Asda - G24 - DCBL - Letter of claim

muslimahi

Hi all,

19th Oct - Car parked in ASDA car park with 2 hours free for customers (key in registration plate at checkout) . Driver shopped and has the bank statement showing spend but cant remember if they forgot to key in registration or made an error. Initial PCNs not received by registered keeper, only a final notice on 28th November.

Dec 2024 - Numerous phone calls and emails to Asda customer service. They gave £10 voucher for all the waiting on the phone but eventually sent replies saying they cant help as its 3rd party G24. Further complaints sent and then another response saying they cant help as POPLA was rejected. There was never an offer of POPLA as initial PCN never received. 

Followed advice and have ignored the DCBL letters since. Received the "Letter of claim" and just wanted to run by the response and also create this post for future expected proceedings.

Please kindly let me know if I'm on the right track with response below. Thank you.

PCNS AND COMMUNICATION 

Dear Sirs,

Your Ref. ############

Proposed Legal Proceedings

Claimant: DCB Legal Ltd

I acknowledge receipt of your Letter Before Claim dated 25th April, relating to an alleged Parking Charge Notice at ASDA on 19th November 2014

1. Dispute of Liability
   a. Keeper’s Liability – I am the registered keeper of the vehicle. On at least three occasions I informed the landowner’s representative that I was not the driver.
   b. Non-receipt of PCN – The initial PCN was never received at my address. As a result, there was no opportunity to appeal to POPLA. I was further wrongly informed by your client that a POPLA appeal had been lodged and rejected, when none was ever made.
   c. Driver’s Evidence – The actual driver has provided bank statements confirming they were ASDA customers on the date in question and entitled to two hours’ free parking. To date, this evidence has been ignored.
2. Request to Stay Proceedings (30-Day Hold)
   In accordance with paragraphs 1.1–1.3 of the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims (2017), I am currently seeking independent debt advice. I therefore formally request that you agree to stay these proceedings for a further 30 days, during which time no court claim will be issued.
3. Challenge to “Debt Recovery” Fee
   You include an additional £70 charge described in your letter. Please confirm:

• Whether this sum represents a “debt recovery” fee;
• Whether that fee is quoted net of VAT or inclusive of VAT; and, if VAT is included, on what basis you claim the right to recover your client’s VAT liability from me.

Nature of the Principal Sum
With regard to the principal sum of the PCN (currently £170), please clarify whether your client intends to:

• Plead this amount as damages for breach of contract; or
• Plead it as the contractual parking charge in consideration for use of the car-park.

I look forward to your prompt response. Should you fail to provide this information and agree to the requested hold, I reserve my rights to raise all such matters in full defence of any claim you may issue.

Yours faithfully,

 

Gr1pr

On a side note,  Parking Eye are the usual Parking contractor ar Asda car parks,  so the fact that G24 were involved and that Asda mentioned that G24 were a third party,  tells me that it wasnt an Asda car park,  but a private car park,  possibly a retail park where the managing agents or landlord contracted with G24

Yes you respond by email to a Letter of Claim,  LoC,  so your response seems ok to me,  but its just part of the process,  it wont stop a court claim 

Car1980

What's the exact "contravention"?

muslimahi

Car1980 said:

What's the exact "contravention"?

"Failed to pay your parking Tariff at at Edmonton Green Shopping Centre, 62 Smythe Close, N9 0TZ"

Exact wording from the Final notice.

@Gr1pr - I think you are right. I think its Edmonton green malls car park which Asda customer get free parking by keying in inside ASDA whilst everyone else has to pay using the machines outside Asda. And thank you, I will send the email through to dcblegal. 

Coupon-mad

muslimahi said:

Car1980 said:

What's the exact "contravention"?

"Failed to pay your parking Tariff at at Edmonton Green Shopping Centre, 62 Smythe Close, N9 0TZ"

Exact wording from the Final notice.

@Gr1pr - I think you are right. I think its Edmonton green malls car park which Asda customer get free parking by keying in inside ASDA whilst everyone else has to pay using the machines outside Asda. And thank you, I will send the email through to dcblegal. 

And a swift complaint to the retail park managing agents whose contact details will be online and/or at the entrance?

Surely you want it cancelled?!

muslimahi

Thank you. Complaint email sent to Ashdown Philips who are the management for Edmonton Green Mall. 

Also received response from DCBL. Do I send a response to this or should I now ignore and wait for the court letters?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [removed by Forum Team]
Date: 29 May 2025 12:12 pm

Dear xxx

 

We write in response to your correspondence received in our office dated 7th May 2025.

 

We now respond to the same as follows.

 

Schedule 4 (4)(1) of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (“the Act”) states “The creditor has the right to recover any unpaid parking charges from the keeper of the vehicle”. For the purpose of the Act; “keeper” means the person by whom the vehicle is kept at the time the vehicle was parked, which in the case of a registered vehicle is to be presumed, unless the contrary is proved, to be the registered keeper. The DVLA confirmed that you were the Registered Keeper at the time the parking charge was issued and as no transfer of liability has been received by our Client, they have the right to recover the parking charge from you as the Keeper of the vehicle.

 

Please see attached copy of the Notice to Keeper, as you will see, the notice was sent to the address  xxxx

 

In accordance with the British Parking Association (BPA) Code of Practice, where the Parking Charge Notice (PCN) 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), which was last updated on 02 September 2020, confirmed that parking charge notices falls out of the scope of VAT.

 

In relation to the comments concerning damages, 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.

 

You now have 30 days from the date of this email to make payment of £170.00. Failure to make payment will result in a Claim being issued against you without any further reference.

 

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 (xxxx) 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, this can be emailed to us at info@dcblegal.co.uk. Alternatively, you can contact DCB Legal Ltd on 0203 838 7038 to make payment over the telephone or online at https://dcblegal.co.uk/response/pay-online/. 

Kind Regards,  

 

 [removed by Forum Team]

 

DCB Legal Ltd  

Gr1pr

Do not respond to dcb legal,  but consider reporting them to HMRC with possible VAT concerns,  same as many others here have done 

Then wait for the inevitable roboclaim arriving from the CNBC in Northampton using MCOL,  in the post 

Umkomaas

Template response seen before. In fact they don't even check it before issuing. 

In accordance with the British Parking Association (BPA) Code of Practice, where the Parking Charge Notice (PCN) becomes overdue and before Court proceedings have commenced, a reasonable sum may be added for the debt recovery fees.

G24 aren't even AOS members of the BPA - they've been AOS Operators of (BPA rival) IPC for some years. 

Other than the 'report to HMRC' advice above, ignore the letter. Just continue to follow court requirements alongside forum advice and DCB Legal will likely discontinue. 

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

Car1980

In accordance with the British Parking Association (BPA) Code of Practice, where the Parking Charge Notice (PCN) becomes overdue and before Court proceedings have commenced, a reasonable sum may be added for the debt recovery fees

...in order to remain a member of the BPA. Whether a parking company remains a member of an ATA or not is of absolutely no concern to anybody except the parking co.