DCBL Letter of Claim after 5 1/2 years

Sazzy61

Hi,
I have read the 'Newbies' thread before anyone asks, but I still have questions, so hopefully someone can help.
I received PCN from Excel parking in April 2016. They alleged that I didn't pay to park, and my defence is that I did pay, but typed the wrong registration number into their ticket machine. At that time I had only owned the car for about 10 days and didn't really know the reg. I made a simple mistake, which to date has snowballed into a whopping £160 fine.

I read several online forums at the time, all of which advised me to ignore their demands and do nothing, so that's what I did.
A brief timeline of events is this:

2016
April: Fine issued by Excel - £100
June: Final reminder sent by Excel - £100
July: Debt Collection Notice from ZZPS - £150
July: Notice of Intended Legal Collections from ZZPS - £150
August: Letter from Wright Hassall solicitors - £186
September: Formal letter of Claim from Wright Hassall solicitors - £186
October: Letter from Excel "Your account has been passed to our legal team" - £154
November: Final Notice from BW Legal - £154
December: BW Legal letter "Account on hold" - £154
December: BW Legal letter £154
December: Letter from Excel "Your account has been passed to our legal team" - £154
December: BW Legal  letter £154

2017
January: BW Legal Final Notice - £154
February: BW Legal Letter of Claim - £154

2019
May: DCBL Notice of Debt Recovery - £160

2020
July: DCBL Notice of Debt Recovery - £170
August: DCBL Final Notice of Debt Recovery - £170

2021
July: DCBL Solicitors Legal: Letter of Claim - £160


Is this getting more serious now, or is this just more frightening letters to try to squeeze money out of me?  Is the advice still to ignore - I've read that at a certain stage you shouldn't ignore anymore?  

Thanks for any advice you may have. and apologies if I've asked questions that have been answered a thousand times before.

KeithP

Sazzy61 said:

Is this getting more serious now, or is this just more frightening letters to try to squeeze money out of me?  Is the advice still to ignore - I've read that at a certain stage you shouldn't ignore anymore?  

Yes it is serious.

Do not ignore anything more.

You need to be reading the second post of the NEWBIES thread to discover how to react to that Letter of Claim.

Le_Kirk

You are in exactly the same position that you would have been in back in 2016 if the PPC had issued a letter of claim immediately but instead they tried intimidation - which clearly has not worked.  You now need to, as it states in NEWBIES, submit SAR to the DPO of the PPC to find out everything they have on you, send DCBL a letter explaining that, whilst you deny any debt exists, you are seeking debt advice and require them to put the matter on hold for 30 days in line with the pre-action protocol for debt claims section 4.2.  Then wait for the claim form from Northampton CCBC.  Meantime, reading of NEWBIE sticky and the standard defence template.

Fruitcake

It is not a fine.
The advice to ignore a PCN has not been given here since the law changed in 2012, so wherever you got that idea, it was bad advice.

You are now in a legal process and the next thing you will receive is the court claim itself.

As above, get stuck into the guide to court written by bargepole that you will find in the second post of the NEWBIES.

Remember though, it is never too late to get a landowner cancellation.

Redx

Bear in mind that the original PCN and signage would be for £100 , so the added £60 means nothing at all , this would be objected to in the defence , same as in every other case , leaving the £100 PCN in play

So no different now than 5 years ago

Coupon-mad

This will be the point where you can finally win and kill the scam PCN in court.  But you are at LBC stage so do as advised above.

Sazzy61

Le_Kirk said:

... submit SAR to the DPO of the PPC to find out everything they have on you, send DCBL a letter explaining that, whilst you deny any debt exists, you are seeking debt advice and require them to put the matter on hold for 30 days in line with the pre-action protocol for debt claims section 4.2. 

OK, so according to post #2 in Newbies, I need to request an SAR not from DCBL ( the solicitors) but from Excel parking themselves, yes?

A few other questions:
In post #2 , in the list of things I should provide, it says:
     (h) Pay & Display ticket, if the driver paid. DON'T argue 'no loss'!
What does 'Don't argue no loss' mean? I no longer have the ticket that I bought back in 2016.

Am I correct in thinking that this whole thing automatically dies if it goes beyond 6 years from the original 'offence'? 

The 'Letter of Claim' that I received today is the 3rd one I have had since 2016, so what makes this one any more serious or urgent than the others? I'm not being 'bolshy' here, just genuinely asking because it just seems like a repeat of what was previously sent by Wright Hassall and BW Legal before it was passed to DCBL.

At the time (in 2016) I had read that a 'Letter Before Claim' could be ignored, and it only began to get serious when they sent a 'Letter OF Claim'.  I seem to have read several conflicting opinions on various websites, so I'm a bit confused now.
 
DCBL Legal's letter offers a 'Dispute Resolution call' to discuss a way forward, is this a good idea or a definite no-no? 

Redx

Yes , email a SAR to the DPO at Excel to obtain all your data , not the legals

No it doesn't die , it remains on file forever , but enforcement via the courts disappears after 6 years

If it gives 30 days notice and includes financial forms , it's an LBC issued under the latest rules , so should be treated as a pre Court action official warning , meaning that they probably mean business !!

Letter of claim , letter before claim , numerous versions exist , as explained in the newbies FAQ sticky thread near the top of the forum in announcements , fifth post down , please read it

A definite no no , absolutely no phone calls , in writing only !!

Le_Kirk

Sazzy61 said:

Le_Kirk said:

... submit SAR to the DPO of the PPC to find out everything they have on you, send DCBL a letter explaining that, whilst you deny any debt exists, you are seeking debt advice and require them to put the matter on hold for 30 days in line with the pre-action protocol for debt claims section 4.2. 

A few other questions:

In post #2 , in the list of things I should provide, it says:
     (h) Pay & Display ticket, if the driver paid. DON'T argue 'no loss'!
What does 'Don't argue no loss' mean? I no longer have the ticket that I bought back in 2016.

Most answered by @Redxbut this means that the argument that there was no loss to the car park owner disappeared after the Beavis case some years ago.  Ask Auntie Google if you want more info or just take our word for it.

Johnersh

Hang on. If court proceedings haven't yet been commenced and are not commenced before the 6 Yr anniversary, there is nothing to remain on file. It'll die. As such it makes sense to try and delay matters as much as possible. 

Given that this has been resurrected within time, though, it's hard to imagine that the claim form won't follow hot on the heels of the latest letter. 

Redx

In practice the alleged debt will die due to the limitations act 1980 , but the advice has always been that for England and Wales the alleged debt is not written off by the statute , but cannot be enforced in law due to the statute

I believe that in Scotland it may all die at 5 years , but that's a different law , afaik

Either way , the op should check these opinions , but can safely assume that the claimant will let it die because they cannot enforce it after 6 years , in England and Wales