dcb legal (formal letter of claim) - they don't seem to be backing down!

Bobba86

I'm hoping for some advise and direction on this. should I pay the £140 fine or see it through, if I'm to see it through what more should I do. 
I received a parking fine by accidentally parking in an incorrect bay at my works car park, over 12 months ago.
In all honesty I ignored the parking fine, hoping it would go away - and didn't want to get into a back and forth with the claim but it looks like I'm going to have to fight my corner now.

DCB Legal - Letter of Claim
Last week I received a formal letter of claim from dcb legal stating payment within of £140 within 30 days..
Client: First Parking Up, Basis of Claim the vehicle was parked on private land owned or managed by our Client.

Emails to DCB Legal
using the forums I followed the guidance and emailed with 2 separate emails
1. asking what legitimacy and legal authority they had to add an additional £60 to the claim stating it was an abuse of process and referenced the BWLegal Claim (claim number F0DP77KP) - using a template from a forum post - thank you to whoever wrote them.

2. I also sent a subject access request

Responses from DCB Legal
They responded promptly to the legitimacy  and authority email, stating:
"
The above Parking Charge Notice was issued to you correctly due to the incorrect use of the bay. Please find attached photographic evidence taken from the day of event. The attached evidence confirms that parking is permitted for Approved Permit Holders only from bays 115-123. The vehicle was parked in bay 114 and as such, the Parking Charge was issued to you correctly.

The vehicle was parked in direct breach of the terms and conditions of the site on the day of event. When parking on private land, the contractual terms of the site are set out on the signs. You are entering a contract and agreeing to the terms by parking and staying on the site. Parking in breach of the terms as stipulated on the signage means that you are then breaking the terms of the contract.

Our Client issued a Notice to Keeper to you. A copy is attached. You were afforded the opportunity to; appeal the parking charge, transfer liability to the driver (if it was not you) or make payment. Neither a successful appeal, nor an adequate nomination were received, yet payment remains outstanding. The timeframe to appeal has now lapsed. The Parking Charge remained unpaid and our Client was entitled to instruct debt recovery agents/ Solicitors to pursue payment and is entitled to recover the costs of doing so. The contractual costs have been applied to the balance in accordance with the British Parking Association (BPA) code of practice. They have been applied correctly and will not be removed. 

To clarify, in accordance with the appeal decision made on 29th July 2020 in Britannia Parking Group Ltd v Semark-Julien [2020] EW Mis 12 (CC), it is not correct to propose this claim should be struck out as an ‘abuse of process’ due to the contractual costs claimed. You may wish to seek independent legal advice to access up to date information. Our Client has made various attempts to recover payment before instructing ourselves to commence Court action and we have been instructed as all prior attempts to recover payment have been unsuccessful. We have been instructed on behalf of our Client to collect the full balance of £140.00 as per the Letter of Claim. You now have 30 days from the date of this email to pay the balance in full.

"

Subject Access Request
"
We write further to your email received in our office on 17th April 2021, whereby you have made a Subject Access Request (SAR).
We acknowledge your SAR and will respond in due course.
"

What should I do now?
I would like advice on the next steps - and can upload their supporting photos if this helps.
And thank you to the people who contribute to this forum, it's been really useful so far.


Kind regards,
Rob

Le_Kirk

Have you received a N1 claim form from Northampton CCBC?

Bobba86

No I haven't.

This is the first "official" letter I've had other than the standard bully invoices.

Castle

Bobba86 said:

I'm hoping for some advise and direction on this. should I pay the £140 fine or see it through, if I'm to see it through what more should I do. 
I received a parking fine by accidentally parking in an incorrect bay at my works car park, over 12 months ago.
In all honesty I ignored the parking fine, hoping it would go away - and didn't want to get into a back and forth with the claim but it looks like I'm going to have to fight my corner now.

DCB Legal - Letter of Claim
Last week I received a formal letter of claim from dcb legal stating payment within of £140 within 30 days..
Client: First Parking Up, Basis of Claim the vehicle was parked on private land owned or managed by our Client.

I presume you mean First Parking LLP?

Redx

You gather your evidence and await a court claim pack from the CCBC in Northampton , initiated by First Parking and admin by dcb legal ltd as their contractor

I notice that you have not mentioned plan A , a landowner or company complaint , to get it cancelled by them , this is your best option , it always is

Bobba86

Redx said:

You gather your evidence and await a court claim pack from the CCBC in Northampton , initiated by First Parking and admin by dcb legal ltd as their contractor

I notice that you have not mentioned plan A , a landowner or company complaint , to get it cancelled by them , this is your best option , it always is

Who should I get in contact with?
My place of work who own the car park or First Parking LLP

Umkomaas

Bobba86 said:

Redx said:

You gather your evidence and await a court claim pack from the CCBC in Northampton , initiated by First Parking and admin by dcb legal ltd as their contractor

I notice that you have not mentioned plan A , a landowner or company complaint , to get it cancelled by them , this is your best option , it always is

Who should I get in contact with?
My place of work who own the car park or First Parking LLP

The owners of the car park. 

D_P_Dance

Have you complained to your MP?

Coupon-mad

Obviously not F1rst Parking, a 'complaint' to them would fall on deaf ears!  A landowner complaint is a landowner complaint.  Someone signed a contract allowing F1rst Parking to infest the place and that person/company is the principal and can cancel a PCN.

Bobba86

I have contacted the landowner, and haven't had a response yet. Now I feel I am running out of time - Should I bite the bullet and pay the £140 fine?

Redx

It's not a fine , it's an invoice

Nobody here would tell you to pay it