Notice of debt recovery letter from DCBL

jadeberni

Hi, I am after some advice please. We received a notice of debt recovery from parking at a bingo site in 2016. We got the fine at the time and went into bingo and they said they would contact the parking company and quash it as they had evidence we were in the club. 4 years later we have suddenly had this letter from DCBL. We called citizens advice and they said to call the company and request a 30 day freeze which we did and am now unsure what to do. 

We had not heard anything for 4 years so assumed it had been cancelled

do we pay or just wait and see what happens next?

Le_Kirk

Do not pay!  Do not listen to CAB, whilst they are very good at what they do, most of them have no specific knowledge of parking issues.  The advice to put the claim on hold for 30 days is good advice if/when there is a claim, at the moment it is just a debt collector's begging latter.  The good news is you are now in the right place.  Go to the first page of the Parking forum where you will see the words NEWBIE read this first.  Click on that and read it.  You will need a cup of tea* and a plate of biscuits, it is not a quick read.

*Other hot drinks are available.

Umkomaas

You've missed a vital piece of information. Which parking firm?

beamerguy

DCBL have for a while been chasing up old parking tickets. It is assumed that because of Covid, the parking companies have little income, hence they are trying their luck
The problem they have is that DCBL add on an unlawful amount of £60/£70 which courts deem to be ABUSE OF PROCESS and the courts kick them out.

READ THIS
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6083869/dcbl-dcb-legal-attempting-abuse-of-process/p1

You will see a link to the ABUSE OF PROCESS thread.   Such fake claims are easily beaten with the help of this forum

wildflynn

Hi , I too am defending a similar case against DCB Legal and CP Plus https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6169261/dcb-legal-and-cp-plus-re-roadchef-service-stations/p1?new=1
They also forgot/failed to or added the wrong numberplate when I was working on their sites in 2014/15 and told me that they were voided, then popped up 4/5 years later with a summons. 
I'm looking for other cases to show in my defence that I suspect that they are deliberately waiting 4 or 5 years before pursuing people to add 8% per annum/per ticket which can amount to hundreds when they lump them together.
@beamerguy Thanks for the thread re abuse of process. I'll see if I can add that in my defence although I havent had a full breakdown of how they got to £1082 for 4 tickets. It was £662 before the interest, court fees and solicitors costs. 

Coupon-mad

I'm looking for other cases to show in my defence that I suspect that they are deliberately waiting 4 or 5 years before pursuing people to add 8% per annum/per ticket which can amount to hundreds when they lump them together.

This is minor, but a valid point. 

You simply mention it in defence in points #17 and #18 (using the forum template defence).

We called citizens advice

Oh dear. Hopeless.  I hope they will learn, when the new statutory CoP comes in.

Could all newbies please, please, please spare us, and just read the NEWBIES thread first, before replying?

D_P_Dance

Nine times out of ten these tickets are scams, so consider complaining to your MP., it can cause the scammer extra costs, and in some cases, cancellation. 

Parliament is well aware of the MO of these private parking companies, many of whom are former clampers, and on 15th March 2019 a Bill was enacted to curb the excesses of these shysters. Codes of Practice are being drawn up, an independent appeals service will be set up later this year,

Just as the clampers were finally closed down, so hopefully will many of these companies, persistent offenders denied access to the DVLA database and unable to operate.

Hopefully life will become impossible for the worst of these scammers, but until this is done you should still complain to your MP, citing the new legislation.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2019/8/contents/of these Private Parking Companies.

beamerguy

Thanks for the thread re abuse of process. I'll see if I can add that in my defence although I havent had a full breakdown of how they got to £1082 for 4 tickets. It was £662 before the interest, court fees and solicitors costs. 

Adding Abuse of process is VITAL 
DCBL are currently living in cloud cuckoo land if they think a court will allow £1082 FOR 4 TICKETS.  

Bear in mind that since the major spanking of BWLegal in Southampton and the continued spankings from an ever increasing number of courts. DCBL are playing with fire and at the moment they are in denial

SIMPLE FACT .... DCBL adding fake unlawful amounts, makes their claim unreliable and because it is unreliable, gives you the opportunity to ask for the claim to be struck out.

It is your job to show the court that DCBL practice abuse of process and what better way than to show what is happening in the courts