'Another' DCB Legal Letter of Claim received (on behalf of UKPC Limited)

Touch76

Hi all

I have just received a LOC from DCB Legal, very much along the lines of a similar thread (https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6511348/letter-of-claim-dcb-legal-ltd/p1).

I have read the Newbie thread so have not responded to any previous correspondence with DCBL. My original appeal to UKPC was rejected as was my POPLA appeal (which admittedly would have been worded more suitably had I read the forum beforehand). I have also (truthfully) admitted early on that I was the driver at the time, my wife is the registered keeper of the car and I did not want her to have to deal with any of this nonsense.

Some facts about the situation for context....

In March I was driving home late (11.50pm) near a local town and there was a sudden torrential downpour that made it impossible to see more than a few feet in front of me. I also suffer with diabetes and high blood pressure and the time of night and weather conditions made me feel very light-headed to the extent that it was very dangerous to myself and others to remain on the road so I looked to pull over as quickly as possible

I pulled into a small retail park which I have visited before, driving at crawling pace given the weather conditions. I have never paid for parking here before as there is a free period of parking (2 hours). There were no other cars there but there wouldn’t have been as the shops had shut hours earlier and it’s on the outskirts of the town with nothing else near except a 24 hour supermarket next door.

Driving in to the car park, the only visible sign stated in big letters “2 hours maximum stay only”. I have since discovered that there is an additional sign above this that states that there is no parking between 11.30pm and 7am but this was not visible given the weather conditions. I pulled into the car park and waited in my car for around 10 minutes until I felt a little better and the rain had started to ease before driving home (I didn’t leave the car at all as it was bucketing down).

I then received a parking charge from UKPC stating that ‘the vehicle was present on site during the restricted no parking period” with a £60 charge. I am disputing this for the following reasons:

o    Inadequate signage, at the time this happened the only legible text on the only visible sign stated there was “2 hours maximum stay only” which gave the impression that I could park there for a short time. I have returned to the site since and there is a sign above this that says “No parking between the hours of 23.30 and 07.00” but this sign was not readable in the weather conditions and was above the drivers eyeline by the time I was close enough to potentially have read it.

o   I was physically parked for less than the 10-minute grace period (which I believe applies here under the BPA code of practice). At the speed I was driving I am quite confident I was stationary for less than 10 minutes and didn’t leave the car. The time elapsed between entering and exiting the car park was 12m21s according to the NTK

I have a few questions that I would really appreciate some help with as I reply to the LOC.

1.      Reply form – in the LOC, DCB Legal direct me to their website to complete an online reply form. Should I complete the form on the website or is it better to draft my own and email it to them?

2.      Owing the debt - I am intending to dispute but am not sure whether to state this now or to say that I don’t know if I owe the debt to give more time (choosing the latter doesn’t let me submit the form on their website, it just asks me to email them for more information - I have no obvious reason to try and delay).

3.      Ask for documents – I was planning to request the following as suggested in Annex 1 of the PAP. “A copy of the written contract for the debt; A full statement of account, including details of all interest and charges included on the outstanding balance of the debt, explaining how they have been calculated, and any payments already made toward the debt; a calculation of the interest claimed; the annual or daily rate of interest; a description of the nature and amount of any administrative charges included in the debt; a copy of the notice of assignment of the debt.”. Does this seem reasonable in this instance?

4.      Seeking debt advice – I have no specific appointment, I was planning to say “I intend to get debt advice about this debt. I can’t do this until I have received the information I am asking for.”

I have no intention on completing the financial statement, the issue is not one of affordability of the hypothetical debt plus I am disputing in any case. I understand there is no issue with this?

Finally, I have been unable to identify the landowner unfortunately.

Any suggestions or advice gratefully received.

Gr1pr

1) definitely no using their forms, email the template response 

2) delaying or not is your choice to make 

3) your choice to make, sometimes its more advantageous to not know, letting them issue poor POC etc

4) you either use the 30 days section or not, don't overthink this interim stage 

Just use the template if unsure about anything, don't try to be clever, the response, with or without the 30 days to seek debt advice, is sufficient.  Going off piste can be detrimental to the future , sometimes being in the dark has advantages 

No filling in the financial forms, stick to the advice in post 2, stop overthinking this stage , follow the process 

Advice for finding out the retail park management company or landowner is below 

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6337652/how-to-find-details-of-landowner

Le_Kirk

In whose name is the LOC, yours or the registered keeper's?  Did the registered keeper complete a transfer of liability naming you as driver and have you received a PCN in your name and, following on from that, the LOC?

Coupon-mad

Why are you looking at the Reply Form, which the LBC advice section in the NEWBIES thread tells you not to use? Just send the template LBC response and await the claim.

Touch76

Le_Kirk said:

In whose name is the LOC, yours or the registered keeper's?  Did the registered keeper complete a transfer of liability naming you as driver and have you received a PCN in your name and, following on from that, the LOC?

Yes to all of the above, realise this was a mistake now but the LOC is in my name as driver - the registered keeper is my wife who named me as driver, I received a PCN and now LOC

Touch76

Coupon-mad said:

Why are you looking at the Reply Form, which the LBC advice section in the NEWBIES thread tells you not to use? Just send the template LBC response and await the claim.

Understood thanks, I misread the newbies thread - will respond with the template email. Thanks

Touch76

Gr1pr said:

1) definitely no using their forms, email the template response 

2) delaying or not is your choice to make 

3) your choice to make, sometimes its more advantageous to not know, letting them issue poor POC etc

4) you either use the 30 days section or not, don't overthink this interim stage 

Just use the template if unsure about anything, don't try to be clever, the response, with or without the 30 days to seek debt advice, is sufficient.  Going off piste can be detrimental to the future , sometimes being in the dark has advantages 

No filling in the financial forms, stick to the advice in post 2, stop overthinking this stage , follow the process 

Advice for finding out the retail park management company or landowner is below 

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6337652/how-to-find-details-of-landowner

Thanks so much, very helpful. Based on your post I am planning to reply by email using the template LOC response and leaving out the 30 day piece.

I've managed to track down the managing agent from the link and have contacted them today to try and get this cancelled now. Thanks again.