DCB Legal - Letter of Claim

Stokielad

Morning all, 

On Monday I returned home after working away for 4 weeks to a "letter of claim" from DCB legal, dated 11th April, on behalf of UK Parking Limited for a PCN I received in September last year. Admittedly I've only had chance to skim over the newbie thread and will have a more in depth read this weekend. I emailed the DPO from UK parking limited yesterday morning requesting a SAR and received the information yesterday afternoon, this consists of an image of my vehicle entering and exiting the car park, 2x imaged of my number plate along with a copy of the NTK and final reminder letter. I also requested the PDT machine data from the day and was told the data is not stored, should I pursue this?.  

As I understand I now need to respond to DCB Legal before 10th May (30 days from the letter dated 11th April) with the following, (a) I am seeking debt advice but I deny any debt and the case must be put 'on hold' for not less than 30 days under the PAP for debt claims 2017. (b) I have sent your client a SAR. Then while waiting for a response, begin to collect evidence and build my defense.  

KeithP

Stokielad said:

As I understand I now need to respond to DCB Legal before 10th May (30 days from the letter dated 11th April) with the following, (a) I am seeking debt advice but I deny any debt and the case must be put 'on hold' for not less than 30 days under the PAP for debt claims 2017. (b) I have sent your client a SAR. Then while waiting for a response, begin to collect evidence and build my defense.  

Your understanding is good.

Is the Claimant really 'UK Parking Limited', or is it perhaps UK Parking Control Ltd, or maybe something else?

What is it that they allege you have done wrong?

Umkomaas

Have you read this thread?  Go along with all the required steps as dictated by the court process, and you too could be mentioned in it in due course. 

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6377263/dcb-legal-record-of-private-parking-court-claim-discontinuations/p1 

Stokielad

KeithP said:

Is the Claimant really 'UK Parking Limited', or is it perhaps UK Parking Control Ltd, or maybe something else?

What is it that they allege you have done wrong?

Apologies my mistake claimant is UKPC Ltd. 

Extract from their letter below

The vehicle with registration number W*****M ("Vehicle") was parked on private land ("Land") managed by our

Client. The signs displayed on the Land set out the Terms of parking (i.e. "the Contract"). The Vehicle was parked

in breach of the Terms and as such the Contract was accepted and a PCN(s) was issued. You are liable as the

Keeper or Driver. The details of the PCN(s) can be found in the schedule at the bottom of this letter. Payment

was due within 28 days of the PCN(s) being issued but remains outstanding.

I haven't been issued any images of the signs in the SAR from UKPC so will be visiting the car park over the weekend to take some myself. 

Not_A_Hope

So what Terms do UKPC allege you broke on the original PCN? What type of car park was it and why are you requesting PDT data?

KeithP

I haven't been issued any images of the signs in the SAR from UKPC...

To be expected.
A SAR is all about your data. Signs are not your data.

Stokielad

Not_A_Hope said:

So what Terms do UKPC allege you broke on the original PCN? What type of car park was it and why are you requesting PDT data?

This is the narrative on the 2 letters I received from UKPC.

NTK correspondence 

The vehicle was recorded on our client’s private property at ********* Industrial Estate , ****** . The vehicle

was parked in an area designated for registered users only from 10/09/2022 10:22 to 10/09/2022 11:28 for 1

Hours 5 Minutes.

Final Reminder

Your vehicle was in breach of the terms and conditions which were clearly and prominently displayed on

the signage and this was agreed by the driver when your vehicle was parked on private land.

I requested the PDT data as its listed on the NEWBIEs thread as something that's should be requested if the car park is pay and display, which from recollection its is as are the other car parks on the industrial estate....maybe managed by UKPC also. 

- if the car park was Pay and Display, ALWAYS ask for a PDT machine record from that day, of payments made (VRNs can be partially redacted but insist on getting this; follow it up if they refuse).

Not_A_Hope

So so they are alleging you parked in an area designated for registered users not that you didn’t pay for parking or overstayed. The PDT data may help to prove you visited the car park as a law abiding paying customer if you had to input your VRN (or perhaps you still have the ticket). If you wanted to mention it in your defence you can put them to strict proof you paid and they will have to provide the PDT data for any future court hearing.

However poor signage and the the lack of clearly marked bays are going to be significant defence points. Have you got photos yet?

As already pointed out a robust defence is likely to see UKPC and their DCBL sidekicks eventually discontinue.

Not_A_Hope

Have you appealed the PCN since September last year and inadvertently told them who was driving? Was the NTK POFA compliant?

B789

The PDT data will confirm the actual time of parking. The ANPR is only recording time on site.

Coupon-mad

As I've said on several DCBLegal LBC threads:

DO respond to the LBC robustly - rude as you like - telling them to go swivel (by all means say you are seeking debt advice, state your main defence point, state that you are on MSE and are not some random victim, so you urge them to just give up now, because you know they will otherwise waste a claim fee then discontinue later) but...

DO NOT send a SAR to the PPC.  The defence by @Johny86 tells you why you really don't want an early SAR reply.  Of course not!   Not yet.