DCB Legal - letter of claim

LollyP0pZ

I have today received a letter of claim - one double sided sheet of A4 with the amount due as £680 which relates to four car parking tickets I received. 

The four tickets pertain to different random days at a car park which was at a tourist attraction for which I had an annual pass/membership. I parked in it daily for about six weeks - I used to go and visit the cafe and do my uni work all afternoon in the nice surroundings. 

They had a system where you had to register your car registration on a computer in the lobby and I did this without fail every day for the duration - yet these four random days I have been issued with penalty charges. I replied to the first one I received and told I would have to pay £100 before reading some forums which advised others to ignore the letters. 

I became extra diligent following the first letter, keeping receipts to prove I entered my reg in to the machines. 

I still have my proof of membership too. 

So basically I’m not willing to pay these fines. I don’t think I should have to and I’m not sure how best to respond to this letter as it’s very threatening. 

Would appreciate any advice 

Mars28

Others will advise and have much greater experience than me - there's definitely things you need to do for the letter of claim so wait for their advice.

However, I think a key step is to put a very strongly worded complaint into the business owner, with all of the evidence attached, demanding they cancel the PCNs. Don't pull the punches - you're angry and disappointed, and they'll lose you and every student you know when all you've done is pay to be a member, spent in their cafe and followed the rules!

Fruitcake

Mars28 is correct. Plan A is always a complaint to the landowner and your MP. In addition, send an SAR asap as per the NEWBIES to the DPO of the PPC, then near the 30 day deadline given on the LoC, send a hold instruction tot he PPC's solicitor stating that whilst you deny the debt, you are seeking debt advice so require them to put the case on hold for 30 days as per pre-action protocol.

You will need to include non-photo proof of ID with the SAR.

The other threads you will need to review are the guide to court written by bargepole, which can be found in the NEWBIES, and the template defence sticky thread that comes with its own 12 step guide.

LollyP0pZ

@Fruitcake - can I possibly trouble you for a link? I’m a complete newbie and on my phone so struggling to find the right place 

LollyP0pZ

@Mars28 - thank you & yes, the business is very aware of how annoyed I am and I haven’t renewed my membership. After the first parking fine I went in and nicely spoke to the reception and they were blasé about it - basically said it happens all the time and they can’t do anything to help. 

It’s basically designed to screw over tourists and the adjacent schools parents who take advantage of the car park. 

It really wouldn’t be difficult to take a log of the members car registrations for the ANPR as they do that for the staff, or just have some simple text/app process rather than the antiquated machines they have in the lobby. 

Fruitcake

You need to access this site on a tablet or computer otherwise you will miss many of the functions necessary to navigate this site.

The NEWBIES is one of the sticky Announcements at the top of the main parking forum page where you clicked on the Create Post button.