CEL , DCB Legal court claim Received

pooring2002

Hi all, hope you can help. My wife and 7 year old son met a friend at a local Mcdonalds but the carpark is split in 2 with one side for Mcdonalds customers and one side for KFC. Long story short, she had accidentally parked on the KFC side but to be honest its not very clear as looks just like one carpark. Our son has ulcerative colitis and was getting the full Disability living allowance amount due to the severity of his condition, he had a massive flareup and breakdown whilst there so ended up staying alot longer than intended. They only realised they ended up staying over the allowed 2 hours when a invoice came through the post from Civil Enforcement.

My wife did go and speak to them at KFC but were no help (obviously know reading posts here she should of pushed further for them to help).

We were in hospital for 6-7 weeks between march-may this year whilst he was fighting for his life so missed more of their generic letters which I binned as had so much more to deal with. I just kept binning the letters until we have got this LBA in the post. 

Can anyone confirm if this is a genuine letter that needs a 30 day response or just another generic threatening letter they send? This one has loads of bs reply forms asking for income statements etc.. which I will gladly ignore and not fill in. 

Do I send an email like this to them?

Dear Sirs,

Your Ref. ############
Proposed Legal Proceedings
Claimant: xxxxxx xxxxxxxx Ltd

I refer to your your letter of claim.

I confirm that my address for service for the time being - assuming you don't faff about and delay any claim - is as follows, and any older address must be erased from your records:
[Correct address here]

The alleged debt is disputed and any court proceedings will be vigorously defended.

I am sourcing and seeking independent debt advice and as such, I formally request that this matter be put on hold for an additional 30 days, in accordance with the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims 2017 ('the PAP').

I note that the amount being claimed has increased by a hugely exaggerated amount which the Government called "extorting money from motorists".

Don't send me your usual blather about that.
I have two questions, and under the PAP I am entitled to specific answers:

1. Am I to understand that the additional £70 represents what you lot dress up as a 'Debt Recovery' fee, and if so, is this nett or inclusive of VAT? If the latter, would you kindly explain why I am being asked to pay the operator’s VAT?

2. With regard to the principal alleged PCN sum: Is this damages, or will it be pleaded as consideration for parking?

Yours faithfully

I have tried reading through the newbies threads numerous times but just trying to seek a little guidance if i'm on the right track? My brain is a little frazzled right now, its been a traumatic couple of months and just trying to get this dealt with now and not have it on our minds.

Do I need to add anything to the above, any sort of defence or does that come later on? One thing I noticed, someone on a local fb group got the same letter seeking £170 from the same carpark but had pictures. We've never had these, does this make any difference? 

Thank you for taking the time to look at my post, any help really appreciated.

Coupon-mad

Yes just send that and don't ask for pictures or a SAR. You want a vague court claim with no more evidence because that's easy to defend.  No CCJ risk, nothing bad and very possible that the claim will be struck out later anyway.

Gr1pr

Pictures and evidence and a defence come later, perhaps in a month or more likely two, for now the LBC section in post 2 in the newbies sticky thread is where you are up to, so ONLY reply by email to the LoC in front of you, using a reply like the reply you posted above 

No form filling, no extras, short and sweet, denying the alleged debt and querying that vat position, as seen in numerous recent threads like yours 

Don't try to see the light or enlightenment just yet, let CEL make the mistakes, so just the email reply only, no additions , yes its genuine, so reply 

pooring2002

Thank you both for your responses. Ive read and re-read post 2 in the newbies section but cannot see where to email my response to that I copy and pasted above. I've looked on their website but cannot see any email address on there either. Any ideas please?

The latest letter is from Civil Enforcement but have had previous had letters from these so called solicitors and bailiffs which I binned. I'm hoping I don't respond to them as cannot actually remember who it was  . Possibly DcLegal but wouldn't be sure of that.

Again thank you for taking the time to respond.

Gr1pr

Probably DCB Legal, but you should email the litigation department at CEL, so read this 

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/78254735#Comment_78254735?utm_source=community-search&utm_medium=organic-search&utm_term=cel+litigation+email+address

pooring2002

Thank you very much. Have used the 2 email addresses on that link you provided. See what sort of response I get and will update.

Gr1pr

Whatever the response, a court claim is almost inevitable within a couple of months, so start preparing for that initial stage, I also suggest that you start drafting your defence based on the defence template thread too

pooring2002

Hi, just received this letter in the post. Do I have to do anything else at this stage or do I just wait it out?

Thank you 

Coupon-mad

Report CEL online to HMRC for suspected VAT concerns that they are charging what their letter admits is a DEBT RECOVERY CHARGE but they appear not to be paying HMRC VAT on that fee element.

Search the forum. The wording is everywhere.

  

pooring2002

Hi, hadn't heard anything since this post but received these court letters in the post a few days ago. Been in and out of hospital with my son, its been an horrendous year and this is the last thing we have time for trying to deal with. Is the next steps filing a defence online and responding at www.moneyclaim.gov.uk like the letter states?

Thank you to anyone that helps and responds, we really appreciate it.

KeithP

With a Claim Issue Date of 27th November, you have until Monday 16th December to file an Acknowledgment of Service, but there is nothing to be gained by delaying it. 

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

Having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 30th December 2024 to file a Defence.

That's 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 Acknowledgment of Service guidance.

Don't miss the deadline for filing an Acknowledgment of Service, nor that for filing a Defence.

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