Civil Enforcement Ltd. private parking fine, DCBL letters and LBA received.

Jazzmine24

I pulled in at 15:27 but due to the operator not working (cutting out etc) my partner only managed to pay for parking at 15:40 and was charged £1 up until 16:00, but my parking fine was issued between 15:27 and 16:49. 

The AA was unable to pay for parking at all as he arrived after 16:15, and the number didn’t work to pay for parking. 

It’s not very clear is it, but what I gathered at the time was I had paid and was free after 4, which is why I chose to ignore it in the first place. 

patient_dream

Look at the sign carefully in the Terms.

It states if you don't pay charges will be added.  Problem is they do not say what the charges are ... so for the fake add-ons by DCBL were never known and cannot be part of the contract

Jazzmine24

The charges were increased by CE Ltd, with the original charge being at £100 but reduced to £60 if paid early, then increased to £140, then finally at £170 which DCBL chased. I did pay, just frustrating that their operator wasn't working and we were out 3 minuets on the 10 minuet grace  

Trainerman

I trust that when you say you did pay, you mean the original parking fee, not paying DCBL ! Rest assured, they can do nothing except provide you with amusing letters which make very poor toilet paper ! As at least three of us have indicated, you have a very workable defence. Many of the spurious increases are thrown straight out by the Courts as well.

If you have had Court documents, do not ignore those. Follow the advice on the newbies thread

Jazzmine24

Sorry if I’ve caused any confusion - I paid for parking (£1.00 which is an hour fee) from 15:40-16:00. I’ve attached my parking charge for reference! 

I’m writing up the emails now and should have them sent soon. The restaurant is very hard to get hold of so I haven’t been able to complain to them yet.

Is this defiantly going to be sent to court then? 

Redx

Ther is nothing definite about any of it , even if they issue a claim via MCOL

Issuing a court claim doesn't mean that it's definitely going to court , only when they pay your local court their fee and turn up on the day of the hearing dies it mean that it's in front of a judge , in court

So nothing definite about it , just plenty of defiance so far 😜😜

However , you can assume that they will issue a court claim using MCOL , so plan accordingly

Coupon-mad

You want this to proceed to a listed court hearing!  Most are by phone or Teams now and CEL usually run away and discontinue before hearings against posters here.

Or they will lose.  Be confident, this is no biggie even though it feels like it is.  It will finally be 'scam over' this year, with no CCJ risk as long as you do everything we advise and the Court require.

You paid for an hour's parking during the period that contract was on offer and you should have been permitted to park till 4.40pm.

The offer is absolutely ambiguous and must by law be interpreted in your favour.  Consumer Rights Act 2015 applies, re the requirements for a trader not to draft ambiguous terms and the statutory need for clarity of terms and of 'consumer notices' (signs).

According to the terms, as drafted on the sign:

- £1 bought an hour's parking, as offered to drivers paying before 4pm.  It cannot be otherwise.  People paying at 3.58pm would otherwise pay a quid for 2 minutes, which is not what the sign offers.  Twenty minutes then being 'fined' £100 was not what you accepted

- After 4pm, no contract at all is offered. Nothing of value is on offer to drivers and no contractual agreement is set out about what happens after 4pm.  So you can't be in breach of the contract before 4pm (as the delay was caused by the failure of their own system) and there is no contract (at all) after 4pm so you haven't breached that either.

Drivers are not told they must leave at 4pm.  Strangely it seems to say parking at the tariff is 'not available' after 4pm.  OK but that doesn't mean people who arrived and paid before 4pm suddenly get penalised.

This is just the sort of 'concealed pitfall or trap' that the Supreme Court in ParkingEye v Beavis mentioned exists in some cases at car parks,

At the end, you left (car towed out, I think you said) within 9 minutes of expiry of that hour's paid-for time.  That is within the BPA Code mandatory minimum 10 mins to leave.

You didn't breach any terms.

patient_dream

So, puttiing this in perspective.

You paid and have proof.

The parking ticket issued was £100 and then the scam started

Bear in mind that these companies rely on contract law. The sign is the contract but only if it explains fully the contract you enter into. Had you not paid the £1.00 then the £100 would be the contract.  Then they added a further £40 based only on their sign which says .. "if you don't pay charges will be added" ???

The added charge could be from £0.01p but nobody knows as they do not say ?  
There is no contract to pay an extra unknown amount 

No difference to going to a bank for a loan.  You would never accept them saying we will add interest without them telling you the rate 

Then DCBL in their so called wisdom up the cost again to £170 which now turns into a very feeble attempt of double recovery which the courts do not allow

CEL just like DCBL operate in an unregulated industry where fakery is rife.

It now seems very clear that DCBL don't have a clue about the claims they bring and that is their downfall ......... have you read this thread

DCBL letters ... forum group thread
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6237177/dcbl-letters-forum-group-thread#latest

Le_Kirk

Jazzmine24 said:

Is this defiantly going to be sent to court then? 

I like the (accidental!) use of defiantly going to court but I think you meant definitely!  Just a thought; is your Vehicle number under your redaction correct?  Is the site code correct for where you parked?  Oh, that's two thoughts!

Jazzmine24

I apologise for that! Autocorrect has a life of its own sometimes.

Strange you ask; my partner showed me yesterday this message he received from an unknown number (different to the number on the sign to pay for parking) messaged him to confirm (again, as you enter the reg to pay for parking) to confirm my registration again. 

I’ve attached the picture for your reference. 

Thank you for the comments above too - have been very stressed since and your support has been amazing.