Help - Letter of Claim - DCB Legal Ltd

SeaTurkey16

As i said. I paid on the day, at the car parks machine with debit card. I have bank statements and Screenshots of bank transactions to verify this. Surely they cant expect me to pay this £60! Are they just trying to scare me into paying?

Coupon-mad

Coupon-mad said:

"They (DCBL) have now emailed me stating they appreciate the evidence I provided, and it is their Client’s position that as I failed to lodge an appeal and provide this evidence sooner, I remain liable for the additional fees and costs now incurred, due to their Client having to instruct debt recovery."

Please show us that email so I can use it as evidence to the Government. Is this a 5 minute rule case where they are acknowledging that you paid in full but paid 'too late'?

SeaTurkey16 said:

Dear **********,  

We write in response to your correspondence received in our office concerning the Parking Charge issued on 22nd August 2014.  

As we appreciate the evidence you have now kindly provided, it is our Client’s position that as you failed to lodge an appeal and provide this evidence sooner, you remain liable for the additional fees and costs now incurred, due to our Client having to instruct debt recovery.   

WITHOUT PREJUDICE 

We confirm our Client would be agreeable to the original sum of £60.00 in full and final settlement of this Claim. The current outstanding balance is £170.00.　　 

Should you be agreeable to this offer, we will give you 14 days from the date of this email to make the payment.  

Upon receipt of the settlement sum of £60.00, we will update the matter as settled. If you are not agreeable, and payment is not made, however, further legal proceedings may be issued against you without notice. 

Payment can be made via bank transfer... blah blah (irrelevant payment crap clipped).

SeaTurkey16 said:

As i said. I paid on the day, at the car parks machine with debit card. I have bank statements and Screenshots of bank transactions to verify this. Surely they cant expect me to pay this £60! 

Are they just trying to scare me into paying?

Oh yes, this is EXACTLY what they are doing! And I have NEVER seen such scammery in my time here.

They are basically saying:

"we want our piece of the pie even though you've proved there's no debt".

So Parkmaven seem to have claimed that "you didn't pay by card quickly enough" and now DCB are compounding this by saying "you didn't dispute it within 28 days, so now it's too late"

YOU COULD NOT MAKE THIS STUFF UP!

Can you tell me:

- what time you arrived?

- what time you paid & how long was paid for

- what time you left, presumably captured by cameras?

I want to share this with the Government because it looks like a '5 minute rule case' which has no validity in law (it's unfair term) but even worse, DCB's reply beggars belief!

This looks sooooo much like debt assignment a la MIL Collections that DCB need banning, IMHO. They don't appear to have to make any money per PCN case. Looks very much like batch debt purchase to me. Not allowed.

  

SeaTurkey16

Coupon-mad said: 

 
Can you tell me:

- what time you arrived?

- what time you paid & how long was paid for

- what time you left, presumably captured by cameras?

I want to share this with the Government because it looks like a '5 minute rule case' which has no validity in law (it's unfair term) but even worse, DCB's reply beggars belief!

This looks sooooo much like debt assignment a la MIL Collections that DCB need banning, IMHO.

They don't appear to have to make any money per PCN case. Looks very much like batch debt purchase to me. Not allowed.

  

Because this is back in August 2024 I'm a little hazy on the specific details.
I don't really recall any of the timings other than it was mid morning and we must have been over 2 hours as we paid £2.50 (3 hours worth of parking).
I've not requested camera captures, but I can and will, if that would help your case with the government. I can also message the bank and see if they can give more detailed info about the transactions for that day so could maybe piece together a timeline.

Do I respond to this DCB email, refusing their offer? Am I still looking at going to CC with this?

Gr1pr

Personally,  I would let them stew and ignore them for now, waiting for them to chicken out and issue the N279 NoD document,  same as in hundreds of cases in the discontinuations thread by Umkomaas 

SeaTurkey16

Gr1pr said:

Personally,  I would let them stew and ignore them for now, waiting for them to chicken out and issue the N279 NoD document,  same as in hundreds of cases in the discontinuations thread by Umkomaas 

Am I in danger of still going to CCJ with what they are saying in their email by ignoring them?

Coupon-mad

Nope.

Email them and ask for the timings and you wish to understand whether this is a '5 minute rule' case because you will now involve your MP. Tell them you want the time of arrival, time of payment and time of leaving past the camera.

SeaTurkey16

1. Coupon-mad said:

Nope.

Email them and ask for the timings and you wish to understand whether this is a '5 minute rule' case because you will now involve your MP. Tell them you want the time of arrival, time of payment and time of leaving past the camera.

• I don't think it's a 5 min rule case, as all letters/emails from DCBL are stating parking charges for No valid parking reservation. I paid before leaving and have also been back to check if where i parked on the day has limitations, restrictions or reserved areas, which it does not.

Coupon-mad

But if you paid in full before leaving why was there a PCN? Was there a typo in the VRM?

Car1980

As we appreciate the evidence you have now kindly provided, it is our Client’s position that as you failed to lodge an appeal and provide this evidence sooner, you remain liable for the additional fees and costs now incurred, due to our Client having to instruct debt recovery. 

Side note - worth sticking this a paragraph in the defence (it's not without prejudice), stating that the Client refused to consider any evidence by self-imposing an arbritary 28 day deadline and has disregarded paragraph 3 of the Pre-Action Protocols that states the Court expects parties to try to settle the issues without proceedings. 

Car1980

SeaTurkey16 said:

1. Coupon-mad said:

Nope.

Email them and ask for the timings and you wish to understand whether this is a '5 minute rule' case because you will now involve your MP. Tell them you want the time of arrival, time of payment and time of leaving past the camera.

• I don't think it's a 5 min rule case, as all letters/emails from DCBL are stating parking charges for No valid parking reservation. I paid before leaving and have also been back to check if where i parked on the day has limitations, restrictions or reserved areas, which it does not.

I believe Parkmaven have two vague one-liners for "non-payment":

No valid parking reservation for pay on entry.
No valid parking session for pay on exit.