DCB Legal and UKPC

jaykay87

Hi all
New user, who only wished I’d found the thread sooner. 

Here’s my overview. 

In June I went to a meeting in Castleford. As I arrived at the ukpc controlled car park I was on a call, and slightly late. Went to use the pay and display, but out of order. Still on the phone at this point and the chap I was meeting caught sight of me, and I ended up distracted. 

It wasn’t until I got home that I realised I never paid for the ticket (nothing on my car when I returned). 

Heard nothing at all about this until August when I received a debt collection letter for £170 and a photo of a ticket in my car (I can only presume someone had ripped this off) 

(This is where I wish I’d found the site sooner). 

I called the collection agency, confirmed I had nothing in the post prior to this and said I’d pay the £100 charge. They refused and said I could try calling ukpc. No luck there as no way to speak to a human or any email address. 

Went back and forth with the debt collector and ended up raising a complaint. 

I spoke to a solicitor friend at a respected law firm - he suggested I do nothing further, save evidence I’ve tried to make a reasonable attempt to resolve and pay, await a claim from them as unlikely the debt collection fees would be enforceable. 

On 16 dec I received a letter of claim from dcb legal. That’s when I found this thread. 

Emailed them the reply in the newbies thread, and received this response;

The terms and conditions on the signs at the site stated that parking was permitted for vehicles clearly displaying a valid permit/ticket, or otherwise a parking charge notice would be issued. A valid permit/ticket was not on display as is demonstrated in the photographic evidence attached. The parking charge was issued correctly. You were afforded the chance to appeal or pay the lesser amount, however, neither was chosen by you. Therefore, you are liable for the full amount.

 

Where the Parking Charge 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 HMRC ‘VAT Supply and Consideration manual’ (VATSC06140), confirmed that parking charge notices falls out of the scope of VAT.  If there are any information that you have requested, but that are not enclosed with this email, it is because we have deemed the request to be disproportionate and/or not relevant to the substantive issues in dispute. We respectfully draw your attention to paragraph 2.1(c) of the Protocol and remind you that both parties are expected to act reasonably and proportionately.  We acknowledge your request for a 30-day hold, you now have 30 days from the date of this email to pay the outstanding balance of £170.00. Failure to do so will result in a claim being issued against you without further notice.  Payment can be made via bank transfer to our designated client account:- Account Name: DCB Legal Ltd Client AccountSort Code: 20-24-09Account Number: 60964441 You must quote the correct case reference (beginning ‘1’) 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 434 0424 to make payment over the telephone or online    Our opening hours are Monday to Thursday from 8am until 5pm or Friday 8am until 4pm.  DCB Legal have been instructed as all previous attempts to resolve the matter have been unsuccessful.   
I now understand that my next step is to do nothing more until I receive the court claim, and then follow the 12 steps. 
I’ll keep this thread updated. Unless experienced members tell me otherwise, I’m presuming that at the very least this will go to small claims and I’ll end up having to pay the £100. 
Sorry for the long first post! 

Gr1pr

Report them to HMRC with possible VAT concerns 

Then wait for the claim form next year,  then come back here and adapt the recent template,  the one with incorrect dates etc, based on the template thread

We doubt that you will pay even a penny to them 

Coupon-mad

I spoke to a solicitor friend at a respected law firm - he suggested I do nothing further, save evidence I’ve tried to make a reasonable attempt to resolve and pay, await a claim from them as unlikely the debt collection fees would be enforceable.

Yay! A solicitor friend with correct advice about private parking claims and the fake 'fee'.  That's rare.

Do come back when you get a claim form.

  

jaykay87

Update. I now have the claim form. Dcb legal Ltd is claiming 261.92. 176.92 for the parking ticket which they are stating  is the total parking fee, 35 for court fees and 50 for legal representation 

Gr1pr

Post the issue date from the claim form below 

Post a redacted picture of the POC on the lower left of the claim form after hiding the VRM details first 

Check that date in the POC,  I bet that its incorrect 

jaykay87

Just an update. Followed the defence thread template and submitted to claim.responses email address. 

I’ve had an auto reply back saying “thank you for emailing etc”. Silly question but does that count as email acknowledgement back?

KeithP

jaykay87 said:

I’ve had an auto reply back saying “thank you for emailing etc”.

Read the whole of that auto reply. 
I seem to recall that it does say that it serves as a receipt, but the mere fact that you received an auto reply, indicates that something was received.