DCBL letters ..... forum group thread

milkybk

D_P_Dance said:

It is very likely that this is connected to the 2017 incident.  imo. 

Have you complained to your MP and allso to the company broadcasting the TV programme.  which shows their employees, including one with a criminal record, in such a good light?

I haven't yet no, I only received the letter last night. I have no issue in doing so though, happy to do what's required. My main concern was the fact they're stating CCJ, as regardless of the tickets validity etc, a CCJ would be quite a nuisance given I want to buy a house etc in the near future.

The main reason I thought it was about that previous ticket, was the address shown on the Trust Online log was for my old Sheffield address. That old ticket/thread from Excel would have been at that address I believe.

Umkomaas

Hi, thought I'd post in this thread in case starting my own is unnecessary  - I received a letter from DCBL LTD last night, claiming I have a CCJ against my name for money owed to "Excel Parking Services Limited".

As this is well beyond the bog-standard debt collector letter for an unpaid standard PCN, I would start a new thread, otherwise your post on this group thread will be swamped by others coming for basic advice. 

As you seem to have a court reference number, I'd call the Northampton CCBC to get to the bottom of the charge. You can't leave this unattended. 

milkybk

Umkomaas said:

Hi, thought I'd post in this thread in case starting my own is unnecessary  - I received a letter from DCBL LTD last night, claiming I have a CCJ against my name for money owed to "Excel Parking Services Limited".

As this is well beyond the bog-standard debt collector letter for an unpaid standard PCN, I would start a new thread, otherwise your post on this group thread will be swamped by others coming for basic advice. 

As you seem to have a court reference number, I'd call the Northampton CCBC to get to the bottom of the charge. You can't leave this unattended. 

Hi - okay thank you. I've started my own thread here - link

Ok will do. The court reference number would be the claimed CCJ reference number (or the DCBL case number)? Should I be contacting the Sheffield CCBC, as that's where it appears this ticket was issued?

Umkomaas

milkybk said:

Umkomaas said:

Hi, thought I'd post in this thread in case starting my own is unnecessary  - I received a letter from DCBL LTD last night, claiming I have a CCJ against my name for money owed to "Excel Parking Services Limited".

As this is well beyond the bog-standard debt collector letter for an unpaid standard PCN, I would start a new thread, otherwise your post on this group thread will be swamped by others coming for basic advice. 

As you seem to have a court reference number, I'd call the Northampton CCBC to get to the bottom of the charge. You can't leave this unattended. 

Hi - okay thank you. I've started my own thread here - link

Ok will do. The court reference number would be the claimed CCJ reference number (or the DCBL case number)? Should I be contacting the Sheffield CCBC, as that's where it appears this ticket was issued?

Yep, that's your number to use. 

No, not Sheffield, there's no County Court Business Centre (national admin centre for the distribution of county court claims) there. The CCBC is based in Northampton, so please contact them. 

Do note that should you apply for a set aside (I've given advice on that in your new thread, thank you for setting that up) the hearing will be based at your nearest county court - albeit that most hearings these days are conducted via telephone or video link. 

milkybk

Umkomaas said:

milkybk said:

Umkomaas said:

Hi, thought I'd post in this thread in case starting my own is unnecessary  - I received a letter from DCBL LTD last night, claiming I have a CCJ against my name for money owed to "Excel Parking Services Limited".

As this is well beyond the bog-standard debt collector letter for an unpaid standard PCN, I would start a new thread, otherwise your post on this group thread will be swamped by others coming for basic advice. 

As you seem to have a court reference number, I'd call the Northampton CCBC to get to the bottom of the charge. You can't leave this unattended. 

Hi - okay thank you. I've started my own thread here - link

Ok will do. The court reference number would be the claimed CCJ reference number (or the DCBL case number)? Should I be contacting the Sheffield CCBC, as that's where it appears this ticket was issued?

Yep, that's your number to use. 

No, not Sheffield, there's no County Court Business Centre (national admin centre for the distribution of county court claims) there. The CCBC is based in Northampton, so please contact them. 

Do note that should you apply for a set aside (I've given advice on that in your new thread, thank you for setting that up) the hearing will be based at your nearest county court - albeit that most hearings these days are conducted via telephone or video link. 

Okay thank you. I'll contact them on my lunch break.

Throwaway1984

Hi all, 

Looking for a bit of advice concerning my next steps with regards to PCNs I received 2.5 years ago. I've followed the NEWBIES advice and not sure where to go from here (didn't want to start a new thread as I haven't received a 30-day letter before court, yet). 

On 14 June 2021 I received 3 letters from DCB ltd stating I had 3 outstanding PCNs with Parkingeye from 3 separate dates in the same week, January 2019. This was the first I had heard of these PCNs. There were no derails about the PCNs other than dates, amount and PCN number. 

The car park in question has a 3hr time limit and is a retail park. I use it when I have classes held at the gym in the retail park (and occasionally to use other shops there, but never at the same time). These are 1.5 - 2hrs in length. Allowing for me arriving 15mins early (as I usually do) and then a bit of chat after, I can see my self being there for maybe 2hr45 but not 3hrs.

Each charge is for £170 (total of £510). Upon receiving the letters from DCB ltd I immediately went to the car park to check and take photographs of the parking signage there. A charge of £100 is stated. In the small print is does say ''.. remains unpaid after 28 days, recovery charges in respect of further action may apply.'' I'm not sure how enforceable these extra charges are? and I feel an additional £70 per charge is outrageous.

Following the advice on the NEWBIES thread, I ignored the letters from DCB ltd and sent an email to enforcement@parkingeye.co.uk on 21 June asking for them to re-issue the PCNs as this is the first I had been made aware of them. I explained the circumstances at the time - I had recently moved (full disclosure, I don't think I had updated my V5C as until now I have only used them when buying/selling a car and it wasn't even on my radar to update the address on it. I had updated my driving licence and passport, the V5C didn't even occur to me). Additionally, I changed vehicle 4 days after the final PCN (changing the V5C over to the dealership). I also stated that the fine at the car park was £100 and to increase it is abusing the consumer rights act 2015. 

I also submitted an SAR (on 19th June) through the Parkingeye privacy page asking for: all communications, all outstanding PCNs and all evidence relating to outstanding PCNs including photos, time of exit and entry and the parking contract at the time of issue. 

After getting no response, on the 28th June I sent the SAR and email via post to parking eye head office in Lancashire (not their appeals address, as I am not appealing, I'm looking for legitimacy of the PCNs and inflated charges). 

Later in the day on 28th June I received 3 emails from no-reply@parkingeye.net, one for each PCN. Each stated that the case had been referred to their debt recovery agents and to direct all further communications to them. They had forwarded my email on. They also gave me the time of the PCNs - 1007pm, 1040pm and 113am. This struck me as I can maybe see the 1007pm happening (that would be a stay of 3hrs22 maximum). But certainly not 1040pm and 113am! There's no way I would have stayed there 6hrs30!

Now I am unsure how to proceed? I'm awaiting the SAR response (giving them 30days from 19th June then reporting them to the ICO if they don't respond?). 

The land is owned by a management company, is it this company I write to to have the parking charges cancelled? I'm unsure how to word that letter, as I use the shops/facilities at the retail park so I'm not their direct customer?

If the charges were £100 I would probably pay (not that I can afford it or think I overstayed), however it is the stated fine and it was so long ago and work is incredibly busy and time-consuming at the moment. 

Any advice and guidance would be much appreciated! 
Thank you!

Coupon-mad

Wait for the SAR but as it's ParkingEye, if they were going to sue you they probably would have done by now.  They have their own litigation team as you know from the email.  What's they've done for the first time in 2020/21 is farm some old cases out to DCB Ltd to see if they can scare some victims into paying £170 a pop.  Ignore DCB Ltd.

The land is owned by a management company, is it this company I write to to have the parking charges cancelled? I'm unsure how to word that letter, 

Yes, whilst waiting for that SAR, (i.e. NOW) email them and tell them:

 I use the shops/facilities at the retail park for quick and regular visits, but would never have stayed for over six hours, but ParkingEye are not listening to me. This must be a case of two visits within a 24 hr period, counted as one.  I am not sure if you know this but it is a recognised flaw of ANPR systems that even the British Parking Association warn their members forms (including ParkingEye) to check for:

https://www.britishparking.co.uk/ANPR

BPA: "As with all new technology, there are issues associated with its use:

a)    Repeat users of a car park inside a 24 hour period sometimes find that their first entry is paired with their last exit, resulting in an ‘overstay’. Operators are becoming aware of this and should now be checking all ANPR transactions to ensure that this does not occur.

b)    Some ‘drive in/drive out’ motorists that have activated the system receive a charge certificate even though they have not parked or taken a ticket. Reputable operators tend not to uphold charge certificates issued in this manner..."

I am aware from my panicked online research, that ParkingEye always supply their clients with a 'User Manual' which allows immediate cancellation by email at any stage before court action, and this is indeed before any court action and ParkingEye incurred no extra costs because I didn't know about the charges as they went to my old address, and so I couldn't use the appeals service at the time.   Yet ParkingEye have told me they won't listen to my situation because the file is with a debt collector firm (who are certainly not a company worth appealing to) so I am stuck with no-one listening to me.

Please restore my faith in using this retail park and email ParkingEye to cancel the PCNs.  Due to the horrific nature of the debt collector letters (that I know have cost ParkingEAye nothing) I am very stressed indeed and at my wits' end.

Throwaway1984

Coupon-mad said:

Yes, whilst waiting for that SAR, (i.e. NOW) email them and tell them:

 I use the shops/facilities at the retail park for quick and regular visits, but would never have stayed for over six hours, but ParkingEye are not listening to me. This must be a case of two visits within a 24 hr period, counted as one.  I am not sure if you know this but it is a recognised flaw of ANPR systems that even the British Parking Association warn their members forms (including ParkingEye) to check for:

BPA: "As with all new technology, there are issues associated with its use:

a)    Repeat users of a car park inside a 24 hour period sometimes find that their first entry is paired with their last exit, resulting in an ‘overstay’. Operators are becoming aware of this and should now be checking all ANPR transactions to ensure that this does not occur.

b)    Some ‘drive in/drive out’ motorists that have activated the system receive a charge certificate even though they have not parked or taken a ticket. Reputable operators tend not to uphold charge certificates issued in this manner..."

I am aware from my panicked online research, that ParkingEye always supply their clients with a 'User Manual' which allows immediate cancellation by email at any stage before court action, and this is indeed before any court action and ParkingEye incurred no extra costs because I didn't know about the charges as they went to my old address, and so I couldn't use the appeals service at the time.   Yet ParkingEye have told me they won't listen to my situation because the file is with a debt collector firm (who are certainly not a company worth appealing to) so I am stuck with no-one listening to me.

Please restore my faith in using this retail park and email ParkingEye to cancel the PCNs.  Due to the horrific nature of the debt collector letters (that I know have cost ParkingEAye nothing) I am very stressed indeed and at my wits' end.

Brilliant! Thank you so much! I'll get right on that! I'll update you all if/when I get a response!

Slight111

Hi all,

I'm sure this is basic info and already covered but I do want to check as I've got a final demand from the off.  I've read newbies and a lot of these posts and I know not to be worried about these letters and not to contact DCBLtd.

This is the first I've heard of this and it's a final demand... no 14 day or 30 day noted and no chance to appeal (the back page is just 'ways to pay').  It also doesnt even say what the alleged contravention is.

Do I...
a)  ignore completely
b)  request a copy of the original PCN from parkingeye for some kind of information
c)  send an SAR(?) to parkingeye
d)  find out who owns the land and speak to them and request they get it cancelled for some reason or another (I guess I'll need more info for this?)

Thanks in advance 😊

Coupon-mad

Until the letter comes from DCBLegal, it is not a Letter before Claim. 

You will not get letters from DCBLegal because your PPC is ParkingEye.

Letters from DCB Ltd can be ignored (except for those victims who have ignored a court claim and managed to get a CCJ).  Also, as you say your PCN was from ParkingEye, if they were going to sue you they would have done because they have an in-house legal team. 

ParkingEye have farmed out some old case data from unlitigated cases to get DCB Ltd to try to gouge money from people over the pandemic year.  And DCB Ltd have added a false bounty of £70 on top, if they get lucky enough to find an idiot to pay them.

Do these things, though, and complain to the actual retailer if it was one (or PALS if it was a Hospital):

c)  send an SAR(?) to parkingeye
d)  find out who owns the land and speak to them and request they get it cancelled for some reason or another (I guess I'll need more info for this?)