DCBL notice of debt recovery - unpaid parking charge

supernurse123

Hi guys, I'm new to here so please go easy on me

Ive tried my best to have a little look through the newbies threads and other posts but i can't quite figure out what i need to do next in regards to my situation... 

So basically i am a nurse, and in my old trust, the car park was managed by a group called CP Plus Ltd. Cut a long story short, back in 2018 i received 3 x parking charges - 2 for not displaying a valid permit and 1 for parking on double yellows (there were no spaces available). All were on a night shift therefore were given at early hours of the morning, just before my shift finished. 

As the fines were from a private firm I read some threads on here at the time which I'm pretty sure said to just ignore them, which i have done, however, problem is now it is 2 and a bit years down the road i have received 3x 'notice of debt recovery - unpaid parking charge of £120' equalling £360. I no longer own the car and have since moved from that address (letters are being sent to my mums luckily therefore i can access them), another thing is that the name of the letters although clearly written and addressed to me, is spelt incorrectly.

It states all the usual 'you have unpaid parking charges and DCBL have been instructed by our client to collect the outstanding balance.' 'You now have 14 days from the date of this letter to pay the outstanding amount or call us to discuss payment. Failure to do so will result in us recommending to out client the commencing of legal action against you. 

Ideally i do not want to pay these scammers and 360 is a lot of money to me. I am also concerned that as i no longer live at the address they would end up banging on my mums door, however as far as im aware (from don't pay take it away) you have to have a CCJ or high court order for DCBL to start banging on the door demanding payment or goods - if i am correct?

Could this escalate to this if not paid? 

I am looking to buy a house next year and don't want this to affect my credit rating. 

Please any advice would be amazing if someone could please be patient enough to help me or offer any advice on what my rights are and what steps i can take next to avoid paying them.

Kindest regards

DK

pogofish

Post four of the Newbies Sticky covers this shower completely. Read it well, there is nothing more to be said!

supernurse123

can you please post the link for me, im having great difficulty trying to navigate my way around here. 

TIA

KeithP

The fourth post of the NEWBIES thread.

Le_Kirk

darcikelly said:

can you please post the link for me, im having great difficulty trying to navigate my way around here. 

You will see that @KeithP has posted a link for you but are you trying to navigate your way round the forum on a phone?  Some functionality of the forum is lost unless on a laptop or PC. 

Coupon-mad

If these letters are going to the wrong address you need to tell DCBLegal and CP Plus the right address.

 however as far as im aware (from don't pay take it away) you have to have a CCJ or high court order for DCBL to start banging on the door demanding payment or goods - if i am correct?

You are right.

Could this escalate to this if not paid?

Nope.  There is no CCJ from fighting and defending a scam court claim from a parking firm, not even if you lost (and you wouldn't pay the added fake 'damages' because they've made that bit up and exaggerated the sum).  Even if you lost at a hearing - unlikely - you'd pay less than they are demanding now and would have no CCJ after paying straight away if the Judge found against you.

IMHO your only worry is where the letters are going to.  So, will Mum cope with a court claim arriving?  No-one will knock on her door but we need to know Mum WON'T 'helpfully' pay it off in the panic of seeing a court claim form.  If so, and if you are not able to open your post every week, you MUST give your proper address for service to DCBL and CP plus immediately.

You won't lose and you won't pay this.

Send them this sort of reply, changing 'QDR' to 'DCBL' and add in the fact that you are a nurse and are about to go to the national press and to Piers Morgan to publicise your case unless CP Plus cease and desist:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/77169859#Comment_77169859

Also add your new address and tell them to erase (use that word) the old one, and send a copy to CP Plus.

Show us your draft first. Copy that style and just add the stuff I suggested.

supernurse123

Coupon-mad said:

If these letters are going to the wrong address you need to tell DCBLegal and CP Plus the right address.

 however as far as im aware (from don't pay take it away) you have to have a CCJ or high court order for DCBL to start banging on the door demanding payment or goods - if i am correct?

You are right.

Could this escalate to this if not paid?

Nope.  There is no CCJ from fighting and defending a scam court claim from a parking firm, not even if you lost (and you wouldn't pay the added fake 'damages' because they've made that bit up and exaggerated the sum).  Even if you lost at a hearing - unlikely - you'd pay less than they are demanding now and would have no CCJ after paying straight away if the Judge found against you.

IMHO your only worry is where the letters are going to.  So, will Mum cope with a court claim arriving?  No-one will knock on her door but we need to know Mum WON'T 'helpfully' pay it off in the panic of seeing a court claim form.  If so, and if you are not able to open your post every week, you MUST give your proper address for service to DCBL and CP plus immediately.

You won't lose and you won't pay this.

Send them this sort of reply, changing 'QDR' to 'DCBL' and add in the fact that you are a nurse and are about to go to the national press and to Piers Morgan to publicise your case unless CP Plus cease and desist:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/77169859#Comment_77169859

Also add your new address and tell them to erase (use that word) the old one, and send a copy to CP Plus.

Show us your draft first. Copy that style and just add the stuff I suggested.

Thank you so much for your helpful response coupon-mad!! Very much appreciated.

I am just writing up a draft now and have changed QDR to DCBL as suggested.

At the end of the letter it states this;
(explain the other points of defence without saying who was driving...unless you already blew that earlier...no saying ''I'' or ''me'' about the parking or signs!). 
-As i have no appealed i have not informed who was driving although i am the registered keeper. I am not entirely sure what to write in here, as i stated before they were for different offences.

I am sorry to be such a newbie and all of this is very new to me but i am learning slowly thanks to yourselves on this forum. 

Shall i post my draft on here or do you have an email i can send to to check prior to sending? 

TIA 

Coupon-mad

These are not 'offences'.  Don't us that word, nor 'contravention' or anything like that.

State at the end the stuff about Piers Morgan and that you are a nurse who is about to take this clear example of parking firm harassment, to the national press.  Show us on here what you plan to send.

BrownTrout

DCBL will refuse to change the address. Get group nexus /cp plus to do and get them to instruct dcbl to do it 

Coupon-mad

That's true.  Send it to both.  CP Plus will have to change the address and erase the old one.

supernurse123

Dear Sirs at CP Plus and DCBL, 

re Civil Enforcement PCN ref *********, ********* and **********

 

Firstly I would like to ensure that any correspondence from these matters is sent to my current address set out below and if you could erase the previous address and subsequently inform CP Plus of my current address also.

 

Address 

I am writing to you as I have received your 3x letters dated 10/7/2020 and I now intend to report DCBL to the Credit Service Association ('CSA') and Solicitors Regulation Authority ('SRA').  Parking firm robo-claim solicitors are reportedly being investigated this year by the SRA and it is my position, even at pre-litigation stage, that DCBL should be one of them.

 

Breach of debt collection rules - complaint to the CSA and SRA about DCBL

Re: 
(a) The Credit Service Association (CSA) Code of Practice ('the CSA CoP'):

and
(b) the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) Consumer Credit sourcebook (May 2020 source 50):

Both include mandatory rules and principles which QDR has breached with your letters.  Even when acting in pursuit of an alleged debt, you are bound by your duties as a firm of solicitors, and your conduct puts you in breach of the StaRs (the standards required by the Solicitors Regulation Authority).

It is noted that your letters say that you are members of the CSA  - who are in turn regulated by the FCA - therefore it is my position that your conduct is bound by the CSA CoP and/or the FCA Sourcebook rules.  By listing alarmist outcomes yet not making it clear that your clients can't just ''look to obtain'' a CCJ, DCBL is acting in terrorem of consumers and has breached the basic 'clear fair and not misleading' FCA rule and their general requirements, including:

"A firm must not ignore or disregard a customer's claim that a debt is disputed and must not continue to make demands for payment without providing clear justification and/or evidence as to why the customer's claim is not valid." 7.5.3

"A firm must suspend any steps it takes or its agent takes in the recovery of a debt from a customer where the customer disputes the debt on valid grounds or what may be valid grounds." 7.14.1

CSA members must comply with the rules and principles, including dealing properly with complaints and disputes and not not using wording which could be considered as aggressive, threatening or misleading.  Stating that your client will ''look to obtain'' a CCJ is ridiculously misleading, but then you follow that sentence with a list of four horrific and damaging actions, none of which can happen without a claim being filed using the small claims track, your client first winning at a hearing (because I will defend), and then the Defendant still not paying after judgment.  Clearly none of that is true or likely and cannot be ''obtained'' just like that.

Your letter breaches all standards by which DCBL is bound.  Further, you and your client are in breach of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 by your/their abuse of process by adding unrecoverable sums to the 'parking charge' in a clear attempt at double recovery.  

Who has added the extra costs, DCBL or Civil Enforcement?  What is it for (breakdown and explanation required).  Secondly, what does the £120 per fine represent (breakdown required)?

The alleged debt is disputed and denied and the reasons are as follows:

1.  Civil Enforcement cannot hold a registered keeper liable due to their choice not to use the POFA 2012.  On what basis then, are your clients attempting to drag me to court after all this time, with no evidence, no liability and no cause of action?

2. As the registered keeper of the vehicle at the time but not the driver  …. (unsure what to put here, please help coupon-mad or anyone else)

 Additionally, in response of receiving these letters during a global pandemic; as a nurse I am preparing to go to the national press and also Piers Morgan to publicise these cases unless CP Plus cease and desist with their harassment. 

 

Yours faithfully

 My Name

Sorry if its really rubbish but how does that sound?

This page won't let me include the hyperlinks so I've had to remove them fo the basis of this post. 

Is there anything else i should put in?

I plan to email this to both CP plus and DCBL or should i post? - email will get there quicker i was thinking. 

Also, my work colleagues from old trust were saying how they had received lots of these letters in recent days, some dating back to 2014 and some totalling over £1000. Cannot believe these b******s!!

TIA x