MET Parking - DCB Legal Letter of Claim for Overstay

peacefulwarrior2023

Hi All,

I have read the newbies post and have some questions and guidance.

Apologies for the long message.

I have had a bunch of PCNs from around March 2021 from MET Parking for instances of alleged contravention of leaving vehicle in a fast food chain's car park while occupants left the fast food chain's premises and one for an overstay at a petrol station near an airport (from Sept 2019), also managed by MET Parking

I have been ignoring the repeated letters etc.

I did receive in the past a letter / letters before claim in 2022 from their solicitor (CST Law back then). I replied with a SAR (see attached) to the PPC and a letter to CST Law (see attached). These LBCs were in reference to leaving the vehicle in the car park alleged contraventions.

CST Law replied (see attached) basically saying to find enclosed evidence and that their client confirmed I left the site (I don't believe I ever admitted to being the driver - does saying that I want to know what evidence they have in order to file my defence constitute admission of being the driver?) and that therefore they asked me to pay or else... I didn't pay and the matter stopped there.

More recently, Direct Collections Bailiffs Ltd (DCBL) have been sending letters with Notices of intended legal action etc (again for the fast food chain car park alleged contraventions). With the most recent lot being in Aug 2023. Also ignored those.

In the beginning of the month (6 Oct), I received a letter of claim from another solicitor claiming to be acting on MET Parking's behalf (DCB Legal) (see attached) for the overstay alleged contravention (Sept 2019).

(DCB Legal mention in their letter that they work in partnership with Direct Collection Bailiffs Ltd. Are these the same entity?)

I can see that what you suggest to write to the solicitors is different from what I had sent them back in 2022. Should I send similar to what I sent back then or should I state that I'm seeking debt advice and that I deny any debt etc etc?

I guess I should treat these as separate instances and reply only reference to the alleged contravention they sent the LOC for (the overstay at the airport petrol station). Correct?

I just gave you here the whole story to have a bigger picture.

In summary the questions are:

1. Send same letter as before to DCB Legal or should I state that I'm seeking debt advice and that I deny any debt?

2. Is there a time limit within which they have to act? The LOC I just received now relates to an alleged contravention from Sept 2019

2. Should I post or is email enough?

4. Any other suggestions?

Many thanks in advance for your help.

Coupon-mad

Either respond to it or ignore it.  No biggie.

You'll win in 2024 anyway as everyone here does v DCBLegal.

Either way you'll get a claim.  Only delay it if you prefer to receive the Claim Form just before Xmas.

UncleThomasCobley

Have a read of the Newbies/FAQ thread to better understand where you have been going wrong and how you should proceed from here on. Follow the advice and you won't pay a penny.

peacefulwarrior2023

Coupon-mad said:

Either respond to it or ignore it.  No biggie.

You'll win in 2024 anyway as everyone here does v DCBLegal.

Either way you'll get a claim.  Only delay it if you prefer to receive the Claim Form just before Xmas.

Thank you for the reply.

I don't necessarily want anything before Christmas. Are you saying I should reply in this case within 30 days of their LoC?

KeithP

peacefulwarrior2023 said:

I don't necessarily want anything before Christmas. Are you saying I should reply in this case within 30 days of their LoC?

If you don't reply then you'll get a Claim in thirty days time.
If you do respond towards the end of that thirty days window asking for a a thirty day delay while you seek debt advice, then you will receive a Claim just before Christmas.
Your choice.

patient_dream

Keith is right
Even if you get a claim before Xmas, it will be well into 24 before anything will happen, if it ever does

Just remember these claims are money scams full of fakery and rubbish

peacefulwarrior2023

Thank you everyone. I will reply must before the 30 days from the date of their letter elapses. Is email good enough or should it be posted? Also.I had asked whether the SAR letter I sent before is good enough. Re: the letter to DCB legal should be like the one I sent to CST law before but add that I'm.seeking debt advice?

Coupon-mad

Just send what the NEWBIES thread states to send and why are you waiting and delaying your response? That takes the claim form nearer to Xmas.

peacefulwarrior2023

Thanks all for your comments. Apologies for not getting back sooner.

I can't find any relevant robust LBC responses. Can you please direct me to one?

Le_Kirk

Use the search function with "robust response" without the speech marks, as your search term and change the "Best Match" drop down to "Newest".

peacefulwarrior2023

Thank you Le_Kirk. I've done that but all I find are requests for a robust response but no actual examples. 

many thanks