a PCN has never been received off Highview, only the Notice of Debt Recovery letters off DCBL received today - it's also bizarre that both of these should be received today for different dates of parking "contraventions".