UKPS escalated to Court ignoring my responses

aded65

Hello, I’m looking for some advice on where to go from here - I received a parking fine in April where my partner exceeded the amount of time he had paid for in a private car park.

 I sent off the response letter to advise of his details as the driver so the fine would be issued to him instead, I then received another letter to say the fine had now increased as I ignored the first letter. I called several numbers but couldn’t reach anyone, so I filled out a form on their website explaining the above. 

Fast forward to today I receive a text message from Trace Debt Recovery asking to urgently call them, stating £170 is now owed. I explained the above and he said there’s nothing they can do as now it’s with them there’s no negotiation and Court is the only option. I advised I am not paying £170 when I don’t believe UKPS didn’t receive any of my contacts, therefore he said he’ll let the team know so they can escalate it to Court. 

Where do I go from here? I’m so angry I’m being made to feel like paying £170 is the only option out of fear for losing in Court, when I believe UKPS have intentionally ignored my communications to get to this stage now for more money. Any advice would be gratefully received.

Car1980

Becoming more and more common this. Just ignore keeper liability information and keep hammering the keeper with debt collection letters. It's making you consider paying though isn't it, which is why they are doing it.

It's called fraud.

Expect 3 or so threatograms from DCBL too.

As long as you have proof of you sending them the information your court claim defence would be extremely short. So don't worry about it, ignore them and come back if you receive a Letter Before Claim from DCB Legal. 

At that stage you'd be best sending a very angry email to Sarah Ensall at DCB Legal telling her to fck right off.

fisherjim

Please stop calling this a "fine" where on any paperwork have you seen it called that?

You are dealing with greedy scammers, UKPC are using DCB legal as bullying scare mongers who take people to the wire with court threats and usually pull out at the 11th hour when a robust defence is put together.

This has become UKPC's business model of late using the courts as a threat to make people scared and fold, the SCC is in fact a far better resolver than their sham appeals process in most cases.

Follow the advice above more in the newbies thread on here, and you don't have a debt it's only alleged.

aded65

Are Trace Debt Recovery & DCB Legal the same then? I’ve had encounters with DCB Legal previously but hadn’t heard of these guys - the strange part of it is that I haven’t received any letters from them at all, only the 2 from UKPC mentioned above and first contact was via a text message sent today? I asked where they got my mobile number from (can’t remember if I’d put it on the letter? which would prove they did receive it) and he told me they use a “trace system” but wouldn’t elaborate on what that is. 

I need to scour my receipts later to ensure I have the proof of postage that I’d sent the form back to them, as I’m worried I won’t have a defence at all without this 

Gr1pr

No, different companies AFAIK,  irrelevant really,  Trace are powerless debt collectors,  typically looking for people that have moved, DCB LEGAL are what the term Legal implies,  lawyers , solicitors etc,

Everyone has a defence,  there is a template here in announcements near the top of the forum for you, when the right time comes 

Missing paperwork is usually where people have moved but the dvla were not informed promptly,  meaning that the paperwork went to the old address,  hence why they traced you 

Come back to this thread if or when you receive a Letter of Claim giving you 30 days notice from DCB Legal 

Castle

aded65 said:

Are Trace Debt Recovery & DCB Legal the same then? I’ve had encounters with DCB Legal previously but hadn’t heard of these guys - the strange part of it is that I haven’t received any letters from them at all, only the 2 from UKPC mentioned above and first contact was via a text message sent today? I asked where they got my mobile number from (can’t remember if I’d put it on the letter? which would prove they did receive it) and he told me they use a “trace system” but wouldn’t elaborate on what that is. 

I need to scour my receipts later to ensure I have the proof of postage that I’d sent the form back to them, as I’m worried I won’t have a defence at all without this 

As they haven't issued a court claim yet, you could just send a copy of the form to UKPC again by both email and post, (after getting proof of postage).

aded65

Castle said:

aded65 said:

Are Trace Debt Recovery & DCB Legal the same then? I’ve had encounters with DCB Legal previously but hadn’t heard of these guys - the strange part of it is that I haven’t received any letters from them at all, only the 2 from UKPC mentioned above and first contact was via a text message sent today? I asked where they got my mobile number from (can’t remember if I’d put it on the letter? which would prove they did receive it) and he told me they use a “trace system” but wouldn’t elaborate on what that is. 

I need to scour my receipts later to ensure I have the proof of postage that I’d sent the form back to them, as I’m worried I won’t have a defence at all without this 

As they haven't issued a court claim yet, you could just send a copy of the form to UKPC again by both email and post, (after getting proof of postage).

thank you this is really helpful! I will send them another form now - I’ve found the Post Office receipt however annoyingly it only details a first class stamp & not proof of postage as I thought, my fault as I should’ve checked.

Gr1pr said:

No, different companies AFAIK,  irrelevant really,  Trace are powerless debt collectors,  typically looking for people that have moved, DCB LEGAL are what the term Legal implies,  lawyers , solicitors etc,

Everyone has a defence,  there is a template here in announcements near the top of the forum for you, when the right time comes 

Missing paperwork is usually where people have moved but the dvla were not informed promptly,  meaning that the paperwork went to the old address,  hence why they traced you 

Come back to this thread if or when you receive a Letter of Claim giving you 30 days notice from DCB Legal 

Ah right I see…funnily enough the original letters from UKPC did go to my parents address, despite that I moved out over 2 years ago and all of my official addresses (DVLA, HMRC etc) have been at my new address ever since, my license is 100% registered here & have had correspondence at my new address, so I have no idea how UKPC retrieved my old address to send it to. 

Gr1pr

Its your V5c log book that also needed updating,  as well as your driving licence,  2 separate databases 

The parking companies obtain keeper details using zn electronic link, to access the name and address on file for the RK, which is how UKPC obtained the old address and sent the paperwork there.  It is a legal requirement to update the dvla for both items, separately 

Is your V5c log book now up to date   ? Get it out, check it, and check the date it was updated , then compare the date to the incident date and pcn date,  you cannot blame ukpc for using the address supplied by the dvla

As for the post office receipt,  you will be asserting that it was used to post the form, your statement,  a statement signed as a true statement of the facts

aded65

I’ll check the log book but it should be this address as I’ve lived here for 2 years & got the car a year ago. 

I’ve just been down to the car park as it’s at the Butts Car Park for Coventry Rugby Club and I read another post on here for someone who received a ticket last year and the signage was inadequate. It looks like it’s been changed since that poster took photos, would you say this signage is adequate now or do I have grounds to use as part of my argument too if it goes to Court? 

Gr1pr

Looks like it's UKPS, not UKPC , so different companies 

If you got the vehicle a year ago,  with its V5c, at your current address,  then its the old vehicle that needed the address updating with the DVLA, but probably wasn't,  or wasn't done when the incident occurred,  which I presume happened a few years ago,  not 2 or 3 months ago 

aded65

I see - thank you. 

What are your views on the signage is it sufficient? (ignoring the fact one of them has been covered up with cones too)