PCN for parking on own property, from parking company contracted by building management company.

Coupon-mad

It keeps them busy, yes.

Johnersh

It's long been my view that this is a flat rate application of a fee - it is, in essence, a form of liquidated damages which needs to be expressly within the contract (and which could be, precisely because it's a flat fee).

If they claim it's a disbursement, reflective of additional costs, then those need to be itemised and quantified.

FUDbyDesign

Update
Received another letter of claim🥳, this one encompassing all three of the PCNs that they issued. And of course they want  £510 now, don't they. Wording is almost identical to the last LoC except they've swapped out the term "PCN" with "Parking Charge" for some reason. I never got a reply to the last email I sent them so I'll just rinse and repeat.  

Also, I've submitted the VAT concerns report to HMRC.  These are the questions that came up as I worked my way through the questionnaire.

1. What type of activity are you reporting to HMRC?
   My answer: "Not paying VAT"
2. Are you reporting an individual or a business?
   My answer: Business
3. What do you know about the individual's business?
   My answer: Business name, trade, address and contact details
4. What is the business' name?
   My answer: "DCB Legal Ltd"
5. What is the business type?
   My answer: "Solicitors"
6. What country is the business based in?
   My answer: United Kingdom
7. What is the business' address?
   My answer: info as per LoC
8. What are the business' contact details?
   My answer: info as per LoC
9. How do you know the business?
   My answer: "Other - Parking charge dispute"
10. How do you know about the activity you are reporting?
    My answer: "Other - Email communications"
11. How long has the activity been going on for?
    My answer: "I do not know"
12. How much is the total value of the activity, in pounds?
    My answer: "More than £1 million"  
13. How many other people know about the activity?
    My answer: "I do not know"
14. Describe the activity you are reporting
    My answer: "The solicitors of a private parking contractor are claiming that VAT is not payable on their charges."
15. Your contact details - Do you want to give us your contact details?
    My answer: "No, I want to report anonymously"
    
    

Hopefully my answers are good.  Question 12 is impossible to answer so I just chose the biggest number hoping it will set off some alarm bells and maybe trigger a dawn raid or something. One can but dream😊

Humdinger1

Well done @FUDbyDesign! HMRC has to investigate...will keep my eye on the board and in the media for one enormous bang.  Onwards and upwards Humdinger 

Coupon-mad

FUDbyDesign said:

Update
Received another letter of claim🥳, this one encompassing all three of the PCNs that they issued. And of course they want  £510 now, don't they. Wording is almost identical to the last LoC except they've swapped out the term "PCN" with "Parking Charge" for some reason. I never got a reply to the last email I sent them so I'll just rinse and repeat.  

Also, I've submitted the VAT concerns report to HMRC.  These are the questions that came up as I worked my way through the questionnaire.

1. What type of activity are you reporting to HMRC?
   My answer: "Not paying VAT"
2. Are you reporting an individual or a business?
   My answer: Business
3. What do you know about the individual's business?
   My answer: Business name, trade, address and contact details
4. What is the business' name?
   My answer: "DCB Legal Ltd"
5. What is the business type?
   My answer: "Solicitors"
6. What country is the business based in?
   My answer: United Kingdom
7. What is the business' address?
   My answer: info as per LoC
8. What are the business' contact details?
   My answer: info as per LoC
9. How do you know the business?
   My answer: "Other - Parking charge dispute"
10. How do you know about the activity you are reporting?
    My answer: "Other - Email communications"
11. How long has the activity been going on for?
    My answer: "I do not know"
12. How much is the total value of the activity, in pounds?
    My answer: "More than £1 million"  
13. How many other people know about the activity?
    My answer: "I do not know"
14. Describe the activity you are reporting
    My answer: "The solicitors of a private parking contractor are claiming that VAT is not payable on their charges."
15. Your contact details - Do you want to give us your contact details?
    My answer: "No, I want to report anonymously"
    
    

Hopefully my answers are good.  Question 12 is impossible to answer so I just chose the biggest number hoping it will set off some alarm bells and maybe trigger a dawn raid or something. One can but dream😊

Thanks for showing it.

£millions is correct.

That's a useful example of a 'VAT concerns' report for others to copy when they get the usual DCB Legal or other solicitor rubbish template reply after a LBC. 

FUDbyDesign

Thought I'd buggered off? No such luck, I'm afraid . Just 2 weeks shy of the anniversary of the first of three PCNs to be issued to me, I get back from work to the enthralling sight of a letter from HM Courts & Tribunals with an attached Claim Form from DCB Legal / CCPC. They've shunned my previous correspondences and evidently want to ratchet things up. FWIW, the amount now being claimed is:
£510 "PCN Damages"
+ £33.52 "Interest"
+ £70 "Court fee"
+ £70 "Legal representative's cost"
TOTAL: £683.52

Now, if they were a nice fluffy charity or NPO, I'd probably pay up at this point as I'm just getting soooo tired of this bs and who has the time for it anyway? But they aren't. And moreover, that's exactly what they want me to do.  Plus I don't have the money. So screw those slimy b*stards and their twisted business practices - I soldier on, if only on principle. 

Having read the stickies, I understand I should wait until 5 days after the issue date on the Claim Form before I proceed with the Acknowledgement of Service. I'll report here again when I've done that. 

Sorry for the language. Been a long day (and year). 

KeithP

What is the Issue Date on your Claim Form?

FUDbyDesign

KeithP said:

What is the Issue Date on your Claim Form?

28th January, 2025

KeithP

FUDbyDesign said:

KeithP said:

What is the Issue Date on your Claim Form?

28th January, 2025

With a Claim Issue Date of 28th January, you have until Monday 17th February 2025 to file an Acknowledgment of Service('AOS'), but there is nothing to be gained by delaying it. 

To file an AOS, follow the guidance in the Dropbox file linked from the second post in the NEWBIES thread.

Having filed an AOS in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 3rd March 2025 to file a Defence.

That's over four weeks away. Plenty of time to produce a Defence, but please don't leave it to the last minute.

To create a Defence, and then file a Defence by email, look again at the second post on the NEWBIES thread - immediately following where you found the AOS guidance.

Don't miss the deadline for filing an AOS, nor that for filing a Defence.

Do not try and file a Defence via the MoneyClaimOnline website. Once an AOS has been filed, the MCOL website should be treated as 'read only'.

Coupon-mad

FUDbyDesign said:

Thought I'd buggered off? No such luck, I'm afraid . Just 2 weeks shy of the anniversary of the first of three PCNs to be issued to me, I get back from work to the enthralling sight of a letter from HM Courts & Tribunals with an attached Claim Form from DCB Legal / CCPC.

FWIW, the amount now being claimed is:
£510 "PCN Damages"
+ £33.52 "Interest"
+ £70 "Court fee"
+ £70 "Legal representative's cost"
TOTAL: £683.52

For DCB Legal claims the current advice is the Template Defence with the addition of the standard Paragraph 3 that begins 'Regarding the POC'. As seen in all DCB claim threads.

There may well be a hearing because DCB Legal don't always discontinue multi-PCN cases (but they might).  Play the game!