Notice of debt recovery - first letter nearly 4 years after alleged parking ticket

amjustagirl

Hi all, my husband received a notice of debt recovery today for a parking ticket that dates back to Feb 2018 for £300 eek. First we have heard about it! arghhh. Rang dcbl the company that sent the letter out after an hour to get through they just said to seek legal advice as it's past the appeal stage now and they are the second recovery agent to have this case. They said he is very close to getting a CCJ. The car we had back then was a company car and hubby thought they updated dvla v5 with his new address when we moved in Sept 2017 turns out he should of done it but he did'nt know unfortunately (very hard lesson learnt) So all the fine letters were going to our old address and the fine has been accumulating costs in the background. We have never not paid bills or have any ccjs and have the perfect credit score so this is a very stressful situation. We have just cancelled a weekend away at Christmas now..to account for this money do we have any leg to stand on at all? He never got anything stuck on his car that he can remember so there must of been cctv. From memory he sat in the car in this car park whilst i went to the shops (in an area we had'nt been before) and said he can't recall seeing any signs that you had to pay parking. Many thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.

Redx

Never phone a debt recovery company or a parking company either

Ignore the debt collector letters , they are powerless , plus these were invoices , not fines !

Name the parking company below , the ones dcbl or drp are acting for

I doubt that it was CCTV , more likely ANPR cameras !

If it was a company car , his name wasn't on the V5C , but the hire or lease company or his company named him as a hirer or lessee , with the old address

So a lot you need to understand

Start by reading the newbies FAQ sticky thread near the top of the forum in announcements , after answering our questions ( name the claimant parking company , plus name any legal services firms sending letters

amjustagirl

I've no idea who the parking company is! how would i even find this out? How have they only just got hold of my husbands new address? Bizarre the whole thing. Ok thanks i'll have a read up on the sticky threads like you said.

Redx

amjustagirl said:

I've no idea who the parking company is! how would i even find this out? How have they only just got hold of my husbands new address? Bizarre the whole thing. Ok thanks i'll have a read up on the sticky threads like you said.

The clients name should be on the debt collector letters or on any letters from legal services firms

If you know the location , check the signs

Tracing alleged debtors is easily done using credit checks and tracing firms , no Biggie

Are the letters from dcb LTD ?  Or dcb legal ?

Check their clients name

amjustagirl

Letter from DCB Limited. The only letter I have is the one he got today. 

It says - 

Dear Mr XXX

Your overdue amount of £296.86 due to Civil Enforcement Ltd in relation to CCJ number XXXXXXXX has now been passed to DCBL (Direct Collection Bailiffs Limited) to recover the debt on their behalf.

The location is like half an hour's drive away. 

Redx

amjustagirl said:

Letter from DCB Limited. The only letter I have is the one he got today. 

It says - 

Dear Mr XXX

Your overdue amount of £296.86 due to Civil Enforcement Ltd in relation to CCJ number XXXXXXXX has now been passed to DCBL (Direct Collection Bailiffs Limited) to recover the debt on their behalf.

The location is like half an hour's drive away. 

So dcb ltd , debt collectors , ignore

But the parking company is Civil Enforcement LTD , CEL , it says so , so email a SAR to the DPO at CEL attaching copies of 2 recent redacted utility bills as proof of I D under the GDPR law ( the recipient should do this , your partner , Mr xxx , if they are named on the letters as above ), the CEL DPO email address is on their website on the privacy page

Ps , I doubt that it was a pay and display car park , so some other transgression , such as an overstay , or no permit , or not registering the VRM details !

amjustagirl

But the parking company is Civil Enforcement LTD , CEL , it says so , so email a SAR to the DPO at CEL attaching copies of 2 recent redacted utility bills as proof of I D under the GDPR law ( the recipient should do this , your partner , Mr xxx , if they are named on the letters as above ), the CEL DPO email address is on their website on the privacy page

Sorry what is the above to achieve in this situation? 

Redx

amjustagirl said:

But the parking company is Civil Enforcement LTD , CEL , it says so , so email a SAR to the DPO at CEL attaching copies of 2 recent redacted utility bills as proof of I D under the GDPR law ( the recipient should do this , your partner , Mr xxx , if they are named on the letters as above ), the CEL DPO email address is on their website on the privacy page

Sorry what is the above to achieve in this situation? 

To obtain all your partner's data from the DPO at CEL , including all documents and pictures etc , especially copies of the ones sent to the original address , plus the information on them including the initial contravention that kicked it off

If CEL issue a court claim pack from the CCBC in Northampton then Mr XXX will be extremely grateful for obtaining all this personal information and data at an early stage , to construct a defence and to understand what got it to this stage , especially if CEL failed to comply with POFA 2012 ( the law )

amjustagirl

Ok thanks for your input, i'll get him to do the above. Your help is much appreciated..thank you! I'll let you know he gets on. Cannot take this BS lying down huh! We managed to get another parking ticket over turned a couple of years ago and hope to sort this debacle out too.

Redx

amjustagirl said:

Ok thanks for your input, i'll get him to do the above. Your help is much appreciated..thank you! I'll let you know he gets on. Cannot take this BS lying down huh! We managed to get another parking ticket over turned a couple of years ago and hope to sort this debacle out too.

Then plan A should be followed by him ASAP , a landowner complaint to get it cancelled !!
Nothing beats plan A , and I would expect cel to issue a formal LBC via dcb legal or similar , followed by a court claim , before the 6 year deadline

He should think of it this way

If the police were taking him to court for a historical crime , he would want to know what he was being accused of , what charge the CPS have issued and what evidence they had

Coupon-mad

Hang on, that letter says you have a CCJ.  Please re-read it, does it say that?