Recent CCJ - Advice Needed

cda17

Coupon-mad said:

This claim went to an English address? Old one? And you proved that address connection and mentioned the VRM and claim number in your SAR, to show you are the Defendant?

Yes, it went to my address in Manchester which I haven't resided at since September 2023.
I sent evidence of my recent addresses since then.
Yes, I stated claim number in SAR email. 

Coupon-mad

Perfect.

Interested to see one or both of your Scottish addresses shown on their trace as more recent addresses. How will they explain that?!

cda17

Coupon-mad said:

Perfect.

Interested to see one or both of your Scottish addresses shown on their trace as more recent addresses. How will they explain that?!

I did a CheckMyFile the other day and my Scottish addresses are all over it for finance, loans, mortgage etc etc. All dated throughout 2024. They couldn't have missed it.

cda17

I have had a response to my "set-aside" letter sent to DCB Legal; they replied asking for proof that I didn't reside at my Manchester address from September 2023. Once received, they will review the matter further. I have sent them proof off address changes over the past 2 years. Awaiting another response.

Also, I had a response to my SAR request, this is interesting, they replied:

"The only personal data we hold on yourself is your name, postal/email addresses, and vehicle registration mark – including photographs of your vehicle at the time the PCN was issued."

They also attached pictures of my car at the time of parking incident in 22nd August 2023, along with pdf copies of initial PCN ticket dated 25th August 2023 from Spring Parking, as well as the initial reminder letter dated 25th September 2023, also from Spring Parking.

So, it looks like they never carried out any searches / soft traces to try and locate me at all over the next 15 months after having no response from me. They did however manage to send me the CCJ letter, after it had already gone to court etc, to my most recent address in Aberdeen.

What should my next steps be now? Hopefully, they agree to submit a set-aside with me. If not, I have the SAR response which proves they didn't even try to find my new address after not having a response from me at all.

Coupon-mad

Email them and say:

You omitted the soft trace that you (or DCB Ltd) must have carried out. That indisputably includes my data. Don't play games. Send it to me or ask DCB Ltd to do so by return.

cda17

Coupon-mad said:

Email them and say:

You omitted the soft trace that you (or DCB Ltd) must have carried out. That indisputably includes my data. Don't play games. Send it to me or ask DCB Ltd to do so by return.

I have sent this.

Is to be noted, this was the reply to the SAR request from Spring Parking, not DCB Legal. I sent the same SAR request to both. Maybe Spring Parking didn't do any soft trace searches etc. Still awaiting response from DCB Legal SAR request.

cda17

Response from DCB Legal to SAR Request:

"We write in response to your Subject Access Request (SAR) received on 28/01/2025.

By submitting a SAR request, you are entitled to the following information:

• A copy of the information which we hold about you.
• Information about what personal Identifiable data is being processed.
• Details of the source of that data.

Further to your Subject Access Request (SAR), please find all personal identifiable data DCB Legal hold on file for you. Please note, the remit of a SAR is limited to the company to which it has been directed. The information provided by DCB Legal will only be the information held by ourselves directly at the time of your request. If you require information/data or correspondence relating to a third party, you will need to contact them directly. 

We can confirm that the personal identifiable data DCB Legal hold on file for you is as follows: 

Name  #########

Primary Address ##Manchester Address## (Provided by trace)

Date of Birth ##/##/#### (Provided by trace)

Email ##############

VRN #######

DCB Legal also hold a copy of the Letter of Claim issued to you on 02/10/2024. Any email correspondence you will already have copies of due to being either the sender or recipient of the correspondence.

DCB Legal do not hold the documentation in relation to the original Parking Charge, including notices, signage, appeals and responses, site plans or landowner contracts and this information has not been included within your Subject Access Request. 

Your data was transferred to DCB Legal by the instructing case Client, who are the Data Controller in the matter. Your data is processed based on "legitimate interest” which is detailed in Article 6 of GDPR. The personal data supplied by our Client is done so using a SFTP (Security File Transfer Protocol). This data is used to create individual cases and once this has been completed, the data is no longer available other than on our case management systems. DCB Legal does not store personal information for any longer than is necessary for its defined purpose. Our Data Protection Policy & Privacy Policy has been attached for your reference.

As part of our due diligence checks, DCB Legal conduct searches to ensure that communications are issued to the correct individual at the most recent address. Tracing agencies instructed by DCB Legal carry out activities in line with instruction, contract and data protection laws, along with any applicable confidentiality and security measures. 

DCB Legal have been instructed by Spring Parking Ltd, to instigate legal proceedings regarding an unpaid Parking Charge, reference #########.

This is the extent of the personal data held on file by DCB Legal. This response concludes your SAR."

They just attached a copy of their GDPR policy, nothing else? They state they've done a trace "provided by trace" but haven't sent me any details or copies of it.

I sent them the same reply I sent to Spring Parking regarding traces.

Johnersh

Look. It's their duty to serve to the correct address, not your duty to prove that you have moved.

It is frankly not the defendant's duty even to cooperate, but the court may take a dim view of obstruction (not the case here).

If D has a mortgage there is frankly no way that doesn't show on a finance check. It seems likely that C served to Manchester because it was convenient. That is not their choice however. If C has any finance check that provides more than one address they had actual knowledge that D may no longer reside in Manchester.

This may be worth reading (where a last known address was valid service) but note the checks the claimant made before they could safely rely on that provision.

If D was there to be found via public enquiry (credit checks or even Google searches) the less likely this is to stand. Once again there is no reasonable explanation as to how a claimant can happily find a defendant *after* judgment but maintains this was seemingly not possible mere weeks beforehand.

https://www.civillitigationbrief.com/2025/02/03/45279/ 

cda17

I'm just waiting on their reply regarding a set-aside, hopefully they join with me in an application to set aside the judgment and dismiss the claim now they know I wasn't at the Manchester address. If not, i'll be submitted it unilaterally.

cda17

Response from DCBL:

"Dear ######,

We write with reference to your recent correspondence.

WITHOUT PREJUDICE

Please find attached a proposed Consent Order for your consideration.

It remains our Client's position that you are liable for the debt. The Judgment sum is £289.56. As such, payment of the same is required before the Consent Order can be filed with the Court.

Further, payment in the sum of £119.00 ought to be made to file the Consent Order with the Court.

If the attached is sealed by a Judge, the registration of the Judgment will be removed from your credit file by the Registry Trust and will no longer negatively impact your credit file. Once sealed, DCB Legal will close our file.

If you are agreeable to the same, we ask that you return the Consent Order to us signed within 14 days from the date of this email. Once the signed Consent Order and payment in the sum of £408.56 has been made, DCB Legal will countersign the same and file with the Court.

Payment can be made by calling our office on ########### or by bank transfer to:

DCB Legal Ltd Client Account

Sort Code: ##-##-##

Account no: ########

When making payment, please ensure to include reference number ###########, to enable us to allocate it to the correct case.

In any event, should you be unsure of your legal position, you may wish to seek your own independent legal advice.

We look forward to your response."

So, they have agreed to submit set-aside on the terms that I pay the accumulated charge as well as the £119 to file the set-aside to the court. Positive that they have agreed. Although, I wasn't expecting to pay the accumulated debt which I knew nothing about and then the fee to submit the form? At most, I was thinking I would have to pay the initial parking charge notice sum.

Below is the consent order they attached to the email: