DCBL "Unpaid parking charge" letter for a vehicle I've never owned?

chewlace

Coupon-mad said:

Sounds right.

Just don't ignore DCBLegal when they get your data later on, and you can repeat the same stuff to them and tell them to 'go swivel'.

Fun, innit?!

Great, thanks.

Not sure I’d describe it as “fun”! It just baffles me how these cowboys are allowed to continue operating. During their tenure at my apartment complex, they failed to prevent misuse of our parking spaces and succeeded only in profiteering from residents.

If DCB Legal do contact me, does that mean they’re going to actually try and take this nonsense to court? I mean surely they’d be mad to…
- It was my parking space, the vehicle had my permit, I authorised them to park there
- The vehicle isn’t even mine (never has been)

Surely that’s an incredibly flimsy case?

Grizebeck

chewlace said:

Coupon-mad said:

Sounds right.

Just don't ignore DCBLegal when they get your data later on, and you can repeat the same stuff to them and tell them to 'go swivel'.

Fun, innit?!

Great, thanks.

Not sure I’d describe it as “fun”! It just baffles me how these cowboys are allowed to continue operating. During their tenure at my apartment complex, they failed to prevent misuse of our parking spaces and succeeded only in profiteering from residents.

If DCB Legal do contact me, does that mean they’re going to actually try and take this nonsense to court? I mean surely they’d be mad to…
- It was my parking space, the vehicle had my permit, I authorised them to park there
- The vehicle isn’t even mine (never has been)

Surely that’s an incredibly flimsy case?

Yes you would be surprised

Coupon-mad

They are all flimsy cases.

But yes, they are a conveyor belt to court.  It's a numbers game and most scared consumers blink.  And pay.  Not here we don't!

It just baffles me how these cowboys are allowed to continue operating.

Same.

That's why I've been posting here for 15 years, almost all whilst holding down a full time job and being a mum to my 4 kids as youngsters/teens during that time.

That's why I stuck around here, learnt loads, wrote the NEWBIES thread, briefly ran a company with fellow PCN-scam-fighter bargepole (but we didn't choose co-Directors carefully enough and both walked away), oh and we both appeared on this TV show recently:
https://www.channel5.com/show/parking-the-big-con

And it's why I've been attending meetings since 2020 as the only co-opted individual consumer representative on the Government Steering Group to change the law. That's been an eye-opener for some...but I already went into it knowing about the worst stuff...!  Great that the Government invited me though, as I was able to voice everything we regulars see and assist with here every day.

The wheels are still turning despite the parking industry obstructing progress. As discussed here:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/79310609/#Comment_79310609

Bookmark that thread so you don't miss the Public Consultation. You'll have your own personal 'hounded by aggressive idiots' case study to talk about that might fit some of the questions which will only be about:

- the level of parking charges,

and

- the fake added £70 per PCN extortion that the DLUHC wants to ban.
 

chewlace

That’s really interesting to know, thank you!

I’ll take a look at the links you’ve shared.

Naturally, I’m just worried about them trying to take this further. You’d think it’d have been easy to have it cancelled on the basis that, technicalities aside, it’s my parking space! How can I be ticketed for parking in my own parking space?! It’s just madness.
I can’t see how they could ever get away with that in court, but it’s looking like they’re going to try!

Coupon-mad

Search the forum for own space or just residential defence.

Shedloads of court claims.  Literally thousands. Your case is not different, not to the aggressors.

It is a numbers game and you are a number on the conveyor belt.  They don't care about facts or having a flimsy case because they know that most people would fold and pay. It's out of control and a real threat to honest people.

This is why the Govt has stepped in.

But it is genuinely NOTHING to worry about, as long as they hold only the right address for you.

No CCJ nor huge costs risk.  We all know what we are doing here - the regulars here are all you need to help you win.

Watch the Channel 5 TV show that I linked, about the whole scam.  I'm the lady at the beach and bargepole is the chap at his kitchen table.

After numerous complaints from myself and other residents, the estate management company / housing association eventually severed the contract with UKPC in / around 2019, moving instead to UK CPM. Post this point, residents haven't really had any issues of the same kind.

By the way, UKCPM are (in my experience) FAR WORSE than UKPC!  Both shocking ex-clampers - but UKCPM much worse and with no appeal worth trying because they aren't BPA.  Horrific that your managing agent uses any parking firm (seriously, most residential sites simply do not need this crap at all) but to ditch UKPC for UKCPM is just stupid.

Mouse007

chewlace said:

How can I be ticketed for parking in my own parking space?! It’s just madness.
I can’t see how they could ever get away with that in court, but it’s looking like they’re going to try!

It is madness, I am helping my student son with exactly the same - 4 PCNs for parking in his own paid for space. He is lucky, he has me and his mother, but how many students year in and year out are scammed? I suspect the poorest in society are the most common victims.

They don't rely on it getting to Court, they rely on you giving up and unfortunately enough do cave in and pay up to make it worth while continuing with this outright scam.

chewlace

Well they claimed that they ditched UKPC in favour of UK CPM in order to “improve the parking service”, but clearly it was cost-based decision. I have no doubt UK CPM are probably even worse, I just got lucky and never ended up targeted by them.

Estate management firms never need private parking control; like everything in this world, it’s all about money and profiteering.

Umkomaas

I just got lucky and never ended up targeted by them ....

If you still reside there, I'd add 'yet' to the end of the sentence!

Estate management firms never need private parking control; like everything in this world, it’s all about money and profiteering.

A number of them are incentivised by PPCs by way of kickback for each parking charge scammed at the estate. Horrible living conditions for residents, even in luxury accommodation!

chewlace

Fortunately I've now moved away from the area!

But yes, I always assumed the estate management company were effectively "on commission" from these parking firms...

"We'll pay you X for every ticket we issue, if you let us operate on the land."

chewlace

Unfortunately, the plot thickens!

UKPC have got back to me. My email was passed to their complaints department for some reason (even though I sent this to appealsmoreinfo@ and DPO@). They've said...

Having reviewed the parking charge, we can confirm that an appeal was made on [DATE] by you, confirming you were the driver of vehicle and had a valid parking permit , we responded to the appeal on [DATE]. After no payment or correspondence from you, the parking charge was passed to our third-party debt recovery company for further action.

 

Please be advised that the case is no longer with UKPC. We therefore would advise that you contact DCBL  with any queries moving forward.

 

DCBL can be reached directly on 0203 434 0423 or by emailing collections@dcbltd.com.


Essentially, when I raised the appeal back in 2017, I did so on behalf of my partner to save her the stress (especially since she was parked in my space, with my permission, and my permit). They're now using this as the basis for holding me responsible for this bogus PCN, and trying to push me back towards DCBL!

I've already had the "final" letter from DCBL anyway, stating that they'll now instruct their client (UKPC) to take legal action, so surely, bothering with DCBL is now pointless? I'm absolutely astonished.