DCBL chasing me for PCN I was unaware of due to V5 being in the post at time of issue

Edforce1

On the 2nd of January 2025, I received a debt collection letter from DCBL regarding a PCN ticket issued by Euro Car Parks in April 2024 in Sheffield.

Firstly, when I returned, I had no ticket on my car's windscreen. Secondly, the PCN was sent to my old home address as I had moved, and this was what was on my V5 when it was issued. Thirdly, as I was moving, I had sent a change of address to the DVLA a few days prior to the ticket being issued, and I received a new V5 on 10/4/2024 (five days after the ticket was issued).

I contacted Euro Car Parks but was told they could not deal with it as the mandatory appeal time had passed and they told me I had to contact DCBL which I did. DCBL told me tough and the advisor said I should have gone back to my old house to check the mail as a ticket had been issued. I disputed this and said it was ridiculous and how did I know I had a ticket!

I have since written to DCBL outlining all of this in more detail and also disputing the ticket and asking for evidence.

Where do I now stand, should I take it to court?

Many thanks

Gr1pr

If you mean dcb Ltd, dcbl, ignore them, do not phone them,  ignore the debt collectors 

If you mean dcb legal then do you have a Letter of Claim   ?

If not,  wait for one,  meanwhile study the newbies sticky thread in announcements 

You wont be taking anything to court,  but ECP & DCB Legal will likely issue a court claim against you,  eventually 

No paying,  definitely ignore the powerless debt collectors 

Coupon-mad

Just ignore DCB Ltd.

Please read the 4th then the 2nd post of the NEWBIES thread. You want the court claim form this year and if you don't yet know why that's a good thing, you need to read half a dozen DCB Legal / ECP claim threads.

Edforce1

Thank you for replying, I have had a good read several times of the NEWBIES thread but I can not seem to find anything similar to my situation other than the thread regarding CCJ's from old addresses. My letter is like the ones in the newbies thread from DCBL saying I have to pay £170, other than this I can find no similarities.

Should I ignore the letter until I get comms from their Legal department and then take it from there? I have contacted (maybe should not have done in hindsight) DBCL about the letter but admitted no liability, I emailed them saying I had no knowledge of the PCN and asked them to provide proof and also pointed out that my V5 (change of address due to moving)  was in the post and received 5 days after the PCN was issued, what should I do?

Gr1pr

Do what we said,  nothing at the moment,  ignore the debt collectors,  never contact debt collectors,  they only want your money and are not interested in excuses or stories,  just money 

Plenty of people,  thousands,  have had this problem of the pcn going to an address obtained from the dvla that was an old address due to moving,  hence why mail redirection is always a good idea,  too late now 

Come back here to this thread if dcb legal send a letter of Claim,  or if you receive a court claim 

So to reiterate so that its crystal clear, IGNORE the powerless debt collectors 

Edforce1

Ok, that's great, thank you.

Coupon-mad

Your exact situation is covered by the 4th post of the NEWBIES thread, as I advised.

I think your difficulty might be that 'posts' within a thread don't have numbers, so you have to count to find the 4th post. Don't read the whole NEWBIES thread from the start about appeals!

Then read the 2nd post of the NEWBIES thread; that's the one that tells you about LBC stage and then defending the court claim that you'll receive this year.

I hope you've now read half a dozen DCB Legal claim threads to see how easy it is?

C74Guinness

yeah i'm kind of in the same boat here. my missus parked on a pub euro car park in June 2023 for a "working breakfast". DCBL contacted me in october 2024 last year. i stupidly rang them when i got the letter, as i was unaware of any offence as i wasn't the driver on the day in question. the pub was not able to open for business, so any registration plate details were unable to be input. when my partner and her colleagues drove away, my partner had exceeded the grace period by 80 seconds. her colleagues were under that period as they entered the car park before my partner did, so have not received a notice. the pub/brewery don't want to know and won't confirm that the building wasn't open for business. i get a voicemail once every 2 weeks from DCBL and an occasional letter which goes straight in the bin. its abhorrent that they endorse their letters with "as seen on don't pay we'll take it away" like its a badge of honour.   would i be right to continue ignoring these charlatans or should i engage with them? Cheers. 

Nellymoser

@C74Guinness When looking for advice relating to your own situation you have to start your own thread, gets confusing if it's on another's thread.
Read NEWBIES THREAD ANNOUNCEMENT POST 4. Is it DCB Ltd the debt collectors or DCB Legal.

Coupon-mad

C74Guinness said:

yeah i'm kind of in the same boat here. my missus parked on a pub euro car park in June 2023 for a "working breakfast". DCBL contacted me in october 2024 last year. i stupidly rang them when i got the letter, as i was unaware of any offence as i wasn't the driver on the day in question. the pub was not able to open for business, so any registration plate details were unable to be input. when my partner and her colleagues drove away, my partner had exceeded the grace period by 80 seconds. her colleagues were under that period as they entered the car park before my partner did, so have not received a notice. the pub/brewery don't want to know and won't confirm that the building wasn't open for business. i get a voicemail once every 2 weeks from DCBL and an occasional letter which goes straight in the bin. its abhorrent that they endorse their letters with "as seen on don't pay we'll take it away" like its a badge of honour.   would i be right to continue ignoring these charlatans or should i engage with them? Cheers. 

Sit tight. Do nothing except the below.

By going confidently into the 'ignore' stance, the only steps to take (because you MUST check every letter) are:

- Tell them if you move house within 6 years.

- Ignore the tedious £170 threatograms shown in pictures in the 4th post of the NEWBIES thread.

- Come back if you get a solicitor's LBC as per the 2nd post of the NEWBIES thread.

Nobody pays a penny and no hearing is even needed in most cases. Search the forum and read a few cases as they are easy to beat by waiting for a claim form - it is easier than appealing!

There is no risk AT ALL in defending a court claim. No CCJ. No bailiffs.

NO MORE REPLIES HERE PLEASE EXCEPT FROM THE THREAD STARTER WHEN THEY NEED HELP TO DEFEND A CLAIM.