DCBL letters ..... forum group thread

patient_dream

kiss_me_now9 said:

Am I likely to get a letter on Christmas eve saying they're taking me to court? If so what kind of time frame is a court date likely to be set? Do public holidays get disregarded in terms of setting dates? 

Very doubtful.   If you did, it will now take months before going to court. The way DCBL operate with very dodgy claims and fakery, they will fail anyway.

Public holidays like xmas cannot count

Featherflick

I received a parking ticket in October 2017 for parking in a disabled bay without displaying a Blue Badge (which was applied for but not received yet!). I have now had a Blue Badge since early 2018. We were going to see a film at an Odeon cinema, raining, 8.30pm and 9 out of the 10 disabled bays were still empty after my partner parked the car. I claim PIP as have one leg 3/4” shorter than the other and can only walk with my stick a short way, following total knee replacement surgery. 

Rightly or wrongly I took a picture of the sign in the car park which is currently still displayed in the non-fee paying car park, privately owned. 

I ignored the various letters over 6-9 months as they said if the owner was out of pocket (or not so many words) I should pay immediately. As it’s not a paying car park, and it was 8.30pm and virtually empty,,and the ticket was issued 2 mins after we left the car! Everything has been quiet for almost 4 years. I recently received a Letter Before Claim and was surprised to see the debt has been sold on and I have now received a Claim Form which I shall try and attach the sum and wording with what looks like a County Court photocopy, stating it was a private car park owned by the Claimant UK Parking Control Limited, Coventry, and that I had AGREED TO PAY WITHIN 28 DAYS BUT DID NOT! I have never even contacted anyone in response to the fine. If I was stopping other disabled drivers from parking I’d feel bad but it was wet, cold October night and the said 9 car parking disabled bays were STILL EMPTY when we left about 1.5 hours later around 10pm. I needed to park nearer the entrance as the next parking bays are quite a walk away. It says despite requests, the PCN is outstanding and the Contract (??) entitles the Claim to damages! £160 plus interest rate of 7% p.a. Pursuant to s.69 if the County Courts Act 1984 at a daily  rate of £0.02 until judgement or sooner payment. Costs and court fees. Total £305.00!!
This includes £220 amount claimed. Court fee £35.00, Legal Representative’s costs £50.00, total £305.00.
The address for sending documents and payments is: DCB LEGAL
LIMITED, Direct House, Greenwood Drive, RUNCORN WA7 1UG.
should I contact them as I have never responded since the ticket was issued beginning of October 2017?? 

Apologies for long thread but I cannot afford this out of my Low rate P.I.P. especially if it’s a scam.
any help gratefully received as it seems formal, but after reading letters on this forum, I think it’s a scam?? 

Le_Kirk

As you have received a claim form (N1) you need to refer to the NEWBIE sticky where you will find links to "how to submit the AoS" and "how to create a defence"

patient_dream

For those with DCBL claims, a must to read

VCS Caught Issuing PCNs on Public Highway - Hit For £1,000 Counterclaim

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6308128/vcs-caught-issuing-pcns-on-public-highway-hit-for-1-000-counterclaim/p1

IF THIS IS A UKPC CLAIM
You need to understand this. UKPC are just one of the un-professional operators in the BPA.
UKPC were caught attempting to defraud motorists by doctoring timestamps on photos

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-35253759

In the recent government select committee which you can read about here ....
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6313148/select-committee-oral-evidence-today-re-the-parking-code-of-practice-act/p1

,,,,,, this was about the new code of practice.  The CEO of Parking Eye made this comment ...

"leaving landowners in the hands of less scrupulous operators"

I'm certain his reference pointed to companies like UKPC ??

Real legal firms would not touch these daft claims with a bargepole ...... And that brings me to DCBL ?

DCBL have added a fake £60 claiming it is debt collector charges ?  Where do they get this hair brain idea from ?  THIS IS WHERE .... It's from the BPA code of practice that was in force at the time of the ticket.  This was the work of dreamers in a very feeble attempt to increase profits ........ Here is the bod that invented the scam who also happens to be on the board of the BPA.  There is no legal authority to add the fake ... and it is a fake

https://parkmaven.com/news/gary-osner-zzps-interview

The previous code of practice by he BPA never mentioned adding debt recovery charges. In such cases, DCBL have a name change from debt recovery to damages. Such a blantant futile scam ?  In most cases, the judge will dismiss the fake charge and dismiss the interest added

You have 30 days from the date of the letter before claim. You must reply.

1: You deny any debt
2: You require their legal authority to add £60 or £70
3: Under PAP (Pre Action Protocol) you are entitled to advise DCBL that you are taking debt advice and therefore you require a further 30 days. It's the law, DCBL must comply

This gives you 60 days to prepare your defence (if it actually goes to court)

CONSIDER THIS: ... 
Tickets issued in 2018 are covered by the BPA code of practice in force at the time. This version told parking companies to add a fake £60 for debt recovery as a pretence to increase profits.  

DCBL claims on tickets dated 2018 to the current date claim "debt recovery" ...... the BPA rubbish 

2017 tickets and those prior are covered by the code of practice in force at the time.  There was no mention of debt collection charges

Because DCBL cannot add debt collection on tickets of 2017, they invented a new word .... DAMAGES

If your case goes to court, this must be pointed out to the judge.

PLUS what ever stage you are at, complain to your MP and ask them to write to DCBL for a full explanation.  If DCBL ignore your MP, ask them to issue a complaint to the SRA

KeithP

@Featherflick, now you are at the 'business end' of the process, it is best that you start your own thread.
Trying to deal with several court claims in one thread can only lead to confusion.
When starting your new thread, please tell us the Issue Date on your County Court Claim Form.

Coupon-mad

But please don't post or start thinking the defence should state that you didn't 'agree' to pay (please don't...we get so jaded every other day with this - poster after poster reading that standard guff and thinking it means something it doesn't).

You should NEVER EVER have ignored this PCN or the LBC and I have no idea why you didn't just prove your disability need, in response to the PCN and/or get the retailer to cancel it ages ago.

Then at LBC stage why no response, why not tell them you met the definition of disability?  Makes no sense. They have no idea that you had a legal right to a reasonable adjustment because you never responded.  Makes your case harder to win now.

patient_dream

WHAT A JUDGETHINKS ABOUT A DCBL CLAIM AND WHY THEY LOST

7 January at 4:15PM  7 January at 4:40PM

DCBL letters ..... forum group thread

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6203697/db-legal-premier-parking-logistics/p8

DDJ Mitchell.
Telford court 
claim number  H0KF2228

As it's a county court, there is no precedence set but the points made by DDJ Mitchell.could be very persuasive for another judge

PS: This is applicable to any claim from the private parking industry

D_P_Dance

total £305.00.

They have added what appears to be an extra unlawful amount for debt collection.

This amounts to double recovery and Judges all over the country are dismissing these spurious additions. Indeed some judges have dismissed entire claims because of this. Read this and complain to Trading Standards and your MP,

Excel v Wilkinson

At the Bradford County Court, District Judge Claire Jackson (now HHJ Jackson, a Specialist Civil Circuit Judge) decided to hear a 'test case' a few months ago, where £60 had been added to a parking charge despite Judges up and down the country repeatedly disallowing that sum and warning parking firms not to waste court time with such spurious claims.   That case was Excel v Wilkinson: G4QZ465V, heard in July 2020 and leave to appeal was refused and that route was not pursued.  The Judge concluded that such claims are proceedings with 'an improper collateral purpose'.   This Judge - and others who have since copied her words and struck dozens of cases out in late 2020 and into 2021 - went into significant detail and concluded that parking operators (such as this Claimant) are seeking to circumvent CPR 27.14 as well as breaching the Consumer Rights Act 2015.   DJ Hickinbottom has recently struck more cases out in that court area, stating: ''I find that striking out this claim is the only appropriate manner in which the disapproval of the court can be shown''.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/16qovzulab1szem/G4QZ465V%20Excel%20v%20Wilkinson.pdf?dl=0

However, VCS appealed this so it may not apply in all cases, read this

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ntksx9g7177ahyg/VCS v Percy v1 Amendments (2).pdf?dl=0Also read this

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6279348/witness-statements-2-transcripts-re-parking-firms-false-costs-recorder-cohen-qc-judgment-2021/p1

Also consider complaining to The SRA about the solicitor, if one is involved They are fully aware of the unlawful nature of most of thse additions yet persist in adding them..

https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/

seesumn

Hello,
I am hoping someone can help me.

I have received a letter from DCBL (LTD NOT LEGAL)

With the 14 day warning.

I have an unpaid county court judgement for a parking fine given to me falsely that I am unable to provide evidence for as it was so long ago (2016)

Should I pay or not?

Coupon-mad

Are DCBLtd talking about that CCJ? If so then they are acting as bailiffs and you can't ignore the letter and will have to either pay in instalments of get a SAR from the parking firm and urgently apply to set the CCJ aside.

is the CCJ from 2016 or the parking event?

Which PPC?