ANOTHER DCB LEGAL LETTER! Letter of claim DCBL/ECP

Astro212

Hi guys,

A few weeks ago I received a ‘letter of claim’ from DCB Legal regarding a non payment of parking at a euro car parks car park. 

I actually was not the driver at the time and i’m sure i was not even the owner at the time (may be able to get proof). My guess is there may have been a delay with the update of ownership of the vehicle in question. 

Is it worth me replying to DCB Legal and explaining that i literally was not the owner or the driver and that they’d be completely wasting their time and money if they took it to court? I’m thinking its worth a try because i am willing to defend this right to the end if i have to!

I can trace the current owner of the vehicle and can get them to prove the date of transfer using the logbook right? If so, can i use this as evidence. 

Coupon-mad

Yes but you'll need to reply now, saying you are seeking debt advice and require a 30 day hold. Then that gives you a month to get your evidence to reply with.

Astro212

Ok thank you @Coupon-mad ! Do I mention that i wasn’t the owner or driver at this stage? And what happens if i cannot find the evidence required?

Coupon-mad

Yes mention it and that you will provide evidence.

Astro212

So unfortunately I couldn’t get through to them, so they’ve now sent the claim documents. I will be acknowledging the claim on mcol and then i’ll send the defence on here soon. I understand that it will be slightly different than my other defence as this time i was not the owner or the driver is that correct?

Coupon-mad

Astro212 said:

So unfortunately I couldn’t get through to them, so they’ve now sent the claim documents. 

Sorry? Nobody said to phone them.

Astro212

Coupon-mad said:

Astro212 said:

So unfortunately I couldn’t get through to them, so they’ve now sent the claim documents. 

Sorry? Nobody said to phone them.

Apologies, I also tried filling out their online LOC response form but it was not submitting. So they have now sent the claim form. I will be following the guide on the defence and i will put my draft on here.

Coupon-mad

Please show us the POC.

Pandemonium78

If I may ask, is the point of sending a response by email to the "letter of claim" purely to make sure the legal people have the correct address?  What I gather from reading through numerous posts is that whether a response is sent or not it doesn't change the outcome, which is that court proceedings are subsequently issued.
  
I have two PCNs I'm fighting for parking at a place of work, the employer gave me a permit to park there but First Parking switched the cameras on randomly and issued PCNs to me and even staff with permanent staff parking permits.  I missed the deadline for challenging them due to being away, but I still did challenge and they said "tough, you missed the deadline", I also asked the place of work to get it cancelled - they phoned First Parking who said to them "it's too late it's been sent to debt collection".  
So either I pay £290 for the two PCNs, or fight them.  I've chosen the latter thanks to the information on this forum; it does, however, cause me stress, so I guess we either pay to make the stress go away or stick to our guns.

Car1980

whether a response is sent or not it doesn't change the outcome, which is that court proceedings are subsequently issued.

They'll recognise that you're on this board, or Legal Beagles etc. It may make discontinuance more likely, or at least prompt them to make a little note on their little Excel spreadsheet.

I did still did challenge and they said "tough, you missed the deadline"

It's an invoice at the end of the day. "Deadlines"and "processes" are simply to draw parallels with genuine penalty notices. In any court claim you could add a paragraph stating that court should be a last resort but the Claimant simply refused to communicate.

If you had a permit and the landowner instructed the parking company to cancel and they refused, then that's just more ammunition for you.

Sounds like a case worth defending. It's all just paperwork at the end of the day - no stress involved.

Even if it did go to a hearing (unlikely) you could literally settle in the foyer and not even see the judge if you really really wanted to.

Pandemonium78

I like your statement about what it actually is - just paperwork!  We don't need to let it get to us.

I have an email from a representative of the landowner (the landowner is an organisation) saying "I have been in touch with First Parking and because you didn’t appeal within the 14 days, unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done".  

Apparently the one day permits I had been given by the organisation weren't valid in that particular car park once the First Parking cameras were switched on, which happened without notice to anyone.  

The parking department at the organisation had also not given First Parking registration details of all the cars with permanent permits so they all got sent PCNs too.

I appealed too late and subsequently had a letter from First Parking saying it's been sent to debt collection, ridiculous!  It does feel like a bullying and intimidation exercise to extort more money from me.

I would look to include a preamble in a defence document saying something like:

1. The Defendant avers the Claimant has issued these proceedings prematurely.  The Defendant avers the Claimant has acted in contrast with the overriding objective, namely, but not limited to: CPR 1.1 (2) (c) (d) (e) and (f). 
2. The Defendant avers the Claimant has failed to engage with pre-litigation communication with the Defendant and the landowner.  Had they done so, this matter might have been capable of settlement without the need to issue proceedings.
3. The Defendant reserves the right to raise this conduct to the attention of the Court at the point of dealing with costs.