CCPC Ltd & DCB Legal court claim

sandybeach24

Hello all,

first of all, I have read the newbies post (multiple times) but just wanted a little advice as I’m in a bit of information overload.

background : parked April 23, paid for 1 hour parking via app on arrival, stayed less than an hour. 

App processing error seems to have recorded the charge as for the following hour , not the one I was there fore (eg I paid 7-8am but app said 8-9am), date was correct. The amount I paid was correct in any case.

parking company issued PCN to an old address, so I didn’t see it until it had been escalated to DCB legal this time last year. I showed them evidence that I had paid , they rejected this but offered a without prejudice offer of £60 (instead of £170 fine) - I rejected this , and thought that they knew that their case was ridiculous. 

Never heard anything from them until last month when I got letter of claim .

I responded with edited template from newbies thread 

QUOTE

Your Ref. XXXX

Proposed Legal Proceedings

Claimant: XXX 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: XXX

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

As stated in previous emails to you, I do not owe your client any money whatsoever as the correct fee for the parking was paid on arrival at the car park. I have sent both you and your client evidence of this on a number of occasions and yet you are still continuing to harass me. 

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 £170 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

UNQUOTE

My question is - is there anything else I need to do at this stage? I tried complaining to landowner but they said it wasn’t anything to do with them, believe POPLA deadline has expired. 

Also - am I right to fight this? If it goes to court will I have a good chance of winning? 

Is there anything else I can do to get them to leave me alone?! It’s wasting a lot of my time . 

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated 

Thanks in advance 

Nellymoser

If you were to get a court hearing date you'll have an excellent chance of seeing DCB LEGAL discontinue close to the hearing date. Have a read of the DCB LEGAL RECORD OF PRIVATE PARKING COURT CLAIM DISCONTINUATIONS thread

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6377263/dcb-legal-record-of-private-parking-court-claim-discontinuations/p1

I take it you've emailed parking company's DPO your current address and instructed them to erase your old address. And DVLA V5C updated too. 

Gr1pr

Agreed, this case will probably end up in that Discontinuations thread, already over 432 and counting 

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6377263/dcb-legal-record-of-private-parking-court-claim-discontinuations#latest

Coupon-mad

My question is - is there anything else I need to do at this stage?

No.

Also - am I right to fight this? If it goes to court will I have a good chance of winning?

Yes.

That is all. See you at court claim stage.

sandybeach24

Hi all,

thanks for your input so far. 

So I have received a reply to my email : 

QUOTE 

Dear xxx

 We write in response to your correspondence received in our office dated xxx

 

We now respond to the same as follows.

 

Pursuing a legally owed debt is not harassment. You may wish to seek independent legal advice in this regard. Our client pursuing this matter through the Small Claims Court is the correct course of action.  Though you did make payment, this payment was made after you left the car park not on arrival at the car park.  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.

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 (xxx) 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@ .Alternatively, you can contact DCB Legal Ltd on 0203 838 7038 to make payment over the telephone or online at  

Kind Regards, 

UNQUOTE 

So it appears DCB are now claiming that I made payment after I left the car park - this is despite me showing them a bank statement showing that I paid within 5 minutes of arrival. I have already sent them a screenshot of this when they first tried this on last year - should I send it them again in the hope that it puts them off the court process ? 

Or should I just ignore this email and wait for the court proceedings to begin?

 

Gr1pr

Same advice as in all the other similar reply cases 

Report DCB Legal to HMRC due to possible VAT concerns 

Wait for the inevitable court claim pack from the CNBC in Northampton to arrive 

Replying gets you dragged further in, it wont put them off, it's roboclaim mentality and they probably have thousands on the go.  They will do what their client has instructed them to do, to issue a court claim if the sum is not paid in full 

sandybeach24

Ok thanks. 

I have reported to HMRC and will await court claim pack 

sandybeach24

Question regarding my defence when it comes to it - 

when I initially appealed to the PPC , I didn’t explicitly say I was the driver , but I did use the phrase ‘I have attached a copy of my bank statement which clearly shows I made payment to justpark at xxx on x April, when I arrived at the car park’

- does this mean I have admitted that I was the driver? Or can I continue as keeper only? As I was not actually driving but did make payment . 

Gr1pr

All it was is proof that you paid for the parking, as could I, as could anyone else, a passenger could have paid it 

If you were not the driver, your defence using the template would clearly say so at the end of paragraph 2. ( Keeper but not the driver. )

sandybeach24

So CNBC Claim Form came through today …
Claim issue date is 8th January … am I right in thinking I should not do AoS before 13th Jan? 

 

Castle

There's a VRM still showing on the POC.