VCS DCB Legal court claim

bbestmann

Hello and thank you for this forum! It’s such a huge help. Just a couple of weeks ago I got a letter of claim from dcblegal who are representing vehicle control services Ltd. In July 2024 I went to a parking spot at Woolwich, tried to pay online for parking but the network was wack, I then tried by phone but they were asking such intrusive questions so I decided to pay at the machine. I stood behind 4 or 5 people and finally payed to park. I got back even before my ticket ran out only to receive a PCN from them one or two weeks later, for failure to purchase parking tariff on site or within time allocated. The time elapsed was 12 or 14 mins. 

I think they are IPC registered. 

We have now got to £170 with a letter of claim.

 I now have one or 2 weeks to my 30 days elapsing. 

So I plan to send the letter you have shared on this forum for letter of claim. Hope I am correct so far and have not missed anything? Will I need to do anything else after I email the letter? 

I’d appreciate all the help. 

Gr1pr

Just email the LoC  template response to DCB legal, nothing else at this time 

Come back here when you get the response, or a court claim 

Coupon-mad

So I plan to send the letter you have shared on this forum for letter of claim. Hope I am correct so far and have not missed anything?

Yep.


Will I need to do anything else after I email the letter? 

Nope.

bbestmann

Great thank you all. I’ll be back ☺️

bbestmann

Hello all, I got an email response from dcblegal. At no time did I leave the parking site, I was trying to make an online payment which didn’t work so I tried via the phone but did not complete the transaction so instead, opted to  pay at the machine. I would appreciate your help on what next to say/do. This is what they have said:

We write in response to your correspondence received in our office dated 14/11/2024.

We now respond to the same as follows.

The Parking Charge was issued as you failed to purchase the parking tariff for your vehicle registration within the time allowed. The terms and conditions on the signs state that you have 10 minutes upon entry of the car park to purchase a valid parking ticket, or otherwise a Parking Charge would be issued. See a copy of the signs attached. Therefore, as no payment was made within this time frame, the charge was issued correctly.

 

Our Client further outlined this within their appeal response, see a copy attached. Whilst our Client acknowledged that payment for parking was made, your appeal was rejected on the basis that the payment was made outside the consideration period.  Therefore, in breach of the terms and conditions of the site.

 

Please not, as payment was not made, either within 14 or 28 days of the Parking Charge being issued, 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 accordance with the British Parking Association (BPA) Code of Practice, where the Parking Charge Notice (PCN) becomes overdue and before Court proceedings have commenced, a reasonable sum may be added for the debt recovery fees. The correct recovery fees have been added and will not be removed. As such, the outstanding balance of £170.00 remains payable to prevent further action. The amount owed is a genuine pre-estimate of the losses incurred in managing the parking location to ensure compliance with the clearly displayed terms and conditions. You now have 30 days from the date of this email to 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: 60964441You must quote the correct case reference (121097.10000D) 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.Alternatively, you can contact DCB Legal Ltd on 0203 838 7038 to make payment over the telephone or online Kind Regards, Millie Jones Administration Associate DCB Legal Ltd  

Coupon-mad

The correct recovery fees have been added and will not be removed. As such, the outstanding balance of £170.00 remains payable to prevent further action. The amount owed is a genuine pre-estimate of the losses incurred in managing the parking location to ensure compliance with the clearly displayed terms and conditions.

So the dimwit is saying that £170 is a GPEOL.  Laughable that she might even have a law degree and only has one job but still doesn't understand that she shouldn't be saying that and hasn't the foggiest clue what she's talking about.  These trainee paralegals get more amusing every week.

bbestmann

It appears that’s what they are saying. Any advice on what my response should be please?
I have 30 days to pay up from when the letter was sent to me. 

Coupon-mad

Not sure why posters think there's a next step. The NEWBIES thread already tells everyone what happens next.  

bbestmann

Oh did I get it wrong? Someone on this forum responded on 12th November, asking me to come back here once I had a response from dcblegal or a court claim. 

Gr1pr

Usually their response spouts the rubbish about the VAT aspect on the £70

You would have posted the response, we would have said report them to HMRC for possible Vat concerns, that is usually why you are told to come back, not due to that inept rubbish from the trainee paralegal 

So different reasons 

bbestmann

Hello all, I finally received the claim form. I wondered if the forum could cast a glance over my Defence please, No need to paste the other points (1-30) as I got them from NEWBIE:

3.       1.        (i) On 13th July 2024, the vehicle was parked at WXXXX car park.

(ii) The Defendant initially tried to make payment via phone, which proved impossible due to the lengthy questioning and an initial break in connection.

(iii)The Defendant subsequently attempted to make payment online but failed due to system errors.

(iv)Due to the inability to pay by the aforementioned methods, the Defendant was forced to join a lengthy queue and managed to get help from good citizens as the pay machine was temperamental. The whole process took approximately 14 minutes long.

(v) The Defendant paid £4 at the pay machine. Exhibit attached

(vi) As there was no option to pay using the location code, which would have offered the option, make payment from any location, the Defendant made extra payment to ensure that no fines would be incurred. The expiration time for the £4 ticket that was purchased was16:33 Exhibit attached

(vii) The Defendant arrived at 15:58, with ample time to spare.

(viii) The Defendant never left the premises until payment was made, so there should be no room to assume that the Defendant visited any shops around the area.   

Also, they are requesting £260.96 on the claim form (bottom right) but the amount stated within the PoC is £170 plus interest, cost and court fees. Should they not be stating the exact amount under the PoC?

Thanks in Advance