Parking Fine - Letter of Claim!

victor56

Hello!

Just after some advice!  So to cut a long story short:

Got a parking fine apparently in September last year, The first letter I received was from debt recovery plus and have now received a letter of claim from Dcb legal.

I got a letter from Debt reovery plus in January, once received I contacted UK Parking Control Limited as it is their carpark.  I have been arguing with them since January as I never received the original fine which was £60, they have emailed me all this stuff now but it s to late for that.

The fine increased from £60 to £100, then went up to £170 which it currently sits at.  It is very annoying as I have missed a few of the stages of being able to make a complaint and get it cancelled etc even though I did try.

I have sent the "proposed legal proceedings" off to Dcb legal asking asking them to put it on hold for 30 days.

I was just wondering what my next steps are or if there is anything else I could be doing in the mean time it removed.  UK parking control who I have been arguing with since January as obviously I wasn't given the chance to pay the initial £60 fine as I received nothing from them, the last reply basically said they weren't interested and to refer to the letter of claim.

The carpark in question is Crowne Point in Leeds.

Thanks Ant

KeithP

victor56 said:

I was just wondering what my next steps are...

Just keep following the guidance in the second post of the NEWBIES thread.

Fruitcake

It is not a fine.

UKPC signs are always inadequate and incapable for forming a contract with a motorist, so you should get photos of the site and signage, ideally taken from a car length away, plus a close up for reference.

It is never too late for Plan A, so go as high up the food chain of the landowner as possible, ideally the CEO.

What was the reason given for issuing the charge? 

Other than Plan A and getting photo evidence, you should start reading the guide to court written by bargepole that you will find in the sticky Announcement for NEWBIES, in conjunction with the template defence sticky Announcement that includes a twelve step checklist.

As a curtesy, please tell us what happed with regard to your other parking charge. 

Umkomaas

I have been arguing with them since January as I never received the original fine

It's not a fine. It's simply a letter asking you to pay them some money!

In regard to not receiving the first UKPC letter, please check the address that is showing on your V5C (logbook).  Was it your correct address at the time of the parking event?  If it's not correct, you need to update it with the DVLA - it can be done online in minutes. If it's not up to date, you expose yourself to a DVLA fine (a real fine!) of £1,000.

LDast

Did you throw away one valuable defence point by admitting to being the keeper AND the driver?

victor56 said:

I have sent the "proposed legal proceedings" off to Dcb legal asking asking them to put it on hold for 30 days.

Do you understand that sending off a request for 30 days to seek debt advice does not add another 30 days to the time before they can initiate a claim. It is 30 days from the date you send that request. So, for example, if you send that request 5 days after the date f the LoC, you only gain 5 days extra.

Can you please clarify what you mean by you sent off the "proposed legal proceedings"? Was it just a letter/email or did you fill-in all the forms?

You are fortunate in that you have a claim that will be initiated by DCB Legal for UKPC which is a guaranteed discontinuation. Have look at this thread with over 300 examples of them discontinuing if the claim is defended robustly using the defence template.

DCB LEGAL RECORD OF PRIVATE PARKING COURT CLAIM DISCONTINUATIONS

victor56

Thanks for all your replies!

So the initial fine was for leaving the shopping centre and leaving my car there.

Sorry I have just sent DCB the legal template, I haven't signed anything.

I received and email back today just asking for me to confirm my name... am I ok to reply to this just saying yes?


In regards, to my previous charge I haven't heard anything in forever now!

Gr1pr

Except it wasnt a fine, it was an invoice for the alleged breach of the parking contract, by somebody going off site without the vehicle 

You should confirm your name, address, VRM and PCN reference number 

LDast

How do you imagine they can prove that any person "left the site" and that that unknown  person is you, the registered keeper of the vehicle? Is it only the driver that is supposedly not allowed to leave the site or are any passengers also restricted from leaving the site?

Can you see how ridiculous the allegation in the NtK is?

Coupon-mad

KeithP said:

victor56 said:

I was just wondering what my next steps are...

Just keep following the guidance in the second post of the NEWBIES thread.

As above. 

As long as you have already replied to the LBC using the recommended response, just come back when you get a court claim.

That's the stage when you win and pay nothing.

victor56

They have replied:

Dear 

 

We write in response to your correspondence received in our office dated 26/05/2024.

 

We now respond to the same as follows.

 

As payment was not made, either within 14 or 28 days, the creditor was entitled to instruct debt recovery agents / Solicitors to pursue payment and is entitled to recover the costs of doing so.  It would have been made clear in the terms and conditions set out in the signs that additional enforcement costs may be incurred in the event of non-payment.

 

In response to your questions,  the HMRC ‘VAT Supply and Consideration manual’ (VATSC06140), which was last updated on 02 September 2020, confirmed that parking charge notices falls out of the scope of VAT. There is no requirement for a VAT invoice to be issued to you.

 

The sum added is a contribution to the actual costs incurred by our Client as a result of your non-payment. Our Client’s employees have spent time and material attempting to recover the debt. This is not our Client’s usual business and the resources could have been better spent in other areas of the business. Had you of paid as per the Contract, there would have been no need for recovery action so the amount due would not have increased. The PCN was issued due to a breach of terms in our Client's contract when you chose to enter the private land.

 

You now have 30 days from the date of this emailto make payment of £170.00. Failure to make payment will result in a Claim being issued against you without any further reference.

Payment can be made via bank transfer to our designated client account: -

 

• Account Name: DCB Legal Ltd Client Account  
• Sort Code: 20-24-09  
• Account Number: 60964441

You must quote the correct case reference (101473.244477D) when making payment. If you do not, we may be unable to correctly allocate the payment. If further action is taken by us as a result of an incorrect reference being quoted, you will be liable for any further fees or costs incurred.

 

We would ask that you kindly furnish us with your most up to date telephone number and email address, this can be emailed to us at info@dcblegal.co.uk.Alternatively, you can contact DCB Legal Ltd on 0203 838 7038 to make payment over the telephone or online at 

KeithP

I see they're still using that ungrammatical phrase - "Had you of paid...".